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news
Video: London cyclist sent flying as motorist drives through mini-roundabout
A motorist in South London has filmed the moment a cyclist negotiating a mini-roundabout was sent flying from their bike after another driver approached the junction without slowing down, and apparently without seeing the rider.
The driver of the car with the dashcam recording the footage on Sunday stops at the broken line at the Whitehorse Road entrance to the roundabout in Thornton Heath.
But to the right, another motorist doesn’t even appear to brake as she enters the junction from Whitehorse Lane and, before driving across the white-painted circle that denotes the mini-roundabout, hits the cyclist.
The rider is tossed onto the bonnet of the silver car by the impact before landing on the ground, while the motorist gets out to check on their condition then returns to the vehicle, possibly to retrieve a mobile phone.
The extent of the cyclist’s injuries is unclear. While they are able to move their upper body, they remain seated on the ground. The driver posting the footage to YouTube has not said if it has been passed to the police.
The incident bears the hallmarks of the type of SMIDSY – Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You – collsion or near miss that is all too familiar to cyclists on Britain’s roads, and also highlights that contrary to the rules of the road, many drivers negotiate mini-roundabouts as though they were normal junctions.
Under Rule 185 of the Highway Code, drivers are told:
When reaching the roundabout you should
give priority to traffic approaching from your right, unless directed otherwise by signs, road markings or traffic lights
check whether road markings allow you to enter the roundabout without giving way. If so, proceed, but still look to the right before joining
watch out for all other road users already on the roundabout; be aware they may not be signalling correctly or at all
look forward before moving off to make sure traffic in front has moved off.
Rule 187 says that at roundabouts, motorists must “In all cases watch out for and give plenty of room to … cyclists and horse riders who may stay in the left-hand lane and signal right if they intend to continue round the roundabout. Allow them to do so.”
Mini-roundabouts are governed specifically by Rule 188, which says: “Approach these in the same way as normal roundabouts. All vehicles MUST pass round the central markings except large vehicles which are physically incapable of doing so. Remember, there is less space to manoeuvre and less time to signal. Avoid making U-turns at mini-roundabouts. Beware of others doing this.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- don simon fbpe 19 min 7 sec ago
I think I'd prefer to see cars hitting and killing cyclists made illegal.
- ktache 8 hours 11 min ago
The Cure, 1989 day was fantastic, what little I got to hear. I think the BBC is wonderful, not perfect, but I'm so glad we have it.
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I ended up using Parcelforce - paying online and printing off a sticker - then drop off at the post office. I came across a couple of things worth...
- Rendel Harris 9 hours 2 min ago
Reckless doesn't exist as a charge in the UK, it's either careless or dangerous.
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Beat me to it. 30mph on gravel for a 75kg rider requires around 680W, so those who can achieve it will be experiencing a 0.4% improvement. I know...
- mattw 9 hours 45 min ago
Good comments on the story in the Sheffield Star.
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61 comments
At a minimum the victim will have her(?) lower left leg smashed to pieces. Probably multiple other breaks on the left side - hip and ribs at least. Punctured lung and kidney damage also more than likely.
My teammate suffered all those plus more in a similar smash. A month in intensive care. Leg now deformed.
£200 fine.
About 3 to 4 seconds from impact to stopping. The car travels some distance before even beginning to slow down. Clearly the foot wasn't even covering the brake - they weren't going to slow down whatever was at that junction.
It's about 5 seconds from stopping to emerging from the car.
What could the driver be doing to be so obviously distracted?
Perhaps the same thing that was so much more important than driving safely? Suspect, like others, that it involved a phone.
It looked to me like the cyclist shouted at the driver to call an ambulance. The thing retrieved was under something on the seat - suspect this is what took 5 seconds - burying the phone.
Am I the only one surprised by the slow (or complete lack of) response from the driver of the camera car. If you see that, why are you not racing over to help them
That was horrible to watch, I hope the same thing happens to the driver some time. its not like the cyclists will get any justice from a court is it
The fact that she was a slow moving cyclist should have actually give the driver more time to react and stop.
A couple of years ago I was approaching one of these things and a driver was coming towards me on the other side. I judged it was fine to proceed ahead. The driver did not slow for the roundabout but swung to his right cutting across the central white circle and nearly clipping my back wheel. He slowed and gave me a load of verbal out his window. I only proceeded assuming he would make some attempt to go around the circle and slow his speed as you would be forced to do at a normal round about. It seems he just saw it as an elaborate speed hump.
Being generous she may have been getting her phone to call an ambulance
It did look very nasty though
We could really do with mandatory stop signs like they have in the US.... there's a lot to be said for defensive driving.
That's horrendous. I'll be interested to see how this is dealt with before the law.
Even Daily Mail readers (mostly) don't blame the cyclist on this one: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3917334/Driver-smashes-cyclist-flies-ai...
Looks like an elderly lady to me. Also looks like first reaction is for left hand to go to upper thigh. I hope she's ok.
Rushing like fuck to get over the roundabout ahead of the camera car.
Nobody's gonna start a debate about Hi viz / helmets are they? Could've been Mr Blobby in a mankini on a unicycle and the driver still wouldn't have noticed, too engrossed were they at the prospect of getting a car ahead.
I like how she rushes to the cyclists aid rapidly to help them. Not.
The way she ambles over to the injured cyclist then shuffles back to the car like she's out for an afternoon stroll just shows without a sliver of doubt that this fucking cyclist was nothing but a damn nuisance to her, causing damage to her car and fucking up her journey.
Just on her reaction alone I'd ban her from driving for life. That really is shocking and just shows that the majority of cyclists are nothing but a nuisance on the road to a huge proportion of the driving public.
I wonder how she would react if the cyclist she struck was one of her nearest and dearest. Pfffffffffff.......
The fact that she recovers her mobile phone from the passenger seat , is highly suggestive that she actually had it in her hand prior to the collision and threw it there post impact ( at least to me )
My thoughts as well...
Yep: definitely.
This belongs in the "I think so, therefore it is" pile of subjective facts. There's no doubt the driver is at fault, but let's not turn into a kangaroo court, eh?
Whilst I take your point, would you care to suggest an alternative hypothesis? The driver was distracted by a UFO, perhaps...
No, as my point was that hypothesese are the problem. I can only comment on what I see and leave the rest to the courts of law, as I believe we all should...
Hypotheisis are the problem? I don't think they are the main one.
I've never been hit by a speeding hypothesis that wasn't looking where it was going!
Also - leaving things to the courts of law doesn't seem to have done much to stop things like this repeatedly happening. Maybe some other approach is needed?
Oh, and as a non-driver I'm no expert on mini-roundabouts, but I've never understood the things or why road engineers like installing them - they seem to operate as just junctions with no clear priority, as most drivers pay no attention to the white circle and just drive across it or turn the wrong way. Do other countries have them or are they a UK 'innovation'?
Thing is, there's quite a bit of frustration with the courts of law, and the rest of the legal process.
There probably wouldn't be anywhere near as much hypothesising (he hypothesised) if there weren't so many terrible examples of justice failing to be done regarding motorists being twats.
So, first problem: motorists being twats.
Second problem: justice system being a twat regarding motorists being twats.
Third problem: shit roads and infrastructure.
Fourth problem: anyone incorrectly understanding what the real problems are.
Way down the list: people chatting shit on a Web forum.
This roundabout is dangerous enough in a car. For whatever reason, it's a total free for all. I would be very very reluctant and extremely careful on a bike.
You can't say, though, that the cyclist was riding recklessly, they were just trundling across the junction.
Agreed, no fault from the cyclist. That roundabout is just mad.
Except, the roundabout isn't mad. Assuming a driver is paying attention there's pretty good visibility all ways, and there's frankly no excuse for t-boning anyone there.
If visibility is bad, then why was the driver just powering through and not slowing to allow for vehicles crossing their exit?
I'd noticed that: compared to many mini roundabouts, this one seems pretty open, with (relatively) high visibility. So, I would hypothesize that either the driver just wasn't looking *at all*, or else she just didn't register the cyclist (she was looking for a big metal box, and just blinked over the slowly moving vulnerable road user who had priority and was doing everything right as far as I can see).
Listen to Zebulebu, I lived there too, it's a Croydon thing.
Shit me, that is horrific
Just shows 1 tonne plus versus human= rag doll and likely serious injury. Frightening to see!
Too many drives don't bother stopping or even slowing down at mini roundabouts. I go across one every morning and 99% of the time drivers sail straight over it without really looking.
No doubt her solicitor will tell the court there was no evidence of careless driving and she will be sentenced to a week off work and a KitKat.
I'm guessing the excuse will be "shadow into light" and "being blinded by the sun"......unless of course the driver just admits to being a complete choob and not giving a fcuk about the cyclist already having right of way on the roundabout..
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