[Closed] Cyclist-driver interaction

Looks like a textbook close pass to me.

Although there was a no right turn marking on the road just before the cyclist turned right.

No excuse for the punishment pass though, even if the cyclist hit his mirror on purpose, he wouldn't have had the reach if the van was overtaking legally.

He should report it to the police.  I have had very good response from Edinburgh police a lot of whom ride bikes

I played it full screen on youtube at 0.25 speed and at 1;54 the cyclist does appear to be veering towards the right side of the road significantly, having seen the van trying to pass, certainly looks like he's trying to close the van out, seems a bit early to start avoiding the car in front especially with a passing vehicle, and yes I'm not so sure it's his bars that hit the mirror either given he's on pretty narrow drops, not even sure the bars are as high as the mirror. Wonder if the frame has been cropped to hide something or if it's just got less fisheye than my gopro.

Lobbing the bottle should interest the police though. As an aside the argument is far more entertaining to listen to at 0.25 speed.

Although there was a no right turn marking on the road just before the cyclist turned right.

I saw that but wasnt sure if he was in the wrong as the junction had a number of exits and another one was more right if that makes sense. I also thought road paint was advisory?

And unless I'm mistaken, the cyclist didn't look over his shoulder to judge whether he could slap the wing mirror, the van just flies past with it already folded, which suggests the driver crashed into the cyclist, rather than the cyclist slapping the mirror.

Reinforced by the fact that at that speed, the cyclist could have easily gotten thier wrist smashed up or worse by doing that.

There are 4 exits on that junction. The no right turn refers to #4/4. The cyclist goes down #3.

Van drivers clearly suffering from small appendage syndrome,

However, cyclist seems to ride slap in the middle of the road even when there is no need to take a defensive position.  And at the first set of lights, they went green and traffic would normally move forward into the centre of the junction until there was a gap in the oncoming traffic so I can imagine those two habits would wind up a lot of drivers, especially if they get caught in the next red phase because only two cars managed to cross the line.  (drivers get wound up when a car does it, let alone a cyclist)

There are 4 exits on that junction. The no right turn refers to #4/4. The cyclist goes down #3.

Ah OK my bad. Van driver clearly being a typical van driver then.

knowing those roads I would be riding pretty much where the rider was

It's shit like this that has me driving again after a full year of bike commuting the 6mile each way. The daily stress of dealing with close passes and being treated as sub human arnt worth it.

I think the cyclist hit the mirror-the difference in speed doesn't seem enough for it to have happened otherwise, and you can bet he'd have reacted in some way if so.

Driver still a ****, along with junior. Just bullies.

However, cyclist seems to ride slap in the middle of the road even when there is no need to take a defensive position.

You can't see behind him though.  Rider can hear what is coming behind him, and with local knowledge, might know when it is a good idea to take primary position in advance to be safe.

I commute every day in Edinburgh by bike and have had no aggro like that in over two decades, even with 780mm  bars. Generally I assume if someone has a gopro stuck to their head they are looking for a bite, though I'm sure some have them for honest reasons. There's a couple of genuinely pyschotic taxi driver nervous breakdowns I've witnessed I'd like to have caught on film mind you.

Tell me about it, i have a 1 mile downhill road ride to get to my nearest bit of canal/bridleway, I can easily hit 35mph spinning out in top gear. It's a 30mph zone, yet I still get close passes, they'd have to be doing 40mph or more to pass at the speed they do, but they insist on getting past, it's like some kind of weird complusion.

I avoid road riding as much as I possibly can.

On the way home I ride on the pavement back up the hill, I'd rather get potentially fined than squashed.

You can’t see behind him though.  Rider can hear what is coming behind him, and with local knowledge, might know when it is a good idea to take primary position in advance to be safe.

Nah he's veering to the right like mad - if he really didn't know the van was there then it's his mistake for not looking or listening - from how it looks in the clip I think he was trying to close the van out and tapped the wing mirror in himself.

Yeh I agree you are not getting the full picture, and I don't know those roads.  It just felt like he was coasting down the middle and you can't tell if anyone is behind (van driver must have come from that direction and there is traffic passing as he waits)

The business FB page is worth a look. Lots of flak from cyclists

I think he was trying to close the van out and tapped the wing mirror in himself.

You really think? Some wing mirrors are pretty stiff to fold back, more so in vans ime. especially with the speed differential to take in to account, I'd sooner bang on the window or side of the van than risk a shattered wrist or arm by going for the mirror.

I reckon, pretty sure I could punch mine back dead easily and I'm a weakling, if it had hit the bars I'd expect quite a wild lurch to the left. Anyway, speculation aside the whole situation was avoidable I reckon by both parties.

Also if anyone finds themselves in the same situation my one experience of reporting a road rage driver to the police in Edinburgh was very positive, they were very quick to ring back having spoken to the driver, unfortunately the lady who was the victim didn't report it so it couldn't be taken further. Not reporting it if you have it on film just makes things look more in favour of the driver claiming you hit him...

Nah he’s veering to the right like mad – if he really didn’t know the van was there then it’s his mistake for not looking or listening – from how it looks in the clip I think he was trying to close the van out and tapped the wing mirror in himself.

Good chance he knew the van was approaching, which is why he was taking primary position

knowing those roads I would be riding pretty much where the rider was

Agreed. I used to live on Murieston Crescent, and it's narrower than it looks on the video. Not enough room for a van to get past safely there. Plus there is a 90 degree turn and speed bumps coming up that a sensibly driven van will be slower than a bike on.

To be honest all three of them come across as bellends, but for different reasons. Neither side comes out of it well.

Looks like they have pulled their Facebook page. That's one way to handle it but not a great one as I'm sure there are other ways of leaving poor reviews

Their website and the MDs linkind page?  Both available on road cc 😉

Their google reviews wont be so easy for them to remove.

I recently had an incident that involved the police being called after I slapped a car that was passing too close & the woman got out & pushed me over. Later in the same ride, for curiosity's sake I tried slapping parked cars I was passing as close I felt comfortable riding next to them. I couldn't reach them. Which says to me if I can slap your vehicle when you pass me, you're too ****ing close.

I noticed this on my road ride at the weekend; I'd just had something to eat and was going to put the wrapper back into my pocket when i saw a bus stop coming up with a bin on the pole - so i thought I'd go for that instead. I had to be way closer to the pole than i would be comfortable to be passed by a car by, to be able to drop the wrapper in, so on the occasions I've had to tap on a window to remind a car I'm there they must've been very ***in' close!

The cyclists can't hit the wing mirror unless the van is passing dangerously close.

I've forwarded a link o the video to the business, and asked 2 questions:
Have they ever heard of the Ratner Effect?
Do they realise how many people have already seen that video already?

“You’re a fing cyclist, by the way, right,” says the driver. “You’ve got to fing stay to the side of the road.” The two men claim the cyclist hit their wing mirror. The cyclist responds by saying the van hit him.

I think this, from the original article, and highway code rules 212 and 213, quite clearly show who is to blame.

If they believed that cyclists had to "f***ing stay to the side of the road", they were clearly mistaken, and the cyclist "hitting" their wing mirror is them passing too close without accounting for various reasons the cyclist may move out as instructed in the highway code.

Police Scotland will certainly be interested in that as JB EMS is a contractor to Police Scotland under their FM contract with Mitie.

I had to chuckle when I googled JB EMS and half of the photos on their Google listing are the two c*$&wombles having a go at the cyclist 🙂

Ha, negative feedback left.