A cyclist's last words are?

Girt_Hindrance said :

That was scary even from this perspective… Would have been terrifying facing that approaching Roo-bar.
I nearly got cleaned up crossing a pedestrian crossing years ago. Took me ten mins to stop shaking, hope this gent is okay.
Also, impressed by the single swear word- I don’t think I could be so reserved in that circumstance.

What happened in the video is clearly wrong and dangerous – as is riding on pedestrian crossings. They’re called pedestrian crossings for a reason. Perhaps that car driver isn’t the only one who needs to learn road rules.

Solidarity said :

You could blame the driver. You could blame the road conditions. You could blame inattention. You could blame the car. There are many things you could blame… but there is no point in being in the right, if you’re dead.

Well, Patrick is in the right and ALIVE! So… what was your point again?

patrick_keogh said :

OK, here’s the thing. Immediately after the “incident” I called the Qbn Police. They took all the details, and I told them that I had clear video of the incident including the number plate and the driver. So they said “copy it to CD and we’ll come around and collect it.”

Two weeks later, they still have not come by to collect the video evidence. I know it is a long way (about 15km) but it still leaves me a little discouraged.

So what do you think I should do:
1) Throw the CD in the bin, they weren’t going to take any action anyway
2) Take the CD to Qbn Police (but they won’t take any action anyway)
3) Take the CD to Qbn Police (and expect them to take action)
4) None of the above/Other

5) Take the CD to Qbn police, request a reference number for the report yoou are lodging, and ask when you can expect to hear back from them regarding any action they take. Post the outcome (in general terms) here.

patrick_keogh said :

OK, here’s the thing. Immediately after the “incident” I called the Qbn Police. They took all the details, and I told them that I had clear video of the incident including the number plate and the driver. So they said “copy it to CD and we’ll come around and collect it.”

Two weeks later, they still have not come by to collect the video evidence. I know it is a long way (about 15km) but it still leaves me a little discouraged.

So what do you think I should do:
1) Throw the CD in the bin, they weren’t going to take any action anyway
2) Take the CD to Qbn Police (but they won’t take any action anyway)
3) Take the CD to Qbn Police (and expect them to take action)
4) None of the above/Other

I’d vote for number 3.

OK, here’s the thing. Immediately after the “incident” I called the Qbn Police. They took all the details, and I told them that I had clear video of the incident including the number plate and the driver. So they said “copy it to CD and we’ll come around and collect it.”

Two weeks later, they still have not come by to collect the video evidence. I know it is a long way (about 15km) but it still leaves me a little discouraged.

So what do you think I should do:
1) Throw the CD in the bin, they weren’t going to take any action anyway
2) Take the CD to Qbn Police (but they won’t take any action anyway)
3) Take the CD to Qbn Police (and expect them to take action)
4) None of the above/Other

Watson said :

chewy14 said :

I did read it.

What exactly was your point in regards to what I’ve written?

11% of serious injuries were cyclists? And???

I didn’t mean to attack you. That’s what reading RA often does to one, unfortunately.

I just didn’t get where you got the 1/3 of transport-related injuries from?

Ok Sorry,

The 11% mentioned in that report was for “serious injury”.

I thought I’d read previously about 33% of all transport injuries were from cyclists but I couldn’t remember where from.

I think it might have been this and is says that it’s 33% of transport related incidents presenting at hospital emergency departments so my original statement is incorrect.

http://www.carrsq.qut.edu.au/publications/corporate/bicycle_safety_fs.pdf

And while I was looking here’s the serious injury report for 2008-09 which says 15.4% of serious injuries were cyclists:

http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737421994

KB1971 said :

Solidarity said :

SNIP

What is wrong with you people? I clearly said it was not the cyclists fault, however I said that cyclists need to accept that many drivers are inattentive and don’t care.

It’s just like that, and that’s the way it is.

If there was an 80% chance of me being raped while walking through Civic, i’d not walk through Civic. I’m not saying it’s acceptable, i’m saying it’s like that, and that’s the way it is.

Solidarity said :

You could blame the driver. You could blame the road conditions. You could blame inattention. You could blame the car. There are many things you could blame… but there is no point in being in the right, if you’re dead.

Hey, I am agreeing with you!!!!!

Yeah the quote I was replying to with that post wasn’t yours haha…

Solidarity said :

You could blame the driver. You could blame the road conditions. You could blame inattention. You could blame the car. There are many things you could blame… but there is no point in being in the right, if you’re dead.

On that point, a mate of mine dies after vacuuming the floor, he sat down, had a seizure an his heart stopped.

I would rather die on the bull bar having fun than how he died.

Having said that, I don’t encourage it.

Solidarity said :

SNIP

What is wrong with you people? I clearly said it was not the cyclists fault, however I said that cyclists need to accept that many drivers are inattentive and don’t care.

It’s just like that, and that’s the way it is.

If there was an 80% chance of me being raped while walking through Civic, i’d not walk through Civic. I’m not saying it’s acceptable, i’m saying it’s like that, and that’s the way it is.

Solidarity said :

You could blame the driver. You could blame the road conditions. You could blame inattention. You could blame the car. There are many things you could blame… but there is no point in being in the right, if you’re dead.

Hey, I am agreeing with you!!!!!

Solidarity said :

You could blame the driver. You could blame the road conditions. You could blame inattention. You could blame the car. There are many things you could blame… but there is no point in being in the right, if you’re dead.

And that’s pretty much it.

johnboy said :

Solidarity said :

If there was an 80% chance of me being raped while walking through Civic, i’d not walk through Civic. I’m not saying it’s acceptable, i’m saying it’s like that, and that’s the way it is.

If there was an 80% chance of you being raped while walking through Civic I would be wanting some significantly improved policing.

Wanting increased policing is fine, but you wouldn’t then walk through Civic, get raped and then blame the police. You’d just avoid Civic until there is an acceptable amount of risk of being raped, ie) Not 80%…

chewy14 said :

I did read it.

What exactly was your point in regards to what I’ve written?

11% of serious injuries were cyclists? And???

I didn’t mean to attack you. That’s what reading RA often does to one, unfortunately.

I just didn’t get where you got the 1/3 of transport-related injuries from?

You could blame the driver. You could blame the road conditions. You could blame inattention. You could blame the car. There are many things you could blame… but there is no point in being in the right, if you’re dead.

Solidarity said :

If there was an 80% chance of me being raped while walking through Civic, i’d not walk through Civic. I’m not saying it’s acceptable, i’m saying it’s like that, and that’s the way it is.

If there was an 80% chance of you being raped while walking through Civic I would be wanting some significantly improved policing.

Alderney said :

KB1971 said :

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk. Day after day there are posts here on how bad drivers are these days, hell there are even a series of posts about people and how bad they are at parking. There is a post which is pretty much 80% commenters saying how many people use the phone while driving. These days people are inattentive, rely on thier cars to drive for them and generally lack any form of care or respect for other users, we all know that, that’s just the way it is.

In spite of that, you still choose to ride out there. That’s fine – there is no issue with that… but because of this, you choose to wear the risk too.

Yes, riding out there should be safe, yes other road users should be courteous and attentive… but they’re not. This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

Fair point but should we not be highlighting this fact to people to try and reduce the effect?

I’m not sure the point made by Solidarity is fair.

Why is the onus of a car driver’s poor habits placed on the cyclist?

If the car driver was skilled, attentive, and considerate the incident would not have taken place.

The comment smakes of victim blaming.

Grail said :

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk.

The driver also accepted responsibility for their actions. A driver acting irresponsibly (especially in an urban assault vehicle) is far more dangerous than a cyclist being foolhardy.

Changing the cyclist’s behaviour (e.g.: encouraging him to live in a hole and never come outside) would at most save one life. Changing the assault driver’s behaviour will potentially save dozens of lives.

What is wrong with you people? I clearly said it was not the cyclists fault, however I said that cyclists need to accept that many drivers are inattentive and don’t care.

It’s just like that, and that’s the way it is.

If there was an 80% chance of me being raped while walking through Civic, i’d not walk through Civic. I’m not saying it’s acceptable, i’m saying it’s like that, and that’s the way it is.

Watson said :

chewy14 said :

Postalgeek said :

So no, I would suggest that any assertion that cyclists going through red lights are the most dangerous roadusers is completely unsupported by any form of statistic and entirely lacks any form of intellectual integrity.

I would have say you’re missing a part of the story, although I don’t agree with the original premise at all.

Cyclists don’t kill other road users or pedestrians, they’re most likely to get killed themselves in a collision.

Here’s a report from 2006 on cyclist deaths:

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/publications/2006/pdf/death_cyclists_road.pdf

I haven’t looked at these death or injury rates compared to the overall use of cycling as a transport mode but I believe that up to a third of all transport related injuries are from cyclists.

Cycling can clearly be dangerous and we need to do as much as possible to prevent cars and cyclists getting too close because the cyclist is always the one who comes off worse.

More care, attention and training for all road users is necessary.

Why post a link to a report if you don’t read it yourself?

From the 2006 report: “Another report by the ATSB in 2004 on cyclist safety, based on data for 2000 and 2001, showed that cyclists account for about 11 per cent of persons seriously injured in road crashes each year.”

The rest of the report is about fatalities only.

I did read it.

What exactly was your point in regards to what I’ve written?

11% of serious injuries were cyclists? And???

Solidarity said :

KB1971 said :

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk. Day after day there are posts here on how bad drivers are these days, hell there are even a series of posts about people and how bad they are at parking. There is a post which is pretty much 80% commenters saying how many people use the phone while driving. These days people are inattentive, rely on thier cars to drive for them and generally lack any form of care or respect for other users, we all know that, that’s just the way it is.

In spite of that, you still choose to ride out there. That’s fine – there is no issue with that… but because of this, you choose to wear the risk too.

Yes, riding out there should be safe, yes other road users should be courteous and attentive… but they’re not. This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

Fair point but should we not be highlighting this fact to people to try and reduce the effect?

If you can somehow change Canberra car culture back to how it was in the 70’s (minus the alcohol) then all the power to you…

Every little bit helps….. maybe…….

Alderney said :

KB1971 said :

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk. Day after day there are posts here on how bad drivers are these days, hell there are even a series of posts about people and how bad they are at parking. There is a post which is pretty much 80% commenters saying how many people use the phone while driving. These days people are inattentive, rely on thier cars to drive for them and generally lack any form of care or respect for other users, we all know that, that’s just the way it is.

In spite of that, you still choose to ride out there. That’s fine – there is no issue with that… but because of this, you choose to wear the risk too.

Yes, riding out there should be safe, yes other road users should be courteous and attentive… but they’re not. This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

Fair point but should we not be highlighting this fact to people to try and reduce the effect?

I’m not sure the point made by Solidarity is fair.

Why is the onus of a car driver’s poor habits placed on the cyclist?

If the car driver was skilled, attentive, and considerate the incident would not have taken place.

The comment smakes of victim blaming.

I look at it like this, I commute to work regularly.

This morning I decided to ride Adelaide Ave instead of the cycle path.

Now I know that there is a higher risk taking this route than the bike path which relatively safe but I made a choice to take the quicker route so I rode accordingly (when I crossed intersections and such).

What Solidarity is saying is correct, if a cyclist takes to the road knowing that drivers can be in-attentive they then need to accept that fact.

I am not trying to excuse lazy drivers at all, I thin we need to speak up against it and not just from a cyclist point of view, from a road user point of view.

KB1971 said :

patrick_keogh said :

I’m kinda glad that this was posted to RA because it brings into stark relief some of the antisocial, inconsiderate, selfish, just plain inhumane attitudes that some rioters have. Some of you should ashamed of yourselves. I do not believe in karma, and I do not wish you any misfortune so I leave it to you to have a good hard look in the mirror: to stretch the brain far enough to understand that I might have been a friend, a lover, a child or a colleague, and to then reevaluate your shallow, inconsiderate and uncaring comments.

x Elventybillion, there certainly are some gooses on here.

Since nobody has gone grammar police yet … the plural of goose is geese. Take that!

You should sell Patrick one of the invisible force fields that you have been using to protect you while you are riding your bike in those green death lanes. You could make a fortune off them. 🙂

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk. Day after day there are posts here on how bad drivers are these days, hell there are even a series of posts about people and how bad they are at parking. There is a post which is pretty much 80% commenters saying how many people use the phone while driving. These days people are inattentive, rely on thier cars to drive for them and generally lack any form of care or respect for other users, we all know that, that’s just the way it is.

In spite of that, you still choose to ride out there. That’s fine – there is no issue with that… but because of this, you choose to wear the risk too.

Yes, riding out there should be safe, yes other road users should be courteous and attentive… but they’re not. This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

So you’d be OK if there was say an 80% risk of being bashed or raped if you walked through Civic? That would be acceptable to you and you would simply find somewhere else to shop and/or work?

Patrick and other cyclists have every right to ride on the road. He was out on a quiet road with very little traffic, riding along being lawful and minding his own business when he was nearly killed or seriously injured by a careless driver pulling out from one of the few side streets. I’m sure Patrick was thinking there was very litle risk in going for a ride in this area and was probably one of the main reasons he chose to ride there – that and the great views.

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk.

The driver also accepted responsibility for their actions. A driver acting irresponsibly (especially in an urban assault vehicle) is far more dangerous than a cyclist being foolhardy.

Changing the cyclist’s behaviour (e.g.: encouraging him to live in a hole and never come outside) would at most save one life. Changing the assault driver’s behaviour will potentially save dozens of lives.

KB1971 said :

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk. Day after day there are posts here on how bad drivers are these days, hell there are even a series of posts about people and how bad they are at parking. There is a post which is pretty much 80% commenters saying how many people use the phone while driving. These days people are inattentive, rely on thier cars to drive for them and generally lack any form of care or respect for other users, we all know that, that’s just the way it is.

In spite of that, you still choose to ride out there. That’s fine – there is no issue with that… but because of this, you choose to wear the risk too.

Yes, riding out there should be safe, yes other road users should be courteous and attentive… but they’re not. This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

Fair point but should we not be highlighting this fact to people to try and reduce the effect?

If you can somehow change Canberra car culture back to how it was in the 70’s (minus the alcohol) then all the power to you…

chewy14 said :

Postalgeek said :

So no, I would suggest that any assertion that cyclists going through red lights are the most dangerous roadusers is completely unsupported by any form of statistic and entirely lacks any form of intellectual integrity.

I would have say you’re missing a part of the story, although I don’t agree with the original premise at all.

Cyclists don’t kill other road users or pedestrians, they’re most likely to get killed themselves in a collision.

Here’s a report from 2006 on cyclist deaths:

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/publications/2006/pdf/death_cyclists_road.pdf

I haven’t looked at these death or injury rates compared to the overall use of cycling as a transport mode but I believe that up to a third of all transport related injuries are from cyclists.

Cycling can clearly be dangerous and we need to do as much as possible to prevent cars and cyclists getting too close because the cyclist is always the one who comes off worse.

More care, attention and training for all road users is necessary.

Why post a link to a report if you don’t read it yourself?

From the 2006 report: “Another report by the ATSB in 2004 on cyclist safety, based on data for 2000 and 2001, showed that cyclists account for about 11 per cent of persons seriously injured in road crashes each year.”

The rest of the report is about fatalities only.

KB1971 said :

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk. Day after day there are posts here on how bad drivers are these days, hell there are even a series of posts about people and how bad they are at parking. There is a post which is pretty much 80% commenters saying how many people use the phone while driving. These days people are inattentive, rely on thier cars to drive for them and generally lack any form of care or respect for other users, we all know that, that’s just the way it is.

In spite of that, you still choose to ride out there. That’s fine – there is no issue with that… but because of this, you choose to wear the risk too.

Yes, riding out there should be safe, yes other road users should be courteous and attentive… but they’re not. This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

Fair point but should we not be highlighting this fact to people to try and reduce the effect?

I’m not sure the point made by Solidarity is fair.

Why is the onus of a car driver’s poor habits placed on the cyclist?

If the car driver was skilled, attentive, and considerate the incident would not have taken place.

The comment smakes of victim blaming.

Solidarity said :

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk. Day after day there are posts here on how bad drivers are these days, hell there are even a series of posts about people and how bad they are at parking. There is a post which is pretty much 80% commenters saying how many people use the phone while driving. These days people are inattentive, rely on thier cars to drive for them and generally lack any form of care or respect for other users, we all know that, that’s just the way it is.

In spite of that, you still choose to ride out there. That’s fine – there is no issue with that… but because of this, you choose to wear the risk too.

Yes, riding out there should be safe, yes other road users should be courteous and attentive… but they’re not. This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

Fair point but should we not be highlighting this fact to people to try and reduce the effect?

Postalgeek said :

Dungfungus said:

The cyclists that ride through red lights are the most dangerous road users there are.

He didn’t say ‘Cycling is dangerous’.

He didn’t say ‘Cycling through red lights is the most dangerous action on the road’.

He didn’t say ‘Cyclists that ride through red lights are a danger to themselves’,

He didn’t say ‘the cyclists that ride through red lights are the most stupid road users there are’.

Any of those statements are at least mildly defensible.

But if you’re right, according to dungfungus lemmings are the most dangerous animals there are.

But I certainly agree with you about doing what we can to keep cycles and cars separate where possible.

I was simply pointing out that you were missing part of the story by focusing on cyclists killing other motorists or pedestrians.

Being dangerous can also include causing danger to yourself and it’s not like a motorist who hits and kills a cyclist is not affected from such an experience.

chewy14 said :

Postalgeek said :

So no, I would suggest that any assertion that cyclists going through red lights are the most dangerous roadusers is completely unsupported by any form of statistic and entirely lacks any form of intellectual integrity.

I would have say you’re missing a part of the story, although I don’t agree with the original premise at all.

Cyclists don’t kill other road users or pedestrians, they’re most likely to get killed themselves in a collision.

Here’s a report from 2006 on cyclist deaths:

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/publications/2006/pdf/death_cyclists_road.pdf

I haven’t looked at these death or injury rates compared to the overall use of cycling as a transport mode but I believe that up to a third of all transport related injuries are from cyclists.

Cycling can clearly be dangerous and we need to do as much as possible to prevent cars and cyclists getting too close because the cyclist is always the one who comes off worse.

More care, attention and training for all road users is necessary.

My contention was with Dungfungus’s unsupported statement:

The cyclists that ride through red lights are the most dangerous road users there are.

He didn’t say ‘Cycling is dangerous’.

He didn’t say ‘Cycling through red lights is the most dangerous action on the road’.

He didn’t say ‘Cyclists that ride through red lights are a danger to themselves’,

He didn’t say ‘the cyclists that ride through red lights are the most stupid road users there are’.

Any of those statements are at least mildly defensible.

According to dungfungus lemmings are the most dangerous animals there are.

But I certainly agree with you about doing what we can to keep cycles and cars separate where possible.

Solidarity said :

This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

A recent comment on another thread suggested this is not the case in the ACT; rather, that all footpaths and cycle paths are one and the same and are officially designated as “shared path” or some such claptrap.
This fits with info I collected years ago at the old NCDC that bike paths were not officially designated/gazzetted as “bike paths” for legalistic/liability reasons relating to their use by pedestrians.

Having said that, I suspect (at least some) serious cyclists consider paths to be problematic. And I doubt there’s many of them out Wallaroo Rd way anyway.

Look, i’m glad you’re OK, but you know why I don’t care that you almost got cleaned up?

It’s simple. The risk. You accepted the risk. Day after day there are posts here on how bad drivers are these days, hell there are even a series of posts about people and how bad they are at parking. There is a post which is pretty much 80% commenters saying how many people use the phone while driving. These days people are inattentive, rely on thier cars to drive for them and generally lack any form of care or respect for other users, we all know that, that’s just the way it is.

In spite of that, you still choose to ride out there. That’s fine – there is no issue with that… but because of this, you choose to wear the risk too.

Yes, riding out there should be safe, yes other road users should be courteous and attentive… but they’re not. This incident wasn’t your fault, but you did accept the risk of doing so. I stick to footpaths these days, it’s illegal, but it’s safer.

Postalgeek said :

So no, I would suggest that any assertion that cyclists going through red lights are the most dangerous roadusers is completely unsupported by any form of statistic and entirely lacks any form of intellectual integrity.

I would have say you’re missing a part of the story, although I don’t agree with the original premise at all.

Cyclists don’t kill other road users or pedestrians, they’re most likely to get killed themselves in a collision.

Here’s a report from 2006 on cyclist deaths:

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/publications/2006/pdf/death_cyclists_road.pdf

I haven’t looked at these death or injury rates compared to the overall use of cycling as a transport mode but I believe that up to a third of all transport related injuries are from cyclists.

Cycling can clearly be dangerous and we need to do as much as possible to prevent cars and cyclists getting too close because the cyclist is always the one who comes off worse.

More care, attention and training for all road users is necessary.

patrick_keogh said :

I’m kinda glad that this was posted to RA because it brings into stark relief some of the antisocial, inconsiderate, selfish, just plain inhumane attitudes that some rioters have. Some of you should ashamed of yourselves. I do not believe in karma, and I do not wish you any misfortune so I leave it to you to have a good hard look in the mirror: to stretch the brain far enough to understand that I might have been a friend, a lover, a child or a colleague, and to then reevaluate your shallow, inconsiderate and uncaring comments.

x Elventybillion, there certainly are some gooses on here.

JimCharles said :

bundah said :

milkman said :

Some people just don’t have the skill to operate a car. If it were up to me I’d retest people every time they renewed their license.

Driving simulator testing would do the trick.

Is that part of the driving test over here ? We had this thing in the UK, hazard testing,
You watch a video from a travelling driver’s viewpoint on a touchscreen monitor and have to press quickly when you see a hazard (child playing on footpath, idiot stopping without indicating, idiot pulling out without looking etc).
If you don’t get above a certain number, and if you don’t spot the hazards quickly enough, you don’t get a license.

I don’t think it’s the physical skills that are the problem over here (except for not knowing how to drive in wet weather), it’s complete bloody lack of awareness of themselves and others.
Mirrors, anticipation, blind spots, indicators, brakes, getting out of the overtaking lane, stopping without reason, going too slowly, pulling into moving traffic and taking up braking space, pulling into traffic flow when you haven’t got up to the current speed…..ie…not doing anything that will cause another driver to interrupt his normal progress without good cause. It’s a simple overriding rule based on safety.
If the cops stopped messing about with speed camera’s and actually campaigned for people to use their eyes and understand what danger means, there’d be a lot less accidents and near misses.
They might even be able to raise the speed limit then !

Some good points, however police have nothing to do with the running of speed cameras, and as far as I know, never have. Also, it’s not the role of the police to campaign for better driver training, which, if I understand you correctly, is what you’re suggesting.

LSWCHP said :

Antagonist said :

460cixy said :

I like how he screamed like a girl.

That one is still making me laugh 🙂

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

I suggest that every single bike rider invest in two go pros. They are damn cheap now days. Put one on a helmet mount and one on the back of your bike. Even if some pos hits you and you die, at least there will be complete evidence to lock the moron up.

Can you imagine the footage from the scenario described in the OP? Just lots of lycra and ball sweat … then the screen turns brown to the sound of a screaming girl.

Ah look…when a man is, out of the blue, faced with the end of his life, I reckon he can scream or curse any way he wants in any pitch he chooses and I won’t hold him in any less regard. I think PK did pretty damn well under the circumstances, and I’m glad he’s still with us in one piece.

Just sayin I prefer the footage from the forward facing angle is all 🙂

patrick_keogh said :

… understand that I might have been a friend, a lover, a child or a colleague, …

Under certain circumstances, any one of those could be reason to cheer the 4WD on. How do you reckon I can get my mother in law to ride a bike out there?

tuco said :

p1 said :

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast…

Wait. WTF?

Probably carbon fibre bikes to blame here. Perhaps a handicapping system with various sandbags will return us to the years of sanity which sadly ended in 2003.

Oh yes .. maybe the UCI can introduce a 10kg bike weight limit for the Commuter Olympics, mandate the use of Panniers and helmets with zip-ties, while outlawing SPD shoes fancy enough to have carbon soles.

After that, a bounty offered to anyone taking out the front wheel of hipsters riding helmet-less on unbraked fixies.

LSWCHP said :

Ah look…when a man is, out of the blue, faced with the end of his life, I reckon he can scream or curse any way he wants in any pitch he chooses and I won’t hold him in any less regard. I think PK did pretty damn well under the circumstances, and I’m glad he’s still with us in one piece.

Sorry to demystify the moment but I never thought it would be the “end of my life”. I’ve been riding bikes for around 50 years and I have a modicum of bike handling skills as a result. They can’t always save you from collision or injury: I’ve had a few collisions with cars over those years, but the years do give you a good instinct as to when things might go wrong. I had time to evaluate going left vs going right (off to the left looked worse). I wasn’t so much scared as trying as an earlier reply suggested to attract the attention of the driver. Sorry that “Shit” wasn’t very witty, but you know ad lib is difficult.

I’m kinda glad that this was posted to RA because it brings into stark relief some of the antisocial, inconsiderate, selfish, just plain inhumane attitudes that some rioters have. Some of you should ashamed of yourselves. I do not believe in karma, and I do not wish you any misfortune so I leave it to you to have a good hard look in the mirror: to stretch the brain far enough to understand that I might have been a friend, a lover, a child or a colleague, and to then reevaluate your shallow, inconsiderate and uncaring comments.

Antagonist said :

460cixy said :

I like how he screamed like a girl.

That one is still making me laugh 🙂

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

I suggest that every single bike rider invest in two go pros. They are damn cheap now days. Put one on a helmet mount and one on the back of your bike. Even if some pos hits you and you die, at least there will be complete evidence to lock the moron up.

Can you imagine the footage from the scenario described in the OP? Just lots of lycra and ball sweat … then the screen turns brown to the sound of a screaming girl.

Ah look…when a man is, out of the blue, faced with the end of his life, I reckon he can scream or curse any way he wants in any pitch he chooses and I won’t hold him in any less regard. I think PK did pretty damn well under the circumstances, and I’m glad he’s still with us in one piece.

460cixy said :

I like how he screamed like a girl.

That one is still making me laugh 🙂

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

I suggest that every single bike rider invest in two go pros. They are damn cheap now days. Put one on a helmet mount and one on the back of your bike. Even if some pos hits you and you die, at least there will be complete evidence to lock the moron up.

Can you imagine the footage from the scenario described in the OP? Just lots of lycra and ball sweat … then the screen turns brown to the sound of a screaming girl.

Postalgeek said :

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast and this puts pressure on a motorists judgment where road sharing is involved.

Excellent. Now cyclists are traveling too fast for motorists. Well, that’s different from the usual complaints. Points to you for breaking the mold and turning a reason for some motorists not to be on the road into a reason for cyclists not to be on the road.

As far as scanning goes, the 4WD had 10 seconds and clear visibility to scan for someone wearing bright colours instead of Auscam.

dungfungus said :

The cyclists that ride through red lights are the most dangerous road users there are.

Again I have to disagree with you there. Not excusing cyclists riding through red lights, but to date I haven’t found any statistic that indicates a cyclist riding through a red light has managed to kill anyone in a car. There have been around 4 cyclist-pedestrian deaths since 2000:
http://acrs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Grzebieta-McIntosh-Chong-Pedestrian-Cyclist-Collisions-Issues-and-Risk..pdf

Motorists in Australia, on the other hand, manage to kill, on average, roughly that number daily. Daaaaaily. And that’s taking 2011 stats which are the lowest since 2000.

http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2012/files/RDA_Summary_2011.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_Australia_by_year

Cyclists’ efforts are dwarfed by cars in the same way that grapes are dwarfed by the moon.

So no, I would suggest that any assertion that cyclists going through red lights are the most dangerous roadusers is completely unsupported by any form of statistic and entirely lacks any form of intellectual integrity.

Riding through a red light is pretty dangerous to the rider. Obviously when a car and bicycle collide the rider will come off second best.

tuco said :

p1 said :

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast…

Wait. WTF?

Probably carbon fibre bikes to blame here. Perhaps a handicapping system with various sandbags will return us to the years of sanity which sadly ended in 2003.

Pennyfarthings anyone?

Postalgeek said :

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast and this puts pressure on a motorists judgment where road sharing is involved.

Excellent. Now cyclists are traveling too fast for motorists. Well, that’s different from the usual complaints. Points to you for breaking the mold and turning a reason for some motorists not to be on the road into a reason for cyclists not to be on the road.

As far as scanning goes, the 4WD had 10 seconds and clear visibility to scan for someone wearing bright colours instead of Auscam.

dungfungus said :

The cyclists that ride through red lights are the most dangerous road users there are.

Again I have to disagree with you there. Not excusing cyclists riding through red lights, but to date I haven’t found any statistic that indicates a cyclist riding through a red light has managed to kill anyone in a car. There have been around 4 cyclist-pedestrian deaths since 2000:
http://acrs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Grzebieta-McIntosh-Chong-Pedestrian-Cyclist-Collisions-Issues-and-Risk..pdf

Motorists in Australia, on the other hand, manage to kill, on average, roughly that number daily. Daaaaaily. And that’s taking 2011 stats which are the lowest since 2000.

http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2012/files/RDA_Summary_2011.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_Australia_by_year

Cyclists’ efforts are dwarfed by cars in the same way that grapes are dwarfed by the moon.

So no, I would suggest that any assertion that cyclists going through red lights are the most dangerous roadusers is completely unsupported by any form of statistic and entirely lacks any form of intellectual integrity whatsoever.

dungfungus said :

He may have in fact been unsighted because you blended into the vegetation and landscape.

There’s also the theory of relative motionlessness, which occurs when two vehicle travel towards an intersection at constant speed. That is to say that one sees the other as being stationary in their peripheral vision, hence do not detect the presence of it.

Of course this still comes down to lack of attention and being on the wrong side of the road.
Sloppy driving at best.

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast and this puts pressure on a motorists judgment where road sharing is involved.

Excellent. Now cyclists are traveling too fast for motorists. Well, that’s different from the usual complaints. Points to you for breaking the mold and turning a reason for some motorists not to be on the road into a reason for cyclists not to be on the road.

As far as scanning goes, the 4WD had 10 seconds and clear visibility to scan for someone wearing bright colours instead of Auscam.

dungfungus said :

The cyclists that ride through red lights are the most dangerous road users there are.

Again I have to disagree with you there. Not excusing cyclists riding through red lights, but to date I haven’t found any statistic that indicates a cyclist riding through a red light has managed to kill anyone in a car. There have been around 4 cyclist-pedestrian deaths since 2000:
http://acrs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Grzebieta-McIntosh-Chong-Pedestrian-Cyclist-Collisions-Issues-and-Risk..pdf

Motorists in Australia, on the other hand, manage to kill, on average, roughly that number daily. Daaaaaily. And that’s taking 2011 stats which are the lowest since 2000.

http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2012/files/RDA_Summary_2011.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_Australia_by_year

Cyclists’ efforts are dwarfed by cars in the same way that grapes are dwarfed by the moon.

So no, I would suggest that any assertion that cyclists going through red lights are the most dangerous roadusers is completely unsupported by any form of statistic and entirely lacks any form of intellectual integrity.

p1 said :

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast…

Wait. WTF?

Probably carbon fibre bikes to blame here. Perhaps a handicapping system with various sandbags will return us to the years of sanity which sadly ended in 2003.

johnboy said :

p1 said :

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast…

Wait. WTF?

I think this means Dungfungus should hand his licence in.

I’ve seen plenty of cyclists traveling way too quickly, especially when using pedestrian areas of intersections. The thing that some people forget is that effective road safety requires all of us to be sensible.

johnboy said :

p1 said :

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast…

Wait. WTF?

I think this means Dungfungus should hand his licence in.

Or certainly that he shouldn’t bleat about cyclists hold up traffic….

dungfungus said :

[I nearly got cleaned up crossing a pedestrian crossing years ago.
.

He could’ve been simply walking over a pedestrian crossing and referring to a driver asleep at the wheel scaring the tripe out of him…

p1 said :

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast…

Wait. WTF?

I think this means Dungfungus should hand his licence in.

dungfungus said :

The cyclists that ride through red lights are the most dangerous road users there are.

Really? “The most dangerous road users there are”?? Making a claim like that, I presume you have some very conclusive statistics on the number of people killed by errant red-light-running cyclists to back up your position?

Talk sense, man.

dungfungus said :

Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast…

Wait. WTF?

dungfungus said :

Girt_Hindrance said :

That was scary even from this perspective… Would have been terrifying facing that approaching Roo-bar.
I nearly got cleaned up crossing a pedestrian crossing years ago. Took me ten mins to stop shaking, hope this gent is okay.
Also, impressed by the single swear word- I don’t think I could be so reserved in that circumstance.

“I nearly got cleaned up crossing a pedestrian crossing years ago”
If you were riding your bike on the crossing you deserved to be cleaned up. If you were obeying the law and walking your bike across then that is a different matter.

Hahahaha, classic.
Invent your own scenario to fit your beliefs then.
To add futher, I was walking my bike across from the front of Belco Mall, first lane had completely stopped, (a 4 by 4, that I couldn’t around), and progressed across but had to jump back before the P-plated Commodore came blazing through, horn blaring. Don’t worry, I’m far more cautious now.

You made a nasty comment on Riotact, so you deserve to be cleaned up?

I am not defending the driver of the vehicle but given the remote location of the incident I can understand that the driver would have been scanning for oncoming vehicles from the right and he was not expecting to see a lone cyclist. He may have in fact been unsighted because you blended into the vegetation and landscape. I am sure he got just as bigger fright as you did.
I am always on the lookout for cyclists wherever I drive and I will always give way to them even if they are breaking the law because it is just not worth maiming someone to make a point. Over the past 10 years I find that cyclists tend to travel too fast and this puts pressure on a motorists judgment where road sharing is involved. The cyclists that ride through red lights are the most dangerous road users there are.

Girt_Hindrance said :

That was scary even from this perspective… Would have been terrifying facing that approaching Roo-bar.
I nearly got cleaned up crossing a pedestrian crossing years ago. Took me ten mins to stop shaking, hope this gent is okay.
Also, impressed by the single swear word- I don’t think I could be so reserved in that circumstance.

“I nearly got cleaned up crossing a pedestrian crossing years ago”
If you were riding your bike on the crossing you deserved to be cleaned up. If you were obeying the law and walking your bike across then that is a different matter.

In perfect timing was this piece in CT about three vehiclecyclist accidents PER WEEK in the ACT throughout 2012. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/road-users-urged-to-turn-down-the-aggro-20130201-2doxz.html

In no-one’s mind could such a statistic be acceptable. Particularly when you consider that every such accident means a life-threatening situation for the cyclist, but just paint scratches for the driver (but potentially permanent mental scarring).

I’m waiting for the helmet mount to come in for my Sony Action Cam birthday gift, then I’ll be recording every commute too. I hope I never have to rely on it…

460cixy said :

I like how he screamed like a girl.

Pathetic.
Seems pretty clear to me that the guy was yelling as loud as he could to catch the driver’s attention. Remember these cameras are usually inside waterproof cases – if so the sound is slightly muffled.

I think it’s great to see someone driving a child-killer deciding to pick on someone their own size. The novelty of running over kids in driveways/garages must have worn right off.

I’m all for regular 5 yearly testing. Even theory testing would be better than nothing.

Struth, can you imagine the bellyaching on here if this got up?

Talk of special licencing to drive these things has real merit. Hard to introduce now that so many housewives are already committed to their truck of choice.

chewy14 said :

patrick_keogh said :

Thanks for the kind thoughts GH. Yes I was OK… a little bit of adrenalin-boosted heart rate but nothing like doing another 30km to get that out of the system. A Patrol doesn’t exactly have sparkling acceleration so I was always going to be able to out manoeuvre it and I wasn’t all that worried, more cranky that someone tried to kill me.

I don’t think he tried to kill you.

Lazy, inattentive and distracted maybe but definitely not attempted murder.

As a motorbike rider, this kind of thing has happened to me literally hundreds of times. It’s part of the reason why you have to do so much training to avoid situations which can become dangerous very quickly.

If you can’t accept that danger, and that other road users are often complete peanuts, then you shouldn’t be on the road on your bike either.

I think these kinds of videos show the urgent need to rework our driver training methods. I think every driver should be given a retest at five year intervals.

+1

What a numpty in that Patrol. I ride to work more often than not, although I do own a cage (and pay rego etc etc). I did used to do a fair bit of four wheel driving. I also used the same heavy 4WD ute to cart big loads. I also just drove about the burg on the tarmac to get from A to B. (The point being that the vehicle in question actually got used for its intended purposes, not just to get up a steep driveway.)

I feel very fortunate that my old man did teach me to drive the thing. He taught me how easy it is to lose control of a heavy vehicle in the wet (and scared the life out of me), how to go sideways in a vaguely controlled fashion, how to change a tyre on the side of a hill in the mud. You get the picture. So, Id add to chewy14’s suggestion: I reckon there should be a separate category of license for 4WDs. They don’t drive like regular cars, they certainly don’t handle as well, and your chance of killing someone goes thru the roof when you drive one because of the high centre of gravity and inertia of such buggies.

If someone really wants to drive a truck or a motorbike we have separate categories of licence. We should do the same with this class of vehicle. I reckon there’d be a massive attrition in Patrol ownership. Imagine if people drive up some hideous hill and then stop and change the tyre as part of the test. Or maybe reverse a big heavy trailer with the limited visibility that a lot of these cars have. They wouldn’t bother, and we’d all be safer.

JimCharles said :

bundah said :

milkman said :

Some people just don’t have the skill to operate a car. If it were up to me I’d retest people every time they renewed their license.

Driving simulator testing would do the trick.

Is that part of the driving test over here ? We had this thing in the UK, hazard testing,
You watch a video from a travelling driver’s viewpoint on a touchscreen monitor and have to press quickly when you see a hazard (child playing on footpath, idiot stopping without indicating, idiot pulling out without looking etc).
If you don’t get above a certain number, and if you don’t spot the hazards quickly enough, you don’t get a license.

I don’t think it’s the physical skills that are the problem over here (except for not knowing how to drive in wet weather), it’s complete bloody lack of awareness of themselves and others.
Mirrors, anticipation, blind spots, indicators, brakes, getting out of the overtaking lane, stopping without reason, going too slowly, pulling into moving traffic and taking up braking space, pulling into traffic flow when you haven’t got up to the current speed…..ie…not doing anything that will cause another driver to interrupt his normal progress without good cause. It’s a simple overriding rule based on safety.
If the cops stopped messing about with speed camera’s and actually campaigned for people to use their eyes and understand what danger means, there’d be a lot less accidents and near misses.
They might even be able to raise the speed limit then !

Well said!

ezy10z said :

i personally hate cyclists…. a road accident is an accident, whether it be with another car or a cyclist…
only difference is, if you hit a cyclist they’re as good as dead… and then the poor motorist (could be an innocent father/mother with children to look after) gets charged with manslaughter and goes to jail just because some twat wanted to ride his bike on the road.

I see there is a strong argument for regular testing of people with access to keyboards and the Internet as well.

Here’s hoping some innocent father/mother with children to look after doesn’t get charged with manslaughter and goes to jail if they run you down on a pedestrian crossing or mount the curb.

actually the police refer to them as collisions….

but many drivers say they’re accidents, or SMIDSYs (sorry mate i didn’t see you) SMIDSY should be renamed SMIDT. sorry mate i didn’t think….

Glad the cyclist is ok and it didn’t turn into a serious accident.

This is the sort of behavior everyone operating a vehicle with less than 4 wheels encounters on a regular basis. I know cyclists cop a hard time from many road users. So do motorcyclists. Luckily we get taught how to ride defensively during the various stages of licensing so we are better equipped to avoid incidents like these. It’s frustrating that we have to act extra responsibly to make up for the piss-poor driving skills of others, but such is life.

patrick_keogh said :

Thanks for the kind thoughts GH. Yes I was OK… a little bit of adrenalin-boosted heart rate but nothing like doing another 30km to get that out of the system. A Patrol doesn’t exactly have sparkling acceleration so I was always going to be able to out manoeuvre it and I wasn’t all that worried, more cranky that someone tried to kill me.

I don’t think he tried to kill you.

Lazy, inattentive and distracted maybe but definitely not attempted murder.

As a motorbike rider, this kind of thing has happened to me literally hundreds of times. It’s part of the reason why you have to do so much training to avoid situations which can become dangerous very quickly.

If you can’t accept that danger, and that other road users are often complete peanuts, then you shouldn’t be on the road on your bike either.

I think these kinds of videos show the urgent need to rework our driver training methods. I think every driver should be given a retest at five year intervals.

ACCIDENTS do happen….. thats why they are called accidents… i wasnt wishing bad upon anyone…
Who here has never made a mistake?? wake up to yourselves

That intersection (Wallroo Rd and Gooromon Ponds Rd has pretty good visibility in the direction the 4WD driver was (should have been) looking.

I’d say it is almost certain that the driver was looking mostly over their left shoulder, either at the community notice board, or back up Wallaroo Rd to see if anything was coming down the hill at him (there is less visibility up the hill in the that direction – so he probably spent a little longer looking that way).

The driving was shite because he cut the corner horribly. I wonder if he totally missed the bike, or saw it and completely misjudged how far it would travel in the time it took to do the head check to the left?

To the OP – do you live out that way, or were you visiting someone? Cause if you were simply out for a relaxing ride, I would suggest that Wallaroo Rd is not a good choice, not because of this moron, but because of the current quality of the surface and the resulting unpredictability of the path taken by the mostly heavier vehicles.

ezy10z said :

i personally

“i personally”… “i personally”?!??!?!?!

Learn how to write and stop abusing the English language you ignorant swine.

ezy10z said :

i personally hate cyclists…. a road accident is an accident, whether it be with another car or a cyclist…
only difference is, if you hit a cyclist they’re as good as dead… and then the poor motorist (could be an innocent father/mother with children to look after) gets charged with manslaughter and goes to jail just because some twat wanted to ride his bike on the road.

It took dozens of posts and not until the next day before we get an idiot with a blame-the-victim mentality on this one. I think Riot-act is going soft!

Now, if only such drivers would get charged with manslaughter .. Too often it’s a piddling fine. An accident can also be negligence. Maybe one day you’ll get creamed by a B-double on the highway and the truck driver will suggest it’s your fault because you wanted to share the road with much bigger vehicles.

not in Canberra they don’t. (rolls eyes). Canberra is about the only city in Australia you can kill someone on their bike and cop a traffic infringement notice.

An accident isn’t an accident though if a driver failed to give way, stop, or turned across a cyclist because they were either asleep at the wheel, or deliberately DGAF… What a charming response ezy10z. So if, god forbid, you did hit and kill a cyclist, well, they deserved it because they were there???? and it might ruin *your* family??? you gotta be kidding!

i personally hate cyclists…. a road accident is an accident, whether it be with another car or a cyclist…
only difference is, if you hit a cyclist they’re as good as dead… and then the poor motorist (could be an innocent father/mother with children to look after) gets charged with manslaughter and goes to jail just because some twat wanted to ride his bike on the road.

Leon said :

460cixy said :

I like how he screamed like a girl.

If you think that “AAH S***” sounds like a girl’s scream, I suggest that you ask your girlfriend for a copy of his birth certicifate.

Hahaha, Owned.

JimCharles said :

bundah said :

milkman said :

Some people just don’t have the skill to operate a car. If it were up to me I’d retest people every time they renewed their license.

Driving simulator testing would do the trick.

Is that part of the driving test over here ? We had this thing in the UK, hazard testing,
You watch a video from a travelling driver’s viewpoint on a touchscreen monitor and have to press quickly when you see a hazard (child playing on footpath, idiot stopping without indicating, idiot pulling out without looking etc).
If you don’t get above a certain number, and if you don’t spot the hazards quickly enough, you don’t get a license.

I don’t think it’s the physical skills that are the problem over here (except for not knowing how to drive in wet weather), it’s complete bloody lack of awareness of themselves and others.
Mirrors, anticipation, blind spots, indicators, brakes, getting out of the overtaking lane, stopping without reason, going too slowly, pulling into moving traffic and taking up braking space, pulling into traffic flow when you haven’t got up to the current speed…..ie…not doing anything that will cause another driver to interrupt his normal progress without good cause. It’s a simple overriding rule based on safety.
If the cops stopped messing about with speed camera’s and actually campaigned for people to use their eyes and understand what danger means, there’d be a lot less accidents and near misses.
They might even be able to raise the speed limit then !

+1. Exactly the problem.

460cixy said :

I like how he screamed like a girl.

If you think that “AAH S***” sounds like a girl’s scream, I suggest that you ask your girlfriend for a copy of his birth certicifate.

bundah said :

milkman said :

Some people just don’t have the skill to operate a car. If it were up to me I’d retest people every time they renewed their license.

Driving simulator testing would do the trick.

Is that part of the driving test over here ? We had this thing in the UK, hazard testing,
You watch a video from a travelling driver’s viewpoint on a touchscreen monitor and have to press quickly when you see a hazard (child playing on footpath, idiot stopping without indicating, idiot pulling out without looking etc).
If you don’t get above a certain number, and if you don’t spot the hazards quickly enough, you don’t get a license.

I don’t think it’s the physical skills that are the problem over here (except for not knowing how to drive in wet weather), it’s complete bloody lack of awareness of themselves and others.
Mirrors, anticipation, blind spots, indicators, brakes, getting out of the overtaking lane, stopping without reason, going too slowly, pulling into moving traffic and taking up braking space, pulling into traffic flow when you haven’t got up to the current speed…..ie…not doing anything that will cause another driver to interrupt his normal progress without good cause. It’s a simple overriding rule based on safety.
If the cops stopped messing about with speed camera’s and actually campaigned for people to use their eyes and understand what danger means, there’d be a lot less accidents and near misses.
They might even be able to raise the speed limit then !

Tetranitrate said :

However I have to wonder why cyclists still insist on riding on the roads given the ample evidence that a substantial minority of drivers are idiots who are completely oblivious of what’s going on around them.

Well as one can see in the video there’s no footpath, so where else can he ride to get from A to B along this road?

Also this car is cutting the corner terribly and driving in the wrong lane. If one was driving a car near this idiot the greater size and speed probably would have resulted in an accident. When I drive around the suburbs people are always cutting corners like this and I don’t understand why they do it when it’s such an obviously dangerous thing to do.

The guy barley slows and doesn’t seem to check the road he should give way to, so he probably would have hit a car too seeing how blind he is.

Girt_Hindrance said :

That was scary even from this perspective… Would have been terrifying facing that approaching Roo-bar.
I nearly got cleaned up crossing a pedestrian crossing years ago. Took me ten mins to stop shaking, hope this gent is okay.
Also, impressed by the single swear word- I don’t think I could be so reserved in that circumstance.

Thanks for the kind thoughts GH. Yes I was OK… a little bit of adrenalin-boosted heart rate but nothing like doing another 30km to get that out of the system. A Patrol doesn’t exactly have sparkling acceleration so I was always going to be able to out manoeuvre it and I wasn’t all that worried, more cranky that someone tried to kill me.

patrick_keogh said :

bd84 said :

Driver is obviously lazy and in attentive not properly looking and cutting the corner. Having said that, it looks very overcast in the footage, I would like to enquire how visible the cyclist made themselves with his clothing and whether he had a light operational.

As a driver, I would have expected both rider and driver to have their lights on in that situation.

It was slightly overcast at around 10am this morning when the incident occurred. The visibility was good. For example, rerun the footage and see how far back you can see the moving 4WD. If you look carefully you’ll see me turn my head slightly which is when I saw it.

I was wearing a flouro yellow and white helmet and a red and white maillot. Not exactly invisible unless you don’t look.

Your yellow and white helmet not only would look like a dot until the last minute, but also would blend into the dry grass in the background. I dare say that a red and white mullet [ maillot is a woman’s swimsuit if you didn’t know ] probably looks like a road speed indicator sign, seeing that they are commonly that colour.
Also, when you turn your head in the footage, it appears the driver would have been looking into the brightness of the sun trickling into the clouds in the background, which has quite a glare to it. That in itself would make almost anything that blends into the background almost invisible.
Not saying the driver wasn’t at fault, but shedding some light on what may have contributed.

patrick_keogh said :

bd84 said :

It was slightly overcast at around 10am this morning when the incident occurred. The visibility was good. For example, rerun the footage and see how far back you can see the moving 4WD. If you look carefully you’ll see me turn my head slightly which is when I saw it.

I was wearing a flouro yellow and white helmet and a red and white maillot. Not exactly invisible unless you don’t look.

I would say that the direction you were coming from was very overcast compared to the direction the Patrol was, but your fluro clothing should have made you easy enough to see. I’m betting that driver is bad, that he takes that corner the same way every day. Some people need their licence torn up.

milkman said :

Some people just don’t have the skill to operate a car. If it were up to me I’d retest people every time they renewed their license.

There’s some evidence (easily googleable) that low IQ drivers have disproportionately more accidents, particularly at intersections – not really surprising since they by definition have poor reasoning skills.

It’s probably no accident that in most of western Europe the bottom rung of society is basically prevented from driving through high upfront costs (~1000 euros or more) for licenses and the absolute requirement for independent training. The way we let parents ‘train’ their kids here is terrible, bogans who last sighted the road-rules in 1975 pass on their habits and attitudes to their kids enough by just driving them around, let alone by “teaching” them how to drive.
Of course the problem with doing that in Australia is that by and large this would condemn these people to unemployment and more general social exclusion because of the spread of our cities and the inadequacy of public transport systems. Just can’t win.

I suggest that every single bike rider invest in two go pros. They are damn cheap now days. Put one on a helmet mount and one on the back of your bike. Even if some pos hits you and you die, at least there will be complete evidence to lock the moron up.

bd84 said :

Driver is obviously lazy and in attentive not properly looking and cutting the corner. Having said that, it looks very overcast in the footage, I would like to enquire how visible the cyclist made themselves with his clothing and whether he had a light operational.

As a driver, I would have expected both rider and driver to have their lights on in that situation.

It was slightly overcast at around 10am this morning when the incident occurred. The visibility was good. For example, rerun the footage and see how far back you can see the moving 4WD. If you look carefully you’ll see me turn my head slightly which is when I saw it.

I was wearing a flouro yellow and white helmet and a red and white maillot. Not exactly invisible unless you don’t look.

milkman said :

Some people just don’t have the skill to operate a car. If it were up to me I’d retest people every time they renewed their license.

Driving simulator testing would do the trick.

Some people just don’t have the skill to operate a car. If it were up to me I’d retest people every time they renewed their license.

That was scary even from this perspective… Would have been terrifying facing that approaching Roo-bar.
I nearly got cleaned up crossing a pedestrian crossing years ago. Took me ten mins to stop shaking, hope this gent is okay.
Also, impressed by the single swear word- I don’t think I could be so reserved in that circumstance.

Momentary terror causing the heart rate to go through the roof.That’s yet another example of why i gave up riding bikes years ago!

Driver is obviously lazy and in attentive not properly looking and cutting the corner. Having said that, it looks very overcast in the footage, I would like to enquire how visible the cyclist made themselves with his clothing and whether he had a light operational.

As a driver, I would have expected both rider and driver to have their lights on in that situation.

YGC 24D?

I hope you report this to be police, given you got a clear picture of the numberplate.

the more idiots that get caught, the better road safety will be.

time for me to get a go pro camera for my car…….saw some astounding stuff yesterday.

include two selfish cyclists who decided to go two wide as we reached a 100 zone on Moss Vale road heading into Kangaroo Valley. this made it difficult for me to pass as I could get to 100 quicker than they could. I happily stayed well behind them on a steep and windy descent, so I think they should have given me the same courtesy.

don’t get me started on the camry dawdling up the clyde mountain where they decided to move into the right lane in a passing zone so early it wasn’t funny.

460cixy said :

I like how he screamed like a girl.

But yeah poor form on the Nissan drivers part I’m taking a punt that he just did not see the cyclist .

i’m hoping he didn’t see the cyclist – bloody attempted murder if he did (but a piss-poor attempt if it was)

I like how he screamed like a girl. But yeah poor form on the Nissan drivers part I’m taking a punt that he just did not see the cyclist .

Terrible on the part of the driver. I’ve be near run off the road a couple of times by oblivious tradies going to change lanes without bothering to look, and that’s driving a compact car. It’d be even worse on a bike or Motorcycle, though at least with a motorcycle you’ve probably got the ability to accelerate past as long as there’s nobody in front.

However I have to wonder why cyclists still insist on riding on the roads given the ample evidence that a substantial minority of drivers are idiots who are completely oblivious of what’s going on around them.