Cyclists! Why do they ride in the middle of the road?
Discussion
mikeveal said:
BGarside said:
- Keep close to the kerb - Great idea, ride in all the glass and debris swept to the road side by cars, drop into every drain and manhole cover in existence, and invite traffic to crush you / run you off the road.
C'mon BG, Barring potholes, glass, and drains, there is no reason why a bike could not be ridden close the the curb.
I stay out about 18" to 2', so that I've go somewhere to go if some one does try to squeeze past. If I see a nasty in the road I'll move gradually out.
You may choose to take the primate position (I like calling it that, it seems to annoy old airbags
) for the very last of your reasons, but the others can be easily managed by a competent cyclist.Mr Gear said:
73mark said:
Maybe if cyclist had to pay tax,mot,insurance,we drivers wouldn't mind where you ride.
And the money made off you could go to cleaning up the glass,debris,manhole covers,potholes,drains.
And it's a full-house in moronic-comments bingo! We have a winner!And the money made off you could go to cleaning up the glass,debris,manhole covers,potholes,drains.
73mark said:
Maybe if cyclist had to pay tax,mot,insurance,we drivers wouldn't mind where you ride.
And the money made off you could go to cleaning up the glass,debris,manhole covers,potholes,drains.
sAnd the money made off you could go to cleaning up the glass,debris,manhole covers,potholes,drains.
t, am I not supposed to pay any tax?Better let my employer know. And my council. And the huge rebate I must be due will come in very handy! Thanks Mark, who should I call to get all my taxes back?
By "we drivers" are you also including me?
Or are you, in fact, not speaking on behalf of all drivers?Actually if I'm sometimes a driver and sometimes a cyclist, do I only get some of my taxes back? Is it pro-rata?
Maybe if drivers behaved themselves (you know, of course, that more than a million of them don't have insurance don't you? And quite a few that don't pay any road tax? And plenty of cars that don't require an MoT?) then they might face fewer rules and regulations.
Edited by will_ on Wednesday 16th April 15:16
will_ said:
st, am I not supposed to pay any tax?
Better let my employer know. And my council. And the huge rebate I must be due will come in very handy! Thanks Mark, who should I call to get all my taxes back?
By "we drivers" are you also including me? Or are you, in fact, not speaking on behalf of all drivers?
Actually if I'm sometimes a driver and sometimes a cyclists, do I only get some of my taxes back? Is it pro-rata?
Maybe if drivers behaved themselves (you know, of course, that more than a million of them don't have insurance don't you?) then they might face fewer rules and regulations.
I pay my tax,IN,road tax,fishing rod tax.Why do cyclist get away with not paying tax.That's bullst, am I not supposed to pay any tax?Better let my employer know. And my council. And the huge rebate I must be due will come in very handy! Thanks Mark, who should I call to get all my taxes back?
By "we drivers" are you also including me?
Or are you, in fact, not speaking on behalf of all drivers?Actually if I'm sometimes a driver and sometimes a cyclists, do I only get some of my taxes back? Is it pro-rata?
Maybe if drivers behaved themselves (you know, of course, that more than a million of them don't have insurance don't you?) then they might face fewer rules and regulations.
t!Edited by 73mark on Wednesday 16th April 15:22
deltashad said:
otolith said:
This afternoon I nipped out to get some lunch and on the way back I got stuck behind an old dear in a Micra driving at 30 in a 60, and subsequently an old chap in a Golf doing the same thing. I didn't get held up by any cyclists at all.
Were they racing?No idea what the purposes of their journeys were.
73mark said:
I pay my tax,IN,road tax,fishing rod tax.Why do cyclist get away with not paying tax.That's bullst!
Oh sorry I didn't realise my ownership of a bike meant i wasn't liable for NI, VED, etc. cool who do I send my request for a refund to?t!Edited by 73mark on Wednesday 16th April 15:22
will_ said:
Mr SFJ said:
I know that not many riders do this but it fks me off when cyclists run red lights, yet complain when they get hit off?
When has that happened?ks me off when cyclists run red lights, yet complain when they get hit off?A study in London showed that only 5% of cycling fatalities involved a cyclist running a red light.
Engineer1 said:
73mark said:
I pay my tax,IN,road tax,fishing rod tax.Why do cyclist get away with not paying tax.That's bullst!
Oh sorry I didn't realise my ownership of a bike meant i wasn't liable for NI, VED, etc. cool who do I send my request for a refund to?t!Edited by 73mark on Wednesday 16th April 15:22
will_ said:
What do you mean by "easy overtaking"?
Given that you need to pass into the oposing lane to pass a single cyclist, it really doesn't matter if they are in primary or secondary road position.
Riding primary only stops those who would otherwise just squeeze by (or even just blast past) - that's the whole point.
The exception (which you may be speaking of) is where the lane is wide enough for a car to give the required distance when passing, but for a cyclist riding far out. But that's a very small number of roads I would think.
I've seen this stated lots of times "You need to pass into the opposing lane to pass a single cyclist" or words to that effect. Given that you need to pass into the oposing lane to pass a single cyclist, it really doesn't matter if they are in primary or secondary road position.
Riding primary only stops those who would otherwise just squeeze by (or even just blast past) - that's the whole point.
The exception (which you may be speaking of) is where the lane is wide enough for a car to give the required distance when passing, but for a cyclist riding far out. But that's a very small number of roads I would think.
The highway code actually says "give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car" now if I pass a car and leave 3 foot between myself and it why do I have to go into the opposing lane to give that same 3 foot margin when passing a cyclist?
PS I love how you only partially quote me to try to skew my comments.
Edited by Marvib on Wednesday 16th April 15:33
OpulentBob said:
will_ said:
Mr SFJ said:
I know that not many riders do this but it fks me off when cyclists run red lights, yet complain when they get hit off?
When has that happened?ks me off when cyclists run red lights, yet complain when they get hit off?A study in London showed that only 5% of cycling fatalities involved a cyclist running a red light.
If they were better drivers, maybe it would be 0%?
Massive, unsupported presumption on your part.
73mark said:
Engineer1 said:
73mark said:
I pay my tax,IN,road tax,fishing rod tax.Why do cyclist get away with not paying tax.That's bullst!
Oh sorry I didn't realise my ownership of a bike meant i wasn't liable for NI, VED, etc. cool who do I send my request for a refund to?t!Edited by 73mark on Wednesday 16th April 15:22
Pedestrians aren't liable for VED either should they be taxed?
73mark said:
I pay my tax,IN,road tax,fishing rod tax.Why do cyclist get away with not paying tax.That's bullst!
Easy really, if cyclists do all of those activities you mention they also pay tax, assuming they are law abiding. If you ride a bicycle on the road you do realise you don't have to pay a tax to do it either. You have not been singled out for unfair treatment, it's freedom of choice to pursue whatever activity you wish. Some you are taxed for, others not.t!Edited by 73mark on Wednesday 16th April 15:22
Marvib said:
've seen this stated lots of times "You need to pass into the opposing lane to pass a single cyclist" or words to that effect.
The highway code actually says "give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car" now if I pass a car and leave 3 foot between myself and it why do I have to go into the opposing lane to give that same 3 foot margin when passing a cyclist?
Do you need to go into the oposing lane when passing a car?The highway code actually says "give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car" now if I pass a car and leave 3 foot between myself and it why do I have to go into the opposing lane to give that same 3 foot margin when passing a cyclist?
If the answer is yes, that's what you ought to do when passing a bicycle.
The HC even has a picture to clarify what this rule means. The car is well over the line into the oposing lane.
In any event, there aren't that many roads where you can have a bike 1-2ft from the kerb, and you giving him or her 3ft of clearence, where you don't have to cross into the oposing lane (at least in part). And if you're already having to do that, theres no detriment to you moving right over - right?
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