Near Miss of the Day 523: Tipper truck driver pulls out in front of lorry and cyclist

I can't believe the "no one got hurt so it's all OK" comments. Large vehicles need to be stopped using their size to bully their way past other road users. If they continue to get away with not obeying the highway code without any negative feedback it is very likely they will kill someone eventually.

Unfortunately, the police encourage this because they can't be bothered to challenge large vehicles and their drivers, and spend their time thinking up excuses to get out of doing anything. I have recently reposted a photo of a large tipper truck thundering at 50-60 mph across a light which had turned red long before- no response from Lancashire Constabulary. With the offence below, they claimed the NIP 'was sent to the wrong address'. Previously, they excused themselves from action against 4 red-light crashers because 'it is too late to send out NIPs', even though the immaculate report was filed online the day after the offences. This lax police attitude is a major factor contributing to traffic incidents and injuries.

But is it considered filtering if a vehicle is turning right? As I understand it, undertaking a right-turning vehicle is considered normal and correct for cars whereas it's frowned upon for cars to filter.

In this instance, I would consider that the cyclist is normal traffic proceeding along the carriageway and the truck driver turning into that carriageway has the onus to ensure that it is safe to do so. The car driver wasn't strictly at fault although it's bad form to encourage a vehicle to pull out when you've just overtaken a vulnerable road user (especially when you then positon your vehicle to block visibility of that road user).

hawkinspeter wrote:

But is it considered filtering if a vehicle is turning right? As I understand it, undertaking a right-turning vehicle is considered normal and correct for cars whereas it's frowned upon for cars to filter.

and hence why the priority for the 2 motor vehicles here is first for the one turning right INTO the junction, and the last priority is the one turning right OUT of the junction. The whole situation was simply made dangerous by the "politeness" of the the car driver towards the tipper driver. The roads have rules and guidance for a good reason, stick to them would be my advice to the drivers here

Aside from the fact that the car driver had literally only just got in front of the bike then slammed on the brakes, passing on the left when another vehicle is turning right seems to be accepted practice:

Rule 163: only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so

Rule 179: [When turning right] leave room for other vehicles to pass on the left, if possible.

I used 'filtering' here as I didn't think there was enough room for a car to fit.

The highway code doesn't menation 'car' it just says 'if there is room'. Clearly it depends on what your mode of transport is as to whether that will be the case.

 The cyclist is just behaving exactly as they should be expected to in the situation of another vehicle turning right, leaving plenty of room for them to continue onwards. I agree with most others that the car is largely at fault, but that doesn't excuse the lorry driver for not doing their own check that the road is clear.

The highway code specifically mentions overtaking (it doesn't call it undertaking) vehicles turning right. It says:

Highway code 163 says: "only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so"

Clearly this was the case here so the cyclist was doing nothing wrong by continuing on in a straight line

I didn't address the question of right or wrong but mentioned increased risk.

The cyclist was attentative to the risk.

nicmason wrote:

Heres the unwelcome POV.

Car flashes the tipper truck to pull out partly to make it easier for the car turning right .

If I was coming up behind that in a car I'd be slowing the minute I saw the truck coming out to let him/her complete their turn and tbh I wouldnt be posting a video about it. it'd be filed under no big deal.  So you're on a bike you're traffic so do the same.

And its not up to the car to manage a bicycle thats well behind them.

certainly if the truck squashed the cyclist the truck would be at fault. The cyclist had "right of way" . But thats small consolation when your in the ICU.

1. Car flashes the truck, which *legally* means only "I'm here".  In context, it means "I'm going to let you go before I turn".  It *does not* mean "It's safe for you to pull out" - it's always the signal recipient's responsibility to check that for themselves.

2. The truck wasn't coming out until the bike was past the car; no idea what that last sentence in the paragraph means.

3. Why would the car be managing the bike, and who suggested they should?  The car is welcome to flash their lights.  The truck should ignore that in the face of the actual traffic on the road; especially true for LGV drivers.  Thanks to the car's positioning, there was plenty of room for a cycle, motorbike, or even a car to pass on the left - just because it's a bike seems to imply it's fine to ignore their presence.

4. No.  Everyone had right of way - it's a public highway.  The bike had priority.

Rising and surviving on the road is about protecting yourself. Not waving a copy of the higway code as something crushes you.

As a cyclist, yes protect yourself. But the mantra 'would you rather be right or dead' is so fucking tiresome as it is basically suggesting that it's fine for the biggest vehicle to bully and take no responsibility.

Would you turn up at cyclists funerals and suggest they should have been more careful?

Also, if you take it back right to the start, no motor vehicle or bike should be on the road - pedestrian vs pedestrian killing statistics are so low why take the risk?

Just to point out that the cyclist did take enough evasive action, by slowing down, to avoid a collision.

Yes I agree he did. 

Are you ignoring the fact he didn't just pull out in front of the cyclist but also the other lorry who was not happy either and alerted him to that fact. And as others have mentioned, the cyclist did brake and slow as soon as he saw the truck moving but it was still a close run thing.

Forcing any traffic to slow down that much is an indication of bad driving. The next time the bad driver might not be as lucky for him or others on the road so why not post the video. These videos can also actually help cyclists to show that assumptions on right of ways are just that assumptions and to expect the unexpected. 

I'm siding mainly with Nic on this one. 

Both the car and the tipper truck drove poorly, undoubtedly, and the cyclist is right to feel proper mugged off. Their life however was never put in danger... merely inconvenienced.

On balance, the car was the biggest culprit... it shouldn't have overtaken the cyclist where it did... for no other reason than its signalling would have been confusing for all road users.

What follows after is unfortunate and very predicatable. The lorry driver - who could have pulled out earlier just fine if the car had not overtaken the cyclist - was frustrated, and then pressured, by the cars action / presence, so more likely to make a poor decision.

No one died however, and to be blunt no one was ever in danger of doing so. The sheer slow motion of the whole thing, I appreciate, will have made it all the more annoying for the cyclist. 

nicmason wrote:

Heres the unwelcome POV.

Car flashes the tipper truck to pull out partly to make it easier for the car turning right .

I've heard of a phtase like that 'flash for cash' I think it is, where naughty drivers try to tempt people into accident situations to claim compensation. I can't see the headlights of the car in question, but if they did flash it has no place in any rule book and basically means nothing. The driver pulling out is entirely responsible for their own actions, nobody else.

I would also argue the Tipper would have been out and on his way if the black car has held back well before the cyclist arrived. 

It is one of those of two drivers not thinking ahead, getting in each others way and then being courteous to each other to the point of being dangerous. 

The fact that they gave up their gain from overtaking the cyclist to stop and let a lorry out is ridiculous!

Yup, that was my conclusion too.  And it's a classic example of why the HWC says that drivers should NOT flash their headlights to invite another road user to make a manoeuvre like this.

I read it as the car driver wanting to turn into that road/entrance and thinking they'd be considerate to another road user by letting them come out first.

Except, as you say, they'd forgotten about the cyclist that they'd overtaken just a few seconds before...

Notwithstanding the above, isn't it still on the HGV driver to check there's no oncoming traffic and that its safe to make the manoeuvre?