I scared a little old lady tonight

[Jayneflakes]

I was riding back from a hospital appointment in Bristol on Monday evening and was just coming down to the Gordano junction, when a little old lady decided that she wanted to drive on the bit of road I was riding on. :pale:

I pulled so hard on the front brake that the forks dived and my step daughter was thrown into my back. The horn on the bike clearly woke the old lady from her slumber and she immediately turned around in her seat (as she pulled onto a motorway roundabout) and mouthed sorry at me and waved her apologies. :smt082

I guess that tonight was my lucky night because as I found out a few weeks ago these things can end a lot worse. Why did she try to drive on my bit of the road you may ask? Because she wanted to change lanes where the road changed from bus lane to junction with out looking left. [-X

Step daughter was shaken and managed to pour forth with a stream of obscenities at said driver and I changed gear and carried on riding happy in the knowledge that another dangerous driver had just learned a valuable lesson in mirror and observation use (and current trendy teenage swearing).

[Bibio]

at least you got a sorry.

i was going for the first service on my last bike back in 2008. sitting behind a line of traffic and a gap presented itself so i dropped a gear and went for it. next thing i see is a red micra deciding to pull out. the little old lady had looked in her mirror and seen me but decided that she would still pull out anyway. i was doing silly speeds and hard on the throttle when i had to brake. i locked the brakes up in panic and started to slide sideways at which point she pulled in and i was able to release the brakes and get back on the gas which resulted an a very nice wiggly bouncy bounce.

i got to Cupar and parked the bike up then the van that was at the back of the cue appeared, he pulled over and congratulated me for still being alive :-)

[Fallout]

i got to Cupar and parked the bike up then the van that was at the back of the cue appeared, he pulled over and congratulated me for still being alive :-)

:smt082

I don't ride beside people. The only exception is when there is a junction and I have no choice, at which point I prepare myself to avoid a side swiping demise. So far, luckily not met said demise yet.

[Cymraeg_Atodeg]

I was going to day Jane, if you were down my Gordano it might have been Stu as he rides like an old lady, but, he had two legs in a cast that day.

This is why I fitted a "snail horn" to my bike. Woken up a fair few people with it and I generally ride a lot slower when filtering/cars are about.

I just find that cage drivers have terrible perception or willingness to look for others.

It is a sad fact

[ChrisCurvyS]

Glad you're OK. Just goes to show - never sit alongside other vehicles in traffic but if you have to, always expect them to cut you up.

There's a terrible junction near me - someone pulls out on me almost every day and they're almost always little old ladies peering over the steering wheel. I've got really good at swerving round them with just enough space, hitting the horn and flashing the lights simultaneously - doing my bit for road safety.

Elderly drivers are often a menace but no politican in their right mind is going to introduce an age cap or compulsory re-tests. The South Park Episode 'Grey Dawn' pretty much sums it up.

[keith_d]

It could be a lot worse. In the last few days I've had two cars make sudden changes of direction right in front of me . In one case I hit the brakes and let them pass in front of me (sudden left turn), in the other they collided with the car on my right (sudden right turn).

Illegitimi non carborundum,

Keith.