The Blind Crest on South Road
You are riding a 125 cc scooter westbound on South Road at about 45 km/h in a 35 km/h zone, following a delivery van by roughly two seconds. Ahead, the road rises to a short crest and curves left, and a stone wall on the inside of the bend blocks your view of the far side. The van brakes abruptly and swerves slightly toward the centre line. As it moves, you glimpse a cyclist emerging from a driveway just beyond the crest, and a car behind you is close enough that its headlights fill your mirrors. The road surface is dry, but there is loose sand along the left edge where the wall meets the asphalt.
1. What does the combination of the crest, the wall, and the van's behaviour tell you about your speed and position, and what should you do first?
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The crest plus the wall means your sight line ends well before your stopping distance at 45 km/h, so you are already riding faster than the road lets you see. The van's brake-and-swill is the cue that something is in the road ahead; you should treat it as a hazard warning rather than a nuisance. First action: ease off the throttle and apply both brakes progressively, not grab the front, because the sand at the left edge will punish a locked wheel. Do not follow the van toward the centre line - that is where the oncoming traffic will be if the bend opens up. Reduce to a speed from which you could stop within the visible distance, which on this geometry means roughly 25–30 km/h, and hold a line closer to the left third of your lane but clear of the sand. The close car behind is a reason to brake early and smoothly so your brake light gives it time, not a reason to delay braking.
2. The cyclist is now clearly visible just beyond the crest, moving slowly. How do you plan your pass, given the car behind you?
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You cannot pass until you can see far enough around the left bend to know the oncoming lane is clear, and the wall prevents that. So the plan is to slow further, stay behind the cyclist at a gap that leaves room to stop, and wait until the road straightens past the wall. The trailing car changes the timing: signal early and deliberately so the driver reads your intent, and avoid any sudden swerve that could be mistaken for a turn. When the view opens, check mirror, signal, and shoulder, then give the cyclist at least a metre and a half of clearance, crossing the centre line only if it is broken and clear. If the car behind begins to overtake you while you wait, hold your line and let it go rather than competing for the same gap. The sand at the left edge rules out squeezing past on the inside.
3. If the cyclist suddenly wobbles toward your path, what is your escape plan and why?
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Your escape is to the right of the cyclist, into the centre of your lane, not to the left where the sand and wall are. Straight-line braking with the bike upright gives the most stopping force, so the sequence is: close the throttle, apply both brakes firmly and progressively while keeping the bars straight, and steer only once speed has dropped enough that the front tyre has grip to spare. Do not target-fix on the cyclist - look at the gap you intend to use. If the wobble is small, braking alone resolves it; if the cyclist falls into your path, you need to have already shed speed so a stop or a tight right-hand deviation is possible. The sand means any hard left input is likely to slide the front, which is why the plan commits to the right side from the start.