Thsts not the conventional definition. I even provided a quote. Even evo agrees what a left hook is </end>.

Does not surprise me David. I have commented before about the need for a crack down
Although the most bizarre thing I saw was a teenager skateboarding down a hill, on the road, at night, towards a junction.

If that is the case why do the measures been taken and proposed by the authorities seem to address the issue as I describe it?

Just ban all cyclists. Safer for all.

Cyclist are on a total death wish! I was at work in a large yellow emergency ambulance and as we approached a junction with our left indicator on , I suddenly saw this cyclist zoom up the inside, he had no hi-viz, was listening to music on headphones and had his hood up, so his hearing and peripheral vision was impaired! He clearly didn't register that we were turning left..or if he did he may have thought he would clear us before we turned! Anyway this total knob head almost crashed into our wing mirror! He stopped we stopped! I would the window down and yelled at him! He just laughed and told me to get lost.
This was in London as well.. and I can only describe rush hour up there like driving through a human swarm! It's like flies around the vehicle.. they over take, undertake , swerve about... and your supposed to drive in amounsgt them!!

It's very very easy to see how they end up under he wheels of trucks and buses... no personal safety or road skill about them...

I could tell a similar tale, only substituting "cyclists" for "car drivers" and describing how I saw a single car speeding along the motorway at 100mph+, almost crashing into other cars as they weaved in and out.

But I won't. Because I don't make a habit of making hasty generalisations based on the actions of one, or even a few, examples of a certain type of road user (or any part of the population for that matter).

Non sequitur.

Some cyclists are morons and have never read the Highway Code.

I got serious abuse from a cyclist after I apparently nearly killed him. Three lanes - left lane, left turn only. Middle lane becomes the next left, right lane is straight on.

I was turning left at the first junction and in the left lane. I was indicating left and had to hesitate as pedestrians were crossing the side road. I saw the cyclist on my left and swung wide to give him room to turn too - except he was going straight on....and I was in the wrong?

Except this similar tale was on a motorway where at least all the traffic is travelling in the same direction and without a junction every few hundred yards. I am not condoning what the p*** in the story you described did by the way!

Cyclists constantly undertaking and passing when any vehicle is already indicating to turn left are an unbelievable hazard. They neither know about or care that the blind spot of many cars, let alone lorries and busses is huge.

An example being I was recently travelling along a duel carriage way and was aware there was a car behind me (approx 500 - 800 yards) I was driving at the allowed 60 (in a 60 limit) the car behind would have been around 50 (basing this on the fact it kept vanishing from view as I went around corners)
A while later the car behind got to around 200 yards behind and I was fully aware of it and the others behind me. I needed to change lanes and used the correct procedure of 'mirror, signal manoeuvre' (I always check the mirror two or three times before pulling out at higher speeds) And the car I'd been fully aware of behind me in my lane had since sped up to match my 60 (quite legally) and was sat in my blind spot. It only takes a few seconds to vanish from the mirrors view to become 'invisible' I should add thanks to the huge blind spot of my car I frequently turn my head to check there really is nothing there before changing lanes and generally manoeuvring the car.

Obviously if I had pulled out and hit that car it would have been my fault, presumably driving without due care and attention. But throughout the journey I'd checked my mirrors and followed the Highway Code but in that second or two had lost sight of that car. Cyclists don't seem to appreciate that we don't have complete 100% vision and can't see something that doesn't appear in the mirror or wasn't there when we began to turn.

EDITED -

I should add my car is a standard fully road legal, UK specification Peugeot 307 estate. there's noting in it's design that should make visibility difficult. Though perhaps as with most modern vehicles it has thicker pillars and 'A' frame to aid in it's stiffness, crumple zones and crash survival. .

My biggest concern is unlit cyclists at night in areas with minimal or no street lighting (a lot of it is switched off here to save money thru the night).
It still surprises me how after just a few car lengths an unlit cyclist just vanishes, and if they are zipping all over the road, your going to lose track of it even if you do manage to see it at all.

The word cyclist also bothers me. I do realise not all are like this. The "professional" ones usually out on a Sunday morning, or those wearing high vis jackets with lights on their bike, are absolutely fine. They treat it as if they are driving a car. But they are in the minority compared with the overwhelming majority of people with a death wish who are usually just young lads on their way to see their mates or going to pick up the booze.
Cycling against the flow of traffic, in the road, unlit, as per the one yesterday, that's got to be the most shocking example I have ever seen. I guess if one of those drivers had hit him, the driver would still have been at fault.

Also, the fascination and normality of the crime of riding on the footpath....just about a month ago, in a nearby busy town, there is a small central car park which has a little one way system (arrows painted on the ground). This yob on a bike comes zoomin along the path, nearly knocking down half a dozen people (it's not a dual use path). He nearly knocks my mum down. I say, your supposed to be in the road....he shouts: can't go along there, so I say: then go around the road, or if u can't get off and walk the path- it's not rocket science.
He cycled on, still at speed, still dodging the people on the path.
......the path was packed as its a busy place at the best of times and this was a Saturday afternoon.

I think they mean the equivalent in mainland Europe, which is to turn right when a cyclist is passing on the right. A lot of the times this sort of thing is remedied by having a cycle lane that crosses the right-turn and the driver HAS to check for cyclists before turning, because there's a visual indicator that there may be cyclists passing.

If it saves even one life, then I've no issue with it. As a motorist, I do this anyway if there is a cyclist alongside me to my left, and I'm turning left. Although often, the cyclist will have clocked that my left indicator is on, and hold back, allowing me to draw off.

Even if he's got his left arm out to indicate that he also is going left, I'm still watchful.

Why not give cyclists the right of way? They assume they've got it anyway. Cyclists more or less assume that none of the laws of the road apply to them. They have gone feral.

Me too, It seems odd there needs to be a law I thought everyone would only turn left in front of cyclist if there was time to do so without making the cyclist stop or slow down

That's the issue though. You've said that you check to your left if you know there is a cyclist there. If you don't know the cyclist is there why would you check?
In slow traffic, say 5-15mph most commuting cyclists will catchup with you and pass on one side or the other. By creating a system whereby the onus is on the driver to be looking backwards all the time instead of educating cyclist that they need to be more vigilant when undertaking at junctions (that they have full view of as it's in front of them) you're asking for trouble.
A cyclist can & often does weave in & out of traffic, switching sides they pass on depending on the available room to do so. In the 3 seconds it takes for the cyclist you spotted on the outside to switch to the inside, pass a car & be almost level with your rear bumper, you could have arrived at the turning you've been waiting to turn into. At that point you're watching the car in front in case it brakes, the footpaths directly to your left and ahead just in case people are about walk in to the road & also the road you're turning in to for other obstacles & hazards.
Is it really fair & right to expect the driver doing all of this to check another direction too?
Or should we expect a cyclist to anticipate a level of hazard when approaching a junction & cycle past it appropriately.

Well I see where you are coming from, but the commonest scenario in my experience is when I draw up as the lead car at traffic lights, and the cyclist draws up level with me, to my left. In that situation, all that I've said applies. Because they are smaller and able to weave between cars, they can easily get to the front of the queue of stationary cars, ready to go.

I have seen some mount the pavement before the lights have changed, and join the road to the left, that way.

The type of driver that wouldn't signal or look properly isn't going to do anything different, so if I was cycling I'd continue to assume every driver was out to kill me and take care. A law change isn't going to offer any physical protection.

As newer cars get more sensors, we may see an improvement, but so far many things are optional extras that a lot of people don't pay for (and I can see why, the stuff my dad has on his car was over a grand more).

Yes. I am a very cautious cyclist of 50+ years on the road. I filter very slowly through stationary traffic approaching a junction. Walking speed at most. If on the inside, and there's a motorist first in the queue indicating to turn left, I will stay back and let them go first - unless there's an advanced stop line, in which case I may creep forward into that space. I often glance back when stationary to check the motorist has seen me.

Actually I now avoid cycling on main roads if at all possible. I've sought out all sorts of side roads, tracks and paths I prefer to use to get around my local town. It might even take me longer to get places, but it's safer and more pleasant.

In a stationary situation, where a bike is in front of the drivers seat or level to it, I think almost everyone would let the bike go straight on first.
In slow moving traffic I don't thinks it's right to add an additional layer of culpability to the driver when the approaching cyclist is the only one that already has the event in full view.

Yes, I think that's right. We as cyclists (and pedestrians) often have a better overall picture of what is going on around us on the road than the motorists whose vision in certain directions is restricted. I think we cyclists have a duty to be aware of that and behave accordingly.

Exactly, I agree with both this and the post above. Both very sensible and understanding of all road users.

Cyclists and pedestrians need to appreciate that as a driver our visibility can be limited sometimes, we really cannot spend several seconds looking over both shoulders because while doing that we can't see the child that may run into the road or another vehicle which has suddenly stopped.

There needs to be a common sense approach to this and not put all responsibility on the driver and expect the cyclist to be presumed innocent at all times.

I'm certainly not claiming any group of road users are worse than others. But as I told a friend who shot out in front of me at work (no lights, no reflectors, no helmet and dark clothing) If I'd have hit you chances are you would have broken bones or worse case killed. However my car would probably need a new wing. The next day I saw him do the same thing with another car. I did rather sarcastically ask if his suicide note was in his bag!

Some people don't appreciate the danger more than a ton of metal and glass can do even at low speeds.

This was in a 20 zone where I was doing no more than 10 due to the very harsh speed bumps.

Some very sensible points and interesting anecdotes have been posted.

But I must say that looking over shoulders and using both wing-mirrors are an absolutely vital part of driving.

There is indeed a difference between what things look like from the outside and inside the car. Generally, I find spaces etc look tighter from inside the car.
Maybe due to modern thick pillars in cars which restrict visibility. The outdoors generally looks a tad darker than it actually is from inside my car too.

From a standing start, I can pull away faster than a cyclist......assuming we are both going ahead, and assuming no stopped or slow cars straight in front of me.
Obviously I wouldn't turn to the left or right with a cyclist along side me.

Very good point. My car would have been 16k new, and that's with some of the tech missing! Add on built in sat nav, DAB (it was optional upgrade a few years ago), and multifunction infotainment screen and auto dimming rear view mirror, optional heated steering wheel + optional heated seats, and it would have set a buyer back nearly £20k......and that's supposed to be a supermini hatchback.