Cycling tip du jour, Wednesday: Never trust people to give-way

This means: give way to traffic
on major road. A full guide can be
found on the Highway Code
website

Had a nasty little scare on the journey in this morning. I was cycling along George Street just West of Marylebone High Street. Manchester Street was coming up on my left, where there's a set of give-way markings - meaning, of course, that anything coming out of Manchester Street should give way or "cede" to those on George Street. Taking the sign at its word, I cycled past it.

But to my horror, a pretty enormous truck, clearly belting down Manchester Street, appeared on my left, and seemed not to be stopping. I started shouting and waving my hand, and he did actually come to a rest, but with the cab of his truck about 2-3 feet extended beyond the give-way sign. He did nearly hit me, and I'm still not clear whether he actually intended to stop, or just habitually stops beyond the dotted line.

Whatever happens, it led me to think that a good cyclist should not go close to the curb, and indeed should be aiming wherever possible to cycle in the middle of the road so if a car or truck doesn't stop properly, you've a fighting chance of being seen.

And the other thing I learned - just because there's a give-way marking, it doesn't mean they're going to stop. Assume the worst.