Motorist fined after being caught on camera driving at group of cyclists, causing one to fall off bike (+ video)

Ride On wrote:

This is always a concern of mine on rural roads; people driving too fast because they "know the road" I've had a couple of close encounters with 4x4 going too fast round narrow bends having no idea what was around the corner.

Had exactly this with a Land Rover a week ago, wrong side of the road around a blind corner. Found hitherto unknown bike handling skills that saved me. 

The thread I found has the majority saying the driver was at fault and he should have slowed down.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1980866&i=40

Congratulations as a new poster on having reached double figures without posting anything that wasn't pro-car and/or anti-cyclist.

What's being pro-car or anti-cyclist got to do with it unless people are only allowed to comment on here if they are anti-car. I ride bikes, motorcycles, drive a car and drive a minibus and van. It's called seeing things from every angle and putting over a balanced view where there is room to do so.

It's funny then that you have only ever chosen, in all of your first ten comments, to comment in favour of a car driver or car driving or against a cyclist or cycling, isn't it? It's almost as though you only see things from one angle...

No. I see and agree with the videos of drivers that are idiots. I just don't comment on them as I am in agreement with people's comments. Now and then I see something that I don't think is as bad as people are making out. Discussion on these things is a good thing.

So what was ridiculous about this then? The fact a driver got fined and points for a dangerous and close encounter with the cyclists? If both the Land Rover and the cyclists were going in the same direction, and he had passed at that speed, would you have called it ridiculous? Or would you have complained that the cyclists moved into it's path as you have claimed with others?

What is funny is that on a particularly close pass at speed which causes a cyclist to fall, you think "there is room" for a "balanced" view.

I think that the front rider braked - you can see when the video returns he is stationary, so was made anxious by the speed. The lady in pink was not planning to stop and probably hadn't thought about unclipping or wasn't able to put her foot down on the ground as the verge fell away - you can see her left leg is unclipped when the video resumes, so I think that the person fell off due to the first rider feeling it was necessary to stop due to the speed of the car, which combined with the bike being forced to be too close to the edge where there was no solid verge, though I do think the video hints that they stopped suddenly and the lady was balancing for a second without unclipping.

The reality is that most of us have been on group rides where a rider has fallen off because the ride has stopped unexpectedly and the rider has failed to unclip for some reason. 

IanMSpencer wrote:

The reality is that most of us have been on group rides where a rider has fallen off because the ride has stopped unexpectedly and the rider has failed to unclip for some reason. 

Yes and that is precisely why it is necessary for the motorist to exercise caution, which this motorist did not.

I always find it easier to unclip with my straight leg rather then the bent one. I also tend to unclip on my right rather then left when stopping. If this cyclist was the same, she would have unclipped leaning towards the oncoming car. 

As for space, that is probably a hindsight thing but I suspect front cyclist seeing two tonnes of material coming towards them at 30-40mph with very little wiggle room might have thought slowing/stopping was easier and safer, especially if they had no chance to change down gears beforehand so that could lead to wobbles / dropped chains if trying to continue to cycle

The main takeaway though is if the advancing car had slowed down and been courteous to the cyclists with space, they both would have passed with no incident and the middle cyclist would not have been injured. 

That's what I try and do - be a bit awkward and cause them to slow or change direction but always have an escape route.

We had this on saturday on a country walk single track road - driver didn't slow much or move and when we gestured with raising our arms, he sounded his horn as a rebuke.

I have a couple of techniques - riding towards them (especially if I am on the front of a group, pulling in tight exposes people further back) ready to move aside and my patent wobble. The wobble is very useful because the driver cannot predict your path - works really well going up steep hills (indeed rarely requires thought!). The move aside is useful because the driver is usually planning their move from some distance away. so the earlier that they are less certain they are that you are moving the more likely they are to instinctively slow in preparation.

I was inspired after a particularly close pass on what I thought was a road too narrow to pass on, when the driver, who I saw a couple of minutes later outside a house declared I was "wobbling all over" - which I clearly was not or he wouldn't have got past (and of course had effectively declared he had deliberately made a dangerous pass). It did strike me that this was what I needed to do. These days, drivers would probably describe me riding in secondary position as wobbling all over.

I do implement a wobble now on certain bits of road following previous advice here (maybe even you !)

Still disappointed when going 30/31 downhill in a 30 to be overtaken.

In my motorcycling days I would occasionally do a "safety wobble" if being tailgated. Because I sure as **** wasn't going to do a brake check.

I've been overtaken whilst doing 37 on a 30 dual carriageway downhill. 

Was that a video on here? We definitely had one where driver passed dangerously and then was approached by cyclist a couple of minutes later as they had pulled over to park a few hundred yards further on. 

He might have exactly the same name and age as someone who lives in nearby Rugby, but I think it is more probable that he's a management consultant, and not a farmer (landrovers are not made exclusively for farmers).