Biggest Threats to Cyclists?

custardy

geerex wrote: »

I agree, my spellcheck needs looked at, I've been typing "****holes" but "cyclists" keeps appearing.

Anyhoo, I'm a charitable kinda guy, here's what would make people respect cyclists:

1. Obeying the rules of the road. No going through red lights etc.
2. No cycling on the pavement. Seriously. The next person to have a near miss with me will regret it.
3. Get the hell off public transport. Don't clog up buses and trains with your dirty rusty pieces of !!!!. Can't cycle the distance? Don't take your bike.


I'll stand by my comments. Motorists hate you because you're too slow and ignore the rules. Commuters hate you because you take up room on transport that could be used for seats. Pedestrians hate you because you cycle on pavements and/or do the "dismount at lights dance".

Until there is a sea change in your attitudes, I won't be shedding any tears when bad things happen to you.

Still, you're great for transplants. Second only to motorcyclists, so well done! :T

Im charitable too.
So what are you doing about all the drunk,drugged,speeding,mobile phone using drivers?
Its interesting 'cyclists' are held up as a group responsible for every ill perceived by everyone on the planet.

Norman_Castle

geerex wrote: »

I'll stand by my comments. Motorists hate you because you're too slow and ignore the rules. Commuters hate you because you take up room on transport that could be used for seats. Pedestrians hate you because you cycle on pavements and/or do the "dismount at lights dance".

Motorists, commuters and pedestrians don't hate cyclists. Its just you and a sour, miserable minority who hate cyclists. I expect you could write a list of things that you hate.

Norman_Castle

Cycrow wrote: »

Yeha i was thinking that, if it happens alot to her, then its more likely down to her driving than the cyclists she meets.

she even admitted she would have never pulled out if i was a car, which just goes to show the attitude of some drivers.

i was kind of shocked that she seriously believed cyclists would ride into the back of cars on purpose

She's judging others by her standards.

aleph_0

geerex wrote: »

Anyhoo, I'm a charitable kinda guy, here's what would make people respect cyclists:
...

Until there is a sea change in your attitudes, I won't be shedding any tears when bad things happen to you.

Still, you're great for transplants. Second only to motorcyclists, so well done! :T

Why so much anger? Why the lack of empathy? I see people-driving-cars do dangerous and illegal things on a daily basis, sometimes in ways that would cause me injury. But, even if a bad driver got injured through their own fault, I would still feel sympathy.

It's been repeated several times now, but *cyclists aren't a homogenous group*. I don't hate motorists because some (and, for some laws, most) break the law. Why do you not respect me as a road user because of actions of other people I have no link to or control over?

Generali

aleph_0 wrote: »

Why so much anger? Why the lack of empathy? I see people-driving-cars do dangerous and illegal things on a daily basis, sometimes in ways that would cause me injury. But, even if a bad driver got injured through their own fault, I would still feel sympathy.

It's been repeated several times now, but *cyclists aren't a homogenous group*. I don't hate motorists because some (and, for some laws, most) break the law. Why do you not respect me as a road user because of actions of other people I have no link to or control over?

Because (s)he's an idiot that can only view the world outside as a series of stereotypes.

People use stereotypes because the world is too complex a place to take in. Very stupid people are forced to use stereotyping far more than a normal person.

Don't feel bad because your empathy doesn't extend to people that are that dumb, it's not your fault. It's amazing quite how thick some people are. They deserve our sympathy and support. If you try to engage with them it just makes them angry as they don't understand how normal people work.

johannalf88

And here I am trying to follow the rules, and pedestrians are walking on the cycle lanes!!! If you don't want me on the pavement then walk on it!! I don't want to have to swerve around you, or even worse just cycle on the walkway!

I want to follow the rules, just sometimes it is made difficult!

brat

geerex wrote: »

I agree, my spellcheck needs looked at, I've been typing "****holes" but "cyclists" keeps appearing.

Anyhoo, I'm a charitable kinda guy, here's what would make people respect cyclists:

1. Obeying the rules of the road. No going through red lights etc.
2. No cycling on the pavement. Seriously. The next person to have a near miss with me will regret it.
3. Get the hell off public transport. Don't clog up buses and trains with your dirty rusty pieces of !!!!. Can't cycle the distance? Don't take your bike.


I'll stand by my comments. Motorists hate you because you're too slow and ignore the rules. Commuters hate you because you take up room on transport that could be used for seats. Pedestrians hate you because you cycle on pavements and/or do the "dismount at lights dance".

Until there is a sea change in your attitudes, I won't be shedding any tears when bad things happen to you.

Still, you're great for transplants. Second only to motorcyclists, so well done! :T

You stand alone my friend. You display a poor, selfish attitude which, if taken on to the road, is not conducive to road safety.

But typically, people like you fulminate on keyboards but not in practice. The "next" cyclist too close on the pavement is always the one to get it, not the last one, or the one before. That's a certain sign of someone who 'would like to' but hasn't got the b*ll*x.

I actually have no real problem with motorists like you. Because you hate cyclists so much, you at least notice us. You might decide to pass as close as your timidity allows you to without someone taking you to task over it. But at least it will be a considered close pass, unlike Mrs Miggins who doesn't even deviate from her path when overtaking cyclists.

hugheskevi

1. Obeying the rules of the road. No going through red lights etc.

Most cyclists do obey road rules - studies show about 85% do.

In this study about cyclists and red lights, I found one note to the study particularly interesting, which said:

"One surveyor noted that a cyclist on a recumbent bike moving across the junction from Millbank onto Grosvenor Road was almost killed by a van turning left onto Vauxhall Bridge. Whilst the cyclist obeyed the traffic signals, the van went through on amber."

2. No cycling on the pavement. Seriously. The next person to have a near miss with me will regret it.

Agree with this. A lot of the cyclists I see doing it are young, typically teenagers. Many of those same folk will be a menace in a car too, although licensing and insurance may well prevent them from driving. Hopefully the additional road experience they get cycling will help them be less of a menace when they become drivers.

3. Get the hell off public transport. Don't clog up buses and trains with your dirty rusty pieces of !!!!. Can't cycle the distance? Don't take your bike.

There are rules in force around times when cycles are permitted. Personally I hate mothers with pushchairs, wailing kids, folk with suitcases and such like. But it is all part of using public transport and my personal views are irrelevant, it is the rules that matter. Although I don't understand why some cyclists seem to want to take bikes on trains for short distances - but then, perhaps they are recovering from injury, are doing rehab, or whatever, and can't do longer distances. It would surely be charitable to avoid prejudiced conclusions until you know the full facts?

Motorists hate you because you're too slow and ignore the rules.

Over my 8 miles cycle commute I will be about 20 minutes faster than a car. In most urban settings cyclists will be faster than vehicles (which is one of the reasons I choose to commute by bike rather than use my car). As shown by the study in the first link, the vast majority of cyclists do obey the rules. So the statement above simply isn't supported by evidence, only by prejudice and flawed perceptions.

Commuters hate you because you take up room on transport that could be used for seats.

I hardly ever see cyclists on busy public transport. Can you cite any evidence that it is a problem, as I am not aware of any?

But if we are looking at selfish space-taking, how do you view car drivers who at times they know will be heavily congested still use a vehicle that is 10 times heavier than a cyclist (doing far more damage to the roads), 3 times wider, goes at about half the average speed through urban areas, and takes up around 5 to 10 times the space of cyclists? And as if that wasn't enough, belches out pollution whilst lumbering slowly along in endless traffic? And is far more likely to kill or injure other pedestrians, cyclists and road users?

Pedestrians hate you because you cycle on pavements and/or do the "dismount at lights dance".

Taken in conjunction with your earlier comment ("The next person to have a near miss with me will regret it"), your habit of treating all cyclists as an inseparable homogeneous mass would suggest if a cyclist sails past others waiting at lights and then has a near miss with a pedestrian, then it would be reasonable to attack the cyclists obeying the law (as you hate them all, without differentiation)?

Personally I find pedestrians are a menace on the roads - only yesterday one decided to run diagonally across busy lights on green, forcing me into an emergency stop.

Still, if I will cycle through urban areas then pedestrians are just something I have to expect, and it is inevitable that where there are humans some of them will be stupid and reckless (particularly on internet discussion fora;)). If I don't want to be around pedestrians I should go cycle in the countryside. A lot of drivers would benefit from a similar attitude to other road users - don't like other road users, don't drive in areas where you know you will encounter them.

Still, you're great for transplants. Second only to motorcyclists, so well done!

Not only that, despite the slightly higher KSI rate per billion km, the exercise benefits (on average) outweigh the additional risk, so other than the unfortunate few, the overwhelming majority of cyclists are healthier and have higher life-expectancy than would be the case if they did not cycle.

Add to that the higher income associated with cyclists, and they contribute more taxes whilst doing almost no damage to roads so the cost of maintenance is low.

They really are a very generous bunch:) [darn, I'm making crass generalisations myself now...]

esuhl

geerex wrote: »

1. Obeying the rules of the road. No going through red lights etc.

Ha! That's rich, coming from a motorist! I see drivers running red lights every day... I can't remember the last time I saw a cyclist do that (but I don't live in a city).

The funny thing is... pedestrians are allowed to walk anywhere. There's no such thing as "jaywalking", and so long as people are sensible, that seems to work just fine. A cyclist, very cautiously rolling forwards is in safety-terms no different from a pedestrian. So, if a pedestrian would be safe walking through a junction with the motor traffic stopped by a red light, I can imagine many situations in which a cyclist would be equally safe to do so.

I have seen a few cyclists ride through zebra-crossings when they shouldn't have and that was an eye-opener. I guess the cyclists just didn't consider the pedestrians important enough to stop for... Just like some motorists don't worry about cutting up cyclists or overtaking dangerously, even though they would never drive as dangerously around a bigger vehicle. Some people are just bullies.

geerex wrote: »

2. No cycling on the pavement. Seriously. The next person to have a near miss with me will regret it.

I agree. Those shared pedestrian/cycle paths are deadly. With the infrastructure we have, cyclists belong on the road.

geerex wrote: »

3. Get the hell off public transport. Don't clog up buses and trains with your dirty rusty pieces of !!!!. Can't cycle the distance? Don't take your bike.

Ha ha ha! Have you ever seen anyone with a bike on a bus?! I haven't!

I suppose I should probably offer some advice to motorists to make the (non-existant, but let's run with this) cycling "fraternity" respect motorists:

1. Obeying the rules of the road. No going through red lights etc.
2. No dangerous overtaking. Seriously. The next person to have a near miss with me will regret it.
3. Get the hell off the roads. Don't clog up our counryside and cities with your dirty rusty pieces of !!!!, making noise, causing pollution, and being a general menace to other members of the public. Can't cycle the distance? Take the train, not the car.

I'll stand by my comments. Cyclists hate you because you're too aggressive and ignore the rules. You cause countless deaths each year, destroy our green spaces with the need to build ever-wider strips of tarmac everywhere, pollute the air, and make one heck of a racket with your noisy engines and dodgy exhausts. You stink! Not only that, but you treat the roads like your own private racetrack.

Until there is a sea change in your attitudes, I won't be shedding any tears when bad things happen to you and your journey time is increased by 15 seconds when you have to wait to overtake someone on a bike.

bitmadmax

geerex wrote: »

3. Get the hell off public transport. Don't clog up buses and trains with your dirty rusty pieces of !!!!. Can't cycle the distance? Don't take your bike.

Thankfully, we have a lot of forward thinking train operating companies who actually dedicate space on trains for bikes. Don't tell me - you're one of those numpties who's been sat in a clearly designated bike space on a train, only for a conductor to ask you to move when a cyclist has boarded. Then you've taken offence when you've been asked to move for an inferior human being and their rusty piece of !!!!.

Well done sir - you truly are a Grade A nipple.