Cycling UK Forum

I don't know if Magnatom is a member here so if he is I apologise for stepping on toes or whatever, but this clip needs to be seen! It's the most appalling piece of driving i've seen in a while by the driver of one of the most dangerous types of vehicles on the road for cyclists.

Contains swearing, understandably, and lots of it! Turning the sound off is reccommended if you're at work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y5RZMAxsjg

your link is 3 minutes in a tunnel, where he goes fast past the slow signs

this might be the one you meant to link?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y5RZMAxsjg

the driver of the lorry should have been looking, and should have given way, but how the cyclist didn't spot that danger escapes me

The first link is to Magnatom's page, so you'd know who I was talking about (not that you necessarily wouldn't) the video I was referring to is at the bottom of the post.

hubgearfreak wrote:but how the cyclist didn't spot that danger escapes me

I thought about that as well, but he does see the danger and stops, the lorry then ends up closer to him because it's turning. However prepared we are when we're cycling we have to admit that none of us would automatically assume that the lorry will pull out onto the roundabout.

I find that while on a roundabout you have to look as if you are going to go around it, if you flinch they will just leave you stuck in the middle. I frequently have to "fight" my way around roundabouts. To many motorists, the part of the highway code which says "give way to traffic already on the roundabout" is overuled by the "motorists have priority over cyclists" rule.
Notice when he got stopped in the middle, the cars following the lorry also took priority over the cyclist.
However the outcome will be "He missed, no case to answer."

iamanidiot wrote:the video I was referring to is at the bottom of the post.

missed that, sorry

iamanidiot wrote:However prepared we are when we're cycling we have to admit that none of us would automatically assume that the lorry will pull out onto the roundabout.

no, but when that's happened to me a time or two, i've noticed the note of the engine revs, the retarding velocity or otherwise of the lorry and have stopped well before i'm a foot away.

meic wrote:"motorists have priority over cyclists" rule.

surely we all know that a few % of motorists believe this is the case, and are consequently watching (and listening) both right and left on a roundabout.

i'm not apologising for the trucker, he's clearly in the wrong, but i'm amazed that anyone gets quite so close to danger

One trucker who should lose their license without question. No way he hadn't seen the cyclist.

have you noticed that Magnatoms vidoes all have something in common. He is in them all. Video's dont necessarily tell the whole story, but for somebody thats in so many scraps . From what I've seen his riding style seems to tend toward the aggressive rather the assertive. Then being surprised when drivers don't see him. He either thrives on comfrontation or he's the unluckiest person on the planet.

I agree with NUKE, ive seen every video he's posted, and his cycling leaves a lot to be desired, I only restarted cycling 2008, and i have only encountered 1 problem but that was a damp morning and i braked hard and skidded , but i never use behaviour like Magnatoms,

White van man drives a fuel tanker.

hubgearfreak wrote:surely we all know that a few % of motorists believe this is the case, and are consequently watching (and listening) both right and left on a roundabout.

i'm not apologising for the trucker, he's clearly in the wrong, but i'm amazed that anyone gets quite so close to danger

I'm not amazed. Many collisions are avoided by one driver/cyclist/pedestrian anticipating the errors of others. However, surely many collisions occur where one person fails to anticipate the actions of another, or fails to correctly perceive the level of threat. He, the cyclist, only had a few seconds to realise the danger. If I had entered the roundabout at the same speed and position, even though I've learned not to trust motorists on roundabouts, I can't say I wouldn't have ended up under that lorry.

martinwf5 wrote:I agree with NUKE, ive seen every video he's posted, and his cycling leaves a lot to be desired,

Agreed.

I disagree with people saying Magnatom's cycling is at fault here. I think the fact that there are very few uploads over the time period and that he is presumably commuting every day means that he has relatively few incidents. Also, his cycling might not be perfect, but it is at least legal, which is more than can be said for the subjects of some of his videos.

anyones cycling can be perfect, its the behaviour of the cyclists, you can look at a car driver wrong and get abuse !

There's no point in righteous indignation being expressed about the infringement of one's rights if it ultimately leads to one's premature demise.

Magnatom's line through the roundabout is not one that I'd have taken nor is it a line that's recommended by the Highway Code. Assertive riding can sometimes compromise the safety of the practitioner and there's no point hiding behind the edicts of Cyclecraft and slavishly following its preachings if one subsequently abandons commonsense and claim the right to ride in the path of a motor vehicle that 'has no right to be where it is'. The laws of physics puts me off confrontation mode with vehicles and yet I still make good progress on my bike in urban and rural traffic with few if any altercations with other road users.