One of the most dangerous situations whilst cycling is being overtaken by a car which then immediately turns left. (note this is in UK where we drive on left in other countries it is applicable for being on right hand side.)
It creates the potential for a serious accident and many car drivers are unaware of how dangerous it is.
When car owners overtake and then signal left, the majority will be aware that a cyclist is coming on the inside and so will not turn left until the cyclist has passed. However, as a cyclist, you have to assume that the car may not wait. A certain % of cars will not see you or forget about you and so potentially could turn straight into your path. Therefore, whenever a car does this I always wait and try and go around the righthand side of the car. Yes, the car would be in the wrong, but, the only safe attitude is to assume that cars may do the wrong thing.
I’m not sure of the exact statistics, but, I think this particular issue is one of the main causes of serious accidents to cyclists. Motorists need better instruction because some seem oblivious to the potential danger. When I was learning to pass my test, this kind of thing was never mentioned. I learnt how to reverse around a corner (something I’ve never actually done in the real world) but I never got taught this kind of thing.
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Just had something similar.
I came upto a roundabout and went straight on. A guy drives past and shouts “Why don’t you stick you’re arms out to show me where you’re going you prick!”
So I shouted back “I was going straight on you prick, you don’t indicate left when you’re going straight on, do you, you prick!”
He didn’t stop. I wonder if going right into the middle of the lane will give them a better idea what is going on. I don’t really want to indicate right in case that causes other dangers.
As a driving instructor I teach my pupils about bikes, but know matter how much I try its just water of a ducks back. But I do think I have the answer but I need some one with electronics experience, so if there is anyone who has this I would like to hear from you and may be together we could get this of the ground?
I had exactly this sort of “accident” happen to me back in 1994. A car turned left in front of me, having just overtaken me. I was left with nowhere to go but up the kerb at a very shallow angle. I was thrown from the bike and hit a tree with my shoulder. The car cleared off and I didn’t get the number. I staggered home, only about a mile, and put the bike away and went to the A&E department were I was found to have torn the ligaments which bind the collar bone to the shoulder. I was in a sling for three months and still get some soreness after long bike rides.
Separately, I received this week my usual rash of updates from various government departments by email. It seems the accident figures for 2007 from the DFT are out and last year “The number of pedal cyclists killed fell by 7 per cent from 146 in 2006 to 136 in 2007. The number of seriously injured rose by 6 per cent to 2,428. The total casualties among pedal cyclists remained at the same level as 2006″. Be careful out there!
That’s quite true, particularly on roundabouts, where the further-to-the-left position of a cyclist may make motorists incorrectly assume that the cyclist is coming off at the first exit, and try to overtake and come off at the same time. There’s a roundabout near me where I ignore the Highway Code and signal right when I am going straight on, because the number of times I’ve been honked at by motorists who didn’t consider I might not be turning left is shocking. Junctions like this one http://www.camcycle.org.uk/map/location/11985/ alleviate the problem by making motorists think about turning left across the path of cyclists. On the side of the same junction, which doesn’t have this feature, last week I was nearly squished by a National Express coach. It was waiting at the lights and I was passing it in a MCL to reach the ASL. The lights started to change while I was on its inside, and it turned left across my path, cutting off most of the MCL, without even signalling. Only the fact that I know that most buses and coaches turn left at that junction, which made me hang back as soon as the lights started to change, saved me.