Another "cyclist vs driver" rage story in the news...

[Batfink]

The trick is to be assertive in your road positioning without being so far out you give the perception you are purposely are blocking the road (unless you need to do so when coming to a junction and need to take command of a lane). I ride away from the curbs but not so far out to get people upset. I also will keep an eye on whats infront and behind me so I can move over to the left to encourage a queue to overtake me if they feel they are safe to do so.
I personally never stop as it can cause its own problems and can be unexpected, though its relatively easy just to start pedaling and join the traffic again. Remember you are just another road user.
You will not be able to please everyone but you do a lot to portray that you are a considerate road user. I personally like to wave a thankyou whenever possible.

I almost always overtake rather than undertake and I never stop next to a lorry or a bus, nor try to pass when coming close to a junction. When overtaking down the centre its a matter of keeping an eye on each vehicle independently as you come up to them to work out what they are likely to do or if they will be tricky to pass with oncoming traffic coming your way. By understanding where you are most at risk you can place yourself where you are safer.

Its not dangerous as such, but its important to make yourself as visible as possible. I run lights (not flashing) most days other than the height of summer, mainly as the light helps get you attention as it lights up a cars mirrors.

Edited by Batfink on Tuesday 24th November 16:15

Edited by Batfink on Tuesday 24th November 16:24

[Willy Nilly]

With the women getting squashed at left handers issue, worrabout painting the kerb (fk knows how to spell it, but red line of truth is under it but google said it's right, so bks) red and put something on the road near said red kerb that makes it a bh to ride on so the girlies don't try to sneak up the side of an 8 leg tipper that is trying to turn left?

I cycle to work and there are a wide variety of knobends driving, there is no real "type" as such, I also take a fairly "assertive" position, while trying to be sympathetic to the needs of everyone else. I still get various divs that squeeze betwixt me and a the traffic islands, overtaking me immediately before a mini round about that they need to stop and and they do like overtaking me when I am clearly trying to turn tight.

[saaby93]

Willy Nilly said:

kerb (fk knows how to spell it, but red line of truth is under it but google said it's right, so bks)

Same here - is it Firefox?
It also objects to Nilly but the other word is ok

[Willy Nilly]

saaby93 said:

Willy Nilly said:

kerb (fk knows how to spell it, but red line of truth is under it but google said it's right, so bks)

Same here - is it Firefox?
It also objects to Nilly but the other word is ok

Firefox, things like this make my brain hurt, or is that hert?

[yellowjack]

To lighten the mood a little, lets have a couple of fresh videos...

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/wa...
Yay! Let's all laugh and joke as we attempt to kill a random human being on a different mode of transport, just because we can!

Oh. Wait. No, they're just twunts, and need a swift kicking, followed by jail time and a criminal record.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/in...
WTF? A collision between a black (OK, red, but you knew what I meant ) cab and a cyclist in which the cyclist appears to realise he was completely wrong to overtake (undertake?) right there and then, and despite it being on film, no one lobs a handbag or nuffink. No apparent damage and sorted with a handshake. Absolutely shocking behaviour. Don't these idiots know that we only watch these YouTube videos to see tantrums and bh-slaps...

[heebeegeetee]

This is lifted from the st Driving caught on Dashcam thread. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L4jqgFUaPs

Nothing too exciting really I guess but... I don't know how you guys can go on so much about cyclists, I really don't.

I really don't get it. The cyclists really aren't those who are constantly putting other people at risk.

[DoubleD]

Yeah Saaby, stop talking on your own about cyclists.

[Brave Fart]

heebeegeetee said:

This is lifted from the st Driving caught on Dashcam threadI really don't get it. The cyclists really aren't those who are constantly putting other people at risk.

Eh? I didn't see any cyclists on that YouTube clip. If you're saying "there really are some dangerous drivers out there" then, yes, agreed. But this thread has become a debate about whether cyclists could do more to protect themselves, especially in central London.
My view remains that those with the most to lose (cyclists and pedestrians, I think) should be the last people to take crazy risks around HGV's. Not sure how irrelevant YouTube videos pertains to that debate.
Mike.

[DoubleD]

heebeegeetee said:

This is lifted from the st Driving caught on Dashcam thread. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L4jqgFUaPs

Nothing too exciting really I guess but... I don't know how you guys can go on so much about cyclists, I really don't.

I really don't get it. The cyclists really aren't those who are constantly putting other people at risk.

So are you saying that all cyclists ride perfectly and within the law?

[Calletrece]

I hate cyclists as much as any normal person should, but that statement is codswallop.

Do all drivers drive to the law of the road? Well....

P.S. Kerb is correct. Firefox is probably starting beef because those Yanks spell it "curb".

[DoubleD]

Calletrece said:

I hate cyclists as much as any normal person should, but that statement is codswallop.

Do all drivers drive to the law of the road? Well....

P.S. Kerb is correct. Firefox is probably starting beef because those Yanks spell it "curb".

Go back to page 1 and read my previous posts, then come back.

[Digby]

heebeegeetee said:

1. I think the point your missing, is that as tragic as these cyclist deaths are, they're not not high in number. We have about what, a dozen a year is it in London, in a city of millions?

It's fortunate so many drivers are well trained and have safety features coming out of their ears, otherwise the list of deaths and injury to the two-wheeled blissfully unaware and impatient brigade would undoubtedly be far greater.

You seem to be hell-bent on defending cyclists regardless of fault and belittle other forms of transport based on nothing more than your vision of some from of inner-city utopia. I prefer trees to tarmac myself, but that has nothing to do with this.

Oh and can someone find out who invented those cycles that you effectively lay down on to ride and kick them in the goolies? They even come with an 'I am almost guaranteed to end up under a vehicle because I am the height of a small kerb' ten foot flag flapping from the rear end.

[Calletrece]

Wow, who put sawdust in your fuel tank?

[WinstonWolf]

Calletrece said:

I hate cyclists as much as any normal person should, but that statement is codswallop.

Do all drivers drive to the law of the road? Well....

P.S. Kerb is correct. Firefox is probably starting beef because those Yanks spell it "curb".

Normal people don't hate other people because they've chosen to use a particular mode of transport for a given journey.

[Digby]

Calletrece said:

Wow, who put sawdust in your fuel tank?

The people who help create a situation where there is now a very real chance I will kill someone for trying to do my job. There are only so many "Jesus Christ!" moments I can stand and they seem to be on the increase.

[anonymous-user]

Calletrece said:

I hate cyclists as much as any normal person should, but that statement is codswallop.

Do all drivers drive to the law of the road? Well....

P.S. Kerb is correct. Firefox is probably starting beef because those Yanks spell it "curb".

Since when is it normal to hate cyclists?

Weird.

[heebeegeetee]

DoubleD said:

So are you saying that all cyclists ride perfectly and within the law?

No, I think that cyclists behave in exactly the same way as every single one of us, which given that we're all human beings living in the same society is hardly surprising. Whether we're pedestrians, cyclists or drivers we all do the same.

For some reason though a great many think so very strongly that others should behave differently. This is bizarre, and I think the fundamental reason behind this thinking is nothing other than sheer ignorance.

The reason I posted that video was just as a tiny reminder of how utterly god-awful the average driver is, utterly clueless. But these people cause hurt and harm to others, and grind the roads to a halt every day with their accidents.

Cyclists (or anyone else) don't do this to any comparable degree whatsoever, so I say again, I simply *cannot* understand the pages and pages - acres of it - of complaints about cyclists. They don't do anything compared to what we as drivers do.

The only possible explanation is utter, rampant, widespread numptiness. Which is fine as well, but we should just rid ourselves of any notion that we are any better as drivers than the average numpty out there. The repeated threads about cyclists is the proof we need that we're not, imo.

[heebeegeetee]

Digby said:

You seem to be hell-bent on defending cyclists regardless of fault and belittle other forms of transport based on nothing more than your vision of some from of inner-city utopia. I prefer trees to tarmac myself, but that has nothing to do with this.

.

Not at all, in fact I don't think I'm defending anybody. What I'm doing is complaining about st drivers.

The inner city Utopia by the way does exist in various forms. It exists widely throughout Europe in varying degrees and I'd suggest the UK is unique is investing so much in the one form of transport (the motorised vehicle) and so very little in everything else. I might be wrong, but I doubt you'll see our experience repeated anywhere else in Europe.

I've said before and I'll say again, if you drive an HGV in London then you have my sympathy because it must be horrendous. I don't doubt that you must be swamped by cyclists on both sides at every junction. But this lack of segregation will never work, never has and never will imo. The only answer is to reduce the degree of motorised traffic and provide separation between different types of road user. It's a proven solution and we have both the money and space to do so.

[walm]

heebeegeetee said:

It's a proven solution and we have both the money and space to do so.

What planet are you on?
It would be a GREAT solution - no question.
But we have neither the money nor the space.

[heebeegeetee]

walm said:

What planet are you on?
It would be a GREAT solution - no question.
But we have neither the money nor the space.

So while the rest of Europe either gets on with doing it or did it decades ago, we continue to deny it's possible.

If there's space for big vehicles (in the shape of cars usually with one person in) there's definitely room for bicycles with 1 person on.