Safe Speed Forums

I had the pleasure (not) today of needing to cycle from Wandsworth to Primrose Hill. Only about 10-12 miles in total I believe but about an hour each way due to traffic lights and slow moving traffic.

Along the way I was surprised and impressed by how alert and well mannered the bus drivers were today, often they fail to spot (and arguably that is understandable given the size of their blind spots) and as such I ride with the attitude that no one can see me. Unfortunately even with that attitude you can't be prepared for what some moronic drivers will do and today it was a black cab driver. A bus was stopped at a Zebra Crossing with said Cab driver behind him, I was cycling relatively slowly (fortunately) up the inside as you do. As I got to the back corner of this cab he decided he'd had enough waiting (too close to see the zebra) and swung to the left to squeeze down a tiny gap. That was close miss #1. Enraged but thankful I wasn't lying on the floor I carried on, to my horror I watched him then drive across the zebra crossing as an elderly couple crossed, he was oblivious, he then slowled down and as I pulled away caught up - seeing a car parked in front I figured he'd have to pull out to the right to go around - however I couple swung their arm out to hail him and he literally just pulled in no indication no looking or anything, again nearly took me out - this time I had to stop completely.

Going round to this side of the vehicle to find an open window I stopped and informed him (politely at this point) that he'd nearly knocked me off - to my horror his response was to say with a raised voice "If i'd nearly knocked you off you'd not be standing here right now, I'd have made sure of it!" - Err... wtf? He's just threatened that had he actually bothered to look and see me he'd have liked to take me out... this pissed me off and the best way to piss a cabbie off is to instruct them on how to drive, "Perhaps you should learn to pay a bit more fucking attention" was my response - it was then I noticed the reason he didn't see me, he didn't even have a left wing mirror - no glass in it at all! He was trying to say something as I noticed this but upon seeing that shouted over him "You haven't even got a wing mirror!!" (I possibly called him a twat there too... ) and cycled off - I could hear him shouting at me as I moved away about not paying road tax and shouldnt even be on the road.


How has it come to this? How has it gotten to the point that some people would actually suggest they'd like to run me over simply, I assume, for being on my bike. Not only that but he thinks that simply because he pays road tax he has a right to drive like a moron and not keep his vehicle up to scratch (no wing mirror is an MOT fail isn't it? Or an actual traffic offence?) and to think he is superior to me for the vehicle he drivers. I wish I hadn't cycled off so I could have informed him that I contribute far more than he does in road tax given the amount of miles I do compared to him. I also later on wished I'd gotten his Licence number so I could report him for his dangerous driving and vehicle defect - the sooner people like him are removed from the road the better. He should be embarassed and other cabbies should be embarassed that idiots like him are tarnishing their good name. I've often found cabbies to be extremly helpful and polite when I've needed directions on my bike - this one is a rarity, but I doubt by no means a complete one off.

/ end rant

bad luck... you got a baddun.
maybe more likely in london but fortunately not usually a frequent occurance.

my observations on the incindents.. take it or leave it...

in the first case, filtering down the left... where were you going ?
assuming you'd have to stop at the crossing which would have put you alongside the bus, not somewhere you'd want to be especially not while getting going again. personally i wouldn't have gone down the inside of the cab either unless there was a big enough gap between it & the bus to move across again into a more prominent position.

in the second case if i was keeping pace with the cab i'd be riding close to the middle of the lane to dissuade any pointless overtakers, likewise if i was approaching a slowing/stopped vehicle..... either way i'd be looking to move out and claim some road in order to pass the parked car myself.

Indeed, I imagine most Cabbies would distance themselves from the type of driver he seemed to be.



Quite simply to the front of the queue. There was plenty of space for a bike, and even (it seems) enough for the Cabbie to nudge down.



I pull away from Buses at lights/stops even in clear traffic, so in the heavy central London traffic it is no problem at all and they are far behind before long, as such I have no problem with going down the side of them. If they are indicating to turn left/right I will sit behind instead, there was no turning though and as such it was not unsafe for me to want to continue down the inside. Certainly if the cab driver had indicated or if it had actually been two lanes at this point I would have proceeded with even more caution (remember I was travelling slow enough to simply brake and avoid rather than need to stop here) - however it was a one lane road so the last thing you expect is someone making two lanes out of it, especially without giving any indication they were planning on doing such a thing.



I had ample room to pass the parked car, as did the cabbie - the road became 2 lanes (plus enough room for parked cars) after the zebra. As much as it might sound like I got myself into a bad situation there is nothing I can think of that I would do different if I were to go back. The only 2 things that caused the problems were the cabbies lack of glass in his left wing mirror (perhaps I should have noticed this, but I doubt even the most observational rider/driver does not look for glass in the wing mirror holding...) and his attitude (that of 'I've paid my tax, I can drive however the hell I want')

hmmmm ok

bikeability would suggest not bothering to pass cars waiting at lights/junctions when there's only 2 or 3 of them.... and for longer queues filtering to the right.

What on earth is going on here? Someone nearly runs me down, threatens they wished they had, doesn't have a wing mirror and hasn't signalled at any stage in the process... and yet you're quite clearly attempting to suggest I brought this on myself...

It is irrelevent how many vehicles are in a queue, if the queue is stationary and there is room I will filter to the front. It's one of the benefits of being on a bike.
A long line of traffic does not always mean filter along the outside, if there are other cars parked on the opposite side of the road and as such it would be dangerous I'd highly recommend not using the outside.

I wonder if the reason he did not have a left hand mirror was something to with annoying another cyclist?

Might explain, though not justify, his attitude.

I think your main mistake was bothering to speak to/shout at the cabbie at all, if he cut you up by accident, i.e. did not see you, the usual reaction would be defensive-aggressive and if he did it deliberately offensive-aggressive.

Sorry for the pop-psychology, it's not easy to stay calm when the adrenaline spike hits , been there and left the punch marks in their bonnet btw.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

no not at all.

as with most of these near miss type discussions it's very hard to make a call either way when hearing one side of the story, without the full context and other subtle cues you might get when on the scene which would take several pages to document, not to mention many of those cues are probably quite subconcious.

i recognise the post as a bit of a rant but other than sympathise, which i do, what else do you want people to do ?

my eyes were totally opened by the advanced driving training i did, and one of the main points i take from that was our total inability to learn from incidents and near misses.

so aside from just sympathising i'm putting forward some observations on the incidents, based on the incomplete information i have, which, if relevant may help you (us) to learn from the incident.
even if as you say, you didn't bring this on yourself it doesnt mean there arent things you can do in future to avoid it happening again.

sorry if that upsets you but none of us are perfect drivers or cyclists and if we refuse to analyse incidents objectively we won't get any closer to perfection!

which is really why i said:


[/piety]

True. However I didn't shout in the slightest at first, I calmly (honest!) pointed out that he'd nearly hit me - fully expecting some sort of apologetic reaction. It was his agressive reaction that lead to me getting both shocked and angry.

Ed_m - I'm not sure what I was expecting by posting, I just wanted to vent - as such I didn't expect / wasn't expecting anyone to look into it as anything more than a pointless rant

On the note of none of us being perfect, I acknowledge that however I think Cab Drivers and any other driver that is paid to drive ought to be above petty stereoptyping (even if they see more bad cyclists than me, they should also see more good cyclists than I do) and be a higher quality driver than those who have ordinary licenses.

I'm assuming he's had incidents with cyclists before and as such he should know better than anyone to look out for us. I tried to put myself in his situation, would I have seen me coming? Without meaning to sound too much of a tosser, if I'd been driving (and I imagine most people on this forum) I 1. Wouldn't have tried to squeeze down a one lane street next to a bus in the first place and 2. Always check my left mirror before pulling in anywhere at all. Let's not forget I was riding cautiously enough to take action to avoid being hit both occasions and there isn't much more you can do as a cyclist then ride cautiously enough to protect yourself. Doesn't stop it being annoying when you do have to take action though.

I was in a similar incident with a taxi some 15 years ago. He tried to drive 1 foot from the rear of a motor bike then changed lane3 feet infront of me. I blasted my horn. I turned left, he reversed up chased me a mile, I stopped at a junction I was pulled out of the car beaten up and left with broken tooth and concussion.
Lazy sods at hampshire police cautioned him and let him cary on as a taxi driver, picking up your precious kids from night clubs etc.

whilst most cabbies are ok, there are a significant minority of very bad cab drivers out there!

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code