[Tinternet_tim]

I work for a large company which has buildings and carparks either side of a A-road. Last night I was cycling home as usual, I had only just pulled out of my work premises and probably traveled about 50/100 meters on the A-road. I approached another couple of works-site-exits on either side of the road, both of which had cars waiting to pull out, there was also traffic on the road. I was probably doing about 20-25 mph but as there was cars at the exits I eased off and covered the brakes just in case….and sure enough, the car joining the road from the right pulled out and would have knocked me off if I hadn’t anticipated it and had my hands covering the brakes.

It just so happened that the car was quite distinctive and 1 of my work colleagues owns a similar car. However as he is a cyclist and only recently 1 of his close friends had been knocked off her bike I didn’t think it could have been him. I would class him as a good driver. We had only recently discussed how unobservant so many drivers seemed to be these days and said it appears to be getting worse.

I saw him today and asked if it was him and it was. He only knew he had almost hit someone last night only because I did my usual shout (Oi …… I refrained from swearing being so close to work :-). Until that point he had no idea I was there even though I had a 600 lumen pulsing light. He didn’t know it was me until I spoke to him today.
He also said it really shook him up as as he can’t work out he didn’t see me.

I really can’t work out why he didn’t see me, and like I said he is a good driver and does cycle. It got me wondering if any other cyclist who class themselves as good drivers have ever not seen a cyclist when the cyclist is taking all precautions (lights, reflective bits on clothing etc). Is so, have you been able to work out why it happened, lack of concentration for a second, distracted etc etc?

I am also starting to consider having my light on permanent rather than pulse as a bit of an experiment. I was wondering if there is anything about a flashing light that means a driver either looks straight through you as they are looking out for cars, or possible they think you are traveling much slower than you are because you are a bicycle?

Topic

[Tinternet_tim]

Thanks for the couple of
Thanks for the couple of links to reports, they were an interesting read and shows it is a real problem.

I do find the more I cycle the more cautious I am when driving as I keep recalling each of the ‘near misses’ I have experienced over the years. I would definitely say I am a better driver for cycling.

As for my light, it is an Exposure Race, so it is definitely a pulse type light rather than a flashing on and off. I have seen far to many flashing lights which I just think are dangerous as the the cyclist is invisible during the off blink if it is dark.

[portec]

I thought pillars are larger
I thought pillars are larger nowadays so they can accommodate airbags. And for styling reasons, obviously.

[HIGHTOWER]

I’ve heard those pillars
I’ve heard those pillars referred to as ‘killer pillars’ before, and apparently with modern technology there’s no need for them to be so big. It’s just to make people feel more secure in a car.

[HalfWheeler]

I think the elephant sitting
I think the elephant sitting in the corner is modern car design.

Occasionally when I’m out on the road I’ll see the odd car from the 70’s or 80’s. What strikes me, first of all, is how narrow the wheelbase is. Modern cars take up much more of the road.

But as far as visibility is concerned the main difference between old cars and newer ones is the size of the pillars. Old cars had spindly little pillars. If the car flipped it turned it into a death trap.

However in making cars safer for its occupants (with stronger broader pillars) they’ve made them more dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.

[jacknorell]

Probably a combination of a
Probably a combination of a very busy / bright roadscape and inattentional blindness:

http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/inattentionalblindness.html

I find it easiest to see cyclists using both a steady and a blinking light. Both apparently have benefits for capturing the eye.

I actually assume your light isn’t on a ‘pulse’ but rather flashing?

The link from P3t3 above is good, share it with your colleagues as that technique for seeing things works. The also teach it to special forces, btw.

A problem with the ‘courtesy turn’ things where people let others pass their line is that the turning driver often feels under pressure to be quick about it. I know I certainly do; so I make sure I do it much slower and elaborate to give myself some time to see stuff. Takes a second or two longer, feels like ages!

[notfastenough]

brooksby wrote:notfastenough

brooksby wrote:

notfastenough wrote:

Despite being a cyclist (rather than just pootling along from A to B)…

However, I take exception with notfastenough’s comment above (which is representative of far too many people who comment on this site).

I commute to and from work – ten miles each way. BUT I’m only on a three years old Mongoose hybrid, with no dropped handlebars, and my clothing has no lycra. Am I not really a cyclist, then? Does my opinion not count ’cause I’m not on strava and not in a club?

Like it or not, if you ride a bike because you choose to, you are a cyclist, regardless of how fast you ride.

It’s not some sort of transubstantiation, where you only turn into a cyclist if you meet certain criteria.

I think you misunderstand me – of course it’s possible to still be a cyclist just pootling about on anything you want. However, a person who just acquires an old bike for a tenner because it’s easier to get to work, won’t necessarily think about other bikes as being part of the ‘traffic’, and by that I’m suggesting they don’t have a ‘cyclist’ mindset to road safety, and therefore are not a cyclist (although this in itself is a presumption – you wouldn’t know just by looking at them). By contrast, it is very difficult to suggest that a chap in lycra and cleated shoes is NOT a cyclist, if only by definition of the effort he’s gone to in order to get dressed.

So no, there’s no elevation to a lycra-clad astral plane involved, and I’m not excluding you from anything! 😀

[DaveE128]

I think the most likely cause
I think the most likely cause is that he was looking for motor vehicles. A quick glance is usually enough to detect these, but not enough to spot less prominent road users. We all need to make sure we deliberately look, not glance, and look in several different places up the road before deciding that it is clear.

You say your light is on “pulsing” – do you mean by this that it is on all the time but gets brighter and dimmer, or that it flashes on and off. If it’s the former I would stick with it. If it’s the latter, I suggest using a second light that is on all the time. When someone glances rather than looks properly (unfortunately we all make the mistake sometimes – often when rushing) there is a chance they will glance when your light happens to be off.

[CXR94Di2]

Most drivers don’t move their
Most drivers don’t move their body forwards or backwards to eliminate the blind spot caused by the ‘A’ pillar. By making this adjustment before moving off from a junction should give enough time to spot less obvious cyclists etc.

[brooksby]

notfastenough wrote:Despite

notfastenough wrote:

Despite being a cyclist (rather than just pootling along from A to B)…

I agree with everything everyone has said along here, and will admit I have also been caught out (entering a mini roundabout, completely failed to see cyclist coming from my right). I think too many people see what they expect to see.

However, I take exception with notfastenough’s comment above (which is representative of far too many people who comment on this site).

I commute to and from work – ten miles each way. BUT I’m only on a three years old Mongoose hybrid, with no dropped handlebars, and my clothing has no lycra. Am I not really a cyclist, then? Does my opinion not count ’cause I’m not on strava and not in a club?

Like it or not, if you ride a bike because you choose to, you are a cyclist, regardless of how fast you ride.

It’s not some sort of transubstantiation, where you only turn into a cyclist if you meet certain criteria.

[P3t3]

He nearly hit you for any
He nearly hit you for any number of the same reasons anybody else nearly hits you. The fact he is a cyclist and you think he is a good driver is irrelevant, carelessness and lack of discipline are human nature, not driver nature.

We are not taught how to look properly when we learn to drive and the work load in a car is quite high for us, especially when we are tired/distracted/in a rush.

There are a few articles about how to look (one on the BBC website actually) that suggest that small things like bikes get lost in the saccades when we do a quick glance up the road and that we need to look more methodically. Also the A pillar on the average modern car creates a very large blind spot – and we tend to be too lazy to move our heads to look. Maybe look them up and send them to your friend.

[P3t3]

He nearly hit you for any
He nearly hit you for any number of the same reasons anybody else nearly hits you. The fact he is a cyclist and you think he is a good driver is irrelevant, carelessness and lack of discipline are human nature, not driver nature.

We are not taught how to look properly when we learn to drive and the work load in a car is quite high for us, especially when we are tired/distracted/in a rush.

There are a few articles about how to look (one on the BBC website actually) that suggest that small things like bikes get lost in the saccades when we do a quick glance up the road and that we need to look more methodically. Also the A pillar on the average modern car creates a very large blind spot – and we tend to be too lazy to move our heads to look. Maybe look them up and send them to your friend.

here is one version of the article http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/

[Beatnik69]

If there was traffic behind
If there was traffic behind you it’s possible that your light was lost in the glare of the headlights. Even a very bright cycle light will get swamped by some of the incredibly bright modern headlights.

[notfastenough]

I was approaching a T
I was approaching a T junction (I’m on the top of the T, heading straight past the left turn), when a cyclist approched from the side road. Middle-aged fella, road bike and lycra on a quiet morning. He came to a near-stop as he checked for traffic both ways – then pulled out straight across me. My reaction of “oh cheers mate!” elicited a “oh cr@p, sorry pal!”. Despite being a cyclist (rather than just pootling along from A to B), he just wasn’t in the habit of looking for other cyclists.

Also, I think this is why lights are essential. Sure, you can see a car without it’s lights on, but that’s the point – people are looking for those. A flashing light is attention-grabbing.

[Daveyraveygravey]

I was approaching an angled
I was approaching an angled junction in my car close to home; the road I was on is a quiet road from the town to a main road; if the main road is clear you can join it at about 20 mph, maybe more. Making that decision is a bit of a judgement call, there isn’t a lot of distance to stop if you change your mind.
I was approaching this junction about a year ago, glanced to the right and thought it was clear. For some strange reason I had a second longer look and spotted a cyclist who I would probably have driven into if I hadn’t looked again.
I too think I am a good driver, and especially considerate around cyclists and was shocked that I had nearly run into a bike. The cyclist didn’t have any light that I remember, but it was daylight.
My only explanation is I didn’t take enough care to look properly; perhaps I was just looking for something large like a car or lorry. I’ve changed how I drive because of it, and take more care of drivers at junctions when on my bike.

[Leviathan]

Habituation, simple as. I’ve
Habituation, simple as. I’ve often been going along a perfectly clear empty cycle lane along side traffic; a car on the left wants to pull out; the string of cars is slowing for a junction up ahead; one particular car decides they will brake and let the turning car out; it is only polite isn’t it? Oblivious to my presence I am suddenly faced with a car pulling out in front of me and me ‘seemingly’ undertaking the stopping car dangerously. In actuality the driver pulling out can be looking straight at you but is only looking for the gaps and grabbing at the chance of a courtesy. They are not looking for cyclists, just looking at the other cars. I am very, very wary of any vehicle decelerating in front of me or beside me, even if they don’t turn themselves they let others do so.

[Author]

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