Accident/Near-Miss Diary
After having read a lot of (seemingly) conflicting information about the dangers (or not) of cycling and the effacity (or not) of helmets and the carelessness (or not) of drivers and cyclists I have decided to keep my own diary of cycling incidents, including the conditions at the time. It's mainly meant to see if the dangers that I think are there are as important as the dangers that do affect me, or nearly do. The most recent post is at the top of this list for ease of reading.
20/9/2005 – Coming back home after truly divine evening ride. Took up primary road position approaching long line of parked cars on the other side of the road as car approaching from opposite direction, and I didn’t want them to squeeze through. I had right-of-way, but she didn’t care, obviously I was not “proper” traffic as I was not in a car – came fully onto my side of the road forcing me to stop and back up – she was on a mobile phone also – and had the nerve to hold her hand up to thank me as she went past!
10/9/2005 - Here's a good one! On the Downs Link, I have got into the habit of nodding, smiling and/or saying good morning/afternoon/evening to fellow cyclists (following the lead of other user of the Downs Link, basically). I noticed that some people would nod and smile at me on the roads too, and after reading a fair bit of "Cycling" Magazine's forum, I've been returning their greetings. Mostly I can tell who are the "proper" cyclists as opposed to the kids or people just messing about. The serious ones tend to have helmets on! I made a mistake on the way home tonight though - I nodded and grinned at a seriously creepy-looking bloke on an old racer and knew it was a mistake as soon as I'd done it. I heard his brakes squeal, and he turned around and started following me. I really had to pile on the power to dissuade him. Lesson learnt.
5/9/2005 - Parked car driver opened door in my path. I had seen he was in the car however and had already looked behind and listened to see if I could swerve if he did. He did, and I could. Was doing about 15mph - good job I saw that one coming. Twilight, dry roads, lights and reflective body strap, reflective cycle clips and LED armbands on! He really didn't look, or he could not have failed to see me.
31/8/2005 - My copy of "Cyclecraft" arrived - hopefully will improve the situation!!! 3 cars raced head of me, cut in sharply and then braked hard at mini-roundabouts with raised width-restrictors this evening. Good job I'd read about a good way of braking sharply, and slightly more assertive use of the Primary Road Position may have prevented this from happening at all!! On second thoughts, it was twilight again, so maybe not such a good idea. I had lights and reflective body-strap on.
30/8/2005 - Land Rover Defender (muddy and old) turned left out of residential road, turned wide to avoid parked cars and left me with no road. Stopped quickly and hopped bike up onto pavement to avoid being squished. Twilight/low light, bike lights on.
29/8/2005 - Turning right from t-junction into village High Street opposite recessed bus stop, bus didn't see me and came out of bus stop into my path. Not sure who had the right of way there! About 11am bright sunny day.
14/8/2005 - Nearly came off bike at 14mph on trail skidding on cambered mud bank avoiding large puddle. Riding beyond my ability or having fun? Not sure. Could have been very messy, but probably not painful unless I landed very awkwardly, or landed on bike. As I'm unfit and inflexible, probably not sensible to ride like that quite yet.
9/8/2005 - Car on wrong side of road coming round corner in residential road - potential head-on collision - dry road, light sky/early evening dusky, bike lights on, reflective body-strap and reflective LED armbands on.
20/9/2005 – Coming back home after truly divine evening ride. Took up primary road position approaching long line of parked cars on the other side of the road as car approaching from opposite direction, and I didn’t want them to squeeze through. I had right-of-way, but she didn’t care, obviously I was not “proper” traffic as I was not in a car – came fully onto my side of the road forcing me to stop and back up – she was on a mobile phone also – and had the nerve to hold her hand up to thank me as she went past!
10/9/2005 - Here's a good one! On the Downs Link, I have got into the habit of nodding, smiling and/or saying good morning/afternoon/evening to fellow cyclists (following the lead of other user of the Downs Link, basically). I noticed that some people would nod and smile at me on the roads too, and after reading a fair bit of "Cycling" Magazine's forum, I've been returning their greetings. Mostly I can tell who are the "proper" cyclists as opposed to the kids or people just messing about. The serious ones tend to have helmets on! I made a mistake on the way home tonight though - I nodded and grinned at a seriously creepy-looking bloke on an old racer and knew it was a mistake as soon as I'd done it. I heard his brakes squeal, and he turned around and started following me. I really had to pile on the power to dissuade him. Lesson learnt.
5/9/2005 - Parked car driver opened door in my path. I had seen he was in the car however and had already looked behind and listened to see if I could swerve if he did. He did, and I could. Was doing about 15mph - good job I saw that one coming. Twilight, dry roads, lights and reflective body strap, reflective cycle clips and LED armbands on! He really didn't look, or he could not have failed to see me.
31/8/2005 - My copy of "Cyclecraft" arrived - hopefully will improve the situation!!! 3 cars raced head of me, cut in sharply and then braked hard at mini-roundabouts with raised width-restrictors this evening. Good job I'd read about a good way of braking sharply, and slightly more assertive use of the Primary Road Position may have prevented this from happening at all!! On second thoughts, it was twilight again, so maybe not such a good idea. I had lights and reflective body-strap on.
30/8/2005 - Land Rover Defender (muddy and old) turned left out of residential road, turned wide to avoid parked cars and left me with no road. Stopped quickly and hopped bike up onto pavement to avoid being squished. Twilight/low light, bike lights on.
29/8/2005 - Turning right from t-junction into village High Street opposite recessed bus stop, bus didn't see me and came out of bus stop into my path. Not sure who had the right of way there! About 11am bright sunny day.
14/8/2005 - Nearly came off bike at 14mph on trail skidding on cambered mud bank avoiding large puddle. Riding beyond my ability or having fun? Not sure. Could have been very messy, but probably not painful unless I landed very awkwardly, or landed on bike. As I'm unfit and inflexible, probably not sensible to ride like that quite yet.
9/8/2005 - Car on wrong side of road coming round corner in residential road - potential head-on collision - dry road, light sky/early evening dusky, bike lights on, reflective body-strap and reflective LED armbands on.
posted by Catherine at 22:09
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