[IanMSpencer]

Just a video of the problems of trying to ride assertively when faced with a driver who is more interested in passing a cyclist than assessing the road ahead. Near in mind the situation ahead was both a lot more obvious than shown in the video, and it is a normal scenario at this point in the road. More background in the video description.

https://youtu.be/blOPYwvqdEI

The discussion point for me is: I had worked out a long time before the car tried to pass that there was a car behind and a typical driver might want to try and overtake, but was bound to stop immediately in front of me, so before the car had tried to overtake the cyclists behind me I had already recognised that there was a potential conflict and had a decision point, to keep left and encourage a pass and be immediately blocked (together with likely close pass as they reacted to oncoming traffic and the path needed for a planned stop) or to take a position that made it clear I was intending to ride past the parked van. 

Being in an assertive frame of mind, I therefore moved out into primary at about 20 seconds (in part with the protection of the oncoming traffic) at about 25 seconds the car overtakes the bikes behind. At 28 seconds I have positioned even further to the right as I pass a junction as a clear block and display of intent to pass the parked van, I am expecting the car to draw up behind me, can’t really hear anything and at this point watching the road ahead not my mirror. At 30 seconds, the BMW has accelerated hard to race me to the parked car and has nearly passed me (I think at more than 30mph) but is braking as they’ve worked out there is nowhere to go and has not got far enough ahead to pull in but is clearly committing to coming to a full halt in the face of the oncoming car and the slowing queue ahead. I am surprised at his appearance. 32 seconds I am braking as he is moving across, loud shout as I spot the open window, assessing whether I am going to have to emergency stop and swerve out the way and by 34 seconds I have cleared him and am protected from any shenanigans by the presence of the oncoming car which caused the car to brake. The critical point in the encounter is as I shout, because if you look at his line to a point of safety it seems likely he is going to dive to the rear of the parked van requiring a hard stop – which is the same bit of road I need to brake in and even though I’ve started braking I doubt I can stop if he forces his way across.

In summary, I had seen a potential for conflict, tried to mitigate it by taking a dominant position while taking into account the unfolding situation and instead the driver put himself and me at risk by doubling down on trying to force a pass.

What might you have done differently? 

Topic

[IanMSpencer]

I nearly agree with you, but

I nearly agree with you, but in the moment they weren’t going past they were braking and looking to pull in. There were a couple of subtle factors, the Range Rover had been blocked but the traffic had cleared and it was accelerating – it was only in response to the oncoming car it braked (which allowed the BMW to force its way through, in part because I had taken away the option to swerve in front of the van which their initial track seemed to indicate they were doing (which was why I shouted, not because they had passed, but because they looked like they were about to steal my road). So in the instant I felt that moving across would effectively cause teh BMW to take up a position behind the van allowing the Range Rover through, which would not have left any road space for me to even be in secondary.

But yes, one of the reasons I put it up was an argument with myself and my instincts! I think next time I might remind myself that drivers don’t follow the HWC.

[Mungecrundle]

The cyclist’s road
Seeing the cyclist’s road positioning, observation of the hazard ahead and basic ability to judge speed and distance would have made it obvious to any driver with the intellect of a gerbil or higher that they weren’t going to make that daft overtake.

Only thing you could realistically do different is dive towards the curb and brake to safety at the first sign of trouble, but realistically when in that situation, your own primitive driver brain is thinking that the car driver isn’t going to actually follow through and there is always a case to be made that you stay consistent with regard to speed and course as your own evasive actions may actually confuse the driver further.

[IanMSpencer]

Yep, the last time a car

Yep, the last time a car pulled out on me and I ended up immediately behind them I dicovered that an ABS stop in a car outbrakes bike disc brakes so I didn’t want to be on the bumper, so in the first instance I was really just trying to lay claim to my braking zone and reacting without a lot of thought to how things developed.

[HoarseMann]

Assertive riding can’t

Assertive riding can’t prevent a driver making a stupid move, but it mostly can create space to enable the cyclist to take evasive action. Riding in primary worked here as the BMW used the opposing lane to pass.

You managed to handle it with a shout and a swerve, with a fast unfolding situation like that you do have to react on instinct. But as Awavey says, I think once the car was committed, a better option would be to move back to secondary and brake, to let them get past. Although you would have to consider the following riders wouldn’t crash into the back of you.

[OnYerBike]

I don’t think you could (or

I don’t think you could (or should) have done anything different in advance. However, when watching the video it appears* that once the BMW driver comes into shot, the more prudent course of action may have been to slow down and remain behind the BMW. 

*I note what you say about the camera angle distorting things, and in reality you may feel you could not have safely braked hard enough to end up behind the BMW. 

[IanMSpencer]

Yes, it certainly is the
Yes, it certainly is the alternate approach. My problem is that, in my recollection at the time, I didn’t feel I had a safe stopping strategy, in the couple of seconds between him appearing beside me and committing to a strategy, I thought evasive action would have led to the driver feeling they could have pulled across.

I guess my point to myself is that that given that my Spidey senses said the car would attempt a MGIF, why not just resign yourself to it, but I visualised being badly cut up in any MGIF scenario, the more I conceded, the more opportunity to cut me up.

Yes, the builder, but did I save him from the BMW diving into the gap behind the van and would the pedestrian be to blame in car Vs man?

[Awavey]

the issue is youll always be

the issue is youll always be subjected to a MGIF there, because the majority of drivers will only focus on you as the primary obstacle and not the secondary bit theyre driving into next.

So I think once the BMW commits to the overtake of you, Id have been tempted to just let him go ahead and force him to own his mistake, whilst I appreciate it baulks you for something thats not your fault and you have to make a rapid stop and worry that the riders following you are paying enough attention to that, you kind of have to ride it expecting you arent going to get through that without someone overtaking you first and possibly even second.

and the danger to go through the gap is you’re instantly in the door zone of the parked van and you then had the pedestrian stepping around it who is taking their cues off the motorised traffic for if its safe to be there and not expecting or listening out for you, a second or two earlier in their stride and youd be in collision, which would almost certainly be wholly pinned on you.

plus then Mr BMW is now stuck behind you again, he’s already demonstrated his poor situational awareness, and is likely to make even more of hash of the next overtake as now he almost certainly believes youve held him up, and might try when theres even less of a gap so becomes much less safe for you.

 

[wtjs]

Just like Lancashire, but

Just like Lancashire, but with better roads

[Daveyraveygravey]

I bet if you put that on FB

I bet if you put that on FB you’ll get lots of great advice…

I wouldn’t have done anything different.  BMW driver.  Not reading the road.  MGIF.

[Author]

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