Nearly got taken out...

[Sentox]

...by my own assumptions, as much as anything else. Was riding along this stretch of road, and the car in front of me indicates and slows to turn right. There's just enough room on the shoulder to slip by, so I head up the left side of the car. At the same time, there's oncoming traffic, and the guy turning decides he's going to swerve left and get off the road to avoid blocking traffic behind him until he can make the turn. His courtesy came very, very close to connecting with my back wheel. All this while he's still indicating right, of course.

You can draw your own opinions about his choice of actions. For my part, I was a little too eager to take the gap on offer.

[Punchy]

The exact same thing almost happened to me, on the very same corner. Was a hippy van, probably on their way to get blazed up or something.

[BMWST?]

is this the correct behaviour on the cagers part??It used to be stated in the road code when turning right on the open road .Ie when trying to turn right and oncoming traffic prevents it to pull over to the left.

[Blackflagged]

The exact same thing almost happened to me, on the very same corner. Was a hippy van, probably on their way to get blazed up or something.

Never trust a Hippy!

[Smifffy]

Glad you made it thru. It is a tricky one, if you had stopped to wait, you could just as easily been hit by one of the following cages too.

[Little Miss Trouble]

is this the correct behaviour on the cagers part??It used to be stated in the road code when turning right on the open road .Ie when trying to turn right and oncoming traffic prevents it to pull over to the left.

Yep, it was part of the driving test when I sat my restricted car license, but things may have changed since then, I've just realised how long ago that was

[FJRider]

Assumptions are the mother of all fuck-ups ... take longer to be sure it's safe, and you'll LIVE longer ...

[Sentox]

Glad you made it thru. It is a tricky one, if you had stopped to wait, you could just as easily been hit by one of the following cages too.

Indeed. And looking back, if I had merely hesitated instead of pulling right up, I wouldn't have cleared him in time. The problem arose because there was no warning of his sudden swerve. If you're going to pull over to the left and wait for a clear turn, an indicator and at least a shoulder check might help.

[Sentox]

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/ro...g/turning.html

Making a right turn from the left-hand side of the road

If there are other vehicles moving fast or following too closely, or if the road is narrow, it may be best to wait on the left-hand side of the road to make the turn, rather than stopping in the middle of the road and holding up traffic.

In this situation:

* signal left for at least three seconds
* move across to the left-hand side of the road
* wait there until it is safe to turn
* signal right for at least three seconds before you turn
* move when it is safe.

If a vehicle in front of you has also stopped to turn right, it's best to wait behind them and then use the same position to turn from.

Take extra care on roads where traffic is moving quickly.

[Smifffy]

What would Katman do?

[Little Miss Trouble]

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/ro...g/turning.html

It is all very well and good to know what they should do, but it is up to you to as the person likely to come off worst out of the situation to anticipaint what they might do.

There's just enough room on the shoulder to slip by...

Just enough room for you, or just enough room for the average car?

[Sentox]

What would Katman do?

Inform me of my failings, probably.

It is all very well and good to know what they should do, but it is up to you to as the person likely to come off worst out of the situation to anticipaint what they might do.

Just enough room for you, or just enough room for the average car?

Oh, absolutely, I'm not trying to take the self-righteous path. I assumed, based on his indication, that he would wait in his lane. That assumption nearly got me into serious trouble. No point blaming him, since I can't control his actions. Just pointing out the road code as matter of interest.

And indeed, no car would have fit down the space available (well, unless they wanted to go offroad), which was undoubtedly why he didn't check his blind spot before moving. (That being said, I had spent the last 4 km in his mirrors.)

[Little Miss Trouble]

Inform me of my failings, probably.



Make no mistake, I'm not taking the self-righteous path. I assumed, based on his indication, that he would wait in his lane. That assumption nearly got me into serious trouble. No point blaming him, since I can't control his actions. Just pointing out the road code as matter of interest.

And indeed, no car would have fit down the space available, which was undoubtedly why he didn't check his blind spot before moving. (That being said, I had spent the last 4 km in his mirrors.)

Imagine you are invisible to everyone, because unless they are a motorcyclist themselves (and even then, sometimes this exception fails) you ARE

[p.dath]

Alas I think this is just one of those "every day" occurrences you get used to being a public road user. You survived un-injured, so whatever you did seems like it was right. Probably wasn't much more that you could have done - you observed the danger and had placed yourself in a position to avoid an accident. Sure the other driver should have indicated left, but they didn't. End of story.

[FJRider]

And indeed, no car would have fit down the space available (well, unless they wanted to go offroad), which was undoubtedly why he didn't check his blind spot before moving. (That being said, I had spent the last 4 km in his mirrors.)

Just because cars have mirrors does NOT mean the driver LOOKS at them. THEY make assumptions too ... (there is nobody else on the road)