Footage has emerged of a female cyclist riding on the wrong side of the road on the B945 in North-East Fife. An oncoming van is seen swerving to avoid her.
The Evening Telegraph reports that the incident occurred a few miles south of the Tay Road Bridge.
Duncan Dollimore, senior road safety officer at Cycling UK, said:
“While it is unclear how the woman cycling found herself in such a position, in her own interest and that of the other road users, she should not have been cycling on the wrong side of the road.
“Her actions put not just herself at risk, but also — as the footage shows — others. Cycling UK encourages all road users — whether driving or cycling — to behave sensibly and most importantly safely on our roads without taking risks like this.”
Arnie spotted cycling on wrong side of road in Edinburgh
Tay Bridge head councillor Tim Brett said that the B945, the main route into St Andrews, was a busy road. “The speed limit has been reduced on roads in the area, particularly around Drumoig, to 40mph and 50mph in some stretches.
“I hope the police were contacted because that is totally irresponsible of the individual — who knows why they were doing it?”
Cycling campaigner, Bez, gave one possible explanation why the cyclist might have decided to ride where she did.
I'm sure we all agree this isn't smart. But remember where pedestrians are advised to walk on roads with no footway.https://t.co/Zp0BLMlhZ0
— Bez (@beztweets) April 12, 2017
Sandy Allan, road safety manager at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Scotland, emphasised the need to be vigilant when driving on country roads.
“The Highway Code is a set of rules for the road intended to keep us safe and applies to all users. We should be aware of these and respect them regardless of the circumstances and personal perspective. Other road users anticipate certain courses of action.
“This particular incident emphasises how driving on country roads can be unpredictable no matter how well you know a particular stretch. You never know what might be around the corner.”
33 thoughts on “Video: Van driver has to swerve to avoid cyclist on wrong side of the road”
Yeah we were always told to
Yeah we were always told to walk facing traffic and everyone did so (grew up in the sticks) but never saw a cyclist do it
Maybe she’s from a different country, took a right turn at the junction just before there and that was the first bit of traffic she came across.
I have to confess that I have
I have to confess that I have ridden on the wrong side of the road in Greece. Relaxed and not paying attention. The roads were empty. I only realised when a car can up the road from behind.
leaway2 wrote:
I bet you thought they were just exceptionally decent drivers giving you lots of space.
leaway2 wrote:
I’ve done the same in a car, leaving a hotel in Belgium one morning with a mate in the car, van coming the other way soon made us both wake up!
I was nearly hit by a coach
I was nearly hit by a coach (German company) on the wrong side of the road – it was early morning, he’d just turned off the A9 – probably an easy mistake to make if you’re not properly paying attention. Which is a shit excuse, but apparently acceptable as a reason for killing people if you are a driver, so presumably also is if you’re a cyclist not killing people?
Yes, if that’s where you
Yes, if that’s where you should expect to find pedestrians, should this really be classed as dangerous if she’s going as slowly as she obviously was.
DrJDog wrote:
Yes
Ok… so what is this article
Ok… so what is this article, in fact all this covering trying to say?
‘see, I told you cyclists deserved it, look at how this one is trying to cause an accident… they are all at it!’
What I see is a person riding a bike, who clearly needs rapid education. Was this person on holiday per chance?
I am sure she was not thinking it was OK to ride on the wrong side of the road as “car drivers can just get the fuck out of my way”, she was behaving in ignorance.
What I also see however is a van driver, that with clear vision of the road ahead and the improperly placed cyclist make no adjustment to their speed and the bare minimum adjustment to their line to avoid the cyclist.
If that had been a pedestrian, that pass would have been highly questionned. However, as it was a cyclist, it was seen as being OK, as though the punishment pass was justifiable.
It wasn’t.
Yes she was being stupid, ignorant, incompetent… but she didn’t need to fear for her life because of that.
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
If you’re riding contrary to the accepted traffic rules then perhaps you really should fear for your life. Not doing so makes it more likely you’ll be killed. It’s a bit like walking on the edge of large drop and not being scared.
I can’t believe you say she’s stupid, ignorant, incompetent but yet somehow she shouldn’t be bothered about her actions? What next? No stopping at roundabouts – someone will give way? Straight through pedestrian crossings on red – pedestrians will give way?
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
Well, the confusion here is probably that the person on the bicycle is used to being a motorist, and to be fair to her they are allowed to do whatever they want. That includes killing other people on the roads. So I share your indignation and outrage that this woman should think the same privileges extend to her on a bike. What next? Will commoners expect a health care service paid from the taxes of the productive wealthy?!
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
Didn’t say she shouldn;t be bothered my fried, I am contesting that she needed a ‘punishment pass’ to show her who was boss and the error of her ways.
This is 2017, there are more effective ways to educate someone than simply scaring them by deliberately threatening their life.
Not sure how you can get from punishment passes to your other examples… although ironically there is some parity.
The van dirver drove in a way that would equate to a pedestrian crossing a pedestrian crossing late, and the driver saying, “fuck it, my right of way, move bitches!” and driving straight for the pedestrians.
Or the car driver with right of way on a roundabout not braking and driving at and maybe into the car failing to give way infront of them…. “I’m in the right, get out of my way”
Yes its annoying that people are doing incorrect things infront of you, but to me that doesn’t give you cart blanche to drive into them.
it’s political correctness
it’s political correctness gone mad!
Perhaps she’s just a shite
Perhaps she’s just a shite cyclist who doesn’t give a toss……
Stumps wrote:
I seriously doubt it… I suspect it is an uneducated cyclist riding in error.
I can’t believe people automatically default to the lowest common denominator.
I’m actually starting to feel
I’m actually starting to feel sorry for Duncan Dollimore, always having to approve or disapprove of all things relating to cycling saftey – I bet he dreams of not giving a flying fuck.
We saw one doing it Sunday,
We saw one doing it Sunday, presumed they were French…
Regardless of this cyclist’s
Regardless of this cyclist’s mistake, which really wasn’t dangerous in itself due to her low speed… the van driver’s pass is incredibly dangerous.
Not cycling exactly the way you are expected to does not mean you deserve whatever is done to you.
SO WHAT if she was on the
SO WHAT if she was on the other side. The shocker here is the fact that the van driver *chose* to not slow down, to stay in the lane, and to therefore pass her incredibly close at a relatively high speed.
The van driver should have slowed. Her speed was very low, therefore there was little differential closing speed compared with if she had been cycling the other direction. EITHER WAY, the van driver put multiple lives at risk, because they couldn’t be arsed backing off the gas. The van driver *has no right* to proceed as they did.
In this case it was a cyclist. It could also have been:
It’s a sad indictment on UK road culture that in other online comments there is so much instant blame piled on the cyclist and nary a word against the person piloting the lethal heavy weapon with braking and steering controls.
I know that road very well,
I know that road very well, the incident is exactly here:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/B945,+Tayport+DD6/@56.4109613,-2.8928842,3a,75y,31.92h,70.97t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sXaQ2n_IUbEwJ-tZDnMOmDw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DXaQ2n_IUbEwJ-tZDnMOmDw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D117.288734%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x48865be5ecc3e0f9:0x82df6e90639f1e35!8m2!3d56.421698!4d-2.8893214
There could be a few reasons for this but i know from expereience the sweeping left hand corner she’s coming upto is often taken at 50-60mph and is narrow. Cars passing = ok, cars passing + 1 cyclist = not ok
I always felt nervous on that corner and would ride about 2/3 out in my lane so any car coming up behind would see me. If you rode in the gutter the car coming from behind wouldn’t see you until the last second where it would take evasive action – unless there was a car coming the other way…
Very helpful of the drivers*
Very helpful of the drivers* to have carried on without bothering to have a word with the cyclist.
* By which I mean the drivers of the car, the van and, presumably, numerous other vehicles that would have passed the cyclist in either direction.
I know that road very well,
I know that road very well, the incident is exactly [b]here[/b]
There could be a few reasons for this but i know from expereience the sweeping left hand corner she’s coming upto is often taken at 50-60mph and is narrow. Cars passing = ok, cars passing + 1 cyclist = not ok
I always felt nervous on that corner and would ride about 2/3 out in my lane so any car coming up behind would see me. If you rode in the gutter the car coming from behind wouldn’t see you until the last second where it would take evasive action – unless there was a car coming the other way…
Arseholes in car barrelling
Arseholes in car barrelling along narrow road round blind bends: “oh look, see that cyclist you can see unlike the one that might be around the next bend… they’re crazy”.
But this was in Scotland and aren’t they having a referendum about driving on the right?
So if this had being a runner
So if this had being a runner going same or even faster then how would this have come across. one person doing zero actual harm, then one in a machine in the hands of a cretinous selfish bastard which we know kills and maims in the tens of thousands.
Police should do the van driver who deliberately drives close to the human being putting them at risk of harm and induce fear but all the focus is on the person not threating anyone. same old BS.
Strangley enough I saw a
Strangley enough I saw a cyclist riding the wrong way along the A34 just outside Stafford yesterday evening.
We stopped and stopped him. He was a very lost, very confussed Eastern European looking for the fruit farm we was working/staying at. He had the address written down as he’d only arrived on Saturday (the local fruit farms emply loads of them through to about September) and just picked his bike up from the local bike charity shop.
Not only was the poor bloke scared shitless he was going totally in the wrong direction. We stuck is bike on the roof and took him back to the farm.
S13SFC wrote:
Nice one.
Have to admit, I’ve done this
Have to admit, I’ve done this quite a few times on the continent on holiday. Usually first thing in the morning too. Will hit the road cycling on the ‘British’ side, see a car on the same side of the road heading straight at me at the first thought is always; “who’s this fucking mentalist?”.
Me, of course, is the answer…
HalfWheeler wrote:
As long as you weren’t wearing anything that identified you as coming from the UK, fine, otherwise …
HalfWheeler wrote:
Never cycled on the continent, but when a pedestrian there invariably find myself looking the wrong way when crossing the road.
It really is about time the non-island nations of the world stopped being so contrarian and got their act together to switch to driving on the correct side.
Now let’s just presume that
Now let’s just presume that the cyclist was on the side of the road travelling with the flow of traffic….is the overtaking manoeuvre by the van driver into oncoming traffic any less dangerous? The cyclist didn’t look like she was travelling very fast. Had it been, say a walker with a dog on a lead walking contra flow would the van driver have slowed or possibly stopped and not driven at the car that provided the in car video….
S13SFC, you are a very nice
S13SFC, you are a very nice person.
Yet again we see so called
Yet again we see so called “safety experts” and arm chair commentators who have no idea failing to understand how some things are actually safer when not done “legally”.
The road is obviously narrow with insufficent space to safely pass cyclists when there’s some close passing jerk in a van & another jerk in a vehicle with a video camera coming the otherway who doesn’t think to slow down to allow the van to overtake a bit over the line for safety. What is really safer in such situations – 1/ ride legally but with your back to traffic so you don’t know if someone is about to run up your rear end. or 2/ ride against the traffic like pedestrians are advised to on country roads so that you can see the oncoming hazardous vehicle and if necessary go off the road to avoid it?
I’m in Australia & have often choosen option 2/ when on narrow country roads because it is actually safer! Around town I wouldn’t normally do it but there are 1 or 2 situations where it would work well.
This is just another example of where poor driver attitude and lack of attention causes a very significant risk to other road users and means its safer for cyclists not to follow road rules designed only for motor vehicles. It’s also yet another example of where too many people poorly judge others & apply peer group pressure without considering what is really best in the circumstances.
I think if I was ever in a
I think if I was ever in a situation where riding into oncoming traffic on an unsighted bend was the safer option, then I’d get off and walk.