Personification of idiocy part ii

[Tamar]

I ended up in a heated debate this morning, with a driver who took exception to me sprawling inelegantly across his nice shiny bonnet. I was a bit taken a back to be honest. I would have thought that if his nice shiny bonnet was so important to him he wouldn't have presented it before me in quite such a careless and unexpected manner. He came out of a side road in front of me with the intention of turning right across my path. I slammed on the brakes but as I was riding up on the hoods and it was p*ssing with rain my braking efforts were not entirely successful and I slowly and inexorably piled into his now stationary car, tipped over the handlebars and half-rolled, half-sprawled my way across his bonnet. I came to rest temptingly close to his windscreen wipers but resisted the urge to remove them.

As I clambered off his car and picked my bike up I was expecting to hear the usual feeble apologies and explanations of 'I didn't see you' etc but instead he launched into a tirade about how he had been stationary so it wasn't his fault and why didn't I swerve round him? After a few futile efforts to point out the glaring flaws in his logic I gave up and made better use of my time ignoring him and checking that my bike was OK. It was. So I left him protesting and pedalled off to work. The biggest disappointment was that there didn't appear to be any damage to his shiny bonnet. I must try harder next time.

[tel]

Hope you are ok Tamar-gives you a bit of a shock, doesn`t it.

I was knocked off on Friday-going over to meet John L for a little spin. Sounds similar, but the driver admitted responsibility, blamed the sun in her eyes.

My helmet was mullered, glad I was wearing it, and my rear wheel has hadi it.

I`ve only a few bumps and bruises. Hope you are not too badly injured.

Be careful out there

Terry

[Tamar]

I am fine - got a few bruises on my right knee and thigh where they hit my handlebars, but I was braking hard and going pretty slowly by the time I actually hit the car. I have a curiously clean-edged horizontal cut about 1 cm long on my kneecap that I think may have been from my bar-end. I noticed on Friday I'd lost the plug and forgot to replace it over the weekend. I have heard that in a crash an unplugged bar-end can go through your thigh like an apple-corer. If I caught my knee on it at an angle then it could have made the cut. I can't think of any other sharp bits I might have caught it on. Anyhow, I must remember to stick barplug in tonight.

As for my bike it is fine too. One of my front lights had been knocked at a funny angle, but that was easily sorted and everything else seems to be working OK. It was a particular relief 'cos I didn't want to have to enter into a debate about repair costs with the intellectually-challenged driver.

[Sylv]

[quote="Seanieh_WearsBlackSocks©"]some prick(ess) has decided that because they're wearing a Hi-Vis jacket they can just ignore the red light !!! I shouted at her that she was giving the rest of us a bad name, etc......

I know there are a few people that ride to work in hi-vis jackets, but as Agreeables this rant is not aimed at you as you 'know' how to ride properly...don't you To me the swarms of these bloody riders I see every morning just gets my blood pressure right off the scale.

[Tamar]

[quote]I just love the ones that undertake me at a red light just to stand a couple meters ahead of the stop line and get in my way when it goes to green.

[Andrew G]

Glad you're okay Tamar, try and scrape a cleat across the bonnet next time . I've heard the same thing about the damage an unplugged bar end can do.

On my way in to work on a number of occaisions I've had motorbikes pull out the side road off Fountain Drive as I'm going down (the one the cars go down to dodge the toll section of road). I expect them to do it now so am always taking it easy, and wide, past that road.

You'd have thought the SMIDSY bikers would have kept an eye out for you though.

[quote]I just love the ones that undertake me at a red light just to stand a couple meters ahead of the stop line and get in my way when it goes to green.

[Tony]

Gald you seem to be OK Tamar. Not a brilliant way to start the week though. Unfortunately, it seems to be the way of the world these days that no-one will admit to making even a simple mistake....even when it's blatantly their fault!

[Wal]

I got knocked off a few weeks back by a woman who just pulled out of a Give Way into the side of me. I had some nasty grazes on my cheek and chin and my bike has a broken seatstay. Thankfully the BCF sorted me out with a solicitor and a claim for a replacement bike frame and other bits is being processed as I write.

I can't understate the benefits of belonging to the CTC or BCF in situations like this. This is the second time the BCF has arranged a solicitor for me at no charge to handle a claim against an errant driver's insurance company. It's especially important to have adequate representation if you find yourself accused of contributory negligence, something many insurance companies do as a matter of course even in the face of seemingly indisputable evidence that their client was entirely at fault. And if you do actually cause an accident, BCF or CTC membership provides you with personal liability cover.

[quote]My helmet was mullered, glad I was wearing it

[quote="Tamar"][quote]I just love the ones that undertake me at a red light just to stand a couple meters ahead of the stop line and get in my way when it goes to green.

[Tony]

Wal, if people don't want to wear helmets that's their look out as far as I'm concerned. I didn't used to be a big fan of helmets either - but since crashing I wear one much more often now.

In my crash in 2006 (in which I practically got catapulted over the bars in a RR), I would have sustained worse injuries without a helmet. I thought I was strong enough to protect my head at pretty much any speed on a bike. However, the initial impact of hitting the ground with my shoulder broke my collar bone. From that point there was nothing I could do to stop my head hitting the ground too and I still had a lot of momentum. As I skidded to a stop (which seemed to take ages!) I was aware of the side of my head / face dragging along the tarmac, but whenever I tried lift my head off the tarmac nothing happened - the broken ends of the collar bone simply slid over each other! My head wouldn't move. Without the helmet to protect me, I would have lost a serious amount of skin off the side of my head and face and probably been badly scarred. 35-odd stiches was enough as it was.

From what I saw of the aftermath of George's accident, he'd taken a big blow to the top of his head which left a big dent in his helmet. Even with this cushioning effect, he still broke his neck. Who knows what would have happened without one?

If you ride the same manner, I can't see how you can be worse off wearing a helmet.

[Wal]

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from wearing a helmet. After all, I always wear one when cycling both on and off road. All I'm saying is, it's wise to be informed about the actual level of protection cycle helmets afford when choosing whether or not to wear one. I think a lot of cyclists are deluded about their ability to prevent serious injury. Just read the articles and make up your own mind. There are also a couple of interesting papers here: [url]http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/helmets.html[/url]

[quote]From what I saw of the aftermath of George's accident, he'd taken a big blow to the top of his head which left a big dent in his helmet. Even with this cushioning effect, he still broke his neck. Who knows what would have happened without one?

[Tony]

BTW - I'm not suggesting people should wear helmets if they don't want to. The benefits to society seem questionable given the potential negative consequences of mandating everyong to wear one. It's a personal choice...

There is one circumstance in which I would very happily see bike helmets made compulsory though........if the same was done for car drivers and their passengers! That would definitely be a trade-off worth making.

[quote="Sylv"][quote="Tamar"][quote]I just love the ones that undertake me at a red light just to stand a couple meters ahead of the stop line and get in my way when it goes to green.

[Andrew G]

I think commuting without a helmet is asking for a tough time. If you're hit and need to get legal to get your bike damage claimed against the driver you'd waste too much time talking about the helmet debate.

You do need too make sure you replace your helmet regularly though or it's of no use. The life expectancy of a helmet is 3 years normally. As they're polystyrene it ages and the spongy absorbant properties fade with time.

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Andrew G"]absorbant