Road rage; is it getting worse?

Road rage; is it getting worse?

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Discussion

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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PanzerCommander said:
I hate those shared use footpaths, there is one near me that I never use. The footpath is just wide enough for two adults to walk side by side comfortably and the council decided to paint a white line on it and decree half of it a cycle lane rolleyes
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9179/shared-use-routes-for-pedestrians-and-cyclists.pdf

Para 7.47 onwards - It's got to be at least 3.5m wide before they paint a line down it...

Is this you and your mate?



hehe

PanzerCommander

5,026 posts

217 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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OpulentBob said:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

Para 7.47 onwards - It's got to be at least 3.5m wide before they paint a line down it...

Is this you and your mate?



hehe
Definitely a breach of the regs as its nowhere near 3.5m wide, if its anywhere near 2m without all the overhanging vegetation which makes it almost single file in places I'd be very surprised.

have you been on my facebook? I haven't worn that t-shirt for a while, might have to dig it out hehe

hannah363

18 posts

129 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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YES it is getting worse but i dont think its just on the roads, i am a happy friendly person but honest to god to get a person to simle back at you is like getting a rocking horse to st! i dont know if i look crazy or men feel weird if a woman smiles at them and i dont go around smiling at every one but like walking my dogs i say hello to a fellow dog walker and smile! OMG they look at you like you st on them, with driving you let people go or give way etc no bloody thanks! i think people need to think of others more in general or we will all become some object instead of a person!

SteveSteveson

3,209 posts

162 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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3.5 m wide? No one seems to have told Oxford city council that. The wide ones are about 2 meters. And that's the ones that have a white line down them rather than just being designated "shared use". And it's not just the width that's the problem, but also crossing roads and driveways which are not designed for cyclist, with no sight, steep drop kerbs and pedestrian crossings meaning as the pavement was designed for pedestrians. Slapping a cycle lane sign on it does not make it safe or appropriate for cycling on. Give me a proper cycle path that is safe at 20mph and I will gladly use it, as will most cyclists. Slapping paint on a rutted narrow pavement is worse than useless as it makes some tts who haven't read their Highway Code angry.

Edited by SteveSteveson on Thursday 30th July 09:18

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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Peace brother I just put up the regs... I can promise they're always followed! biggrin

BGarside

1,564 posts

136 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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smithyithy said:
Depends on the road really. As I say the NSL I use it a bit of a twisty one with a few straights but tighter corners, so cars that are tanking it around (quite a few during commuting hours) might be caught by surprise by a very slow moving cyclist. Also means we have to tootle along at 5mph, then when safe pull out and accelerate quite strongly to reach a safe speed to pass when the chance arises.

The road occasionally has horse riders too, but that's a whole different story laugh
It interests me that drivers can somehow seem to slow down and give horses plenty of space when passing, but when they see a cyclist apparently the done thing is to pass as fast and close as possible.

As for shared use paths, they are generally completely useless for cycling as pedestrians, dog walkers and pushchair pushers totally ignore the cyclist's half of the path and the cyclists using it. Not to mention that most of these paths are not cleared of debris and tend to stop and give way at every side road.

All they seem to accomplish is ensuring cyclists get additional abuse when they opt - perfectly legally - to use the road instead.

When cycling in the UK, there are no safe options, the attitudes of other road and path users ensure that that is the case....

smithyithy

7,192 posts

117 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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BGarside said:
It interests me that drivers can somehow seem to slow down and give horses plenty of space when passing, but when they see a cyclist apparently the done thing is to pass as fast and close as possible.

As for shared use paths, they are generally completely useless for cycling as pedestrians, dog walkers and pushchair pushers totally ignore the cyclist's half of the path and the cyclists using it. Not to mention that most of these paths are not cleared of debris and tend to stop and give way at every side road.

All they seem to accomplish is ensuring cyclists get additional abuse when they opt - perfectly legally - to use the road instead.

When cycling in the UK, there are no safe options, the attitudes of other road and path users ensure that that is the case....
Well I generally have more empathy for animals than other humans anyway, even if horses do scare the crap out of me laugh

But that's not implying I'd endanger a cyclist's life just to shave a few seconds off my commute time.

Mr GrimNasty

8,172 posts

169 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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BGarside said:
It interests me that drivers can somehow seem to slow down and give horses plenty of space when passing, but when they see a cyclist apparently the done thing is to pass as fast and close as possible.
Bikes are not living things with a streak of unpredictable neurotic/malicious behaviour. No one would dispute that animals need far greater caution than cyclists.

MajorProblem

4,700 posts

163 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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How I see people taking roundabouts (going from 12 o'clock to 9 o'clock)




BGarside

1,564 posts

136 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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Mr GrimNasty said:
Bikes are not living things with a streak of unpredictable neurotic/malicious behaviour. No one would dispute that animals need far greater caution than cyclists.
True, but are cyclists not living things liable to unpredictable behaviour (like any road user, surely),and perhaps deserving of at least as much caution as animals?

Or does human life matter less than that of a horse?


Matt Harper

6,613 posts

200 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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Someone said it earlier - a lack of potential nasty consequences could well be a pivotal factor.

I live and drive in the South Eastern US, where generally, abysmal driving standards and lack of courtesy are quite widespread. However, road rage (face to face confrontations in the thoroughfare vs giving the finger or tooting the horn) is very rare. The potential for gun-play is a sobering and calming factor, I suspect.

cptsideways

13,535 posts

251 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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I would say without a doubt driving standards have plummeted in the past 5 years. st driving is just about the norm these days & quite frankly I can see why others get in a tizz about it. I must confess I no longer tolerate st driving & I am happy to inconvenience those who cant do the basics.

I would also say that road planners have a lot to do with it, the numpty spec white lines taking people round the outside lanes of roundabouts is making people do it everywhere else too. There also appears to be a new rule of stop & wait at roundabouts that nobody has told me about.


MajorProblem

4,700 posts

163 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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Great example coming home from work, Idle Bank Doncaster very thin, very bumpy road which in a lot of places is 1.5 cars wide. (30mph limit suggested but rarely applied) it also has massive irrigation ditches running the full length on both sides (5 mile)

Woman coming towards me so I start to slow thinking if we both put a wheel on the grass we will pass no worries but no she just stares straight thru me and drives in the middle of the road forcing my van all the way off the road, luckily there was room between the road and the ditch for me to escape. Hindsight I should have just stopped dead in the road but I'm not sure if she wouldn't have just rammed me.

I'd imagine this was a case of not giving a fk, there not being a chance of me giving chase, and the fact she was a woman.

5-Oh

206 posts

106 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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I was turning right across a mini roundabout the other day, put on my indicator and started to go across but had to hit the brakes when the lady approaching from ahead didn't bother stopping. As she sailed past I clocked her stupid, gurning face as she yelled 'it's a roundabout!'... Uh, yeah?

Blakewater

4,303 posts

156 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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MajorProblem said:
Great example coming home from work, Idle Bank Doncaster very thin, very bumpy road which in a lot of places is 1.5 cars wide. (30mph limit suggested but rarely applied) it also has massive irrigation ditches running the full length on both sides (5 mile)

Woman coming towards me so I start to slow thinking if we both put a wheel on the grass we will pass no worries but no she just stares straight thru me and drives in the middle of the road forcing my van all the way off the road, luckily there was room between the road and the ditch for me to escape. Hindsight I should have just stopped dead in the road but I'm not sure if she wouldn't have just rammed me.

I'd imagine this was a case of not giving a fk, there not being a chance of me giving chase, and the fact she was a woman.
I had some woman in a Range Rover Sport drive nose to nose with me on a narrow road making no attempt to move over. I ended up having to back up and try to move my car into the edge of the road but every time I reversed she kept driving nose to nose with me when I needed to move forwards again to straighten up and move in. She was just so determined to make me reverse she ended up making the whole process take longer.

Cliftonite

8,406 posts

137 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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MajorProblem said:
How I see people taking roundabouts (going from 12 o'clock to 9 o'clock)



What exactly are you wanting to portray in the first diagram?


MajorProblem

4,700 posts

163 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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Sorry very difficult to be accurate in the first pic on iPad paint.

People who indicate to go round and keep the indicator on hugging the inside lane until veering off into their choosen exit when they've almost gone past it.

Cliftonite

8,406 posts

137 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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MajorProblem said:
Sorry very difficult to be accurate in the first pic on iPad paint.

People who indicate to go round and keep the indicator on hugging the inside lane until veering off into their choosen exit when they've almost gone past it.
Got it!

However, so long as they are signalling, I would rather they did that than cut across Lane 1 on the exit!