Near Miss of the Day 402: Driver cuts straight across cyclist

QUOTE:
This may be one of the scariest videos we've seen among the more than 400 and counting we have now featured in our Near Miss of the Day series ... a motorist who apparently simply did not see the cyclist approaching, and drove across a main road into her path; had the cyclist been a second or two further up the road, the consequences are all too imaginable.

Helen, who was on her way to her job in the NHS, told us that it happened on Summerfield Street in Sheffield this morning.

“This stretch is downhill so already a nightmare as you have to be on your brakes the whole way down due to these junctions and bell-ends that don’t look,� she said

“I’m used to it, but even by usual low awful standards this was damn scary.�

https://road.cc/content/news/near-mi...-across-273101

On 11:38 30 Apr 2020, Simon Mason said:

QUOTE: This may be one of the scariest videos we've seen among the more
than 400 and counting we have now featured in our Near Miss of the Day
series ... a motorist who apparently simply did not see the cyclist
approaching, and drove across a main road into her path; had the cyclist
been a second or two further up the road, the consequences are all too
imaginable.

Helen, who was on her way to her job in the NHS, told us that it
happened on Summerfield Street in Sheffield this morning.

"This stretch is downhill so already a nightmare as you have to be on
your brakes the whole way down due to these junctions and bell-ends that
don’t look," she said

“I’m used to it, but even by usual low awful standards this was damn
scary.”

https://road.cc/content/news/near-mi...straight-acros
s-273101


The motorist is clearly in the wrong but why didn't the cyclist brake
harder?

There's little sign of it in the video despite her comments to be "on her
brakes" the whole time.

She was rather fast to be in full control of her bike to avoid obstacles.
Highway Code rule 126: "Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well
within the distance you can see to be clear."

On 02/05/2020 20:17, Pamela wrote:
On 11:38 30 Apr 2020, Simon Mason said:

QUOTE: This may be one of the scariest videos we've seen among the more
than 400 and counting we have now featured in our Near Miss of the Day
series ... a motorist who apparently simply did not see the cyclist
approaching, and drove across a main road into her path; had the cyclist
been a second or two further up the road, the consequences are all too
imaginable.

Helen, who was on her way to her job in the NHS, told us that it
happened on Summerfield Street in Sheffield this morning.

"This stretch is downhill so already a nightmare as you have to be on
your brakes the whole way down due to these junctions and bell-ends that
don’t look," she said

“I’m used to it, but even by usual low awful standards this was damn
scary.�

https://road.cc/content/news/near-mi...straight-acros
s-273101


The motorist is clearly in the wrong but why didn't the cyclist brake
harder?

There's little sign of it in the video despite her comments to be "on her
brakes" the whole time.

She was rather fast to be in full control of her bike to avoid obstacles.
Highway Code rule 126: "Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well
within the distance you can see to be clear."

Also she shouted out far too late. I would have made a loud noise on
principle as soon as I saw the car. Plus brake etc --

On 02/05/2020 09:17, Pamela wrote:
On 11:38 30 Apr 2020, Simon Mason said:

https://road.cc/content/news/near-mi...straight-acros
s-273101

I can't see why it is described as "one of the scariest videos". It
looks pretty routine from here.

The motorist is clearly in the wrong but why didn't the cyclist brake
harder?

How much harder was it necessary to brake to avoid a crash that didn't
happen?

There's little sign of it in the video despite her comments to be "on her
brakes" the whole time.

She was rather fast to be in full control of her bike to avoid obstacles.
Highway Code rule 126: "Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well
within the distance you can see to be clear."

The standard rule is that a cyclist is always going too fast unless a
motorist is behind.

TMS320 wrote:

On 02/05/2020 09:17, Pamela wrote:
On 11:38 30 Apr 2020, Simon Mason said:

https://road.cc/content/news/near-mi...straight-acros
s-273101

I can't see why it is described as "one of the scariest videos". It
looks pretty routine from here.

I didn't think it was 'one of the scariest videos' either. It's an
uncomfortably common thing for some people to do, they seem to wait
for ages when it's still quite safe to pull out, then at the moment
when the safe period has all but ended that's when they decide to
move.


The motorist is clearly in the wrong but why didn't the cyclist brake
harder?

How much harder was it necessary to brake to avoid a crash that didn't
happen?

There's little sign of it in the video despite her comments to be "on her
brakes" the whole time.

She was rather fast to be in full control of her bike to avoid obstacles.
Highway Code rule 126: "Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well
within the distance you can see to be clear."

The standard rule is that a cyclist is always going too fast unless a
motorist is behind.

How true.

On Saturday, 2 May 2020 09:18:17 UTC+1, Pamela wrote:
On 11:38 30 Apr 2020, Simon Mason said:

QUOTE: This may be one of the scariest videos we've seen among the more
than 400 and counting we have now featured in our Near Miss of the Day
series ... a motorist who apparently simply did not see the cyclist
approaching, and drove across a main road into her path; had the cyclist
been a second or two further up the road, the consequences are all too
imaginable.

Helen, who was on her way to her job in the NHS, told us that it
happened on Summerfield Street in Sheffield this morning.

"This stretch is downhill so already a nightmare as you have to be on
your brakes the whole way down due to these junctions and bell-ends that
don’t look," she said

“I’m used to it, but even by usual low awful standards this was damn
scary.�

https://road.cc/content/news/near-mi...straight-acros
s-273101


The motorist is clearly in the wrong but why didn't the cyclist brake
harder?

It is always easy to blame the victim.

'If she had been wearing a Burka rather than a Ra-Ra she would not have been raped'

On 03/05/2020 09:15, Mike Collins wrote:
On Saturday, 2 May 2020 09:18:17 UTC+1, Pamela wrote:
On 11:38 30 Apr 2020, Simon Mason said:

QUOTE: This may be one of the scariest videos we've seen among the more
than 400 and counting we have now featured in our Near Miss of the Day
series ... a motorist who apparently simply did not see the cyclist
approaching, and drove across a main road into her path; had the cyclist
been a second or two further up the road, the consequences are all too
imaginable.

Helen, who was on her way to her job in the NHS, told us that it
happened on Summerfield Street in Sheffield this morning.

"This stretch is downhill so already a nightmare as you have to be on
your brakes the whole way down due to these junctions and bell-ends that
don’t look," she said

“I’m used to it, but even by usual low awful standards this was damn
scary.�

https://road.cc/content/news/near-mi...straight-acros
s-273101


The motorist is clearly in the wrong but why didn't the cyclist brake
harder?

It is always easy to blame the victim.

What "victim"?

Who was hurt (by which I mean "injured")?

'If she had been wearing a Burka rather than a Ra-Ra she would not have been raped'

The blame for traffic accidents is sometimes attributed to more than one
person, in both the criminal and civil realms. We are all supposed to
proceed defensively. Were you not taught to cover the brake pedal or
lever in potentially hazardous situations (especially with lots of
parked vehicles near junctions)?