Dangerous/stupid driving near cyclists

esuhl

newfoundglory wrote: »

If I had a camera in my car we'd soon see that cyclists are not always the innocent party they are made out to be!

You're probably right, but you'd have an awful lot of "bad driving" footage to sift through to find the few "bad cycling" clips...

thelawnet

newfoundglory wrote: »

Surely you don't actually believe that? What about cyclists that have caused road accidents that have caused deaths? What if i swerve to avoid a cyclist at night, clip a kerb or have a collision with another car in another lane?

If I had a camera in my car we'd soon see that cyclists are not always the innocent party they are made out to be!

Cyclists often do foolish things, but then so do pedestrians, you get pedestrians running out in the road potentially causing accidents, doesn't mean it's equivalent to driving a 3-tonne 5l Range Rover through a residential area at high speeds. The number of cyclists causing deaths is in single figures per year, road deaths OTOH are in the thousands.

I searched Google News UK Archives for the phrase "swerved to avoid a cyclist", no hits were found. What if, what if, but the reality is bikes are not objectively dangerous.

A different standard of care applies when driving a car or other lethal weapon as compared with a bicycle or walking.

Cyclists are not 'better' than drivers, people are people and people are selfish whatever their means of transportation, the problem is that motor vehicles are designed to protect their users from their selfish behaviour (e.g., you drive too fast, lose control kill a family on the pavement and are yourself uninjured thanks to airbags, a tonne of metal and crumplezones), whereas cyclists have no protection at all from their own stupidity.

Flyboy152

Strider590 wrote: »

Drivers have no patience for inferior road users.

It's the theory of big



They take notice if you use a helmet cam and post the video's of the internet.

They don't seem to take any notice of your bad driving.

Strider590

Flyboy152 wrote: »

They don't seem to take any notice of your bad driving.

There's a good reason for that

Flyboy152

No.....No I don't think there really is.

thelawnet

Strider590 wrote: »

Drivers have no patience for inferior road users.

It's the theory of big

I am pretty big:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/facilitybikeclub/3371022707/

Plus I have this http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t206/Blackedoutsti/CIMG0495.jpg

(not much use at this time of year)

Likewise this:

http://pic.tradeage.com/284-magicshine-mj-816-l%C3%A2mpada-bike-recarreg%C3%A1vel-1400-lumens-16w-tr%C3%AAs-graus-tr%C3%AAs-l%C3%A2mpada-power-led-de-alta-luzes-de-bicicleta-1781092.jpeg

These

http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/userimages/2008/02/pedalite-pedals-keep-you-visible-on-the-roads.jpg

This
http://www.123bikes.eu/media/catalog/product//4/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/Y/E/YEPP_orange_2.jpg

and of course let's not forget this

http://www.fancydressdisguise.co.uk/images/large_images/21843.jpg

I pretty much want some of these too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLtbeU8FJW0

Strider590

^^ Maybe you need.....

Bongles

thelawnet wrote: »

People are crazy. The penalties for dangerous driving need to be made more severe

2 years in prison, unlimited fine, disqualification. In principle I think the penalty for dangerous driving is pretty severe already. However...

thelawnet wrote: »

and more people punished, even if no accident is caused.

... you've hit the nail on the head there. It doesn't matter how severe the penalty is if people generally get away with it.

Bongles

exil wrote: »

Overtaking is an extremely dangerous manoeuvre on 2-lane country roads owing to the limited visibility

Overtaking is an extremely dangerous manoeuvre when you have limited visibility. But there are lots of places on 2-lane country roads where you have ample visibility and overtaking needn't be dangerous at all .

The biggest thing that makes overtaking dangerous is impatience. Impatience is not a good mindset with which to plan an overtake.

anotherbaldrick

It must be remembered that the OP's experiences have been in and around Guildford and there are an awful lot of nutters in Guildford. Far too much money for cars they cannot handle and too little common sense and regard for the wellbeing of others .