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

anewman

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Pedestrians use the roads. Should they have insurance?

I believe in Germany if you do not cross at a crossing and an accident happens it's considered your fault, and if you're killed costs can be recovered from your estate. That's what I was once told, BS or not I don't know

Oh and a message for the little B****** kids cycling on the pavement then going straight off the pavement into the road as I am about to drive past and in the dark with no lights, next time you'll be squashed :mad::mad::mad:

mikey72

anewman wrote: »

I believe in Germany if you do not cross at a crossing and an accident happens it's considered your fault, and if you're killed costs can be recovered from your estate. That's what I was once told, BS or not I don't know

Oh and a message for the little B****** kids cycling on the pavement then going straight off the pavement into the road as I am about to drive past and in the dark with no lights, next time you'll be squashed :mad::mad::mad:

I just can't treat kids as fair game though, I feel obliged to try not to hit them.

custardy

anewman wrote: »

I believe in Germany if you do not cross at a crossing and an accident happens it's considered your fault, and if you're killed costs can be recovered from your estate. That's what I was once told, BS or not I don't know

Oh and a message for the little B****** kids cycling on the pavement then going straight off the pavement into the road as I am about to drive past and in the dark with no lights, next time you'll be squashed :mad::mad::mad:

yes but Germany has trams that stop in the middle of the road and traffic just stops to allow passengers to go into the street and board.
in Germany you can turn right(our left) against a green man/red light if nothnigs coming on many traffic light junctions

could you imagine the same working here?

d-seven

Cycle clubs are the worst. I was in town early one morning a few months back and saw a whole group of them, resplendent in brightly coloured lycra, huddled in a loading bay at the side of the road. There was a police car parked near by. Another two cyclists came THE WRONG WAY up a one way street, but Mr Plod somehow missed this.
They joined the group of cyclists who decided to head off down the road sometime later. I drove off, only to be stuck behind that group of about 20 or so cyclists, riding in a long line two abreast. This pretty much made them at least as long as a bus or HGV (possibly longer). Luckily for them, it was a quiet sunday morning so there wasn't much traffic, but I had to overtake them in one go as they didn't leave any space to pull in!
My other bugbears with cyclists are:

• Those who listen to portable music players through headphones.
• Those who only use the tiny flashing LED lights. I was under the impression that those should be used IN CONJUNCTION with proper cycle lights.

Strider590

d-seven wrote: »

They joined the group of cyclists who decided to head off down the road sometime later. I drove off, only to be stuck behind that group of about 20 or so cyclists, riding in a long line two abreast. This pretty much made them at least as long as a bus or HGV (possibly longer). Luckily for them, it was a quiet sunday morning so there wasn't much traffic, but I had to overtake them in one go as they didn't leave any space to pull in!

So let me get this straight, they were side by side?

YOU SHOULD ALLOW A FULL CARS WIDTH WHEN OVERTAKING CYCLISTS!!!! therefore cycling two a breast should never be an issue!! See highway code if in doubt!!!
This is for safety! if they allow gaps between them or go single file, then idiot drivers overtake where they don't have enough room and end up hitting them!
If they'd been single file, they'd have been twice the length.... They'd have been even more difficult to overtake!
You can't start overtaking a line of cyclists and then just squash them when a car comes the other way!


They were the same size as a bus?

But they were moving much more slowly than a bus.... So again how is this an issue?
The ONLY difference is that a bus is a big solid metal object that could easily crush your car... Therefore you respect it's road presence, cyclists however are small insects and you can do what you like to them because they are small and have no rights??? :mad:

You fail to see that the way they were riding is entirely about road safety!

ventureuk

anewman wrote: »

Oh and a message for the little B****** kids cycling on the pavement then going straight off the pavement into the road as I am about to drive past and in the dark with no lights, next time you'll be squashed :mad::mad::mad:

So you see them on the pavement and then in the road but plan on driving over them ?

I have copied what appears to be a declaration of intent to commit an assault against a child and emailed to your local Hedlu in the event such an incident is reported.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk seemed interested as well responding very quickly and wondered if you were a bus driver ?

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/04/09/cycle-boy-8-dies-after-bus-accident-91466-26205666/

discplayer

I think what we have shown in this thread and others (about HGV or cab drivers for example) is that some people are idiots, some people don't give a xxxx and sometimes the rest of us screw up.

This applies whether they're on foot, on a bicycle or behind the wheel of the largest HGV - or anything in between.

Without them the rest of us would go about walking, cycling and driving alot safer and more relaxed.

Billy-no-Money

d-seven wrote: »

....My other bugbears with cyclists are:

• Those who listen to portable music players through headphones.
• Those who only use the tiny flashing LED lights. I was under the impression that those should be used IN CONJUNCTION with proper cycle lights.

On your first point - use of headphones is not illegal, and I suspect your problem is not with the use of headphones, but with cyclists failing to make proper observations and consequent impact on you. Personally I have a mirror - few cyclists do - but I still take out at least my right earphone when I'm on the road - partly because I feel safer, and partly because some drivers take exception and try to 'educate' me if I don't!
(On a general 'observations' front - if I'm cycling along at 15mph and there's a parked car, the driver behind me should EXPECT me to move out into the lane to pass it. Too many times I've saved my own life by looking in my mirror first just as some moron decides I'm going to disappear into thin air so it's OK to pass me through the narrow gap).

The second point - since 2005 it's been legal to ride with ONLY flashing lights. I combine flashing with steady lights, but those using flashers alone are not doing anything illegal (though I'm sure there are lights out there which don't meet the legal standard, that's a separate issue).

Limey

Billy-no-Money wrote: »

(On a general 'observations' front - if I'm cycling along at 15mph and there's a parked car, the driver behind me should EXPECT me to move out into the lane to pass it.

I do, but I'd also expect them to check over their shoulder before committing to a manouver (which rarely happens), afterall I'd check my mirrors in a similar situation.

I expect all road users to be morons, it's safer that way and I'm always pleasantly suprised when they're not.

pigeonpie

Limey wrote: »

I do, but I'd also expect them to check over their shoulder before committing to a manouver (which rarely happens), afterall I'd check my mirrors in a similar situation.

Many cyclists wobble to the right when looking over their right shoulder, so you should not encourage them to do this. In any event, if a cyclist is overtaking parked cars, he shouldn't have to look over his shoulder to make sure a car driving behind him is going to realise he's doing so - that is ridiculously bad driving by the car driver.

I am a car driver and a cyclist and I get far more problems from other drivers than cyclists. The hostility and road rage shown to cyclists is quite alarming, given that most of them are entirely harmless and just trying to get safely from A to B.
You should try driving in France where lycra for cyclists appears obligatory and they often ride 4 abreast on small country roads....
Road rage seems yet another part of our crowded island, aggressive mentality. Calm down please - whether it's to cyclists or any other road user who may slow you up by 30 seconds or something insignificant!