A cyclist's rant to incompetent road users...

Rolandtheroadie

thelawnet wrote: »

http://www.bobulous.org.uk/articles/road_traffic_accident.html

"Excessive speed was the most common contributory factor in fatal accidents"

But 72% were not down to excessive speed.


Woops, nearly missed this bit.

6 - From section "Analyses of contributory factor data" in Road Casualties Great Britain: 2003 Annual Report. This data was collected as part of a voluntary trial involving fifteen police forces in Great Britain between 1999 and 2002, and therefore the results are not National Statistics.

sebdangerfield

Gloomendoom wrote: »

But, in law, a bicycle is a carriage and not a pedestrian. :huh:

Depends on the law but generally no, a bike isn't a carriage.

Gloomendoom

sebdangerfield wrote: »

Depends on the law but generally no, a bike isn't a carriage.

Everything I have read on highway law suggests that it is. Looks like I need to read some more!

Edit: Bicycles are, in law, carriages (as a consequence of the Taylor v Goodwin judgment in 1879)

Source

frothey

mikey72 wrote: »

I like that.
Our funniest local one was a cyclist who insisted on cycling down a towpath, and decided to cycle over the fishing rods blocking his way, rather than get off. The fishermen chased him in their van, caught him a few bridges down, gave him some "friendly advice", and threw his bike in the canal.

why is no-one asking for the fisherman to be prosecuted for driving down a towpath in their van...... otherwise i smell a whiff of urban myth!

TVR2 wrote: »

What would you suggest he did? He was already 15mph under the speed limit.

what if it had been a horse?

custardy

frothey wrote: »

why is no-one asking for the fisherman to be prosecuted for driving down a towpath in their van...... otherwise i smell a whiff of urban myth!

where does it say the van was on or drove on the tow path?

Gloomendoom

I wonder what justification anyone, cyclist or pedestrian, would have for deliberately breaking fishing rods on a canal towpath.

frothey

custardy wrote: »

where does it say the van was on or drove on the tow path?

well seeing that not many tow paths are right next to a road, I'd be amazed if an angler (and I am an angler) is going to leave the rest of his kit, run back (and most anglers are stereotypically averse to running, if you get my drift) to wherever his car was, guess where the cyclist was heading and conviniently meet them at that bridge...... On all the fishing forums I'm on i've never heard of anyone that's actually had rods broken - arguements maybe. But then I might've missed one or two.

TBH I've got such conflicting feelings to this thread. My car's lucky to do 28mpg and I pay a lot of tax on it and I drive relatively sensibly at times. I cycle a fair amount at excessive speeds and agressively towards car owners often at night, wearing black with no lights on, and I fish. I don't know who to complain about!

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I wonder what justification anyone, cyclist or pedestrian, would have for deliberately breaking fishing rods on a canal towpath.

They were causing an obstruction to the path? Ramblers do the same thing to fences/walls all the time....

johnfarquhar74

custardy wrote: »

mind has anyone ever been pulled for not having the permit?
i bet 99.9% of folks using the tow paths in Edinburgh dont have one

Maybe I'm the 0.1%, I printed one off in case I ever come across Mr McWhirter again.
Those who are from Edinburgh and read the local rag will know Mr McW is a local busybody with too much time on his hands, posting anti-cycling propaganda on the bridges between Tolcross and Slateford. He also has the time to jump infront of cyclists he deems to be going too fast, one day he's going to do it to someone with sub-standard brakes!!

Gloomendoom

frothey wrote: »

They were causing an obstruction to the path? Ramblers do the same thing to fences/walls all the time....

The last time I looked, a canal towpath was private land. There may be exceptions, but they are not public rights of way and so there is no automatic right to pass... except perhaps for a horse towing a barge.
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custardy

johnfarquhar74 wrote: »

Maybe I'm the 0.1%, I printed one off in case I ever come across Mr McWhirter again.
Those who are from Edinburgh and read the local rag will know Mr McW is a local busybody with too much time on his hands, posting anti-cycling propaganda on the bridges between Tolcross and Slateford. He also has the time to jump infront of cyclists he deems to be going too fast, one day he's going to do it to someone with sub-standard brakes!!

or happy to take the hit