A motorist in South London has filmed the moment a cyclist negotiating a mini-roundabout was sent flying from their bike after another driver approached the junction without slowing down, and apparently without seeing the rider.
The driver of the car with the dashcam recording the footage on Sunday stops at the broken line at the Whitehorse Road entrance to the roundabout in Thornton Heath.
But to the right, another motorist doesn’t even appear to brake as she enters the junction from Whitehorse Lane and, before driving across the white-painted circle that denotes the mini-roundabout, hits the cyclist.
The rider is tossed onto the bonnet of the silver car by the impact before landing on the ground, while the motorist gets out to check on their condition then returns to the vehicle, possibly to retrieve a mobile phone.
The extent of the cyclist’s injuries is unclear. While they are able to move their upper body, they remain seated on the ground. The driver posting the footage to YouTube has not said if it has been passed to the police.
The incident bears the hallmarks of the type of SMIDSY – Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You – collsion or near miss that is all too familiar to cyclists on Britain’s roads, and also highlights that contrary to the rules of the road, many drivers negotiate mini-roundabouts as though they were normal junctions.
Under Rule 185 of the Highway Code, drivers are told:
When reaching the roundabout you should
give priority to traffic approaching from your right, unless directed otherwise by signs, road markings or traffic lights
check whether road markings allow you to enter the roundabout without giving way. If so, proceed, but still look to the right before joining
watch out for all other road users already on the roundabout; be aware they may not be signalling correctly or at all
look forward before moving off to make sure traffic in front has moved off.
Rule 187 says that at roundabouts, motorists must “In all cases watch out for and give plenty of room to … cyclists and horse riders who may stay in the left-hand lane and signal right if they intend to continue round the roundabout. Allow them to do so.”
Mini-roundabouts are governed specifically by Rule 188, which says: “Approach these in the same way as normal roundabouts. All vehicles MUST pass round the central markings except large vehicles which are physically incapable of doing so. Remember, there is less space to manoeuvre and less time to signal. Avoid making U-turns at mini-roundabouts. Beware of others doing this.”
61 thoughts on “Video: London cyclist sent flying as motorist drives through mini-roundabout”
The speed at which she
The speed at which she assists is breathtaking.
I’m guessing the excuse will
I’m guessing the excuse will be “shadow into light” and “being blinded by the sun”……unless of course the driver just admits to being a complete choob and not giving a fcuk about the cyclist already having right of way on the roundabout..
No doubt her solicitor will tell the court there was no evidence of careless driving and she will be sentenced to a week off work and a KitKat.
Too many drives don’t bother
Too many drives don’t bother stopping or even slowing down at mini roundabouts. I go across one every morning and 99% of the time drivers sail straight over it without really looking.
Just shows 1 tonne plus
Just shows 1 tonne plus versus human= rag doll and likely serious injury. Frightening to see!
Shit me, that is horrific
Shit me, that is horrific
This roundabout is dangerous
This roundabout is dangerous enough in a car. For whatever reason, it’s a total free for all. I would be very very reluctant and extremely careful on a bike.
drosco wrote:
You can’t say, though, that the cyclist was riding recklessly, they were just trundling across the junction.
Oranj wrote:
You can’t say, though, that the cyclist was riding recklessly, they were just trundling across the junction.— drosco
Agreed, no fault from the cyclist. That roundabout is just mad.
drosco wrote:
You can’t say, though, that the cyclist was riding recklessly, they were just trundling across the junction.
— Oranj Agreed, no fault from the cyclist. That roundabout is just mad.— drosco
Except, the roundabout isn’t mad. Assuming a driver is paying attention there’s pretty good visibility all ways, and there’s frankly no excuse for t-boning anyone there.
If visibility is bad, then why was the driver just powering through and not slowing to allow for vehicles crossing their exit?
whoishJ wrote:
I’d noticed that: compared to many mini roundabouts, this one seems pretty open, with (relatively) high visibility. So, I would hypothesize that either the driver just wasn’t looking *at all*, or else she just didn’t register the cyclist (she was looking for a big metal box, and just blinked over the slowly moving vulnerable road user who had priority and was doing everything right as far as I can see).
brooksby wrote:
Listen to Zebulebu, I lived there too, it’s a Croydon thing.
The fact that she recovers
The fact that she recovers her mobile phone from the passenger seat , is highly suggestive that she actually had it in her hand prior to the collision and threw it there post impact ( at least to me )
Magic wrote:
My thoughts as well…
vonhelmet wrote:
Yep: definitely.
brooksby wrote:
This belongs in the “I think so, therefore it is” pile of subjective facts. There’s no doubt the driver is at fault, but let’s not turn into a kangaroo court, eh?
jimbo2112 wrote:
Whilst I take your point, would you care to suggest an alternative hypothesis? The driver was distracted by a UFO, perhaps…
brooksby wrote:
No, as my point was that hypothesese are the problem. I can only comment on what I see and leave the rest to the courts of law, as I believe we all should…
jimbo2112 wrote:
Hypotheisis are the problem? I don’t think they are the main one.
I’ve never been hit by a speeding hypothesis that wasn’t looking where it was going!
Also – leaving things to the courts of law doesn’t seem to have done much to stop things like this repeatedly happening. Maybe some other approach is needed?
Oh, and as a non-driver I’m no expert on mini-roundabouts, but I’ve never understood the things or why road engineers like installing them – they seem to operate as just junctions with no clear priority, as most drivers pay no attention to the white circle and just drive across it or turn the wrong way. Do other countries have them or are they a UK ‘innovation’?
jimbo2112 wrote:
Thing is, there’s quite a bit of frustration with the courts of law, and the rest of the legal process.
There probably wouldn’t be anywhere near as much hypothesising (he hypothesised) if there weren’t so many terrible examples of justice failing to be done regarding motorists being twats.
So, first problem: motorists being twats.
Second problem: justice system being a twat regarding motorists being twats.
Third problem: shit roads and infrastructure.
Fourth problem: anyone incorrectly understanding what the real problems are.
Way down the list: people chatting shit on a Web forum.
I like how she rushes to the
I like how she rushes to the cyclists aid rapidly to help them. Not.
The way she ambles over to the injured cyclist then shuffles back to the car like she’s out for an afternoon stroll just shows without a sliver of doubt that this fucking cyclist was nothing but a damn nuisance to her, causing damage to her car and fucking up her journey.
Just on her reaction alone I’d ban her from driving for life. That really is shocking and just shows that the majority of cyclists are nothing but a nuisance on the road to a huge proportion of the driving public.
I wonder how she would react if the cyclist she struck was one of her nearest and dearest. Pfffffffffff…….
Rushing like fuck to get over
Rushing like fuck to get over the roundabout ahead of the camera car.
Nobody’s gonna start a debate about Hi viz / helmets are they? Could’ve been Mr Blobby in a mankini on a unicycle and the driver still wouldn’t have noticed, too engrossed were they at the prospect of getting a car ahead.
Looks like an elderly lady to
Looks like an elderly lady to me. Also looks like first reaction is for left hand to go to upper thigh. I hope she’s ok.
That’s horrendous. I’ll be
That’s horrendous. I’ll be interested to see how this is dealt with before the law.
Even Daily Mail readers (mostly) don’t blame the cyclist on this one: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3917334/Driver-smashes-cyclist-flies-air.html
We could really do with
We could really do with mandatory stop signs like they have in the US…. there’s a lot to be said for defensive driving.
Being generous she may have
Being generous she may have been getting her phone to call an ambulance
It did look very nasty though
The fact that she was a slow
The fact that she was a slow moving cyclist should have actually give the driver more time to react and stop.
A couple of years ago I was approaching one of these things and a driver was coming towards me on the other side. I judged it was fine to proceed ahead. The driver did not slow for the roundabout but swung to his right cutting across the central white circle and nearly clipping my back wheel. He slowed and gave me a load of verbal out his window. I only proceeded assuming he would make some attempt to go around the circle and slow his speed as you would be forced to do at a normal round about. It seems he just saw it as an elaborate speed hump.
That was horrible to watch, I
That was horrible to watch, I hope the same thing happens to the driver some time. its not like the cyclists will get any justice from a court is it
Am I the only one surprised
Am I the only one surprised by the slow (or complete lack of) response from the driver of the camera car. If you see that, why are you not racing over to help them
At a minimum the victim will
At a minimum the victim will have her(?) lower left leg smashed to pieces. Probably multiple other breaks on the left side – hip and ribs at least. Punctured lung and kidney damage also more than likely.
My teammate suffered all those plus more in a similar smash. A month in intensive care. Leg now deformed.
£200 fine.
About 3 to 4 seconds from
About 3 to 4 seconds from impact to stopping. The car travels some distance before even beginning to slow down. Clearly the foot wasn’t even covering the brake – they weren’t going to slow down whatever was at that junction.
It’s about 5 seconds from stopping to emerging from the car.
What could the driver be doing to be so obviously distracted?
Perhaps the same thing that was so much more important than driving safely? Suspect, like others, that it involved a phone.
It looked to me like the cyclist shouted at the driver to call an ambulance. The thing retrieved was under something on the seat – suspect this is what took 5 seconds – burying the phone.
A more elevated central
A more elevated central island would slow down forcibly most drivers.
Loads of British drivers don
Loads of British drivers don’t seem to do the “round” part of roundabouts and just barrel straight across. At first I thought that was the law here.
Jesus, that’s horrible to see
Jesus, that’s horrible to see. As well as the slow reaction from the driver (Who shouldn’t be driving) getting out of her car like others have said, the camera car occupants take a while to get out, maybe slightly shocked? Equally none of the cars approaching the roundabout stop to help, they just carry on as if no one is there. people just don’t care anymore, they just care about getting somewhere and not if people are lying potentially fatally injured along their route need assistance. I didn’t get hit by a car on a mini roundabout but came off after hitting oil on one (not the painted bit weirdly) and faceplanted right in front of a bunch of cars, cut my face up, grazed the inside of my mouth, smashed my knee into the road. Not one person asked if I was okay or needed assistance, they all just sat in their cars waiting for me to get out of their way. Makes me wonder about the kind of world I’ve bought my children into. I hope the Lady that was hit by this imbecile was not badly injured and has a speedy recovery.
What a feckin moron driver,
What a feckin moron driver, the license should cut up and stuffed down the driver’s throat. The feckin bastard. :/
I’m just amazed that no one
I’m just amazed that no one has pointed out the accident was probably encouraged by a vigilante camera-wielding motorist just looking for trouble.
TiNuts wrote:
What??
How on earth has the driver who filmed the incident “encouraged” the accident?
And on what basis was this driver “a vigilante camera-wielding motorist”?
SpiderDan wrote:
whooooosh!
Happened to my Dad on a
Happened to my Dad on a straight road with the motorist not looking.
Still waiting for a reply from their insurer as the bike was wrecked and worth £2k.
You have to look out!
another driver approached the
another driver approached the junction without slowing down, and apparently without EVEN BLOODY BOTHERING TO LOOK FOR APPROACHING TRAFFIC.
FTFY
If this driver doesn’t get
If this driver doesn’t get the book thrown at her by the police and CPS, then I am definitely starting a revolution, starting with torching her car. Perhaps I’ll do it anyway.
I pass a mini roundabout on
I pass a mini roundabout on my early morning commute where I regularly see oncoming drivers turn right, totally ignoring the central marking effectively driving the wrong way round the roundabout to gain access to the Driving Test Centre!
Don’t forget the old “Well,
Don’t forget the old “Well, it’s only a bike, I have seen them and I know it’s their priority, but I’ll pull out anyway because I’m sure they’ll slow down rather than hit my car/bus/lorry”. (at least, that is what I am presuming is going through their heads…).
I hope that the CPS request
I hope that the CPS request usage information from her mobile phone provider.
davenportmb wrote:
They won’t.
It remains to be seen whether the cops even decide it is worth a prosecution.
Having lived in Croydon for
Having lived in Croydon for 13 years, and knowing that roundabout very well, I can state with impunity that it IS a dangerous roundabout… but it’s dangerous because the people that live or drive through Thronton Heath are, in the main, absolute cunts.
Zebulebu wrote:
Of course its dangerous, its a mini roundabout! Its a design that encourages high speeds and careless approaches whilst making it ambiguous what other road users are about to do. Road engineers like them because they have a very high capacity, for the very same reason that they are dangerous.
What the hell was the driver
What the hell was the driver doing? They were not paying attention to the road at all. The first attempt at braking that they made was at the time the cyclist was already on the deck.
The driver was in shadow on the whole approach to the roundabout and also up to the point where they are on the roundabout, therefore cannot use the “I was blinded by the sun” excuse that they will undoubtedly try. Or the I went from shadow to sun excuse.
This is not careless driving, it is dangerous driving. On the approach to the roundabout she barely adjusted her speed. I hope the courts throw the book at her, but I would bet it will be a 3 points and £100 penalty for careless driving.
I am agreeing with most that I think the driver on the car was definitely on the phone/texting at the time of the accident which is the only reason I can see for the complete lack of concentration from the driver.
Fuck me, that’s going to give
Fuck me, that’s going to give me mini-roundabout nightmares for months. I hate the bastard things as people either grind to a halt or fly across like that utter cunt. Frightening to think that could be YOU. You could be lit up light a xmas tree and some twat could end your life because liking a cat in a halloween costume is more important.
Also, as mentioned, the shear lack of any real sign of concern from the motorist is also triggering me. The twat can’t even be bothered to even get to the floor level to help.
Also, as mentioned, the punishment will probably be the driver has already been stressed enough by the incident so no need for any thing other than a week off work and a kitkat.
Clearly the driver has made a
Clearly the driver has made a major error and is at fault. Personally I think she was stretching across the back seat to fetch her highway code to check how she should deal with mini-roundabouts. I know this because any hypothesis fits the lynch mob mentality of many posters.
I do hope the ccylist is okay and makes a speedy recovery.
Mini roundabouts are crap.
Mini roundabouts are crap. They’re retrofitted into junctions to increase throughput at the cost of making any actual bloody sense. They never reshape the pavements around them, they just pick a spot in the middle of the junction and draw a big circle and go home. It’s invariably in a stupid position so then people drive over the top of it or even practically the wrong way round it. They suck balls.
Not saying this has anything
Not saying this has anything to do with the video above, but A-pillars are thicker than they used to be and they’re not transparent. When you’re on a bike moving slowly across a mini-roundabout you can be hidden for quite some time, and at the critical time, behind the driver’s A-pillar.
I learnt this the hard way (fortunately only a bent wheel as the passenger spotted me last minute).
But now I always make sure I’m not behind the pillar, even if that means stopping on the roundabout. If you can’t see the driver’s eyes…
NOC40 wrote:
I think this is probably the most likely of explanations. I drove to work and back the other day and experienced this exactly. I was doing no more than 15mph (I’m a stickler for the 20mph on the research park where I work cos I cycle most days) approaching the roundabout and all appeared clear from the right so I continued. A small white van was right on me as soon as I drove onto the roundabout. He wouldn’t have been doing warp speed because you can’t from where he comes from so he must have approached at the same gentle speed as I did and sat behind the A pillar all the way. Scary. I wound the window and apologised at the lights just after.
Perfect example of existing
Perfect example of existing radar tech easily being able to stop this from happening. Yet it’s being offered as a paid for ‘option’ on new Fords/Volvos.
unconstituted wrote:
on a tangential note, I’ve got the Garmin radar for seeing what’s behind, and I wouldn’t want to commute without it – mostly cross-country on lanes, with the odd bit of town with pedestrian refuges. Handy for the heads-up when in the middle of nowhere, or an extra bit of info when coming narrows in the road or making a turn or something
nothing beats paying attention though.
I’m not making guesses about the driver though – it’s a very short clip, they were probably shocked, they come across as shockingly casual, but that’s just our very limited perspective …
riotgibbon wrote:
Well…. eff me! I had never heard of these before you mentioned them. Thanks for that. Just looking now:
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/cycling/varia-rearview-radar/prod518151.html
Basically the driver in
Basically the driver in question was simply ignoring the roundabout entirely, which happens far too often near where I live – too many close shaves whether I’m on the bike or in the car.
Dangerous driving I think should be the charge here.
US 4 way stops feel much
US 4 way stops feel much safer than mini roundabouts. Although mildly annoying in cleats.
atgni wrote:
Does track-standing for a few seconds count as stopping?
Piis poor driving, but I
Piis poor driving, but I doubt a mobile phone played a part.
If it did, then the driver is a total nutter, approaching that roundabout at that speed, whilst texting or whatever.
I believe it was a simple case of not looking… I can visualise that the drivers first priority will be looking at the car approaching (camera car) and judging if they can negotiate the roundabout ahead of them (its all a race after all!). Once established that they can make that gap, their next priority is looking right to see if there is anything coming that she has to give way to.
This right check has to be done quickly as her speed needs to be maintained in order to ‘beat’ the camera car (even though she has priority)…
The cyclist sadly sits bang in the middle of these two visual focus areas, and unfortunately, because they are travelling relatively slowly, will not have drawn the attention of the driver.
Its not so much a case of SMIDSY, its a not looking in the first place.
This to me is careless driving, which deserves prosecution and a driver training course.
I think the drivers reaction was fairly normal post crash. Why would they not be in shock as well? I think its a bit rich to expect them to morph instantly into a paramedic when they just demonstrated an inability to carry out basic driving functions.
I guess what I am saying is… terrible driving yes,, but thats all we can say for definite… to make assumptions on the drivers character, motivations, conduct beyond that is over dramatising things to say the least.
Really horrible to watch.
Really horrible to watch.
It looks to me like it was borderline whether the car in front (grey Toyota) should have entered the roundbout too – the cyclist was already on it and seemed to have to ease off the pedals slightly to allow the grey car to pass in front of her. Having seen the Toyota go straight over roundabout, the driver of silver car may have had false impression that roundabout was clear and would then (assuming she was looking at all) have been looking at the entry to the roundabout rather than halfway across it. A-pillar visibility issues could also have come into play. Even giving all that benefit of the doubt though, the approach speed looks entirely inappropriate.