Suicidal Cyclist

adouglasmhor

Retrogamer wrote: »

I sometimes have to commute along roads to reach my off road cycling locations.
Might look a bit unusual and be a bit more sweaty cycling around forests with my high viz jacket on

I have a high viz running top, I am sure they have them for cyclists too, my high viz vest is mesh.

adouglasmhor

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Nice theory but only motorists get done for having an untaxed vehicle on the highway.

Thanks for the information, i will stop taxing my bike as of now.

peter_the_piper

adouglasmhor wrote: »

Thanks for the information, i will stop taxing my bike as of now.

Sorry,forgot mobies

brat

JustinR1979 wrote: »

I remember years ago people practiced self preservation.
Now people want strangers to look after them rather than look out for themselves.
Sounds !!!!!! to me.

I don't think any cyclist on here is saying that they cycle in the knowledge that they are hard to see and they don't care.

But in one respect, you're absolutely right, our life completely depends on the ability of strangers to negotiate their way around us safely.

The major point I want to make is...

If drivers drive as they should, ie concentrate in the expectation that they may have to cope with the least visible road user, then the rest of us will be safer as a consequence.

JustinR1979

I drive a lorry round central London every week, and 9 out of 10 cyclists are asking for trouble - they ride like they are invincible.
One snuck up my nearside and sat by nearside headlight, myself and passenger didn't see him until we moved off. I thought I had hit him but he didn't look round so guess not.
They come up your inside as you're indicating/turning left.
Squeeze between you and a bus whilst you're moving off.
Cut up your inside on bends.
Use the busy roads when there's the best cycle lane in the world they could be using.
I've done my fair share of cycling, so I'm not totally biased. Whether you're in the right or not, don't push it when you're so vulnerable.
I don't mind cyclists, are all 1 less car for you to sit behind, but show some sense.

custardy

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Use the busy roads when there's the best cycle lane in the world they could be using.
.

Got a Google map link for that one?

JustinR1979

custardy wrote: »

Got a Google map link for that one?

No.
A316 Chiswick bridge and around there heading into London.
Rush hour, everyone flying into London, nice 10 foot wide smooth dedicated cycle path away from the road.
What's all this traffic build up? Ah yes a cyclist on the road - the dedicated cycle lane is probably wider and smoother, not to mention 1000 times safer.
Sure Brat will come up with some defence for this type of riding.

custardy

JustinR1979 wrote: »

No.
A316 Chiswick bridge and around there heading into London.
Rush hour, everyone flying into London, nice 10 foot wide smooth dedicated cycle path away from the road.
What's all this traffic build up? Ah yes a cyclist on the road - the dedicated cycle lane is probably wider and smoother, not to mention 1000 times safer.
Sure Brat will come up with some defence for this type of riding.

So its a dedicated cycle path?


Or do you mean this shared used path with junctions,driveways,trees,post boxes etc intersecting it?

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4561813,-0.3293222,3a,75y,35.44h,85.88t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sMrHgaMf9j4vwCjg23iyCsA!2e0!6m1!1e1

Norman_Castle

What's all this traffic build up?

Possibly because

Rush hour, everyone flying into London

But blame the cyclist for the minor delay.

brat

JustinR1979 wrote: »

I drive a lorry round central London every week, and 9 out of 10 cyclists are asking for trouble - they ride like they are invincible.

Yet despite them looking for trouble, the trouble doesn't seem to be happening. Fatalities are well down per unit distance travelled, as are serious injuries, so perhaps there is another explanation...

One thing I notice when cycling is that I can execute completely safe manoeuvres that may sometimes take a motorist by surprise, because they were not expecting a cyclist to make such a manoeuvre. I've been tooted several times for crossing main roads without slowing down too much at the give way. The manoeuvres are always perfectly safe, yet because my actions were unexpected by the motorist, they react based on their limited view of the manoeuvre.
The motorist then goes to the pub or on to a forum thread and rants unjustifiedly about suicidal cyclists based on only a partial and incorrect understanding of the situation. The following (from JustinR1979's post) are the usual examples of this type of limited observation

One snuck up my nearside and sat by nearside headlight, myself and passenger didn't see him until we moved off. I thought I had hit him but he didn't look round so guess not.
They come up your inside as you're indicating/turning left.
Squeeze between you and a bus whilst you're moving off.
Cut up your inside on bends.

On the face of it, these might look dangerous manoeuvres. They may actually be dangerous, but unless you know what the cyclist is thinking and planning, and what his contingencies are, your examples are a little hollow. They're no more than anecdote anyway, anecdote that flies in the face of the statistical KSI reduction trend for cyclists in London.

JustinR1979 wrote: »

No.
A316 Chiswick bridge and around there heading into London.
Rush hour, everyone flying into London, nice 10 foot wide smooth dedicated cycle path away from the road.
What's all this traffic build up? Ah yes a cyclist on the road - the dedicated cycle lane is probably wider and smoother, not to mention 1000 times safer.

As already mentioned, the rush hour will be the cause of slow traffic, not the cyclist. I'd have thought cycling in London was by far the quickest transport method during rush hour.

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Sure Brat will come up with some defence for this type of riding.

Not necessarily defences or excuses, just possible explanations.

Why do riders use the road rather than the cycle path? Sometimes it's safer. Yes, really! Many cycle paths are not suitable for 20 to 25 mph cyclists. Other times it's pure convenience, to save time, and to save stopping and starting all the time.
Compare it to you considering whether to use the M6 or the A6 to drive from Carlisle to Preston. You can do both just as legally, but the A6 is slower, with stops and starts, whereas the M6 is easier more convenient and quicker. You might also choose to exceed the speed limit a bit on the M6, after all, most motorists do, quite safely.
You may choose the A6 because it's slower, more relaxed, with better opportunity to take in the scenery. You might use the A6 for family trips out, sharing the wider road with pedestrians, dogs, tractors, quad bikes, cyclists etc.
It's your choice, and you would make that choice dependant on what is in your own best overall interest.