Motherfucking 4x4s

happily minding my own business riding down finchley road in an empty bus lane, and a massive black lexus started indicating left to go down a side road, and i thought 'he's seen me in his mirror, i'll keep going' but he carried on going left, cutting me up, so a cue massive skid and full force applied to brake, still ended up sprawled across his bonnet, bike still attached to my feet. him & wife & kids all looked damn shocked, and he wound down the passenger window;

'are you alright?'
'yeah, i'm fine, just use your wingmirrors and watch where the fuck you're going'

he then drove off and stopped further up to see if i was actually alright and plenty of other drivers and pedestrians who'd seen the whole thing stopped to check if i was alright.

a few cuts and bruises and a bit shaken up, but me and my bike are all good. i think.

use your wingmirrors, cnut.

i thought 'he's seen me in his mirror, i'll keep going'

Unwise. But hope you are OK.

Nearly been the meat in the sandwich myself today. Two of us on a straight but narrow A road; bloke overtakes stream of oncoming traffic and passes us, going the opposite direction, at about 70mph.

You broke three of the unwritten rules of the road:

Stay the fuck away from Lexi

Stay the fuck away from 4x4's

Never assume people have seen you (as mentioned above)

Hope you're feeling alright, heal up quick.

bad idea to assumed that a motorised vehicle can see you! at least you're alright mate, put it down to experience really.

Unwise.

Fair enough, but that's what mirrors are for, and i know that a huge % of drivers can be ridiculously careless, but surely some must have some sense when turning off a busy road...

finchley road ftw!

lexus started indicating left to go down a side road, and i thought 'he's seen me in his mirror, i'll keep going

I am not defending bad driving, but you do know that lots and lots of accidents occur precisely because people perform unexpected manoeuvres? Anticipating the worst possible outcome should always be your outlook when mixing it in the traffic.

Still poxy driving. Glad to hear your OK.

bet it was a hybred though! SAVIN' DA WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD

I am not defending bad driving, but you do know that lots and lots of accidents occur precisely because people perform unexpected manoeuvres? Anticipating the worst possible outcome should always be your outlook when mixing it in the traffic.

Still poxy driving. Glad to hear your OK.

Yep i'd agree with that, there are way too many poor drivers on the road.

Fair enough, but that's what mirrors are for, and i know that a huge % of drivers can be ridiculously careless, but surely some must have some sense when turning off a busy road...

"Some" being the operative word. If you count on any given vehicle you're near being driven competently, you're in effect making a bet with your safety that you will eventually lose if you ride somewhere with as much traffic as London. Very glad to hear you're not hurt.

Whenever I spot a developing 'incident' I pretty much aim to stop at the very last second putting as much fear into the offender as possible. Must be a hangover from spending too much time behind the wheel of a white van. 3.5 tons of angry metal inches from a door is always a wake up call.
Recently on the bike I had a pickup turn right fairly slowly straight in front of me. I pinged over my shoulder and spotted the way was clear to swing round behind him if need be so carried on at full tilt straight at him. He finally clocked me, panicked and hit his anchors hard which was followed a split second later by a crash as his load of bricks piled into the rear of his cab :)
He got the simple no, no, no head shake. Figured the bricks was enough punishment.

assume nothing, expect the worst and for god`s sakes anticipate.

Haha, fantastic wvm, and i'm sure he's now a much more cautious driver.

I got similarly wiped out the other week on Streatham High St by some woman turning off across the front of a van while i cruised down the inside. Got sent straight over the bonnet but fortunately landed in an empty side street and only got bloody knees (helmet and gloves to the rescue!). Front wheel though was tacoed. The woman was pretty nice (more shocked then me i think) and drove me and the bike down to HH cycles and paid for a new wheel then and there!

It was my first big crash in London, got away with it, but has made me far more paranoid about speeding down the inside.

Whenever I spot a developing 'incident' I pretty much aim to stop at the very last second putting as much fear into the offender as possible. Must be a hangover from spending too much time behind the wheel of a white van. 3.5 tons of angry metal inches from a door is always a wake up call.
Recently on the bike I had a pickup turn right fairly slowly straight in front of me. I pinged over my shoulder and spotted the way was clear to swing round behind him if need be so carried on at full tilt straight at him. He finally clocked me, panicked and hit his anchors hard which was followed a split second later by a crash as his load of bricks piled into the rear of his cab :)
He got the simple no, no, no head shake. Figured the bricks was enough punishment.

But you're still anticipating the incident to develop in a way you expect and that no other factors are going to come in to play. By far and away the best policy is just distance yourself from the risk the instant you recognise it.

riding finchley road (with JackFlash most of the time) i fully appreciate how hectic it can be sometimes.

squeezing past cars & buses can be hairy at times, the lanes seem microscopic compared to other similar main roads that size.

fair points TheCatMan and mmccarthy. i'll admit that i was partially at fault and that you should never assume, and normally i find that i'm good at spotting developing incidents, this one just took me by surpise.

Nice story, wvm.

also, if i hadn't had a brake, i'd have gone straight over the bonnet into 3 lane of traffic, front brake FTW.

But you're still anticipating the incident to develop in a way you expect and that no other factors are going to come in to play. By far and away the best policy is just distance yourself from the risk the instant you recognise it.

Agreed, although, in my particular case, I like to think years of experience on the (mean) streets of London give me a 6th sense for anticipating and dealing with incidents before they become dangerous.

bad idea to assumed that a motorised vehicle can see you! at least you're alright mate, put it down to experience really.

it's my first collision with a vehicle. shook me up a bit, but will definitely make me more careful & aware.

Sux. Heal up dude.
Mebe we need to learn this move...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Hkyb9c9NQ&feature=related

He was indicating, yet you still went for the undertake move. That's a fail on your part. Lucky it's not more serious. Heal quick.

glad to hear youre ok and the bike is still in one piece. Hope youre still up for tuesday night as well. Ride safe.

those lexus cars are dangerous

He was indicating, yet you still went for the undertake move. That's a fail on your part. Lucky it's not more serious. Heal quick.

Is it undertaking, if he was in a bus lane?