SMIDSY
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Acronym for "Sorry mate, I didn't see you."
Phrase
[edit]SMIDSY
- (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
[edit]SMIDSY (plural SMIDSYs)
- 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
[edit]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”).[1]