|
Bikes and HGVs
|
Andrew Curry
|
Jan 21, 2009 04:43 PST
|
--0015174bde8446a0410460fd80e4
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Dear all,
I've always been wary of HGVs and trucks while cycling, but I took the
opportunity offered by the Met police yesterday to check what the road (and
the cyclist) looked like from the drivers' seat of an HGV.
What I learned:
- A bike coming up the inside/passenger side disappears from view in the
main nearside mirrors by the time it gets about half way up the vehicle.
- The HGV was a new one, so it had a 'butterfly' mirror to look down at the
area around the passenger door - but to see it the driver has to turn their
head through 90 degrees. Since drivers are trained to mostly look ahead and
in their offside mirrors, there's no guarantee you'll be seen in it, even if
it has one.
- However, the scariest thing was that the police had positioned a motor
bike in front of the HGV, as close as it might be in stationery or very slow
moving traffic. I'm quite tall, but even so from the driver's normal seating
position this was completely invisible (you had to lean forward to see even
the front wheel).
So: all the advice is true: don't try to pass an HGV on the inside, and if
you have one sitting benond you in a traffic queue, go somewhere else.
Thanks to the Met for organising it. Please post this on if it is useful.
Andrew Curry
--
Email from Andrew Curry
And see my personal futures blog at http://thenextwavefutures.wordpress.com/
--0015174bde8446a0410460fd80e4
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Dear all,<br><br>I've always been wary of HGVs and trucks while cycling, but I took the opportunity offered by the Met police yesterday to check what the road (and the cyclist) looked like from the drivers' seat of an HGV.<br>
<br>What I learned:<br><br>- A bike coming up the inside/passenger side disappears from view in the main nearside mirrors by the time it gets about half way up the vehicle. <br>- The HGV was a new one, so it had a 'butterfly' mirror to look down at the area around the passenger door - but to see it the driver has to turn their head through 90 degrees. Since drivers are trained to mostly look ahead and in their offside mirrors, there's no guarantee you'll be seen in it, even if it has one.<br>
- However, the scariest thing was that the police had positioned a motor bike in front of the HGV, as close as it might be in stationery or very slow moving traffic. I'm quite tall, but even so from the driver's normal seating position this was completely invisible (you had to lean forward to see even the front wheel).<br>
<br>So: all the advice is true: don't try to pass an HGV on the inside, and if you have one sitting benond you in a traffic queue, go somewhere else.<br><br>Thanks to the Met for organising it. Please post this on if it is useful.<br>
<br>Andrew Curry<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Email from Andrew Curry<br><br>And see my personal futures blog at <a href="http://thenextwavefutures.wordpress.com/">http://thenextwavefutures.wordpress.com/</a><br>
--0015174bde8446a0410460fd80e4--
|
|
 |
|
