Cyclists - Public Service Announcement

BazEP said:
and I'm sure you've never seen a car speed or jump a red light or break any of the rules of the highway code. There are eedjits in/on every mode of transport. Drive/ride like most people might be eedjits and everyone will be a bit safer.
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Of course I have, but I've seen proportionately more cyclists do stupid things than motorists...
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Of course I have, but I've seen proportionately more cyclists do stupid things than motorists...
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How many cause a real problem to themselves or others? Maybe they should be thanked for increasing their personal risk (though rarely enough to get themselves injured or killed), while keeping other road users alert? :lol:

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I will put my hands up as a regular cyclist and admit that I spend more time riding on the pavement than on the road, but that's only because of the increasing amount of god awful drivers speeding around in a steaming hurry with mobile phones semi-permanently attached to their ears.
After having had VERY fast moving Vectras (it's usually those makes of car for some reason) missing me by a whisker once too often (and I kept as close to the kerb as possible) I'm now too nervous to use the road when it comes to getting about on a push bike. :(

And I'm 43, not some spotty chav scooting about on a BMX.
 
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Peoples inability to respect others on the road no matter what mode of transport they've chosen amazes me.

I ride a bike, I also drive a car and I quite often walk to places too. On top of that I live in Norfolk so generally the roads are poor and the wildlife suicidal. So I'm aware of what's going on around me and do my best to leave space for others.

When I'm on my bike I do not ride as close to the edge as I can get for two reasons, potholes and other obstacles that are likely to pitch me into the bank or road and drivers who think that they can just squeeze by me whilst the HGV / Bus / 4x4 is coming the other way. The majority of drivers are patient enough and rarely held up for more than a few seconds. The only drivers who seem to come past whatever are bus drivers, who I usually go past at the next stop anyway.

My biggest annoyance on when riding is people pulling out in front of me, especially annoying when you're cycling at full tilt of speeds (with a tail wind and a slight drop in gradient) of 30mph. But it's equally my responsibility to be aware of whats going on around me and do my best to spot these situations early.
 
Ian D J said:
I will put my hands up as a regular cyclist and admit that I spend more time riding on the pavement than on the road, but that's only because of the increasing amount of god awful drivers speeding around in a steaming hurry with mobile phones semi-permanently attached to their ears.
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What about the pedestrians then? Surely you're just putting them at risk by your actions, not to mention the fact that cycling on the pavement is illegal...
 
Flash In The Pan said:
What about the pedestrians then? Surely you're just putting them at risk by your actions, not to mention the fact that cycling on the pavement is illegal...
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Oh I'm aware of that, and I only use the quiet sections and I don't go racing along (too old for that now) dodging people by millimeters. If it gets too crowded or there's children about, I get off the bike. I have been stopped by the police a couple of times but then they see my hearing aids and allow me to carry on regardless.
Of course, you could ask the same question to the millions of drivers breaking the speed limit on a daily basis (apart from driving on the pavement bit, of course - although they might as well the way a lot of them carry on!).
I just simply gave up using the road, it's no longer much fun risking my life what with all them mobile-phone welding car drivers on a regular basis. I value my life too much.
 
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Flash In The Pan said:
What about the pedestrians then? Surely you're just putting them at risk by your actions, not to mention the fact that cycling on the pavement is illegal...
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It's not quite right to assume that when somebody says they ride on the pavement they are automatically weaving in and out of and dodging a multitude of pedestrians. Many pavements have no pedestrians.
 
MisterE said:
It's not quite right to assume that when somebody says they ride on the pavement they are automatically weaving in and out of and dodging a multitude of pedestrians. Many pavements have no pedestrians.
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And your point is? It's illegal to ride a bicycle on the pavement, "there were no pedestrians" isn't a defence.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
And your point is? It's illegal to ride a bicycle on the pavement, "there were no pedestrians" isn't a defence.
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Exactly, I had a run in with someone riding fast on a narrow pavement in Marlow the other day, nearly just rode into my trolley of photo gear.. he got past me and so I shout at him and his woman, that they were supposed to be on the road.. She got off, if I had caught up with them they would have got hell from me....
 
I don't understand why it's legal for horses to ride on roads to be honest. Cyclists I understand, but horses.. Horses are afraid of cars so much, cause a mess of the roads and are just a risk to drivers. I mean surely the stupidest thing is to ride a horse on the road where they can, and easily go mental and the owner lose control. I've had horses buck right in front of me because a car overtook it...
 
On the matter of horses and road, horses are using the roads as a matter of right, motor vehicles have to pay a tax for the privilege of joining them. It is also an offence in law to frighten horses or behave in a manner considered likely to frighten horses ;)

Horses should no more be ridden on pavements than should cyclists use pavements. No defence.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
I've never seen a horse rider weave in and out of traffic, run a red light or ride on the pavement to avoid stopping at one. Cyclists are their own worst enemy....
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I agree cyclists dont help themselves and thats talk coming from a cyclist. The amount of times i have stopped at a red light and someone on another bike shoot right past me either on the road or on the pavement is just untrue. The annoying thing is, its normally the slower riders that i catch up with and stuck behind them because of the rush hour traffic sqeezing us off the road.

One thing i have noticed is what seems as drivers deliberatley slowing down for no reason when i am behind them. it has also happened at traffic lights when they have seen the green light, lift of the brakes and then pull away at 5 mph, and then floor it a few meters later. I dont undertake unless the car has actually stopped and at junctions its just unsafe to get round them.

Dont get me started on the lack of curtesy when i try and turn right. I am balancing the brake and the tension on the chain waiting for a gap. I have had to edge out in the past just to get them to give way. maybe they are just waiting for me to lose balance. They would give way for a car, why not a bike.

sorry rant over.
 
Rough Edges said:
Exactly, I had a run in with someone riding fast on a narrow pavement in Marlow the other day, nearly just rode into my trolley of photo gear.. he got past me and so I shout at him and his woman, that they were supposed to be on the road.. She got off, if I had caught up with them they would have got hell from me....
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We have those stupid cycle lanes marked on the pavements here but the peopel that put them in havent cycled a day in their life. Blind corners so you cant see oncoming cyclists till its too late. The Annoying ipod generation of pedestrians that cant hear a warning from you when they are walking on the cycle priority part of the pavement. I have slowed right down to one of them. Waited for them to spin round and given them the allmightly shock of their lives. I'm guilty of walknig on them without thinking until a bike races past me.

Rough Edges said:
Probably because it goes back to when horses were the transport. There is some weird law..... Horses have been in use a lot longer than cars....
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The problem here is that the bridal ways are closing down rapidly and its only roads that join them up. i know this as its stupidly hard to ride around the peak district as its all footpaths. The bridal ways are not bike friendly with wide and deepish fordes, rocky ascents. i had a very long discussion with a warden as me a friend got lost and took a shortcut on a foot path and got caught. I mentioned that the proper routes are not bike friendly and not in the mood to be taken out by a a driver in a sports car trying to get the back end out on the twisty road.
 
imagine horses used the pavements, all the crap they produce, folk stepping in it, parents pushing buggys etc through it, it wouldnt work.

you get a little bit horsecrap on your car, who cares??

spare a thought for us cyclists who end up having to cycles through it though cos ultimately the horse has walked along the road in the cycle lane, and you cant risk weaving around it just incase the driver behind hasnt seen you
 
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lol its horsepoo learn to cope

I only vaguely object to the 1/4 mile stretch of my road that has about half an inch of mud (depth) on it :D

traction is optional
 
Yv said:
Not sure about the rest of the country these days, but here in London, such a sweeping generalisation is actually fairly accurate. I never really noticed problem cyclists until I moved here, where successive London councils have given them [ok, many of them, not all] some kind of god complex.
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I agree, and I'll never understand why the guy I nearly hit last night didn't realise my left turn indicator being on meant I was turning left :bonk: and why is it so hard to carry lights that I can actually see rather than one piddly flashing LED
 
Rough Edges said:
Exactly, I had a run in with someone riding fast on a narrow pavement in Marlow the other day, nearly just rode into my trolley of photo gear.. he got past me and so I shout at him and his woman, that they were supposed to be on the road.. She got off, if I had caught up with them they would have got hell from me....
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I once stepped right into a cycle courier who was riding on the pavement, boy did he go down with a bang... He was riding the wrong way up Lehman Street in Aldgate to beat the one way system and obviously (in error) decided that the pavement was safer. He didn't slow down, dismount, stop or signal he was coming through, just expected my colleague and I to get out of his way. He wasn't very happy about it but then again, he shouldn't have been there.

I also watched in horror while at traffic lights on the Embankment on my motorbike as a cyclist came through the red lights, knocked over a pedestrian crossing the road (who had right or way) and then tried to get back on his bike and ride off !! Needless to say, he didn't get very far and the Police took him and his bike away in a van. The woman hit her head on the kerb as she went down...

I keep my cycling to the tow paths of the local canal and the local parks.

Steve
 
Lee and Steve Very good points made by both of you. in my case last week or so, there was no lane for cyclists, paths in Marlow high street are very narrow. I had the Lencarta Safari on my trolley and he almost rode into to as he was going to fast...Missed me by half an inch.. Will be dismounted if I see him on the pavement again....
 
Some cyclists should be very grateful that some of us car drivers are aware and anticipating whilst on the road. On the way home yesterday, I spotted some kids (mid to late teens) on bikes appearing on the pavement from a side turning (with a building on the corner so you can't see anything coming until it's already there). They stopped.

I was only doing about 15mph (peak traffic) but I covered the brake anyway, just in case. Then another one came shooting out and DIDN'T stop! He shot across about a foot in front of my car and, if I hadn't been covering the brake, he wouldn't have made it to the other side.
 
I've been keeping an eye out for cyclists over the past few weeks and can honestly say that less than 10% of those I've seen (and there's been a lot) have stopped for red lights (of which there are loads around my flat). These are red lights at zebra crossings, junctions and roundabouts. They just don't seem to think the highway code applies to them! It has my blood boiling!
 
I have to admit I have done more damage to myself as a cyclist than on any other form of transport with an engine yet have never had a near miss or incident with a cyclist myself as a driver.

My best two crashes ever where on push bikes.

1- 1970's, the pub is on the right hand corner of a T junction, I come barrelling down my road, late for a date, don't slow down at all, glance right to make sure its clear (or I would bump up the pavement) as I start to lean round the corner and ride full tilt straight into the back of a VW camper van that someone has parked there.
Those outside the pub thought it was hilarious and a real wyle e coyote moment.

2 - Argued with the damn tree that put me here whilst mountain biking, obviously the tree won lol.
 
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