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blind motorists
Tuesday 19th February,had a good 30 miles or so training ride,came from Farnsfield,Notts,up to the White Post traffic island on the A614,nothing coming from my right so I could enter the island,I was level with the lane coming from my left,and I had seen the silver mercedes saloon coming,and the Pratt did not stop,so instead of going straight over the island,I had to turn right around the island to avoid being knocked off,fortunately the driver stopped,and when he saw I was ok,he dissapeared.I WAS WEARING A DAYGLOW YELLOW TOP,RED WHITE AND BLACK,BOTTOMS,and still the driver could not see me,licence from a cornflake packet came to mind!!I have been riding 57 years this year,2013,and retired from work as a night trunk LGV1 Driver last march,so I am sure my Cycling Road Craft is well up to scratch 
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17 comments
Some Mercs have radar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3000tASZTyE
Marketed as "So that nothing happens – even when the unthinkable happens".
http://www.adeevee.com/2014/03/mercedes-benz-pre-safe-brake-slingshot-wa...
Does that attract careless drivers ?
I wonder how a marine radar reflector would look on a bike ?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001647IF4
or if an active transponder could have an upwards doppler frequency-shift ?
I added a knog strobe LED to the left side of my helmet ...
commute daily at 6am and back at 6pm)....certainly gets me noticed and as its on my left lights up the drivers coming out of the side roads and islands to the near side...
Hi-viz stuff is good but drivers are becoming immune to its colour (certainly the yellow) orange hi viz might help
Hi Colhum,you is right,I have Knog Boomers,the rear one is on all the time,infact we cannot Time trial without a rear light,and the Knogs are very good.Mind you some drivers would not see you if you were dressed like a Christmas Tree!!Last night we were going to our church in Mandfield,I always indicate in plenty of time for the left turn into the car park,I was watching my rearview mirror,the driver behind was gassing to his passenger,he could have indicated and overtaken me,but no he had to brake,because he was not watching the road.Best wishes,Foxy.
Someone cut across me turning into a petrol station today, Had to brake hard to avoid them. What annoys me is that she won't even know what a close call it was cos she never even noticed me, before during or after!!!
Hi PIRNIE,Well the answer is quite plain,getting her fuel was more important than your bike ride,poor old Wiggo had the same.The driver who nearly had me off,cleared off quickly,when he or she saw I was not hurt,I mentioned it was a Merc,and somebody bit,obviously did not read my post properly,i did not say Jerk,I would have said a lot stronger than that.I have a little jibe for any male driver who cuts me up,"Big car,Big knob,small brain",usually shuts them up!Enjoy your cycling,Foxy
Well I drive a Merc so must be a jerk, perhaps that's why I was almost taken out coming into Hucknall today by a woman driving her family along in a small Suzuki! But heck wouldn't have mattered if it were a Bentley! Coming to an island she pulled alongside, got to white line then indicated left and turned left across me? How we didn't collide I don't know. So lets not single out the make or car and focus on the fact there are idiots out there in all makes!
HI SPUD,if you check the comments I just happened to say it was a silver merc,someone else came up with the Jerk joke.With my experience of drving LGV1 for longer than I care to remember,and Time Trialing since I was old enough,now I am a month short of 66yrs,I can say with no doubt that,some car drivers want to be in the space you occupy,be you riding a bike,riding a horse,driving your car,our driving a mercedes actros truck.And the car driver can be driving any type of car.BEST WISHES,FOXY.
know where you mean foxy - use that island myself on my rides out - dunno what it is about that one - seems good visabilty on all approaches,perhaps thats it - drivers see you early enough but think they can 'beat you'to the gap.
i'm sure you don't need telling matey (with your driving experiance) but ive learnt to 'survive' near misses (touches wood) up to date by anticipation
stay safe
ADEY,couldnt agree more,yesterday I went straight down A614 to Ollerton,Walesby,Milton,Askham,East Drayton,Laneham Ferry,Ragnall,Sutton on Trent,Caunton,Eakring,Bilsthorpe,back home to Rainworth.50+miles,lovely and peaceful in the lanes,made the old legs suffer,and no probs at White Post Island,infact no probs anywhere.Lokking forward to another season of time trialing.Best Wishes,Foxy
That's not blind, just willful ignorance and they aren't their attitude.
S trange int it,I went out yesterday 26-2-13,did about 35miles on 72inch fixed,and had a good session down along the River Trent,came up to the White Post Island on the A614,same Island as last Tuesday,nothing coming either way,straight across and on to home.I am the first to admit,when driving LGV1 until I retired,that most nights I made small mistakes,but not bad enough to kill or maim anybody,but I have seen car Drivers,combing hair,shaving,putting on makeup,not to mention gassing on the old dog & bone!Which makes me implore all who wish to join us already enjoying our Cycling World,to join either,BRITISH CYCLING,or the CYCLISTS TOURING CLUB,and get themselves insured,and also for the friendship found in social riding,or the Racing scene,by joining a Cycling Club.best wishes to all,FOXYLOXY
what is it about Mercedes drivers?
I nearly got run over in almost identical circumstances 2 months ago at the Rotherhithe roundabout in SE London by a Mercedes estate driver who felt he had priority over me and entered the roundabout, causing me to have to take immediate action to avoid colliding with him. One of my all time top 10 near misses. He also didn't stop.
Hence the phrase "jerk in a merc".
Brings to mind a popular term in Oxford for tourists who are unable to steer punts properly
I was crossing a road to get onto the cycle path home. Traffic was at a standstill because of roadworks further up the road. Nearly got killed by a motorbike which decided to beat the queue by bombing up the wrong side of the road. Heard it rather than saw it at the last second!
Yeah I’ve had a couple of close ones recently myself but they were far from polite about the whole affair in fact one of them went around the roundabout so his tosser of a passenger could call me a c@#* and throw a coke can at me. Sadly I didn’t get their number so that the local constabulary could have a chat.
And that's the thing about high-vis - if the berk doesn't look, no amount of dayglo is going to save anyone.
Glad you're ok and that you saw it in time to take appropriate action.