Cyclists still not getting the message

Strider590

Johno100 wrote: »

Excuses, excuses, excuses does the hypocrisy of the militant cycling brigade never end.

If the lights on your car were removable and at risk of theft and your car had no locks, would you leave your lights at home or take them into work every day?

Tilt

Strider590 wrote: »

If the lights on your car were removable and at risk of theft and your car had no locks, would you leave your lights at home or take them into work every day?

Is this a real question?

But in any case, can you imagine it; "sorry officer, i haven't got a rear light on my bike because I have left it at home for fear of it being stolen while my bike is parked at the station. But i'm sorry, I have no choice but to ride home in the dark, as I live 10 miles away and that's too far to walk"

Reckon the police would say "that's ok sir, mind how you go then"?

Johno100

Tilt wrote: »

Is this a real question?

But in any case, can you imagine it; "sorry officer, i haven't got a rear light on my bike because I have left it at home for fear of it being stolen while my bike is parked at the station. But i'm sorry, I have no choice but to ride home in the dark, as I live 10 miles away and that's too far to walk"

Reckon the police would say "that's ok sir, mind how you go then"?

No, more like stop being an idiot and catch the bus.

custardy

Johno100 wrote: »

Excuses, excuses, excuses does the hypocrisy of the militant cycling brigade never end.

you must be reading a different thread

custardy

mgdavid wrote: »

you're the one that apparently carries all the 'stuff' (junk) and brought the entire irrelevancy into the thread. A battery is the item being discussed, how about a pocket?

junk?
Well once more I'll break it down for the hard of thinking
The cyclist in question had a front light
So we dont know if his rear light failed,fell off,was stolen,forgotten or what

brat

If I had the time to be bothered reading the consequent anti cycling venom on this and similar forums, I could, like dear old Tilt the bus driver, have opened a thread detailing my numerous anti-bus experiences, the last two of which are as follows.

A month or so ago I was cycling between Ambleside and Windermere when I was ridiculously closely and slowly overtaken on a good wide quiet road by a bus driver who, once alongside, started to edge me into the nearside foliage filled narrow cycle lane. I later got an earbashing from him, when I stopped alongside him in a traffic queue, for cycling on the road when there was a perfectly good cycle path on both sides of the road. "F**king cyclists, think they own the road!" What he was actually saying was "I think I own the road."

Just last week I was cycling (legally) against the flow of motor vehicles (buses and taxis mostly) in our pedestrianised town centre, when I was a approached by a bus whose driver decided (not for the first time) that he would drive onto my side of the road blocking my path and causing me to stop. He had no reason to do this other than to block my path. As I pulled my bike onto the pavement to scooter past him, he shouted "F**king walk! You shouldn't be cycling here!" I said, "I'm perfectly entitled" He said, "I know, but you f**king shouldn't!"

Both drivers have since been spoken to by myself in company with their transport supervisor, and have been warned about their attitude.

But if I entitled my thread "Bus drivers not getting the message", the Tilts of this world would be (arguably rightly) miffed that I saw fit to tar them all with the same brush, simply because many, but certainly not all of them don't like sharing the road with cyclists.

Like many others, I wonder what motivates people to initiate such threads other than to provide them with a platform to air more yawningly predictable cyclophobic content in their subsequent postings.

Tilt

Interesting post Brat. But i'm not tarring all cyclists with the same brush and I am also painfully aware that some bus drivers are 'less than professional' as well.

Point of the thread is to explore what reasons we seem to have a good (or bad) proportion of cyclists who still insist on riding at night with inadequate or no lights at all. Especially on main, rural roads which is where I encountered my latest 'culprit'.

It has provoked some interesting answers, my favorite being that "maybe he has removed his back light for fear of getting it stolen".

In the incidents you describe, I would agree (based on your info) that the driver was acting foolishly and again, I accept that some bus drivers have the wrong attitude.

But the issue here is about cyclists riding in the dark without lights. IMHO, there isn't really a valid reason for it and, it's potentially dangerous for the cyclist as my earlier link shows.

custardy

Tilt wrote: »

Interesting post Brat. But i'm not tarring all cyclists with the same brush and I am also painfully aware that some bus drivers are 'less than professional' as well.

Point of the thread is to explore what reasons we seem to have a good (or bad) proportion of cyclists who still insist on riding at night with inadequate or no lights at all. Especially on main, rural roads which is where I encountered my latest 'culprit'.

It has provoked some interesting answers, my favorite being that "maybe he has removed his back light for fear of getting it stolen".

In the incidents you describe, I would agree (based on your info) that the driver was acting foolishly and again, I accept that some bus drivers have the wrong attitude.

But the issue here is about cyclists riding in the dark without lights. IMHO, there isn't really a valid reason for it and, it's potentially dangerous for the cyclist as my earlier link shows.

being on the road is always dangerous for cyclists
day light being no safer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-23973105

(a well known enthusiast cyclist)

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tributes-flood-in-to-cyclist-killed-in-dulwich-on-day-mayor-announced-fines-for-hgvs-flouting-safety-measures-8801141.html

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway_messenger/news/gillingham-cyclist-death-tributes-left-5557/

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/cyclist-killed-in-roslin-crash-is-named-1-3068961

You will notice this is just the last few days

Strider590

Tilt wrote: »

But i'm not tarring all cyclists with the same brush

But as with all cyclist related threads, THAT is exactly what is happening.
It's been shown countless times that not all cyclists fit the profile described in OP, but it's still the same old "they just red lights" "they don't use the cycle lanes" "they ride two abreast" "they ride on the footpath", it's completely illogical discrimination based on a mode of transport.

It's the same old human tribal instinct to fit in with the crowd, a lot of people rant about cyclists even if they've never encountered a problem with them. Why? because nothing makes friends like a common enemy and if your not with the group, your against it.... So whether they believe it or not, sheeple naturally take on the opinions and views of the majority, just to avoid being ostracised.

This is exactly how racism worked several hundred years ago......

Tilt

custardy wrote: »

being on the road is always dangerous for cyclists
day light being no safer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-23973105

(a well known enthusiast cyclist)

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tributes-flood-in-to-cyclist-killed-in-dulwich-on-day-mayor-announced-fines-for-hgvs-flouting-safety-measures-8801141.html

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway_messenger/news/gillingham-cyclist-death-tributes-left-5557/

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/cyclist-killed-in-roslin-crash-is-named-1-3068961

You will notice this is just the last few days

I agree that in today's traffic environment that cycling is not exactly the safest mode of transport and I note that the Gillingham incident, dosn't seem to be the lorry driver's fault.

But surely some cyclists could do more to make them safer, like spending a few quid on a set of lights for example? Or in the case of kids, their parents could ensure that they don't venture out at night unless they have the right clothing on and lighting. Because yes, I reckon the majority of those without lights are in fact kids.