Video: Van driver filmed swerving at cyclist

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

The van driver clearly moves left just as the cyclist approaches, then swerves right when the cyclist tries to pass him on the right.

If he was going to overtake why would he move left first?

This looks completely deliberate to me.

Rich_cb wrote:

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

The van driver clearly moves left just as the cyclist approaches, then swerves right when the cyclist tries to pass him on the right. If he was going to overtake why would he move left first? This looks completely deliberate to me.

Why did he move left before swinging right?  Because 90 % of drivers think they're driving in a rally and thats what you do to go around a corner, swing one way then the other.  They call it counter steering, cant believe you've never seen an idiot do this instead of slowing when the approach a junction.  The bad part is he obviously didnt check his mirrors first.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering

spen wrote:

Rich_cb wrote:

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

The van driver clearly moves left just as the cyclist approaches, then swerves right when the cyclist tries to pass him on the right. If he was going to overtake why would he move left first? This looks completely deliberate to me.

 

Why did he move left before swinging right?  Because 90 % of drivers think they're driving in a rally and thats what you do to go around a corner, swing one way then the other.  They call it counter steering, cant believe you've never seen an idiot do this instead of slowing when the approach a junction.  The bad part is he obviously didnt check his mirrors first.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering

No, just no.

He could not have possibly overtaken the entire queue of traffic in front of him in the 9 second gap between the blocking manuever and the car coming towards the van..... so rule out overtaking.

And it was not a U turn either, because of the fact that he could not have completed the maneuver in one turn (again into the face of oncoming traffic) and secondly if he was going to U turn why after the discussion with the cyclist did he continue on with his journey.

Nothing about the way the driver acted is ever going to convince me that this was anything other than a deliberate attempt to prevent the cyclist from making progress by way of filtering.

This was not careless driving, it was not dangerous driving it was assault with a deadly weapon

spen wrote:

Rich_cb wrote:

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

The van driver clearly moves left just as the cyclist approaches, then swerves right when the cyclist tries to pass him on the right. If he was going to overtake why would he move left first? This looks completely deliberate to me.

 

Why did he move left before swinging right?  Because 90 % of drivers think they're driving in a rally and thats what you do to go around a corner, swing one way then the other.  They call it counter steering, cant believe you've never seen an idiot do this instead of slowing when the approach a junction.  The bad part is he obviously didnt check his mirrors first.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering

If you actually read the wikipedia article you linked to, you'd see that countersteering is something that motorbikes and bicycles do, not vans. The only reason you'd steer the wrong way in a rally is to control the way the car handles loose surfaces and/or under/oversteer. There is absolutely no reason that this van driver would steer left and then sharply right other than to attempt to prevent the cyclist overtaking.

DaveE128 wrote:

spen wrote:

Rich_cb wrote:

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

The van driver clearly moves left just as the cyclist approaches, then swerves right when the cyclist tries to pass him on the right. If he was going to overtake why would he move left first? This looks completely deliberate to me.

 

Why did he move left before swinging right?  Because 90 % of drivers think they're driving in a rally and thats what you do to go around a corner, swing one way then the other.  They call it counter steering, cant believe you've never seen an idiot do this instead of slowing when the approach a junction.  The bad part is he obviously didnt check his mirrors first.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering

If you actually read the wikipedia article you linked to, you'd see that countersteering is something that motorbikes and bicycles do, not vans. The only reason you'd steer the wrong way in a rally is to control the way the car handles loose surfaces and/or under/oversteer. There is absolutely no reason that this van driver would steer left and then sharply right other than to attempt to prevent the cyclist overtaking.

Maybe the van is rear-wheel drive, and maybe it was going much quicker than it appears in the video.

And maybe the road is shale, not tarmac as it appears, and it is actually on a bend, not straight as it appears in the video, and the driver was just about to have a good old drift around it.

Or maybe spen is in a hole and can't stop digging.

spen wrote:

Rich_cb wrote:

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

The van driver clearly moves left just as the cyclist approaches, then swerves right when the cyclist tries to pass him on the right. If he was going to overtake why would he move left first? This looks completely deliberate to me.

 

Why did he move left before swinging right?  Because 90 % of drivers think they're driving in a rally and thats what you do to go around a corner, swing one way then the other.  They call it counter steering, cant believe you've never seen an idiot do this instead of slowing when the approach a junction.  The bad part is he obviously didnt check his mirrors first.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering

Please for the love of all that is good can you stop being an apologist for this disgraceful behaviour. The motorist pulled a block followed by a vicious counter  block.  There was no excuse for it whatsoever. Everything in the clip shows this. The slow moving traffic. The lot. 

There's no reason whatsoever for what you claim is a counter turn. You just don't do this with transits/minibuses at speed or viciously as it will throw the vehicle over.  Also the traffic is backing up. Again because of the height the driver is sitting he can see this and should know an overtake is impossible. 

Quite simply, this individual shouldn't be allowed to carry a set of car keys let alone sit behind the wheel of a vehicle. 

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

I don't think so. He can't overtake. There is a fairly constant stream of trffic coming the other way and I assume judging by the speed, the car and the van are in a queue of traffic, so there wasn't room to overtake

RedfishUK wrote:

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

 

I don't think so. He can't overtake. There is a fairly constant stream of trffic coming the other way and I assume judging by the speed, the car and the van are in a queue of traffic, so there wasn't room to overtake

There's an eight second gap in the traffic when they both try to pull out, more than enough time for a white van man.

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

no doubt in my mind this was deloberate, you do not position you vehicle right up against the kerb when thinking about overtaking. It is only done by drivers trying to prevent cyclists filtering up the inside.

This is the perfect example why filtering on the right may not be better than filtering on the left. I'd rather be pushed onto the kern than into oncoming traffic.

wycombewheeler wrote:

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

no doubt in my mind this was deloberate, you do not position you vehicle right up against the kerb when thinking about overtaking. It is only done by drivers trying to prevent cyclists filtering up the inside.

This is the perfect example why filtering on the right may not be better than filtering on the left. I'd rather be pushed onto the kern than into oncoming traffic.

Again, countersteering

spen wrote:

I'd go with the second explanation, the driver went to overtake without checking his mirrors first.  Incompetent but not malicious

Really? I couldn't disagree more.

Only the driver will know what his intentions were but it looked a deliberate act to me.

Grahamd wrote:

How do you categorise such an action, dangerous driving would seem inadequate?

It wasn't dangerous driving, it was assault with a deadly weapon, and the driver should be charged appropriately.

To save others wasting quite so much time, it starts at 2:55.