Near Miss of the Day 32: Van driver cuts across cycle lane, indicating only as they do so

don simon wrote:

Just driven up and down the country and had this happen numerous times. The main problem is that people won't admit when they're wrong as it always appeared to be my fault for not letting them pull out/in.

I've said for a long time, the standards of road craft in this country are appalling across all users (cyclists, and people who use bikes, included). The selfishness is shocking and lack of self awareness is saddening.

As long as I'm alright then fuck the rest of you!

This.

The number of people who assume that, because they're signalling to change lane, you simply MUST let them in, is scary. Bollocks to the consequences for you, whether you can't slow down or change lane yourself because of other cars. They need to move over.

It's parasitic driving - their survival on the road requires others who are less selfish and more competent to make allowances for their shitty behaviour. They're a drain on societal goodwill. If my unscientific observations (confirmation bias?) are reliable, it's also cowardly/bullying behaviour - it is MUCH less likely to happen to me when I'm driving the truck than when I'm in the Golf.

It's simplest to assume they're twats out of the car, too, but that metal box does seem to give people false courage.

davel wrote:

This. The number of people who assume that, because they're signalling to change lane, you simply MUST let them in, is scary. Bollocks to the consequences for you, whether you can't slow down or change lane yourself because of other cars. They need to move over. It's parasitic driving - their survival on the road requires others who are less selfish and more competent to make allowances for their shitty behaviour. They're a drain on societal goodwill. If my unscientific observations (confirmation bias?) are reliable, it's also cowardly/bullying behaviour - it is MUCH less likely to happen to me when I'm driving the truck than when I'm in the Golf. It's simplest to assume they're twats out of the car, too, but that metal box does seem to give people false courage.

Definitely right Davel,  I was driving on the motorway the other day, passing cars in the middle lane and a car in the inside lane about 5m in front started to indicate they were coming out, but because there was a car in the outside lane I couldn't go anywhere.  The car in the inside lane took umbridge to this fact and proceeded to blare their horn as I went by them, then sat in my boot flashing their lights.

But that highlights some drivers thoughts on entitlement, that because they had indicated they seemed to think they had the right of way and that I was somehow in the wrong

craigstitt wrote:

davel wrote:

This. The number of people who assume that, because they're signalling to change lane, you simply MUST let them in, is scary. Bollocks to the consequences for you, whether you can't slow down or change lane yourself because of other cars. They need to move over. It's parasitic driving - their survival on the road requires others who are less selfish and more competent to make allowances for their shitty behaviour. They're a drain on societal goodwill. If my unscientific observations (confirmation bias?) are reliable, it's also cowardly/bullying behaviour - it is MUCH less likely to happen to me when I'm driving the truck than when I'm in the Golf. It's simplest to assume they're twats out of the car, too, but that metal box does seem to give people false courage.

Definitely right Davel,  I was driving on the motorway the other day, passing cars in the middle lane and a car in the inside lane about 5m in front started to indicate they were coming out, but because there was a car in the outside lane I couldn't go anywhere.  The car in the inside lane took umbridge to this fact and proceeded to blare their horn as I went by them, then sat in my boot flashing their lights.

But that highlights some drivers thoughts on entitlement, that because they had indicated they seemed to think they had the right of way and that I was somehow in the wrong

I was just trying to say hello!