Hit twice in 3 months.

[Priceman]

Hello.

First post and enjoying the forum.

Been cycling to work for 6 years with no issues until the last few months.

October predawn cycling to work. Riding round a roundabout and a car pulls out of junction knocking me flying. Driver stopped. Nice guy, just "didn't see me" Few weeks to recover. New bike and back on the road mid December.

Cycling to work last week, car pulls out of junction clipping my back wheel and ankle. Just managed to stay in the bike this time. Same again. Driver stopped, nice guy "didn't see me"

I wear high vis clothing and am lit up like a Christmas tree. I'm an experienced and cautious cyclist. As far as I'm concerned their "didn't see you" translates to me as "I wasn't paying attention"

I love cycling. Looking back to pre both accidents I was the most confident cyclist I could have been - working on the assumption that I will be seen and won't be hit. How wrong I was. I feel like I'm either the luckiest cyclist (to be hit twice and not seriously injured) or the unluckiest (being hit twice in almost in as many months). My interpretation is that the standard of driving at the moment is generally poor.

I've also read that the human eye works differently around dawn and dusk and doesnt function as effectively? Maybe this may go some way to explaining why I'm not being seen?

Confidence is a little shot at the moment. I'll be back on the bike again soon but was wondering how others may deal with the process of being hit and then getting back on the bike.

[roubaixtuesday]

Hi,

all the best in recovering mentally and physically from the knocks.

I suffered two collisions over the space of two years, not dissimilar from yours.

It's a while ago now, but I recall feeling distinctly nervous for quite a long time afterwards.

It definitely changed my riding style too, I tend to be much more assertive in avoiding potential troublespots, for example riding wider when there is a side junction or drive with a car emerging, regardless as to the traffic I'm in, to buy time for evasive action if necessary.

I very much doubt it's got very much to do with your personal visibility. On that front, I do like a helmet mounted light which allows some chance of alerting potentially inattentive drivers by looking at them. Although I suspect it's more a psychological defence than real protection. Perhaps some cycle training would help your confidence if you find yourself very nervous?

To reduce it to cliches: you'll get over it, time is a great healer, and most importantly, don't let the [rude word removed] grind you down.

[531colin]

It is quite normal to feel vulnerable, and its perfectly OK.
Some more cliches for you.....its nothing personal, its just some [rude word removed] not looking what he is doing. Just get back on and ride, you will soon settle down and be OK. Accidents are like punctures.....you have none for ages, then two at once.
The actual statistics of cycling injuries don't back up the notion that cycling is any more dangerous than many other activities that people accept as "normal". I haven't read it for a little while, and its got long, but this thread has some numbers on cycle injuries http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=111671&start=15

[drossall]

Chance is like that. I've been riding for 40 years, and to work for decades. Both times I got hit were within a short period - bit longer I think than your three months, but close together. You just have to get back on again.

Accidents are chance things. They happen when various things come together. So, you need to be careful drawing conclusions from a very small number of incidents - by all means check your visibility, positioning and so on, but you could easily find yourself getting hit when you wore hi-vis and not when you wore black, just because of chance. (Just like throwing two sixes on the trot doesn't mean much about your likelihood of throwing another.) You need large numbers of incidents and therefore large numbers of people to see patterns that are real.

[Norman H]

Welcome to the forum and commiserations. I hope you're soon back on the bike.

I echo what others have said but would add that roundabouts and junctions are areas where I adopt a defensive approach. Assume that they're not going to stop and try to establish eye contact.

[Si]

You could try going on an advanced (L3) cycling course. As an experienced cyclist you are probably doing everything OK anyway, but having an instructor ride around with you in busy traffic , confirming that you are doing it right could help to reztore your confidence.

[Paulatic]

+1
I'm a competent cyclist never fallen off never been in a collision. I needed to do L3 for a little job I was doing. I found it very good and rewarding.

[mjr]

I've also read that the human eye works differently around dawn and dusk and doesnt function as effectively? Maybe this may go some way to explaining why I'm not being seen?

I've changed my opinion and I think wearing high vis and being overlit helps create the effect sometimes called the Somebody Else's Problem Field or the Invisible Gorilla. Motorists are expecting to see other cars and possibly motorcycles/mopeds but they're not expecting to see a small bright yellow road user moving at speed - so they don't see one. I've changed my lights from torches back to ones with proper shaped headlight beams and big illuminated areas (which seems to mean German-spec these days), mounted below the handlebars or near the top of the stays/forks as much as possible, in an attempt to look more like a moped and less unexpected... but I know that mopeds suffer far too many SMIDSYs too.

So, even with that, assume that you won't be seen, as far as is reasonably practical. Take the lane past junctions because they'll be looking towards centre lane for other motorists, not near the edge for cycles. Watch for their wheels starting to rotate. Sit up and wave if you feel it's worthwhile. Practice emergency stops and - more importantly - emergency turns. Try to keep an eye out for your escape route at each junction, thinking "what if they...?" Fit the best brakes you can. Fit a camera, or at least a dummy case - I don't know if motorists are that terrified of speed cameras or police with cameras but it attracts the attention of some and makes them stop when I'm pretty sure they weren't going to.

My interpretation is that the standard of driving at the moment is generally poor.

I'd agree with that!

Confidence is a little shot at the moment. I'll be back on the bike again soon but was wondering how others may deal with the process of being hit and then getting back on the bike.

I've never been knocked off by a car (I've patted the side of a white van...), but the above suggestion of riding with a Level 3 trainer seems like a good one. Even just riding with another experienced and supportive cycling friend might help.

[pwa]

Hello.

First post and enjoying the forum.

Been cycling to work for 6 years with no issues until the last few months.

October predawn cycling to work. Riding round a roundabout and a car pulls out of junction knocking me flying. Driver stopped. Nice guy, just "didn't see me" Few weeks to recover. New bike and back on the road mid December.

Cycling to work last week, car pulls out of junction clipping my back wheel and ankle. Just managed to stay in the bike this time. Same again. Driver stopped, nice guy "didn't see me"

I wear high vis clothing and am lit up like a Christmas tree. I'm an experienced and cautious cyclist. As far as I'm concerned their "didn't see you" translates to me as "I wasn't paying attention"

I love cycling. Looking back to pre both accidents I was the most confident cyclist I could have been - working on the assumption that I will be seen and won't be hit. How wrong I was. I feel like I'm either the luckiest cyclist (to be hit twice and not seriously injured) or the unluckiest (being hit twice in almost in as many months). My interpretation is that the standard of driving at the moment is generally poor.

I've also read that the human eye works differently around dawn and dusk and doesnt function as effectively? Maybe this may go some way to explaining why I'm not being seen?

Confidence is a little shot at the moment. I'll be back on the bike again soon but was wondering how others may deal with the process of being hit and then getting back on the bike.

Firstly, I think you have been unlucky to get two such incidents in such a short period of time. I've had two very similar incidents in about 50 years of cycling on roads. Mine happened a few years back, with a year or so between them. Nothing even close to a collision since, and that must be at least five years ago now. The good thing about that sort of collision is that the vehicle colliding with you is travelling slowly, which lessens the likelihood of serious injury. My collisions both consisted of nudges. Any real danger came from other vehicles potentially hitting me whilst I was getting up. I found I had no real loss of confidence. I was back to normal in no time.

[[XAP]Bob]

You could try going on an advanced (L3) cycling course. As an experienced cyclist you are probably doing everything OK anyway, but having an instructor ride around with you in busy traffic , confirming that you are doing it right could help to reztore your confidence.

+1

[hamster]

I got left hooked on a roundabout this morning.

The driver did stop, although seemed to unable to think of any adjective not beginning with F. Anyway, he finished with the usual tirade of 'you don't pay road tax'.
I went home, checked his registration and it's untaxed since July '16. And uninsured. No wonder he wouldn't give me his details. I'm only lightly bruised and would have put it down to experience...now I'm livid from that last, hypocritical remark.

Still, Hampshire police were interested and helpful afterwards, so we'll see what comes of it.

[Priceman]

Thanks for all the support and advice.

After the first accident and being told "I didn't see you" made me think it was me that was the problem. I bought stronger lights, more high vis clothing and a helmet mounted camera (which did a cracking job of recording the second accident). I even bought a super bright helmet mounted lezyne spotlight to shine towards vehicles at junctions to alert them of my presence. Even after taking those precautions and increasing my visibility I still got hit.

Came away from the second accident thinking 'what's the point' no matter what I do I'm at the mercy of someone else's inattention and negligence.

My partner is terrified of me going out on my bike now and doesn't wanting me riding in the dark during commuting hours. I can't even protest that much because in a way I feel the same. I'm as nervous as she is.

After both accidents I have called the police to the scene. It would have been easy to exchange details, forget about injuries and arrange for repairs etc outside of insurance companies. That wouldn't address the standard of driving though. It wouldn't tell the government (through accident statistics) that there is a problem with drivers hitting cyclists and it wouldn't bring about any education for the drivers involved. Both drivers have therefore been sent on driver improvement schemes. I didn't want to see either of them hauled through the courts or heavily penalised but their manner of driving needed addressing.

I can confidently say that despite my recent experiences I won't let it deter me from doing what I enjoy doing. I'll be back on the bike this week.

I appreciate the advice about Lane position and cycle courses. Will definitely look into those.

Thanks again for all the feedback and advice.

[MikeF]

Sorry to hear about your two incidents and glad you're OK. Today someone almost pulled out from a side road (in daylight) as I was approaching, but luckily he saw me just as I reached for the brakes.

Unfortunately visibility is rather an unknown quantity and as for cycles I don't know if there have been any studies of what are the best features. Whether I'm walking driving or cycling I often look at cyclists and tried to decide what makes them visible or not as the case maybe. We all think we should be highly visible, but that's our own opinion.

There's a chap who rides around here at night with just a good bright non dazzling helmet light as his sole front light. Surprisingly I note that it's slightly longer before I notice him compared other cyclists with lights. My conclusion is that I'm expecting vehicle lights to be in the specified height range and not elsewhere. On another occasion I saw a cyclist wearing what looked like Christmas tree lights. They looked eye catching as he went by, but then seemed to become lost a very short distance along the road. On the other hand I've noticed a cyclist without any lights cycling along the pavement in the shadows just because the pedal reflectors were so noticeable.

[Samuel D]

On visibility and MikeF’s comment: I was driving in the UK (Reading area) for the first time in a while this Christmastime. The cyclists there had more and brighter lights than I remember from years ago. Before I got used to this, I came around a corner on a B road and met a cyclist with both a helmet-mounted lamp and a handlebar-mounted lamp. Both lamps were blindingly bright, and the vertical 2-point pattern was so alien to me (living in France) that I initially had no idea what I was looking at or how far away it was.

I kept strictly to my side of the (narrow) road so hopefully didn’t cause any danger, but the location of this man was far harder to pin down than would have been the case if he’d had a single Busch & Müller lamp that allowed me to see a modicum of detail in the shadows.

(And don’t get me started on modern car headlamps!)

[millimole]

I do find (as a driver / pedestrian) that helmet lights are disconcerting- they make it extremely hard to work out what is actually there. I think it's a combination of the high position and the lack of stability of the light.


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