SMIDSY

We shouldn't have to share road space with deadly objects, that is true. But whilst we do, is there anything wrong with such pragmatism?

@Tjuice: Eloquent reply to usual reactionary, polarzing debate on here.

And well done for not getting into the H****T debate.

Common sense. If its crap weather and dark, then wear bright clothes, a hi viz jacket and flashing lights. If its a bright summers day, wear what you want.

The only such incident I was a victim of also happened to be a bright sunny day when I was wearing a high-viz backpack cover. It was also a hit-and-run.

Hi-viz is cobblers, in my opinion. At most its just an arms-race thing that will get factored in as an opportunity to pay even less attention, leaving everyone no better off (and the minority who refuse to wear it will be left worse off than they were before).

But I agree that SMIDSY drivers are not wicked, its just that _all_ human beings are fallible. Which to me means its probably not a sensible arrangement to have human beings operating powered armour and blunt-impact weapons (er, cars!) sharing space with unarmoured and vulnerable humans.

Agree that OP was full of contrition, and think original post was a well considered flow of thought and was not an attempt to victim blame.

I drive a car; I ride bikes (many of them, albeit an awful lot less in the last 2 years (knees)); I learned to ride a motorbike a couple of years back too. When I'm on the bike in London, I do as many things as practically possible to make myself seen. Yes, that includes wearing a bright yellow jersey, a flo-yellow cover on my rucksack, *lots* of lights on bike when dark/dusk, taking primary position where sensible, and avoiding being hidden behind obstructions in the run-up to junctions, etc. I fully agree that I should not have to do this if I am fully compliant with all road regulations (which I work hard to be - although I will never claim to be perfect - yesterday I stopped at a red light with my front wheel 6 inches over the stop line...), BUT I want to make it as hard as possible for someone's momentary lapse in concentration to rob my three children of their father. If some of the above help to achieve that, it seems an extraordinarily small price to pay.

When I'm driving, I *genuinely do* find it much easier to see the bright yellow (or orange or pink) brigade with the reflectives and the lights who are not hiding behind bigger vehicles, than I do the cyclists in grey/dark clothes with poor/no lights in the dark. As a driver, I am constantly aware that I need to look out for vulnerable road users irrespective of their level of visibility, but it is definitely easier and more instant to see the ones that have made an effort to stand out.

Like others here, I pride myself on my clean driving / road safety record over more than two decades, but there are many drivers whose awareness of the unfolding events on the road is significantly less acute than my own. Perhaps many of them should not be on the roads, but it is a fact of life that they are, and while that is the case, I am going to do what I can to minimise the likelihood of their mistakes affecting me on my bike.

Swami Dave,

Personally I'd be far happier to be sharing the roads with people like yourself who acknowledge and learn from the situations / mistakes / errors of judgement that we all make, than with those who consider themselves to be driving Gods, above such human imperfection.

I wonder if the cyclist in question has considered (and I am making an assumption here that he has an interest in self preservation) if he could do anything different to avoid a similar future occurrence? Because if his answer is to simply blame a car driver for not seeing him then I can pretty much guarantee that it is going to happen to him again.

M

Stuff happens, at least you made an effort.

I think it is obvious from the original post the op is full of contrition so no need to berate them further. It is a welcome reminder to us all as motorists and cyclists to be vigilant all and every time, as it only takes one single lapse of concentration.

I didn't read this as victim blaming rather re-inforcing the need to be vigilant around cars as, if a regular cyclist can miss another cyclist when driving, how easy is it for a non-cyclist to miss a cyclist.

I'm with Superpython on this one.

1. It could be argued that you didn't look but glanced in the general direction.
2. You expected someone who'd possibly had a life threatening incident and be subsequently full off adrenaline to be polite and calm when you attacked them over the clothing and lights. Remember flight of fight response.
3. You then try to blame the incident on poor clothing and lack of adequate light.
4. And problably worse, you forgot what it is like to be a cyclist in such conditions.

I found this quite an interesting road, it may explain a few things: http://www.slobc.org/safety/documents/road-survival-guide.pdf

It's a fighter pilot describing his view (based on his experience as a pilot) on how/why collisions like this may occur.

Blimey mate- it's all obviously common sense, but I'd get the tin hat on pretty quickly- self-righteous flamers on the starboard bow.

I tend to work on the assumption that any car emerging from any junction has not seen me and is likely to pull out, until I have clear evidence to the contrary. If that means slowing down if necessary to make sure I can avoid the car, so be it. Take responsibility for the possible carelessness of others.

Blimey mate- it's all obviously common sense, but I'd get the tin hat on pretty quickly- self-righteous flamers on the starboard bow.

I tend to work on the assumption that any car emerging from any junction has not seen me and is likely to pull out, until I have clear evidence to the contrary. If that means slowing down if necessary to make sure I can avoid the car, so be it. Take responsibility for the possible carelessness of others.

Well said, absolutely.

After I was knocked off I realised that the driver was only doing something that I did myself all the time while driving in the countryside (entering a roundabout only really looking for cars, not cyclists). And therefore, there but for the grace of...

Since then I've always double-looked at junctions, consciously scanning the full width of the road as well as the middle of the lane. And I still nearly pulled out in front of someone the other day who was hidden by my car's A-pillar.

Be safe out there folks.