Moron Motorists #3

[mattwilkinson]

First ever video, On the way to school.
You go pro guys probably cringe at the quality of my $6 spy camera.

Dunno why you even need to park in the bike lane?
The video is a bit deceptive in that it looks like I cut in front of the car, But by the time I move out around the car, It was easily a metre in front already

[jules21]

you left it too late to move around the parked car. take the lane early!

[mattwilkinson]

Was going to but the car behind me was only a couple of metres back. We were both doing about the 40k speed limit.
Can't see but I had to brake near the end because the car was just hovering next to me, Was hoping for him to speed up.

[MisuVir]

Was going to but the car behind me was only a couple of metres back. We were both doing about the 40k speed limit.
Can't see but I had to brake near the end because the car was just hovering next to me, Was hoping for him to speed up.

Who is the MM in this video? I don't see any poor behaviour unless you're referring to the parked car. You'd then need to clarify the context - Is this a dedicated bicycle lane at all times? I know most of the lanes near my house are bicycle lanes only during peak hour.

As for the car that passed you, it seemed perfectly fine. You need to indicate, give way and change lanes to get around the obstruction.

[chill1995]

Was going to but the car behind me was only a couple of metres back. We were both doing about the 40k speed limit.
Can't see but I had to brake near the end because the car was just hovering next to me, Was hoping for him to speed up.

Who is the MM in this video? I don't see any poor behaviour unless you're referring to the parked car. You'd then need to clarify the context - Is this a dedicated bicycle lane at all times? I know most of the lanes near my house are bicycle lanes only during peak hour.

As for the car that passed you, it seemed perfectly fine. You need to indicate, give way and change lanes to get around the obstruction.

ease up turbo, a car parked across the bike lane is an inconvenience and puts cyclists in danger.

[KonaCommuter]

[trailgumby]

Who is the MM in this video? I don't see any poor behaviour unless you're referring to the parked car. You'd then need to clarify the context - Is this a dedicated bicycle lane at all times? I know most of the lanes near my house are bicycle lanes only during peak hour.

Pretty poor place to park. Unfortunately I can't read the sign due to the low resolution, but I can't see any Council council putting a lane in like that and allowing parking where it is so narrow, so I think it's more than likely a no parking zone.

[Aushiker]

It felt more dramatic than it appears here. Thankfully he was pulling out slowly or it would have been an impact otherwise.

He did apologize and said he looked but didn't see me. I simply said he needs to be more careful before some is seriously hurt.

I had a high-viz vest on; struggling to see how he couldn't have seen me.



Andrew

[trailgumby]

Nice counter-steering

I'd say he saw you, just didn't register you, because he was looking for cars. We all know how that works.

[BianchiCam]

find many numpties stop in the cycle lane round here when they are taking a call. You wouldn't stop in the middle of the road. Why stop on a bike lane ffs! Seriously?

Aushiker. The guy had his indicator on and you still ride quite far to the left? My spidy senses would have been on overdrive and had me almost in the middle of the lane. At least he didn't just pull out I suppose.

[Aushiker]

Andrew

[Aushiker]

Aushiker. The guy had his indicator on and you still ride quite far to the left? My spidy senses would have been on overdrive and had me almost in the middle of the lane. At least he didn't just pull out I suppose.

Maybe not that far left normally but it is a bit of a give and take along here as the road is narrow and there is a reasonable amount of traffic and that morning there was more traffic than normal. I try to do the right thing as much as a I can and balance it out. In all honesty I have ridden this road for a few years and this is the first instance of this type. It is pretty well known riding route and most drivers/cyclists get along from what I have seen.

Andrew

[BianchiCam]

Being that close, I'd say bs to the guy not seeing you. You would have been slap bang in his side mirror. But as others have said, they are
'looking' for larger objects

[K2]

Being that close, I'd say bs to the guy not seeing you. You would have been slap bang in his side mirror. But as others have said, they are
'looking' for larger objects

Just finished flicking through a book called 'You Are Not So Smart' by David McRaney that was in one of those book clearance shops. In it he reminds us (because a lot of it you've likely heard before but just don't think about regularly) why things like this, and many other examples in this humongous thread, happen so frequently. It's good to be reminded occassionally...particularly if you're just reading about it rather than experiencing it at speed.

Turns out most of it started with a blog and a couple of relevant bits about "blindness" are here and here.

In other chapters he refers to evolutional baggage, our penchant for patterns, etc as explanations for some of our failings (and when I say "our" I'm referring to humans as a whole....although obvioulsy it is mostly other people ). It's not heavy behavioural psychology. He just dabbles in a kind of entertaining way.

As always, be prepared for danger from every angle, expect everyone to be not so smart (that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to tell them all ), and pray to the gods of the velosphere (or your personal favourite) that the bonnet with your name on it is stuck in a traffic jam on the other side of the continent, and your chances of making it home safely hopefully increase, a little.

[arkle]

Being that close, I'd say bs to the guy not seeing you. You would have been slap bang in his side mirror. But as others have said, they are
'looking' for larger objects

Just finished flicking through a book called 'You Are Not So Smart' by David McRaney that was in one of those book clearance shops. In it he reminds us (because a lot of it you've likely heard before but just don't think about regularly) why things like this, and many other examples in this humongous thread, happen so frequently. It's good to be reminded occassionally...particularly if you're just reading about it rather than experiencing it at speed.

Turns out most of it started with a blog and a couple of relevant bits about "blindness" are here and here.

In other chapters he refers to evolutional baggage, our penchant for patterns, etc as explanations for some of our failings (and when I say "our" I'm referring to humans as a whole....although obvioulsy it is mostly other people ). It's not heavy behavioural psychology. He just dabbles in a kind of entertaining way.

As always, be prepared for danger from every angle, expect everyone to be not so smart (that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to tell them all ), and pray to the gods of the velosphere (or your personal favourite) that the bonnet with your name on it is stuck in a traffic jam on the other side of the continent, and your chances of making it home safely hopefully increase, a little.

Reminds me of this rather amazing simple observation test.



arkle

[Rhubarb]

It felt more dramatic than it appears here. Thankfully he was pulling out slowly or it would have been an impact otherwise.

He did apologize and said he looked but didn't see me. I simply said he needs to be more careful before some is seriously hurt.

I had a high-viz vest on; struggling to see how he couldn't have seen me.



Andrew

So central to all our behaviours is our attitudes. This guy appeared to be genuinely sorry and perhaps even a little frightened at the thought of how close that was to being a serious incident. I dare say his eyesight isn't so great, particularly looking into the sun which was behind his mirror. I also presume he was looking in the middle of the lane for a car, not a skinny bike in the edge of his mirror. Hopefully he is a genuine human being who appreciates that cyclists are also human beings and he modifies his behaviour in future to actively seek out cyclists on the road. We do have a tendency to see what we look for, and that is why attitude towards cyclists is so important to our safety. People who actively look for us, tend to see us.

[A_P]

Pretty poor place to park. Unfortunately I can't read the sign due to the low resolution, but I can't see any Council council putting a lane in like that and allowing parking where it is so narrow, so I think it's more than likely a no parking zone.

come to the Gold coast, they spray green paint on the road for parking...

[KonaCommuter]

Pretty poor place to park. Unfortunately I can't read the sign due to the low resolution, but I can't see any Council council putting a lane in like that and allowing parking where it is so narrow, so I think it's more than likely a no parking zone.

come to the Gold coast, they spray green paint on the road for parking...

I'm pretty sure that the yellow line means no parking

[jasonc]

the yellow only starts right at the end (i.e. same time as the extra lane starts)

[skull]

Andrew

You know why they do that?

It is to try and block/slow down cyclists. I see it happen to much here for it to be just due to them being nuffies. It is on purpose, they feel that they are stuck in the traffic so you should too.

[LinzOC]

the yellow only starts right at the end (i.e. same time as the extra lane starts)

And parking has been allowed there for at least the last 20 years; including prior to the green paint and after the installation of a bike lane.

Nothing to do with the motorists; just another win by the GCCC.

[jasonc]

Nothing to do with the motorists; just another win by the GCCC.

but BQ were praising GCCC just in the last week. maybe someone needs to bring it to their attention. I'd suggest some facebook tagging of BQ and GCCC with a few comments. you'll soon get some mirror action (i.e. we'll look into it)

[A_P]

that is what irks me the most.
I'm well aware that the cars are legally allowed to be parked where they are.
The GCCC boast about the hundreds of Km's of bike lanes they have created, when in reality they are just wasting my rates painting roads.
Its the same situation on Christine Ave in front of the Outrigger canoe club. It's a very popular route for both commuters and bunch riders and for most of the daylight hours there are cars parked in the bike lane.

[ldrcycles]

The GCCC boast about the hundreds of Km's of bike lanes they have created, when in reality they are just wasting my rates painting roads.

+1, IMO that worthless green paint makes the roads MORE dangerous for me as a cyclist, not less so.

[PB12IN]

The GCCC boast about the hundreds of Km's of bike lanes they have created, when in reality they are just wasting my rates painting roads.

+1, IMO that worthless green paint makes the roads MORE dangerous for me as a cyclist, not less so.

can you please explain that? as far as I can tell it highlights a bike lane for other road users, how is that a bad thing?