Dear Cyclists,

I almost killed/ seriously injured your fellow man today. This took place around 1am in London. I was headin home after dropping off a friend. I was travelling down a main road and up ahead was the right turn i wanted to make into a side road, it's not a traffic controlled turn. I appropriately positioned my car and came to a stop to make the right turn. I indicated right and waited for the oncoming traffic to pass, checked my mirrors and proceeded to make the turn. I could see headlights in the distance and just as i was about to enter the side road a cyclist appeared; he braked harshly and used his leg as a pivot to lift up his bike and come to a standstill. I obviously also came to a stop, i rolled down my window and apologised to the man and he rode off.

I'm not a complete buffoon as he had no lights on his bike or reflective gear on his person. He was a black silhouette milliseconds before he came into view. It really bothers me that i failed to notice the man ahead of time, so much so that i created an account on this forum.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Also what's it like for a cyclist in this type of situation. I really don't want something like this to happen again, luckily no one got hurt today. I typed this out on my phone so please excuse any grammatical errors.

Well, I want to thank you for handling it in a compassionate manner. Many drivers are more put out by the fact their commute increased by 15 seconds because they had to brake than they are by the fact they almost took a human life.

From the cyclists perspective...that sort of thing always puts a scare into me, but sadly it is sort of par for the course. You get used to drivers doing that sort of thing. I don't deal with it quite as much now as I commute out to the suburbs, on partly bike path, rather than further in the center of the city where things are more dicey.

Also...cyclist is asking for trouble by not having lights at night....but my view is it's the responsibility of the person with a ton of steel around them to not kill anyone.

That's why the laws in all jurisdictions of which I'm aware require as a minimum that cyclists riding at night have a front headlight and a rear reflector (many require a rear light and some require additional reflectors). Bike lights these days are so inexpensive and effective that there isn't much of an excuse for not using them.

My only somewhat similar experience as a cyclist was when a motorist pulled out from a driveway directly into my path. I hit the brakes but still hit his front fender and went sliding over his hood. He initially demanded to know if I had a light but switched to apology mode when I just pointed at my bike on the ground with the headlight still shining brightly. Not sure why he didn't see me since I had clearly seen him in the driver's seat illuminated by my headlight. There were some cars a ways behind me and maybe he thought my light was from one of them. No injuries but the front fork of my bike was bent and his auto insurance paid for a replacement.

I agree with the driver bearing a higher responsibility. I don't want to be responsible for taking another persons life. In response to prathman i described my situation off memory. If the cyclist did have lights and i still failed to notice him then that worries me more.

There were a lot of cyclists tonight and i remember them all having bright blinking lights, noticeable from a good distance. I hope my memory is true and not trying to convince me that I'm faultless, i find it hard to believe i'd miss a biker if he/she had safety gear. I need to be more conscience of cyclists now.

Mistakes really stick with me, makes driving stressful at times, heh i should get a bike.

I don't rely on car drivers to look out for my safety. The bike rider is a fool.

I strongly disagree. In this situation if the rider didn't have lights or any reflective clothing he would be completely at fault in a collision.

You just encountered what we call a Ninja. Nobody likes encountering them. I have been cycling and had them fly out of parking lots and scare the pants off of me.

Unfortunately, every mode of transport is used by the entire range of people, from prudent and safe to idiots.

Sure. It's relatively common, when the other person's taking zero precautions to be seen. Have experienced this on numerous occasions with cyclists, with pedestrians. Life can be tough for those walking around in a fog. Tougher still, when doing so out in traffic with onrushing two-ton vehicles flying about.

Haven't been caught in a similar situation as a pedestrian or cyclist, myself. Been relatively lucky so far, but I also learned early on to be extremely defensive and to beware of any brewing situation on the road. Be well-lit, presume the other guy can't see me, don't stay in the blind spot, don't just rely on mirrors, ...


Glad you both got through it unscathed. Could have been worse. Hopefully, the guy will realize he caused that situation, by taking zero precautions. Hopefully he'll not be the cause of someone else's problem in future, though it's entirely likely he will.

I certainly didn't mean to imply that the cyclist in your incident had either lights or reflectors. There are plenty of cyclists who do not meet the legal standard for lighting when riding at night and my view is that if there had been a collision in your incident the fault would have been assigned to the cyclist.

@ Akth8r

You've got a conscience, which, I presume means your occupation is not in high public office or that of a Goldman Sachs executive.

Write the issue off and don't concern yourself further over it. No damage was done. Life is full of risks and you did your part in the encounter.

I do not support any more laws governing traffic or anything else for that matter. There are currently over 2 million laws on the books and they are added to at a rate of 40 pages per day. The average person commits 3 felonies a day without even knowing it.

I totally agree. If the driver had been driving without lights and didn't see the cyclist without lights... I think we call them both idiots.

I've come across a situation in my car a few times already this week. People on bikes (I won't call idiots "cyclists") riding in the dark without lights, reflectors, or any kind of clothing to make them visible, on the sidewalk, and going in the wrong direction (against traffic.) I saw a very close call as the driver turned left into a parking lot and had to cross the sidewalk where it was cut out for vehicles. He nearly hit the guy on the bike who proceeded to scream at the driver and kicked a big dent into his door.

We always seem to believe that accidents between bikes and drivers are the drivers fault. From what I have seen in my area, including the accidents that I read about, it's the cyclist that is not following laws or taking the appropriate safety precautions that are the cause of most of the accidents. I would dare say, that most of those riding bikes (and even the drivers) are not part of a forum like this. I don't know about most of those in the forum, but I'm lit up brighter than a Christmas tree when I'm riding in the dark. I ride with lights during the daytime also (dynamo hub powered lights as well as battery powered lights.) I wear ugly bright florescent clothes in the day, and ad a reflective vest at night. If I get hit, it's not because the driver didn't see me... it's because he wasn't looking (yes, I've had close calls with the texters and make up artists.)

Again, obviously a cyclist needs to take responsibility for his own safety. But a cyclist, no matter how reckless he is, never puts motorists lives at risk.

All motorists, just by putting their car in drive, do put everyone else on the road at risk. It is an enormous responsibility. I believe they should drive in a manner respectful of all life, including idiot cyclists that don't respect their own lives. If they can't drive defensively enough to account for the careless cyclist or unforseen circumstances, they should not be driving.

The iriginal poster seems like he did everything right...he was aware of everything around him, and was driving at a speed at a more dangerous spot (entering side street) that allowed him to avoid a serious accident. It's irrelevent that the cyclists actions made things much more interesting than they should have been. His life still matters. You can't just drive in a way that you KNOW would have resulted in hitting that biker.

1 AM, no lights, he nearly gets hit after interjecting himself in the way of legal traffic maneuver? Why are you apologising?

Nice that you saw fit to make a brand new account just to come and relate your story!

ETA: I am of the belief a person's general desire for life can be deduced by the activities in which they engage. People who ride bicycles without lights at night on city streets around cars do not have much of a desire for life. I think they must all carry a DNR card on their person.

Define risk? My quality of life would be greatly reduced should I ever witness or be in the position of being involved in a collision (either on my bike or behind the wheel of a car) with one of these ninjas. Not much mind you, but still would not be the same. So do not come here and write in absolute terms.

See my post above.

Cycling in the dark with no lights is not only stupid but illegal in many areas, including my state. However, you did well to notice the rider.

I hope that this ninja cyclist reflects on this incident and decides to take steps to reduce the probability of it happening again. Lights are cheap and even the wimpiest would have allowed you to see him (her) coming. Even if the cyclist was insistent about the purity of stealthy riding, he surely should have anticipated you turning and not dive in like he did.

You stopped, you signalled, you looked, you waited you proceeded when it appeared clear. You did everything correctly and cautiously. You did nothing wrong.

While acting reflexively may not feel as satisfying as seeing this cyclist ahead of time and making a concious decision to avoid him, you already did make concious decisions that saved him from harm. From your actions and precautions as mentioned above, to you making the decision to not drive impaired (I assume). You also weren't distracted by texting or fiddling with your smartphone (I assume). In fact, look at it this way, you may have saved this man from serious injury and even possibly death through your undulled, undistacted reflexes, while a less alert, less sober driver may have injured or killed this man.

Perhaps if you read through the posts on this commutong forum and read how responsible bike commuters consider the dangers and risks of bicycling in traffic and how to reduce, mitigate and avoid them you will come to realize just how insanely irresponsible your night-time bike ninja was and how fortunate he was that it was you driving at that intersection.

Well put...probably a better version of what I was trying to get across.

The biker lowered the threshold for the occurrence of a serious accident significantly. He was lucky it was you who happened across him at that time instead of someone with less responsibility or compassion for others.

These. You did the right thing(s) at the time and later when trying to figure out how to avoid the same situation repeating itself later. None of us here like Ninjas either and keep an eye out for them as that's all you can do.

Thanks guys. Now i know there are these so called ninjas out and about. I will just need to try and take extra care to look out for them.
[MENTION=444232]prairiepedaler[/MENTION]

Haha, I just graduated this year with a degree in physics. I'm avoiding careers at places like goldman sachs and such. While there is money involved i don't think I'd enjoy working there. I think i don't have the right mindset either.

Again, thanks for all the responses. Best i can do is learn from this encounter; at least now I'm aware of the fact that there are individuals out there who are near invisible.

Yeah, looks like you care about people. I'm assuming banking is not the right spot for you

For cyclist's point of view - if you are experienced, it's a normal thing. Happens every day. You get used to being "invisible" and take that into account when riding. Always adjusting speed so you can brake in time if a car doesn't see you.

However, I do all I can to be visible. Bright reflective surfaces on the bike, bright lights, reflective clothing...

This video is informative for both (motor)cyclists and drivers:

Determining responsibility is a pretty useless exercise to me. Because that means the accident has already happened and as the cyclist. I am highly likely to be the loser in terms of injuries, mechanical damage, or worse. No matter who was at fault in the accident.

In the event of a close call, I always try to analyze what I could have done smarter and better. I can't control the car driver's actions, only mine.

The problem with my last bike crash is that I can't analyze how my riding could have smarter or better because the concussion caused a blackout and I have a 30-60 minute blank spot in my memory that includes the actual crash. I don't know if I hit something, was hit, took a solo spill...kinda scary.

On behalf of all of us cyclists, I want to apologize for those idiots of us who ride ninja at night, and thank you for being attentive enough to avoid that idiot. It's those kind of fools that cause drivers to be frustrated and angry at all the rest of us.

....