Biggest Threats to Cyclists?

wealdroam

Marco_Panettone wrote: »

Agreed. Licences are generally required for things that can cause great harm to others (cars, lorries, guns, explosives, etc). How would bicycles fit in that list?

Not sure that televisions and fishing rods fit in that list too well either, but that hasn't stopped licences being necessary for them.

Strider590

fannyadams wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-24401099

And as a cyclist myself I shout loudly (EXCUSE ME PLEASE) if they don't appear to have heard my bell warning them of my approach.

That's not a cyclist, that's a woman on a bike shaped object (BSO).....

The same goes for kids darting across the road on BMXs.

Drivers tar all cyclists (and motorcyclists) with the same brush, because to them a bike is a bike, basically peasant transportation. But ironically they don't do the same with car drivers, they split drivers down to what type/brand of car they drive.

Norman_Castle

I have been knocked off my bike quite a few times, most of time it has been when traffic has been stopping or slowing down significantly and the vehicle behind me has hit me because they hadn't stopped in time.

Six months ago I was cycling downhill, pass parked cars and a junction at 25 mph on a 30 mph road with a car six feet behind me. Very dangerous for me. The following car then insisted on overtaking despite it being obvious they would only be joining the back of a traffic queue where I passed them seconds later. Too many motorists fail to understand the duty of care expected when driving. The UK driving licence is to easy to get and keep.

AndyBSG

hugheskevi wrote: »

Sounds like you should be taking a road position such that buses (and probably other vehicles) cannot overtake you there?

Indeed, that's exactly the sort of situation where a cyclist needs to be assertive and take primary rather than stay in the secondary position and be bullied into a position where you put yourself at risk.

As a cyclist i've learnt over the years not to think "he'd have to be stupid to try and overtake me here".

Instead I think "Most drivers are idiots and will try to overtake here so it's my job to take a road position whereby I can't suffer as a result of their stupidity"

Cycrow

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Six months ago I was cycling downhill, pass parked cars and a junction at 25 mph on a 30 mph road with a car six feet behind me. Very dangerous for me. The following car then insisted on overtaking despite it being obvious they would only be joining the back of a traffic queue where I passed them seconds later. Too many motorists fail to understand the duty of care expected when driving. The UK driving licence is to easy to get and keep.

Thats the worst, when some drivers just have to get past you before they stop for the junction, even thou they know full well you will end up going past them again into the ASL.

its annoying when they accelerate past you then immediate turn back in and brake hard so you almost end up going into the back of them.

When cycling i used to leave a gap between me and the car in front to give me some safe stopping distance, but almost always if the gap is big enough to fit a car, then the driver behind will attempt to get past to fill it. So now i have to ride close behind the car infront, which isn't as safe, but at least its safer than having cars trying to squeeze past me

bugslet

AndyBSG wrote: »

Lorries are without a doubt the single biggest risk to any cyclist.

Last year 106 cyclists died in Britain as a result of an accident involving a vehicle, a record high, and 25 of those deaths were caused by HGV's.

So they were responsible for roughly a quarter of all cyclist deaths despite HGV's only making up 4% of the traffic on the roads.

I've overcome most of the 'fears' I had when I first started cycling, mainly as a result of learning from experience, but i'm still incredibly wary around HGV's.

.

I suspect that 4% is vehicles registered? What counts is how many miles they do and therefore how much they are on the road. Double or triple shift a truck and it can more or less be on the road 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and doing well over a 100,000 miles a year whereas a lot of cars will do somewhere in the range of 15-30,000 miles a year.

Cycrow

bugslet wrote: »

I suspect that 4% is vehicles registered? What counts is how many miles they do and therefore how much they are on the road. Double or triple shift a truck and it can more or less be on the road 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and doing well over a 100,000 miles a year whereas a lot of cars will do somewhere in the range of 15-30,000 miles a year.

Most likely, however, theres also the fact that alot of the miles done by lorries will be on motorways.

so a more accurate calculation will compare the amount of cars to lorries in urban areas. Afterall, thats where the cyclists are.

based on my own observation, 4% would seem pretty high, on my commute, i only encounter a few HGV's but 100's of cars

bugslet

Good point!

sickparrot

My commute goes through town roads against the main flow of traffic, I hardly ever see HGVs, buses have to stop so often I very rarely have them catching me up.

I would say the main threats are rat-runners, they hammer along suburban roads at ridiculous speeds, pull out at the junctions in front of me and left-hook me to get on them, all because they seem to think because they are taking a 'short cut', it better damn well save them some time.

There are 3 junctions specifically on my commute where this happens frequently and i'm extra-wary, the rest of my trip is reasonably relaxed.

reason2

cyclists are a big danger... yesterday i was leaving work and i was at the lights outside old trafford if anyone knows it.. and i thought im going to honk at every cyclists who goes through a red light on to the main road - whilst i was at the reds i honked 5 cyclists - 3 of which stopped - 2 went straight through and across the main road like a game of frogger.

this after they have done a lot of work building cycle lanes and advance boxes for cyclists.

i find them much more inconsiderate than any driver