Thank **** I've got uprated brakes etc. on my car.....

[Duncan]

.....otherwise I'd have been peeling some spotty teenager off the bumper/bonnet today!

Driving back home earlier today - broad daylight - I came to a turning that I've taken countless times. Pic below will help explain.....



I was travelling from the bottom of the picture and was going to be turning left at the forked junction. Matey boy was travelling (on the pavement) from the top right of the picture, pootling along on his BMX. As I got nearer to the junction, he was starting to cross the road I was about to turn into. I was indicating clearly and I saw him slow down as he approached the little central island bit you can see at the junction, so I assumed he had seen me and that I was indicating left as he was looking straight at me. Literally just as I started to turn into the road he then decides to carry on pedalling!! and so I slammed on the brakes. At this point he obviously saw me bearing down on him and s*at himself as he lost his balance and had to put a foot down onto the road - so now he was smack bang in the middle of my side of the road, and now stationery!!! I felt the ABS kicking in hard as I had obviously stamped hard on the pedal. When I first started to brake, I had also started to steer to the left in the, probably vain, attempt to reduce the chance of hitting him square on. The car came to an abrupt halt literally about a foot from him, with my eyeballs now out of their sockets! lol

I'd had my front windows wound part down as it had been a bit sunny, but I didn't yell at him or even say a word. I just looked at him with a look that basically said "You stupid ", and he looked back, with a somewhat paler face than he'd had, with a look that basically said "I need to go and change my underwear!" He didn't utter a word, just sloped off as he knew fine well he'd had a very lucky escape, and it was all his doing in the first place. Why he started to continue peddling, I have no idea. Maybe he thought I wasn't going to turn left, even though I was indicating. He'll think twice now about doing that again I bet!

How the hell I didn't hit him, Gawd knows. All I can say is that the combination of the uprated brakes (from 302mm fronts to 314mm along with the standard 292mm rears on a 2.0T), the uprated suspension (Irmscher kit) and having recently fitted four new high performance tyres (Michelin PS2) stopped me in a stupendously short distance. That extra foot could have easily been covered if I'd had all standard stuff/cheaper tyres on, and I'd have then been giving a statement to the Police!

I'd rather not be testing all the kit to it's limits though!

D

[Stevel]

One foot away. He's a lucky boy.

[Gr4eme]

Lucky escape for him there and also for you and your car. Stoopid fool.

[Caterman]

Lucky lucky boy Stupid........but very lucky

[Jamie]

Very lucky indeed.

I've spent most of the day dealing with this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/h...cs/7246789.stm

[AJA]

Lucky escape for you too D. The Law would of probably said he had right of way too, being a junction etc.

Rule 108 of the Highway Code: "give way to pedestrians crossing the road into which you are turning"

[Mick B]

Lucky escape for all.Duncan tell your insurance company next time around that you want a good discount for all the safety features (not mods)fitted to your car.

[Dwabo]

i would of run the f**ker over.. one less hoodie bmx thug to worry about..

[GARY3306]

blimey mate, I bet he's gone to put the lottery on lol

Lucky escape for you too D. The Law would of probably said he had right of way too, being a junction etc.

Rule 108 of the Highway Code: "give way to pedestrians crossing the road into which you are turning"

he aint a pedestrian though Alex, cycle riders must obey traffic regs

Very lucky indeed.

I've spent most of the day dealing with this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/h...cs/7246789.stm

One part of the job I don't miss one little bit. come to think of it, there's no part of the job I miss

[Duncan]

Very lucky indeed.

I've spent most of the day dealing with this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/h...cs/7246789.stm

Ooh, not nice!

Lucky escape for you too D. The Law would of probably said he had right of way too, being a junction etc.

Rule 108 of the Highway Code: "give way to pedestrians crossing the road into which you are turning"

Yep, but not when there's an island in the middle of the junction and he should've stopped in the middle when seeing me indicating to turn left (he was coming from my right remember). Not when he then proceeded to start to cross into my side as I started my manoeuvre. The Highway Code doesn't say anything about giving way to idiots that step out right in front of you!, it's if they're already crossing that you give way. That most definitely was not already crossing - that was donut on a death wish!

And then there's the small matter that he's not a pedestrian, he was on a bike, initially riding on a pavement and then crossing a junction and not paying attention - good job I was!

EDIT: Just saw your post Gary.

Lucky escape for all.Duncan tell your insurance company next time around that you want a good discount for all the safety features (not mods)fitted to your car.

lol, nice angle!

i would of run the f**ker over.. one less hoodie bmx thug to worry about..

lol, yeah - but one big dent in my bonnet and all the hassle of giving statements etc.