A cyclist who was hit by a turning driver on a newly-upgraded section of Cycle Superhighway 2 in London has thanked the person who uploaded a video of the incident. Writing in the comments to our original story, ra786 says he wouldn’t have had the driver’s details without the footage.
The video – captured by another rider, who was cycling on the main carriageway at the time – shows the driver of a Vauxhall Corsa turn left into the middle of a group of three cyclists, hitting the third with the side of her car. She is said to have subsequently offered the excuse, “I’m pregnant and wearing glasses.”
Ra786 wrote:
“Hi everyone, I am the cyclist who was involved in the accident on the clip above and I would like to thank the gentleman who caught the whole thing on video and released it because without that I wouldn’t have the driver’s details. Also like to thank the people who stopped to check on me. I am well and recovering from my injuries but not been on my bike since.”
The cyclist also included a photograph of the damage to his knees.
Cycle Superhighway 2 is mid-way through an upgrade that will see the majority of the route protected from traffic by concrete kerbs. The kerbs disappear at side roads so that motor traffic can turn, with a dotted line indicating that cyclists have priority over turning traffic. Separate traffic light phases will help protect from left hooks at major junctions.
21 thoughts on “Rider left-hooked on CS2 thanks helmet cam cyclist who captured the incident”
How hairy?
How hairy?
a very visual way to
a very visual way to illustrate answers 1 and 2 to the oft-posed question as to why cyclists shave their legs.
1. it’s better to have shaved legs when you get road rash
2. just looks better
3. more aerodynamic
I recommend that you print out this picture, carry it in your wallet, and just show it to the next person who asks why cyclists shave their legs. That should stop the discussion quite effectively 🙂
clayfit wrote:
Yeah shaving legs looks great – not at all femanine either, cough…
And I wonder what percentage
And I wonder what percentage of drivers realise a dotted line means they don’t have priority? Surely this is going to result in more left hooks, not less?
kil0ran wrote:
I would think ALL drivers know it, but probably a vast number don’t fully comprehend them.
How many driver would dream of driving on the wrong side of the road? I would hope all drivers understand what lanes are on a motorway for example. Where the breakdown comes is understanding that all white lines are the same, it doesn’t matter if it is left or right of you the meaning doesn’t change.
mrmo wrote:
I don’t know, I still saw plenty of online comments blaming the cyclist. A mix of “cyclist going too fast” and “why didn’t he give way to the indicating car”.
Whether those comments are knowledge based or not is another question. There’s a certain type who will always blame the cyclist and I think for many of them it’s what they genuinely believe rather than intentional trolling.
mrmo wrote:
No. Taxi driver taking side roac on left without indicating on slowing down told me I was a lunatic for expecting him to indicate as he crossed the line. Claimed no need as due to the main road curving he was not turning ghe steering wheel therefore going straight on and no indicating needed
Anyone wanting to cross would get half a second to scatter out of the way unless they guessed correctly he would leave the main road.
wycombewheeler wrote:
Ah, taxi drivers those wonderful experienced professional drivers who are verily the fount of all knowledge.
He was wrong, of course, but not knowing that he was wrong shows a scarily large hole in his professional knowledge.
Unfortunately, I don’t think that he’s alone in believing that it’s the direction of travel that matters, not whether you are leaving the main carriageway.
kil0ran wrote:
Some signage to accompany the dotted lines might be a good idea. That and an IQ test for all drivers…
Doesn’t matter if you shave
Doesn’t matter if you shave your legs – cycling on this sort of ‘infrastructure’ will always be “hairy”.
“I’m pregnant and wearing
“I’m pregnant and wearing glasses”
What?
So if he only got her details
So if he only got her details from the video, I assume that confirms that she left the scene of an injury accident without exchanging details, as in “leaving the scene of an accident” and has now been reported to the police for causing the accident and then leaving.
Anyone can have a momentary lapse and end up in an accident, but leaving the scene without exchanging details is a calculated act.
I like the way there’s an
I like the way there’s an almost immediate ‘honk’ straight way. Not clear who it’s from, but it does seem to be a ‘go and bleed in the gutter, 2-wheeled scum – out of my way!’.
“I like the way there’s an
“I like the way there’s an almost immediate ‘honk’ straight way. Not clear who it’s from – See more at: http://road.cc/content/news/172737-rider-left-hooked-cs2-thanks-helmet-cam-cyclist-who-captured-incident#sthash.wVZc6yj3.dpuf“
think it is from driver of car trying to right turn into the side road who lacks the observational skills to see that another driver has managed to put a cyclist in the middle of where they want to go – no way are they going to give up that gap – all a bit sad
antigee wrote:
I was hit once by a car, who had crossed in front of me to go down the junction on my left (so was coming towards me, and had turned right from their perspective)
The car stopped straight away, with me on the bonnet, but as it had stopped in front of the cars who were wanting to come out of the junction onto the road, it became a hoot frenzy. Even as I was still lying limp over the bonnet!
riotgibbon wrote:
Imagine what the frenzy would have been like had you not been limp…
Glad you;re alright son.
Glad you;re alright son.
I think I am in the “Flawed
I think I am in the “Flawed design” camp! Having a cycle lane with priority against those turning left like that would be a new concept for many drivers (and, yes, myself included). The problem is two fold: firstly, a driver wouldn’t expect to have a cyclist moving up quickly on the inside and, secondly, there would be a large blindspot in which the cyclist would not be visible. It is all very well blaming the driver but I can honestly understand how that accident happened. As a cyclist, I would be very cautious about taking any inside line of traffic turning left, even if I did supposedly have the right of way and there were a few dotted lines there to ‘protect’ me. Being in the right means little if left lying on the road.
This all shows that infrastructure changes are difficult to get right without extensive communication to go along with it (as well as early inclusion in all learner driving).
Bobbinogs wrote:
It’s only a blind spot to a driver who isn’t prepared to look. This kind of cycle path works fine in Denmark and the cars there are pretty much the same as the cars here. It works there, but only because in Denmark drivers are educated to look out for cyclists and other road users.
Separated at birth?
Separated at birth?
This is why I avoid cycling
This is why I avoid cycling on the
pavementcycle path. A segregated cycle network is never going to work unless it really is truly segregated because there are too many plonkers in cars.Cycling infastructure is a big theme in the UK and the intention of providing safe cycling is commendable. But I hate to see the situation we have here in Germany developing in the UK. Here we have cycle paths almost everywhere and the law requires cyclists to use many of them (it depends on the signage) and, even when not mandatory, motorists often get shirty when you ride on the road. The cycle paths themselves are usually poorly surfaced and poorly lit, they are full of the usual obstacles (pedestrians, parked vehicles, dogs on leads, dogs not on leads, etc.) and – as in this article – you can be pretty sure some nob is going to turn down a side road and collide with you.