Accident Blackspots

Betsy

Old School Grand Master
99% of my daily commute is incident free apart from one junction where cars have collided with me 3x this year and i've lost count of the near misses.

I'm using the cycle lane to the left of the red car, this comes to an end at the red line, I need to turn righ onto Endcliffe Vale Rd, in order to seperate cyclists from vehicles (both turning right) they've put a cycle line in the middle of the road so at some point before the red line i join the flow of traffic and get over into the cycle lane. Under the white van at the bottom of the map there is a slpit arrow one half pointing towards Endcliffe Vale and the other half pointing down the hill so in theory cars should stay in the flow of traffic until they get to the white van at which point they can turn right but at rush hour, from the red car going forwards (and often behind) there is standing traffic and impatient motorists use the cycle lane as a filter lane, colliding with me in the process.

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..around a month ago i was hit by a woman who knocked me off my bike and drove off (she looked at me as my bars hit her drivers side window) in all respects a hit and run, i was so angry i jumped on my bike and chased her down, she stopped outside a daycare nursey, turns out she was a nurse who left the nearby hospital and was in a rush to collect her kids.. she burst into tears, "i didn't see you" bullshit! a couple of days ago i was hit in the cycle lane by some arrogant prick with a fake tan and white teeth who acused me of and i quote "ramming him" wtf! I rammed a car in the cycle lane!?

At it's worse ive seen 6 or 7 cars queueing in the cycle lane to turn right, just out of shot behind the red car there is zebra crossing.. for my own safety, i might give up and start using it. With the best intentions from road lay out, motorists impatience is making the cycle lane too dangerous to use... looking at it from their perspective, i agree it is very tempting, when i've taken the same route by car, i stick my indicator on and wait in traffic, other motorists pull out past me with their indicator on into the cycle lane and turn right... Huf!
 
It's a jungle out there....
I have a criminal record because I got knocked off my bike in a cycle lane....I punched their wing mirror oorf didn't I! Lessons to be learnt ...take it like a target ...I was obviously in her way....be happy your alive...🙄
 
One place near us Betts is Bowshaw roundabout at end of A61. I’ve lost count of near misses there but only one actual hit which was by a motorbike companies van (you’d think they’d be more aware- think bike etc)
 
It needs wands to stop them doing that.
Feed back every accident and get some camera on. Otherwise they do not know.

Sheffield have a team for this. They're pretty forward thinking when it comes to cycling.
Many a good twitter thread and operation form them.
Kevin Smith from NW Sheffield NLT iirc is their cycle training instructor.
Maybe have a chat and see who they can contact.
Given that is just in their area too, along with Broomhill
 
Always been lucky in that I can count the number of taps from cars on one hand - and that's over 40 years of cycling on roads (inc in that London). Only been knocked off once (also a nurse) at roundabout junction. I leaned forward to see if it was safe to pull out and got nudged by her from behind because she thought I was going. It happens, people make mistakes. I've made plenty myself - including crashing my bike into the back of someone's hatchback due to their emergency braking and wet weather. Thankfully, I managed to turn at last second, and body slammed sideways into their door rather than the bike.

I agree with the others. Get some cameras on your bike and start sending the footage of near misses/actual hits etc to the cops. A friend does this locally, and the police are quite diligent in following up. I guess it's an easy catch for them - and looks good on the stats.
 
That's a good idea @FluffyChicken I should motivate myself to do that.. after the collisions i go through decreasing periods of anger, in the seconds following i'm thinking 'i'm going to f'kin kill you' minuites later i'm just mouthing off, by the time i'm home i'm thinking about reporting it and by the next day i'm thinking meh, i can't be arsed. Luckily for me, these are all low speed collisions.

Another blackspot for me is Brook Hill roundabout, i approach from an A-road but the next lane approaching the roundabout is a 60mph dual carriageway, early mornings when there is very little traffic, motorists slow down on their approach, quick glance and out, they don't seem to be looking for bikes, only cars and if they hit me at those kind of speeds i'm f**ked! so i leave the road before the roundabout and use 3 crossings to get across safely.
 
Always been lucky in that I can count the number of taps from cars on one hand - and that's over 40 years of cycling on roads (inc in that London). Only been knocked off once (also a nurse) at roundabout junction. I leaned forward to see if it was safe to pull out and got nudged by her from behind because she thought I was going.

I agree with the others. Get some cameras on your bike and start sending the footage of near misses/actual hits etc to the cops. A friend does this locally, and the police are quite diligent in following up. I guess it's an easy catch for them - and looks good on the stats.
Sadly I feel the need for a camera too...in the last 6 years I've had way too many moments...two car bonnets from them overshooting junctions...one deliberate and aggressive side swipe from a van and numerous wing mirror clips. Pretty much all rural too!
 
What cameras are people using that works well for this ? i.e to just leave on and record/overlap till you need it.

i’m London for 25 years and in that time no hits, whilst the one day I did bike commute during a Xmas tube strike, I nearly died every other junction and vowed never to commute again, I was so hyper alert. You need to be a Star-wars Jedi to keep up with all the dodging.

All of Boris cycle lanes are also lethal, every 50 meters they go through a ruddy bus stop and they collect lots of debris in the channels. So it’s either punctures or grannies with Zimmer frames.
 
What cameras are people using that works well for this ? i.e to just leave on and record/overlap till you need it.

i’m London for 25 years and in that time no hits, whilst the one day I did bike commute during a Xmas tube strike, I nearly died every other junction and vowed never to commute again, I was so hyper alert. You need to be a Star-wars Jedi to keep up with all the dodging.

All of Boris cycle lanes are also lethal, every 50 meters they go through a ruddy bus stop and they collect lots of debris in the channels. So it’s either punctures or grannies with Zimmer frames.

The paint on them is pretty slippy in the wet too.
 
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