Posted By garyh
Fellow safety professionals I have a confession to make.

Driving home tonight I was in a hurry. I came to a busy but well lit roundabout; I was going to turn left. The car in the right hand lane had stopped; I suddenly saw a gap open up and so "put my foot down" and breezed through. At this point I saw the cyclist trying to come off the roundabout. Thanks to his good road sense he had slowed down anticipating such a careless piece of driving from me. I came very close to knocking him off his bike, very close.

A near miss indeed. Two minutes later, still shaken, but now very alert, I saw a faint reflection ahead - another cyclist with no lights on a dark country road. I gave him plenty of space.

What is the point of this post?

All car drivers should take extra care in the dark especially when undertaking hazardous actions (eg changing lanes, junctions, overtaking, roundabouts etc). And watch out for vulnerable road users like cyclists and motor cyclists.

Cyclists - always wear hi vis clothing and lights at night!

Feel free to pass this around to anyone in your organisations who is a road user.

Stop and think. I nearly wrecked two lives tonight - don't let it happen to you.

Posted By Carl
Gary

This is a topic close to my and most cyclists & motorcyclists hearts. As an experienced cyclist and ex-motorcyclist, I soon learned from the many experiences and adapted my behaviour so that all junctions are approached defensively, i.e. expecting vehicles to pull out in your pathway.

I hope this experience will encourage other drivers to be more aware, particularly at junctions and look for bikes. If you don't consider and look for bikes then you probably won't perceive them until it is too late. Think bike.

Carl

Posted By Alexander Falconer
Gary is to be congratulated on admitting the error of his ways, he was the lucky one in a sense!

What if he wasn't so lucky, or didn't even give a monkey's.............?

I must confess that I also admit to careless driving habits, having been driving for nearly 25 years, until an experience changed my life forever.

A close friend's 16 year old son was killed (the date forever etched in my mind, back in 1999) after colliding with a motorbike whilst crossing the road. The motorcyclist happened to turn to chat to his passenger, and on a clear stretch of road too. The motorcyclist & his passenger were both hospitalised for observation only.

The effect on my friend, his wife & family, close friends and myself was indeed traumatic.

The motorcyclist was also known, to both my friend & myself, we all having grown up in the same village and connected in some way through other friends and their families.

Funny thing, on the same stretch of road, some 8/9 years prior, the motorcyclist also killed 2 females whilst driving his BMW?

Some people do not learn..........! Others do!

Posted By Jim Walker
Nice one Gary, as others have said it takes a big man to admit his failures. Most of us have done something equally stupid and kept quiet.

For many years I travelled along a town bypass and without fail every year, the week after the clocks changed in the autumn, a cyclist would be run down at one of the many roundabouts.

Posted By Brett Day

Something else to be aware of, how much space does your 'A' Pillar obscure?

Modern cars are becoming safer for the occupants in terms of crash worthiness but are becoming more dangerous for those who may be obscured by the thicker pillar. You may need to to look both sides of the pillar to get a proper view or lean slightly forwards.

Gary, the police drivers manual (Roadcraft) states that a good driver uses every drive as a learning experience, sounds like you've taken this to heart and helped raise this with the rest of us here.