SMIDSY

English

Etymology

Acronym for "Sorry mate, I didn't see you."

Phrase

SMIDSY

1. (UK, Australia) Sorry mate, I didn′t see you.
   • 2017, CJ Moseley, The Wrath of Atlantis: With Strange Aeons:

     “SMIDSY?” Rich chuckled, “Yeah, car pulled out into me, then literally as the guy got out and looked at me lying on the road he said,'Sorry mate, I didn't see you,' S-M-I-D-S-Y.”

Noun

SMIDSY (plural SMIDSYs)

1. An accident in which a larger vehicle hits a motorcycle or bicycle because the driver did not see the cyclist.
   • 2010, Matt Croucher, Flash Point‎^[1], page 13:

     The motorist claimed Smidsy after the crash — ‘Sorry mate I didn't see you’.

   • 2014, Kevin Williams, Tarmac Tactics:

     Bike instructor buddy Malcolm Palmer noted a few years ago that: "most SMIDSYs happen in urban situations, when the bike is travelling at 30 or under.

   • 2017, Kevin Williams, Survival Skills, page 21:

     Most riders come back and talk about their SMIDSY collisions and cornering spills but we hardly ever hear firt-hand about overtaking crashes.

Usage notes

The acronym is used by motorcyclists and cyclists in reference to traffic collisions in which the driver of a car or larger vehicle claims not to have noticed a two-wheel biker. It is usually derogatory, in that the claim is often that the driver was not at fault (when they patently were).

A related usage by the UK government is LBFTS (“looked but failed to see”).

See also

• LBFTS

Anagrams

• mysids