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Blasting down leith walk coming up to lights with a queue of traffic waiting at the lights and an ASL available I shot down the inside heading for the ASL ( loads of room but reflective practice - I was going too fast) Van door opens, a guy gets out and I shout - the guy jumps out of my way - I go to the front. Then ( with the lights still on red) the van comes screeching out of the queue of traffic and cuts infront of me. Apparently I had scared the van driver! I didn't stay to argue the toss. He was apoplectic with rage
It just tickled me that I scared him !
(was there a bike lane?)
You should have had your hi viz on so he could see you!
Today i had a lady at a roundabout pull out on me as she was looking at me ( I was wearing a bright orange soft shell). I pointed at her then my eyes and she gave me the hand up fingers open/close - I think she was sugesting it was my fault and I should shut up.
If only you'd been wearing a helmet-mounted camera . . .
I dont think she would have stopped to look at the evidence and in TJs case, he would have got batered with it!
Edit - the police would have just had a chat with them and told us to be more careful.
cynic al - there is a cycleway on the pavement - far too dangerous to use. I was on the road - the leith walk / pilrig street junction
I'll check tomorrow if there are cameras but I don't think so
I think I need to see a diagram.
Set your dog on him.
I think I need to see a diagram video reconstruction.
This junction
https://goo.gl/maps/k5RnHgQQMcoet2rB7
the cycle path on the pavement is too dangerous to use. winds behind bus stops and in front of shops so I was on the road. Van was 3 cars back from the front. I went down the inside to the ASL. Van opened the passenger side door which I came close to hitting
I fully accept i was going too fast to be going down the inside
it just made me laugh that apparently I scared the shit out of the van driver and that was enough to throw him into a rage. thats the only point
Yeah you can't go fast on those bike paths, I use the road.
Anything that supprises a person in a motor vehicle/ makes them seem in the wrong/ anything unexpected seems to bring out the fight response in drivers. Motorised transport seems to bring out the worst aspects of many peoples character.
Van drivers seem some of the worst on the roads, although to be fair they are often working and rushing around stressed/on the clock, this combined with the intrinsic stress of driving turns them into powderkegs and bastions of bad driving.
"Blasting" down the inside of vehicles is usually not a good idea (and for me "blasting" on that particular bit of road would probably equate to 25mph maybe), especially if the drivers might (even if wrongly!) be expecting bikes to be on the bike path.
Running into an opening door at speed wouldn't be fun, even if you were technically in the right!
Running into an opening door at speed wouldn’t be fun, even if you were technically in the right!
I can confirm this!!
I agree. I was going too fast. Undertaking should be done slowly. Sticky tyres, disc brakes and covering the brakes makes one complacent.
Had a similar situation on a motorbike, parked cars on left, traffic queueing at traffic lights, I was filtering between the parked cars and the queued traffic at about 10 mph tops as it was a wide road and opened out a little further down into 2 lanes at the lights. Passenger then got out of one of the cars, opened the door directly into the side of my bike and I came to a sudden halt as the fairing stay wedged against the corner of the door which saved my right knee from being the direct focus of impact.
Cue lots of shouting from the passenger and driver about "you shouldn't have been riding up the inside, blah, blah, I'm calling the police etc."
I said "No problem, in fact I'll call them", 5 minutes later police van turns up (it was a Friday evening)and an officer listens to me tell the tale of what happened. He turns to the passenger and driver and says "You should always observe your surroundings carefully first before exiting a vehicle!" with me standing behind him doing a fist pump and saying "Yesss!"
Has made me a lot more careful going past stationary cars in any circumstance since though.