The most dangerous manoeuvre for people riding bikes on British roads is turning right, a new study has found, with 10,070 collisions involving cyclists making a right turn reported between 2012 and 2021.

The analysis, conducted by Forbes Advisor, was based on data compiled from the Department for Transport’s 2021 report on road casualties in Great Britain during the previous decade, in order to determine which manoeuvres resulted in the most collisions for each type of vehicle.

After turning right, moving off resulted in the second greatest number of collisions for cyclists, with 4,911 recorded between 2012 and 2021, while going ahead on a right-hand bend came third, with 4,643 noted collisions out of a total of 179,737 during that ten-year spell.

Those familiar with road.cc’s Near Miss of the Day series will not be surprised to learn that, compared to other vehicle types, cyclists were disproportionately involved in collisions when going ahead while not on a bend, with people on bikes subject to collisions on a straight road over 55 percent more than the average road user.

When assessing other modes of transport, turning right also proved hazardous for car drivers, with 186,009 incidents recorded between 2012 and 2021. Car drivers slowing or stopping also accounted for 130,709 collisions, and being held up while waiting to go led to 112,755 crashes.

Meanwhile, overtaking a moving vehicle resulted in 14,323 collisions involving motorcyclists, while HGV drivers were involved in 3,714 collisions while slowing and stopping. HGV drivers also experienced collisions almost six times more than the average road user when changing lanes, accounting for 585.6 percent of the average when changing lanes to the left, and 533.4 percent when changing lanes to the right.

This most recent analysis comes less than two months after a similar survey of road safety figures in Scotland found that motorists are at fault in nearly three-quarters of all collisions between cyclists and drivers, while common tropes about ‘dangerous’ cyclists, such as riders “wearing dark clothing”, are responsible for comparatively few crashes.

The data, collated by Cycling Scotland, showed that 54 cyclists were killed and a further 1,836 seriously injured in road collisions throughout Scotland between 2015 and 2021.

Analysing the “contributory factors” assigned by Police Scotland to all collisions, Cycling Scotland found that over 70 percent of crashes involving motorists and cyclists were the fault of the driver.

For both drivers and cyclists, the most common cause of a collision is a failure to look (a factor seemingly ignored in Forbes Advisor’s analysis, perhaps because it does not constitute a ‘manoeuvre’ as such) – though of the 512 “failure to look” incidents, 374 were assigned to the motorist.

“Aggressive driving” and “vehicle door opened or closed negligently” were also in the top 10 reasons for collisions, Cycling Scotland found.

However, in the incidents where the cyclist was deemed to be at fault, “wearing dark clothing at night” was assigned to only 19 collisions between 2015 and 2021, the ninth most common cause of crashes where the cyclist was at fault.

https://road.cc/content/news/turning-right-most-dangerous-manoeuvre-cyclists-303693

On 06/09/2023 07:05 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> The most dangerous manoeuvre for people riding bikes on British roads is turning right, a new study has found, with 10,070 collisions involving cyclists making a right turn reported between 2012 and 2021.

It has long been recognised as the most riskk of movements (on
single-carriageway thoroughfares with at-grade junctions) for all vehicles.

And that is for rather obvious reasons, given that the move often, or
perhaps usually, involves crossing the path of oncoming traffic with
priority.

QUOTE: When assessing other modes of transport, turning right also proved hazardous for car drivers, with 186,009 incidents recorded between 2012 and 2021. Car drivers slowing or stopping also accounted for 130,709 collisions, and being held up while waiting to go led to 112,755 crashes. ENDS

Wow - staggering numbers and none of them worth a line in a local newspaper as they're THAT common.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> QUOTE: When assessing other modes of transport, turning right also proved
> hazardous for car drivers, with 186,009 incidents recorded between 2012
> and 2021. Car drivers slowing or stopping also accounted for 130,709
> collisions, and being held up while waiting to go led to 112,755 crashes. ENDS
>
> Wow - staggering numbers and none of them worth a line in a local
> newspaper as they're THAT common.

Perhaps the ‘staggering numbers’ of right-turn incidents involving car
drivers, at 186009 in the period 2012-2021, could be put into perspective
when one considers that the mileage driven in that time was some
2500000000000 (for those who don’t have enough fingers, that’s 2.5 trillion
miles) or one right-turn collision every 13400000 miles. Hardly newsworthy,
much in the same manner that cyclist fatal SVAs don’t seem to make the news
either.

--
Spike

Motorists are at fault in nearly three-quarters of all collisions between cyclists and drivers, according to new analysis of road safety figures in Scotland – analysis which has also suggested that common tropes about ‘dangerous’ cyclists, such as riders “wearing dark clothing”, are responsible for comparatively few crashes.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> Motorists are at fault in nearly three-quarters of all collisions between
> cyclists and drivers, according to new analysis of road safety figures in
> Scotland – analysis which has also suggested that common tropes about
> ‘dangerous’ cyclists, such as riders “wearing dark clothing”, are
> responsible for comparatively few crashes.

Ah! Again, the ineffective and morally-bankrupt ‘It’s only a handful’ trope
gets wheeled out.

--
Spike

Global Nomad replied to HoldingOn | 324 posts | 2 hours ago
2 likes
Of course many drivers find it difficult to even look forwards let alone use their mirrors. And lets not talk about indicating when turning rather than before...if at all

PHONE IN LAP SYNDROME - NODDING DOG ALERT.

On 07/09/2023 11:33 am, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> Global Nomad replied to HoldingOn | 324 posts | 2 hours ago
> 2 likes

> Of course many drivers find it difficult to even look forwards let alone use their mirrors. And lets not talk about indicating when turning rather than before...if at all

> PHONE IN LAP SYNDROME - NODDING DOG ALERT.

Using one's mirrors (how many chavs on bikes do that, BTW? :-)) is
important, but actually, not all that important when turning right. It
is what is happening forward and to the sides of the vehicle which are
of crucial importance in that situation. Things coming up behind are
really not relevant.

Avatar
pdw | 73 posts | 3 hours ago
1 like

Why is "going ahead on a right hand bend" so hazardous? Is it due to motor vehicles overtaking when they can't see?

reply quote

If I've understood, I think it's that the road bends to the right and there's a "left" turn onto another road which is geometrically a straight line.

Drivers "turning left" see the cyclist on the left of the lane; assume the cyclist is also turning; plough into the cyclist who was not turning but carrying on along the original road.

I've nearly come a cropper on a few like this, and tend to try and hang back or speed up so I clear the junction in splendid isolation.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Avatar
> pdw | 73 posts | 3 hours ago
> 1 like
>
> Why is "going ahead on a right hand bend" so hazardous? Is it due to
> motor vehicles overtaking when they can't see?
>
> reply quote
>
> If I've understood, I think it's that the road bends to the right and
> there's a "left" turn onto another road which is geometrically a straight line.
>
> Drivers "turning left" see the cyclist on the left of the lane; assume
> the cyclist is also turning; plough into the cyclist who was not turning
> but carrying on along the original road.
>
> I've nearly come a cropper on a few like this, and tend to try and hang
> back or speed up so I clear the junction in splendid isolation.

Good god…a cyclist with a combination of anticipation and a sense of
self-preservation. Don’t see too many of those.

--
Spike

QUOTE: If I've understood, I think it's that the road bends to the right and there's a "left" turn onto another road which is geometrically a straight line. And don't forget that the motorists never seem to think that they ought to indicate left, in that circumstance. ENDS

INDICATORS? - HEAVEN FORFEND.