[HoldingOn]

As I am sure most people do at some point, I have a voice in my head that often tells me I am wrong. It’s especially loud the more inexperienced I am.

I have been cycling regularly for about 18 months now. I don’t consider myself new, but I also don’t know other people that regularly cycle – other than the good people on here.

There is a particular junction on my route home, where I cycle towards a joining road – my road sweeps hard left and they join right on the corner. It is Give Way for the joining traffic. I often am faced with cars not giving way. Twice now I have submitted footage to the police and twice they have rejected it. The last time was with the statement (I had to raise a complaint to get the statement): 

[quote]The reported vehicle looked to pull away from the give way junction a long time before the reporting cyclist reaches the junction. The reporting cyclist rides straight at the “offending vehicle” whilst moving into the right-hand lane, the lane that the vehicle is already in. NFA on this occasion.[/quote]

In my submission I made it clear that I was braking before the car pulled out, but had to brake hard (my back wheel locked) as the car swung out to cover both lanes, leaving me with no where to go.

As the police have done nothing, I have uploaded it to YouTube, to ensure other cyclists can see what is going on.
The internet being the lovely place it is, has given me this comment on the video:
[quote]Another trouble making cyclist. U turned a complete non event into something. Could’ve just slowed ever so slightly but nope you needed something to upload?[/quote]

My question is/are – should I have slowed a lot more and given way to the car? If the car had indeed pulled away from the junction “a long time” before I got there, surely I wouldn’t have needed to brake at all, nevermind braking then hard braking?

For my own safety, looking back over the video, I should have braked a lot harder at the start, but at the same time, if I had been in a car and not on my bike, I would have at least honked my horn, as I would have expected the car to Give Way.

https://youtu.be/wrvHsFYM5_w

Topic

[brooksby]

Quote:

If the car had indeed pulled away from the junction “a long time” before I got there, surely I wouldn’t have needed to brake at all, nevermind braking then hard braking?

Or, as Holdingon has said in their OP, quoted above – if the operator of the oncoming vehicle (which in this case was a bicycle) has to taken any action to avoid a collision then you’re not giving due consideration to the other road users, which surely is an offence.

[Jimmy Ray Will]

Yeah, I’d be tempted to kick

Yeah, I’d be tempted to kick that back for an appeal. 

Removing any residual bias, the reality is that the car moved into a gap that was only viable if the approaching cyclist adjusted their speed and line to accommodate them. That’s not how these junctions are supposed to work. 

Now you might argue that the cyclist could have reacted sooner; that their reactions exaggerated the potential seriousness of the situation, but that’s completely missing the point surely? 

Was the cyclist in the wrong for taking the line they did? No. 

Was the car obliged to giveway? Yes

Did the car’s movement force the cyclist to change speed / direction? Yes

By my understanding the very definition of driving without due care / consideration.

I’m not saying this needs more than a warning letter, but this feels like the police are facilitating aggressive driving behaviours by accepting this.

[Rendel Harris]

Apologies, I didn’t see the

Apologies, I didn’t see the video link at the bottom of your comment. It absolutely confirms that the driver was in the wrong and as Hirsute says the police would very likely have acted if you were in a car rather than on a bike. The Highway Code rule is that you must give way to traffic on the main road; if said traffic, without accelerating, can come that close to you it has clearly not obeyed this requirement.

[HoldingOn]

I pulled this from my ride in

I pulled this from my ride in this morning.

It is a shot from the other direction – the markings are a bit more obvious and there is a Give Way sign on the right. (the road is two lanes, in one direction)

There is a comment on the video asking if I indicated – I don’t normally cycle in primary, this is one of the few places I do, because I had a car once pull along side me as I went round the corner, meaning I couldn’t move to the right lane as I wanted. I indicate right to let cars know I am moving into primary, but don’t indicate left as there is no other way for me to go.

[OnYerBike]

The road markings don’t help

The road markings don’t help in this case – the hashed triangle bit might give the impression that the driver can pull out into the right-hand lane whilst you are expected to stay in the left-hand lane.

But I would certainly agree that the driver was at fault anyway – if nothing else they did not remain in the right-hand lane; and it would beg the question what the point of the give way marking is, if not requring drivers to give way to oncoming traffic. 

[Hirsute]

I think if you had been a car
I think if you had been a car, they would have not done it or the police would have shown more interest.
Strikes me as one you’d see on a dash cam compilation if you were a car.
I see cyclinggaz does a car overlay on a few of his videos just to get in people’s heads ‘would you have done this if I were a car?’

[HoldingOn]

Thank you. It’s certainly not

Thank you. It’s certainly not the scariest interaction I have had on the road, but it is the one that has me questioning myself the most. Certainly after the police told me I was wrong (I’m of an age where the police were always right) 
Without this website and its users, I would have spent a long time trying to figure out the answer.

You have also helped make up my mind on whether to subscribe.

[Rendel Harris]

As far as I’m aware, and was

As far as I’m aware, and was taught by my motorcycle instructor, you should never pull across a give way if in doing so you are going to force oncoming traffic in either direction to take evasive action, even if that’s just lifting off the accelerator. So if you had to brake hard to avoid a car pulling over the give way you are definitely within your rights to feel aggrieved both by the driver’s action and the police’s dismissal of your complaint.

[Author]

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