Draw your own collisions

This one was a couple of weeks back now, but I forgot to 'write it up' until now...

So, first, a little back-story. On a sunny Saturday I head out on a ride around Cambridgeshire that sees our terrible roads rattle my already slightly tired front wheel into near oblivion, causing me to spend a solid hour re-trueing the bastard (stupid hipster lo-pro wheel doesn't have enough spokes to tension things properly). Eventually I get there and ride home from LBS feeling smug.

Sunday passes uneventfully and then Monday morning rolls around and it's commuting time. As I'm heading up the usually busy Mill Road in Cambridge I come upon a queue of cars waiting behind a bin lorry loading up. The road isn't all that wide and the bin lorry is alongside a line of parked cars meaning there's no traffic in the right hand lane - and won't be for the next couple of minutes. Quick as a flash our hero pops out Premium Rush-style to overtake the queue at speed.

Halfway along the queue, our nemesis; Audi-man, decides he's had enough of the queue and is going to go somewhere else, so pulls out horizontally from the queue straight into the path of our hero without so much as a backward glance. I (the hero) spot this happening in enough time to realise I am going to have to hit him whatever happens, but with sufficient time to make an evasive manouevre (rad skid) and swerve out to the right to avoid hitting him square on the side. So instead of hitting him side on, I end up connecting with his front corner and flipping over the bonnet, leaving my bike on the other side of the car.

To his credit, Audi-man leapt straight out of his car to check I was OK and waited while I checked the bike and my clothes over for damage in the middle of the road (Scraped up a pair of new jeans, destroyed gloves - and palms - skinned knees a 10 year old would be proud of and a stupid 16 spoke hipster lo pro front wheel in need of a true, but fundamentally OK and nothing I could really ask him to pay for.). Once I gave him a good screaming at and he realised I was OK he started crying a bit, so I laid it on nice and thick reminding him that not everyone can do amazing life-saving fixeh skidz and he'll need to watch out more in the future before he kills someone. He then got a little bit teary again and I dusted myself off and went to the pavement to double check everything was OK and set back off towards work. Again, to his credit he pulled out of the road and came back over to me and asked if I needed a lift or wanted his number or anything, just in case - plus I think he was a bit shaken up; it's not every day someone goes over your bonnet.

All the while not a single other person got out of their car. Which was a bit of a surprise considering I spent about 2 minutes in the middle of the road (in stationary traffic) sorting this whole thing out...

1 Attachment

http://www.lfgss.com/post3570035-887.html

http://www.lfgss.com/picture.php?albumid=1907&pictureid=15485

Definitely the curse of the cap.

This is such a fucking great thread. I haven't had a tumble in ages, anyone got one they want illustrating?

You're clearly not cycling right/fast enough.
Have some tips:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zFL-KXMyS08

Bloomin' gravel.

This reminds me, I had a couple of nice crashes at polo that weekend, no blood lost, just a bit of bruising. Get home and on the Wednesday our 9 year old elbows me in the face, split lip and blood pissing every where like I was rob.

CPSB.

No cool pictures though?

Last weekend. (in euroland so wrong side of the road)

Approaching round-a-bout, and closing on a SUV going the same way.
Both of us turning left.
Bus approaches the next entrance, sees SUV and slows.
I make eye contact with driver, am on the left hand side, and give a big signal.
I assume bus driving seeing me means its OK to keep going fast, as I have the right of way.
Bus driver assumes me seeing him, means I'm going to stop (in the middle of a round-a-bout? WTF?), and speeds up.
I make a snap decision to accelerate, as its far too late to brake, and clear the corner of the bus by mm's.

Not a collision but the closest I've been to being squished for many a year.

1 Attachment

Went storming up behind a pair of mates that were walking through London Fields.
Thought that yanking on the rear brake and skidding infront/around of them would be fun for them to watch - ended up being more fun (for them) than I originally thought as I held it for about 12 feet with the tail right out before it properly whipped from under me and slammed me to the floor.

Graze to the hip, elbow and properly cut open my thumb.

Brakes are death. ;)

willnexttimeaccountforwettarmac

idiot.

Last weekend. (in euroland so wrong side of the road)

Approaching round-a-bout, and closing on a SUV going the same way.
Both of us turning left.
Bus approaches the next entrance, sees SUV and slows.
I make eye contact with driver, am on the left hand side, and give a big signal.
I assume bus driving seeing me means its OK to keep going fast, as I have the right of way.
Bus driver assumes me seeing him, means I'm going to stop (in the middle of a round-a-bout? WTF?), and speeds up.
I make a snap decision to accelerate, as its far too late to brake, and clear the corner of the bus by mm's.

Not a collision but the closest I've been to being squished for many a year.

Was this in France? I had bad experiences there last summer, due to my ignorance of the 'priorite a droite' rule. On one occasion I was bombing down a hill when a car pulled up to the entrance of a small road to my left, saw me, and proceeded to pull straight into my path. Much fishtailing and swearing ensued, though luckily I managed to go around him without clipping his bumper. Another time on a roundabout I had a similar encounter to yours, with a 18 wheel HGV... I still can't understand why it's like that, it seems to negate the point of roundabouts entirely.

Was this in France? I had bad experiences there last summer, due to my ignorance of the 'priorite a droite' rule. On one occasion I was bombing down a hill when a car pulled up to the entrance of a small road to my left, saw me, and proceeded to pull straight into my path. Much fishtailing and swearing ensued, though luckily I managed to go around him without clipping his bumper. Another time on a roundabout I had a similar encounter to yours, with a 18 wheel HGV... I still can't understand why it's like that, it seems to negate the point of roundabouts entirely.

It's not like that, if I understand your story right, the 18 wheel HGV was in the wrong there. There is no "Priorite a droite" on roundabouts in France: as far as I know they work on the same principle as in UK. You owe right of way to whoever was engaged on the roundabout before you. It is actually forbidden to stop when you are in a roundabout, so once your are there, you are not expected to give right of way to people coming onto the roundabout from an adjacent road.

Now, outside roundabout, "priorite a droite" is a bit of a bitch sometimes. I don't like the way that depending on the road you are on, they may or may not apply... Can be confusing sometimes, however the rule that define how they work is pretty clear and makes sense, you just have to know it (which is not easy if you did not pass your theory in France...)

Ha, then he was just being a dick as I first thought. I think I would have been able to adapt and abide by it alright if only I had known that it existed, it would've made for many fewer heart-in-mouth moments... Are there equivalent rules elsewhere in Europe, or is it just France?

Are there equivalent rules elsewhere in Europe, or is it just France?

in denmark as well. but only if there's absolutely no kind of signage to tell who has the right of way. in roundabaouts there will almost allways be triangles on the road surface to tell incoming traffic to give way for that in the roundabout.

Limited sympathy. good drawing. was it actually a turd?

looks quite smelly from here..

this is one of many drunk crashes I used to have regularly - I've since tried to refrain from drink riding - because it was going to get me killed.

The turd is metaphorical - it was meant to represent me not paying attention and clipping the hyde park fence. Then rebounding onto Park Lane. GF was perplexed when she received txt saying simply "Im ".

i hope you put that bottle in the glass recycling rather than smashing it on the street !

That's a New York taxi.

I call shenanigans.

(also, getting off moral horse... I've had one, sole drunken crash (never again))

http://i40.tinypic.com/5bp8y0.jpg

I didn't even realise it was possible in physics to go from upright to sideways without any alteration in direction, forward momentum, etc. However that was the clue that I should probably shamefacedly return and ask to crash.

lolz, I've had a few of those - be thankful you didn't get the beast moving!

Here's another humbling experience.

thumbnail - forum keeps changing to link...

Haaaaa. Thats wicked, Keramic. Needs a dog shit, somewhere though.

turd now implemented - brief appearance in panel 2 - to get the party started