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otolith
19,359 posts
73 months
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oldsoak said: Section 29 of the Road Traffic Act states ..."Careless, and inconsiderate, cycling.If a person rides a cycle on a road without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road, he is guilty of an offence." I'd love to know how often that law gets used. I found riding a bike on the road a weird experience after decades of cowed obedience as a car driver - basically, nobody is watching, what few regulations do apply simply aren't enforced and you are essentially unregulated.
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oldsoak
5,585 posts
71 months
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otolith said: I'd love to know how often that law gets used.
I found riding a bike on the road a weird experience after decades of cowed obedience as a car driver - basically, nobody is watching, what few regulations do apply simply aren't enforced and you are essentially unregulated. I guess we all would...but it's 'out there' ready to use anyway. Just because we don't know of anyone personally that has found themselves on the wrong end of it, doesn't mean it never gets used.
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roachcoach
2,960 posts
24 months
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Kinda glad this thread is still semi active, I was wondering last night as I was on the way home.
Cars zip passed bikes all the time without drama when they are in bike lanes and that clearance is nothing like what the HW code suggests.
Any thoughts on that? As a driver I do it without blinking and as a cyclist I have no issue with it either (but then I think giving bikes the same space as a car is massively OTT anyway unless the rider looks distinctly wobbly/flaky)
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Medic-one
2,100 posts
72 months
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oyster said: So let me get this straight:
You were on an emergency call, and instead of the priority being for your patient, you were more interested in proving a point to some cyclists.
Cyclists don't have mirrors so they wouldn't see the blue lights, you should have had your sirens on to pass them as you approach them. In fact, I'd go further. Your actions will have actually cost the patient several potentially critical seconds. And you call yourself a medic? Sirens only come on when needed, to get through traffic, they are not on constantly, specially not late at night or early in the morning, like this was the case. And apart from there being no traffic, i was in the countryside, surrounded by fields with horses, in an area that has a lot of horse riders on the actual road, so again sirens will not be on if not required. Cyclists don't have mirrors, so they should look behind them, even more when they are cycling 3 wide, and hear a car approach, and then hear this car beep. And then hear the car get even closer, and beep again. But instead of looking behind them, i got ignored the first time, and i got a middlefinger the 2nd time, which says enough about this trio of cyclists. My point was that because they were being selfish basterds (staying 3 wide, ignoring car behind them, and middlefinger) i would not have mind if they'd fallen over.
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oyster
5,205 posts
117 months
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Medic-one said: oyster said: So let me get this straight:
You were on an emergency call, and instead of the priority being for your patient, you were more interested in proving a point to some cyclists.
Cyclists don't have mirrors so they wouldn't see the blue lights, you should have had your sirens on to pass them as you approach them. In fact, I'd go further. Your actions will have actually cost the patient several potentially critical seconds. And you call yourself a medic? Sirens only come on when needed, to get through traffic, they are not on constantly, specially not late at night or early in the morning, like this was the case. And apart from there being no traffic, i was in the countryside, surrounded by fields with horses, in an area that has a lot of horse riders on the actual road, so again sirens will not be on if not required. Cyclists don't have mirrors, so they should look behind them, even more when they are cycling 3 wide, and hear a car approach, and then hear this car beep. And then hear the car get even closer, and beep again. But instead of looking behind them, i got ignored the first time, and i got a middlefinger the 2nd time, which says enough about this trio of cyclists. My point was that because they were being selfish basterds (staying 3 wide, ignoring car behind them, and middlefinger) i would not have mind if they'd fallen over. In your original post you didn't mention that you actually beeped twice. Nonetheless, a 2 second blast of the sirens would have had them move without hesitation. As to sirens not being on at night - you're having a laugh aren't you. Just last night an ambulance passed my house at 11:50pm with not a single car in sight (I was walking back from the station) yet the sirens were at full blast. It's not the first time either.
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Flibble
1,037 posts
50 months
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oyster said: In your original post you didn't mention that you actually beeped twice. Yes he did.
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simoid
8,324 posts
27 months
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oyster said: As to sirens not being on at night - you're having a laugh aren't you. Just last night an ambulance passed my house at 11:50pm with not a single car in sight (I was walking back from the station) yet the sirens were at full blast. It's not the first time either. Perhaps the sirens were for your benefit?
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Medic-one
2,100 posts
72 months
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oyster said: As to sirens not being on at night - you're having a laugh aren't you. Just last night an ambulance passed my house at 11:50pm with not a single car in sight (I was walking back from the station) yet the sirens were at full blast. It's not the first time either. I'm not saying we never use them at night. We use them at night if required, if there's a busy junction coming up, if there's a pedestrian maybe about to cross a road, or any other possible danger you might not have seen but the driver did.
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Engineer1
7,175 posts
78 months
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So 3 bikes ridding abreast doesn't count?
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Nigel Worc's
5,279 posts
57 months
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Engineer1 said: So 3 bikes ridding abreast doesn't count? If those three bikes were one car, or two motorcycles, you'd be calling the drivers/riders bloody idiots for not seeing and moving for an ambulance. Because it's three f  k brained cyclists, who's fellow cyclists keep telling us can hear a motorvehicle coming from the other side of the world, long before any drivers can see them, even if drivers had x ray vision, because cyclists are so wonderful, then it is the motorised persons fault. Chances are they heard a motorvehicle approaching and just thought "b ks", we're saving the planet, we have a right to be here, no laws apply to us, we can do as we wish etc etc etc. Lets hope medic one uses his sirens next time they refuse to move, and the stroppy b ds fall off and go under the wheels of the ambulance, then we'll all be rid of three more f k brained eco warrior cyclists !
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simoid
8,324 posts
27 months
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Perhaps they were deaf cyclists. 
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Nigel Worc's
5,279 posts
57 months
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simoid said: Perhaps they were deaf cyclists. That can hear a siren and move when medic one used it, or perhaps they felt the vibrations through the air ? to you !
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simoid
8,324 posts
27 months
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It's possible. It's also possible that the "stroppy b d" cyclist you have wished under an ambulances wheels will be deaf too. Just a thought.
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Medic-one
2,100 posts
72 months
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simoid said: It's possible. It's also possible that the "stroppy b d" cyclist you have wished under an ambulances wheels will be deaf too. Just a thought. I've got no problems with deaf cyclists, or deaf cyclists not hearing me approach. But i do have a problem with cyclists just sticking up their middle finger and continueing to block the road, as that's just plain rude...
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simoid
8,324 posts
27 months
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Indeed. Would certainly be more amusing if an officer of the law was present to deal with the situation  But I'm sure you'll agree that preachings of "death to ignorant cyclists" does nobody any good.
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Pip1968
216 posts
73 months
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grumpyscot said: This morning: A class road - a 3 miles stretch along the coast is very twisty. Cycling club out, cycling two abreast, but staggered so that effectively they are four abreast. They would not move into single file to let traffic past - eventually, I pulled into a lay-by, and 37 vehicles were behind them!
No wonder cyclists get a bad name!
And of the 18 cyclists, 5 had no reflectors or lights, 3 didn't wear helmets, 7 had no reflective gear on. I am not quite sure where this obsession with high visibility vests has come from. Did you see 18 cyclists or were there in fact 36 of them ie if you saw all of them, 18 then why did 5 of them need reflectors/lights or reflective high visibility vests on -??????? They were either visible or invisible. If they were the former then there was no need for all that 'missing' equipment. Unless it is pitch black then generally speaking you can see people without high visibility/reflective/lights on. The amount of drivers I see that have lights on their car but do not even switch them on in pouring rain on the motorway is incredible. I look in my rear view mirror and they are barely visible and to those who do not concentrate not visible. There is really no need to cover everything with day glow orange/yellow vests. Pip
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Pip1968
216 posts
73 months
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So to conclude I have three cars and four bikes so am very keen on both forms of transport. There are dreadful drivers and dreadful cyclists and each needs to make allowances for the other. Courtesy on the road from both is required. If it is a narrow road I usually go single file and nobody wants a car on their rear but if I am in a car I just need to be patient. In a car I have been stuck behind doddery old drivers doing 20/30 in a 60 taking up the whole road waiting for an overtake or drivers not concentrating on the task as they were on their phone.
As far as interaction goes I do think things could be improved if all drivers were forced to pass a cycling proficiency and ride for a year before being allowed to drive and on the spot fines were issued for both drivers and cyclists (no need for registration). I am quite sure that 90% of cyclists pay road tax and so we 'all' pay to use the road really.
To the original poster try going another route. It may be a longer distance but you will not feel encumbered.
Pip
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10 Pence Short
27,585 posts
86 months
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I don't understand why people's backstop is always what the law allows.
Whatever happened to common sense and courtesy?
The law should only be a backstop once the above two have utterly failed, not a target to aim for.
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aizvara
1,497 posts
36 months
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Nigel Worc's said: who's fellow cyclists keep telling us can hear a motorvehicle coming from the other side of the world, long before any drivers can see them Not defending the cyclists in question, just picking up on that bit; personally I often can't hear any engine noise at all above the wind noise when I'm cycling. My hearing is fine in normal circumstances. Perhaps this is just me, though; which fellow cyclists keep telling you of their superhuman hearing? roachcoach said: Kinda glad this thread is still semi active, I was wondering last night as I was on the way home.
Cars zip passed bikes all the time without drama when they are in bike lanes and that clearance is nothing like what the HW code suggests.
Any thoughts on that? As a driver I do it without blinking and as a cyclist I have no issue with it either (but then I think giving bikes the same space as a car is massively OTT anyway unless the rider looks distinctly wobbly/flaky) I think cycle lanes like that are pointless at best, and probably encourage drivers to always overtake cyclists too close, even when the speed differential is far greater. (Mostly they seem to be painted in 20 or 30 limits).
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rohrl
3,725 posts
14 months
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Nigel Worc's said: ...f k brained cyclists... Lets hope medic one uses his sirens next time they refuse to move, and the stroppy b ds fall off and go under the wheels of the ambulance, then we'll all be rid of three more f k brained eco warrior cyclists ! I'm not sure whether this is meant to be funny or if you're trying to come across as an intemperate knuckle-dragger for effect but if the former you're failing, if the latter you're doing a wonderful job.
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