London Banter - View Single Post - Anti-bike signs on Bendibuses

Colin Rosenstiel · March 25th 06, 11:49 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(Martin Underwood) wrote:

Richard J. wrote in
:

Colin Rosenstiel wrote:
In article ,
(Richard J.) wrote:

... or the drivers didn't have the nearside mirror properly
adjusted. The mirror check should be done *before* starting to
turn; the articulation of the lorry (or bendy bus) is not relevant.

If the cyclists were riding responsibly, they shouldn't even have
been in a position where the driver of the bus *needed* to check his
left-hand mirror before turning left. The rule is simple: never never
even begin to overtake a vehicle that is indicating to turn towards
you. On the approach to a junction, assume that any vehicle in front
of you might be planning to turn left or that you may not have seen
his indicator, so don't overtake near junctions.

The Highway Code lists "near junctions" as being one of the places
not to overtake a vehicle on the right; it should really extend this
to prohibiting cyclists from overtaking on the left near a junction.
Unfortunately many marked bike lanes extend right up to the junction
(eg traffic lights) and so are seen to be encouraging rather than
prohibiting such an action.

Half the problem is that bikes (both pedal and motor) try to take
advantage of their narrow width to get right to the front of a queue
of traffic, rather than waiting their turn like everyone else. And I
say that from the perspective of a cyclist as well as a driver - when
I'm on my bike I always resist the temptation to overtake cars on the
left near junctions, because as a driver I'm aware of how dangerous
it can be.

You are making number of unwarranted assumptions there, especially about
queuing.

There has to be a duty on drivers of large vehicles to ensure no other
vehicles are in their way, no matter where they are going.

--
Colin Rosenstiel