Re: cyclist nearly kills himself

[Mike Sales]

"Tony Raven"> wrote in message

> 15m is a couple of seconds travel on a bicycle at 15mph.
>
> --
> Tony
>

Surely. What does it mean to say that he overtook 15 m. before the
roundabout. Was he clear ahead? By how much. Some motorists I have met, and
one bus driver considered he had overtaken me when their head went past
abreast my head. They then felt free to turn left. The driver must have been
slowing down at this point, and it seems imprudent to overtake whilst
slowing down. I wonder what the driver would estimate their speeds to have
been?

Mike Sales

 

[JNugent]

Mike Sales wrote:
> "Tony Raven"> wrote in message
>
>
>>15m is a couple of seconds travel on a bicycle at 15mph.
>>
>>--
>>Tony
>>
>
>
> Surely. What does it mean to say that he overtook 15 m. before the
> roundabout. Was he clear ahead? By how much. Some motorists I have met, and
> one bus driver considered he had overtaken me when their head went past
> abreast my head. They then felt free to turn left. The driver must have been
> slowing down at this point, and it seems imprudent to overtake whilst
> slowing down. I wonder what the driver would estimate their speeds to have
> been?

You are right. 15m is nothing in such circumstances. I
feel reasonably sure that the OP under-estimated the
distance by a wide margin.

 

[Tony Raven]

JNugent wrote on 18/12/2006 19:08 +0100:
>
> You are right. 15m is nothing in such circumstances. I feel reasonably
> sure that the OP under-estimated the distance by a wide margin.

Are you reasonably sure because you were there and saw it so are able to
counter the OP's assessment of what he did or are you reasonably sure
because if it was 15m you might have to admit it was the driver and not
the cyclist who was primarily at fault, which would never do?

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

[Ian]

"JNugent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mike Sales wrote:
>> "Tony Raven"> wrote in message
>>
>>
>>>15m is a couple of seconds travel on a bicycle at 15mph.
>>>
>>>--
>>>Tony
>>>
>>
>>
>> Surely. What does it mean to say that he overtook 15 m. before the
>> roundabout. Was he clear ahead? By how much. Some motorists I have met,
>> and
>> one bus driver considered he had overtaken me when their head went past
>> abreast my head. They then felt free to turn left. The driver must have
>> been
>> slowing down at this point, and it seems imprudent to overtake whilst
>> slowing down. I wonder what the driver would estimate their speeds to
>> have
>> been?
>
> You are right. 15m is nothing in such circumstances. I feel reasonably
> sure that the OP under-estimated the distance by a wide margin.

Or hadn't bothered to check that he had actually passed the cyclist. That is
what the nearside mirror is for.

Ian

 

[JNugent]

Tony Raven wrote:
> JNugent wrote on 18/12/2006 19:08 +0100:
>
>>
>> You are right. 15m is nothing in such circumstances. I feel reasonably
>> sure that the OP under-estimated the distance by a wide margin.
>
>
> Are you reasonably sure because you were there and saw it so are able to
> counter the OP's assessment of what he did or are you reasonably sure
> because if it was 15m you might have to admit it was the driver and not
> the cyclist who was primarily at fault, which would never do?

I am reasonably sure that 15 metres is not sufficient
space for all that manoeuvring to have happened at
anything much greater than human trotting speed. IME,
distances on the road are often under-estimated.

 

[Mike Sales]

"JNugent" wrote in message
> I am reasonably sure that 15 metres is not sufficient
> space for all that manoeuvring to have happened at
> anything much greater than human trotting speed. IME,
> distances on the road are often under-estimated.

All what manoeuvring? The most plausible course of events is that the driver
forgot about the cyclist he had just "passed" because all his attention was
on entering the traffic flow already on the roundabout. Certainly the
cyclist caught him up soon enough. This happens all too frequently. The
answer is to be farther right in the lane whichdiscourages last minute
"overtakers".
Mike Sales

 

[JNugent]

Mike Sales wrote:
> "JNugent" wrote in message
>
>>I am reasonably sure that 15 metres is not sufficient
>>space for all that manoeuvring to have happened at
>>anything much greater than human trotting speed. IME,
>>distances on the road are often under-estimated.
>
>
> All what manoeuvring? The most plausible course of events is that the driver
> forgot about the cyclist he had just "passed" because all his attention was
> on entering the traffic flow already on the roundabout. Certainly the
> cyclist caught him up soon enough. This happens all too frequently. The
> answer is to be farther right in the lane whichdiscourages last minute
> "overtakers".

Fifteen metres is still next to nothing and likely to
be an under-estimate.

Estimating relatively short distances along a highway
from a given standpoint is more difficult than it
appears. The easiest demonstration of this is to stand
on one of those bridges across a motorway carriageway
at a service area. The distance between vehicles is
greater than it seems at ground level, where the medium
distance appears foreshortened.

 

[Tony Raven]

JNugent wrote on 18/12/2006 20:02 +0100:

>
> I am reasonably sure that 15 metres is not sufficient space for all that
> manoeuvring to have happened at anything much greater than human
> trotting speed.

I suspect you are right and that the OP did not complete his manoeuvre
which is why what happened happened.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

[LSMike]

Tony Raven wrote:

> JNugent wrote on 18/12/2006 20:02 +0100:
>
> >
> > I am reasonably sure that 15 metres is not sufficient space for all that
> > manoeuvring to have happened at anything much greater than human
> > trotting speed.
>
> I suspect you are right and that the OP did not complete his manoeuvre
> which is why what happened happened.
>
> --
> Tony
>
> "...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
> wildly inaccurate..."
> Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Makes me think of the AA driver that "overtook" me about 15m to the end
of the queue at some traffic lights on the South Circular. He got as
far as next to me, had to brake, and then pulled in and squeezed me
towards the kerb. Of course he was peeved and annoyed with me when I
banged on the side of his vehicle, and couldn't see what he'd done
wrong.