Another cyclist dies in London
Discussion
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
Wish we'd follow Holland's lead and ban flashing lights on bikes. Had some idiot behind me recently with what can only be described as a strobe light, and it's seriously distracting
Cyclists, get some lights.Cyclists fit lights.
Bloody cyclists and their lights...
Get rid of those bloody dazzling white headlights.
Take your foot on the brake pedal when stopped in a queu.
Use your mirrors.
Don't use the phone whilst driving.
When queuing in two lanes, leave a gap in the middle for motorcyclist and cyclists.
Don't get me wrong, what you said about cyclists is spot on, just thought as a motorist and cyclist would add a few pointers for car drivers.
I am so glad I don't have to cycle in the cities.
Negative Creep said:
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
Wish we'd follow Holland's lead and ban flashing lights on bikes. Had some idiot behind me recently with what can only be described as a strobe light, and it's seriously distracting
Cyclists, get some lights.Cyclists fit lights.
Bloody cyclists and their lights...
Drivers are miserable moaning territorial
s in the main. That's *MY* parking space.
I was going to overtake then
You cut me up
The list goes on and on and on...
Negative Creep said:
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
Wish we'd follow Holland's lead and ban flashing lights on bikes. Had some idiot behind me recently with what can only be described as a strobe light, and it's seriously distracting
Cyclists, get some lights.Cyclists fit lights.
Bloody cyclists and their lights...
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
Wish we'd follow Holland's lead and ban flashing lights on bikes. Had some idiot behind me recently with what can only be described as a strobe light, and it's seriously distracting
Cyclists, get some lights.Cyclists fit lights.
Bloody cyclists and their lights...
Drivers are miserable moaning territorial
s in the main. That's *MY* parking space.
I was going to overtake then
You cut me up
The list goes on and on and on...
I am a cyclist, motorcyclist and car driver -I so all three.
George111 said:
Negative Creep said:
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
Wish we'd follow Holland's lead and ban flashing lights on bikes. Had some idiot behind me recently with what can only be described as a strobe light, and it's seriously distracting
Cyclists, get some lights.Cyclists fit lights.
Bloody cyclists and their lights...
No it doesn't, I can spot the difference between a headlight passing trees and a strobing cycle light. I take it you haven't passed your test yet or you don't drive very often?George111 said:
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
Wish we'd follow Holland's lead and ban flashing lights on bikes. Had some idiot behind me recently with what can only be described as a strobe light, and it's seriously distracting
Cyclists, get some lights.Cyclists fit lights.
Bloody cyclists and their lights...
Drivers are miserable moaning territorial
s in the main. That's *MY* parking space.
I was going to overtake then
You cut me up
The list goes on and on and on...
I am a cyclist, motorcyclist and car driver -I so all three.
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
Wish we'd follow Holland's lead and ban flashing lights on bikes. Had some idiot behind me recently with what can only be described as a strobe light, and it's seriously distracting
Cyclists, get some lights.Cyclists fit lights.
Bloody cyclists and their lights...
If stupid feckwits in motor vehicles displayed a greater love for their fellow human being, showed a little patience in heavy traffic, and actually, you know? LOOKED properly when pulling away at junctions etc, then these...
...would still be enough.
But there is more traffic on the roads these days. And more 'background' artificial lighting too, from shop fronts and advertising. Add to that the increase in efficiency and performance of vehicle lighting, and the introduction of DRLs, and the common-or-garden urban cyclist has to worry far more about 'being seen', and his/her lights need to work that much harder to be seen above the rest of the "light noise" on the roads.
Flashing LEDs (which must be used only in addition to 'solid' or 'steady' lights if fitted to the structure of the bicycle) are indicative of "Cyclist!" as opposed to non-flashing lights which could easily blend in with the light emitted by vehicle headlights further back.
Seriously distracting? Good. Then it's done it's job. I wish I'd have been running a daytime super-bright LED strobe when I got hit by a van driver who really ought to have seen me, and given way to me as I was ON a roundabout at the time. But he was a f
king moron, who didn't (and probably still doesn't) possess the wit to look PROPERLY before moving into a junction. Last year I had some Doris drive out of a 'T' junction into my Ford Mondeo. Something that size, in broad daylight, with DRLs ablaze? It was (literally) RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER! when she hit it. So what chance would a cyclist have in a similar situation?Nah. Sorry. Flashing LEDs and Strobes ARE the answer, at least while obstinate drivers wilfully drive like they've regressed to a level where they're barely functioning above the level of an Orangutan. There are some cyclists who strive for the same low levels of skill and ability. It's nothing to be proud of within either group. Whatever happened to taking pride in developing your skill and ability as a "Road User"?
yellowjack said:
saaby93 said:
Have any of the cycling deaths in London been attributed to not having lights?
I don't know.But I'd warrant (with a great deal of confidence) that none of these deaths will have been caused by having "annoying flashing lights"...
yellowjack said:
Nah. Sorry. Flashing LEDs and Strobes ARE the answer, at least while obstinate drivers wilfully drive like they've regressed to a level where they're barely functioning above the level of an Orangutan. There are some cyclists who strive for the same low levels of skill and ability. It's nothing to be proud of within either group. Whatever happened to taking pride in developing your skill and ability as a "Road User"?
Some motorcyclists believe a loud exhaust makes them more noticeable to car drivers when they are filtering but that's not true either, in a car with a bike approaching from behind, the noise is sent backwards away from you and you only hear them once they are next to you or even just in front - too late. The strobing bicycle lights are another fallacy - doesn't help at all. A large steady light is best (as posted above) but cyclists like LEDs so get really small tiny, little lights which from 30 meters away are like a little pin point of light. Compare that to car headlights which are about 30cm wide and 10cm tall in many cases.
Making a 5mm by 5mm LED flash doesn't look like a bicyclist - it looks like a distant light behind things, simple as that. It's even worse when it's on a helmet as it disappears and comes back at random times.
George111 said:
The cyclists are incapable yes, but the fact remains that if I knock a cyclist off then I am more than likely to be held liable. In reality we have the same as the Dutch.
I'll ignore the sweeping generalization, it is not helping you btw. If you think we have a system similar to the Dutch, you haven't been there, or driven there, or ridden there. It really is that simple.George111 said:
yellowjack said:
Nah. Sorry. Flashing LEDs and Strobes ARE the answer, at least while obstinate drivers wilfully drive like they've regressed to a level where they're barely functioning above the level of an Orangutan. There are some cyclists who strive for the same low levels of skill and ability. It's nothing to be proud of within either group. Whatever happened to taking pride in developing your skill and ability as a "Road User"?
Some motorcyclists believe a loud exhaust makes them more noticeable to car drivers when they are filtering but that's not true either, in a car with a bike approaching from behind, the noise is sent backwards away from you and you only hear them once they are next to you or even just in front - too late. The strobing bicycle lights are another fallacy - doesn't help at all. A large steady light is best (as posted above) but cyclists like LEDs so get really small tiny, little lights which from 30 meters away are like a little pin point of light. Compare that to car headlights which are about 30cm wide and 10cm tall in many cases.
Making a 5mm by 5mm LED flash doesn't look like a bicyclist - it looks like a distant light behind things, simple as that. It's even worse when it's on a helmet as it disappears and comes back at random times.
Blimey. You lot on the blob or something?
Just popped out of the office to the convenience shop across the road and, despite red lights some silly plonker on a pushbike went through it as soon as there was a gap in pedestrians crossing the road. They'd initially stopped and then made the conscious decision that because there was a gap it was their chance to go. It wasn't dangerous, but I just don't understand the mentality behind it. If you're in that much of a rush get the tube.
Just popped out of the office to the convenience shop across the road and, despite red lights some silly plonker on a pushbike went through it as soon as there was a gap in pedestrians crossing the road. They'd initially stopped and then made the conscious decision that because there was a gap it was their chance to go. It wasn't dangerous, but I just don't understand the mentality behind it. If you're in that much of a rush get the tube.
George111 said:
Some motorcyclists believe a loud exhaust makes them more noticeable to car drivers when they are filtering but that's not true either, in a car with a bike approaching from behind, the noise is sent backwards away from you and you only hear them once they are next to you or even just in front - too late.
The strobing bicycle lights are another fallacy - doesn't help at all. A large steady light is best (as posted above) but cyclists like LEDs so get really small tiny, little lights which from 30 meters away are like a little pin point of light. Compare that to car headlights which are about 30cm wide and 10cm tall in many cases.
Making a 5mm by 5mm LED flash doesn't look like a bicyclist - it looks like a distant light behind things, simple as that. It's even worse when it's on a helmet as it disappears and comes back at random times.
You aren't even vaguely close to having a grasp on reality.The strobing bicycle lights are another fallacy - doesn't help at all. A large steady light is best (as posted above) but cyclists like LEDs so get really small tiny, little lights which from 30 meters away are like a little pin point of light. Compare that to car headlights which are about 30cm wide and 10cm tall in many cases.
Making a 5mm by 5mm LED flash doesn't look like a bicyclist - it looks like a distant light behind things, simple as that. It's even worse when it's on a helmet as it disappears and comes back at random times.
Sound isn't like light - it diffuses very dramatically in air.
You are 100% wrong that a motorcyclist is silent until they are next to you.
More importantly the size of the light unit is irrelevant.
What matters is the shape of the beam: very narrow like a laser vs. broad like a standard lamp in your living room.
The modern LED lights look very much like headlights from a distance.
This whole "strobes look like a distant car" is literally the most moronic complaint I have ever heard from a motorist.
You know how you can tell that you are faced with a bike not a car in front of you?
USING YOUR OWN f
kING HEADLIGHTS.You quite clearly aren't safe on the road.
walm said:
George111 said:
Some motorcyclists believe a loud exhaust makes them more noticeable to car drivers when they are filtering but that's not true either, in a car with a bike approaching from behind, the noise is sent backwards away from you and you only hear them once they are next to you or even just in front - too late.
The strobing bicycle lights are another fallacy - doesn't help at all. A large steady light is best (as posted above) but cyclists like LEDs so get really small tiny, little lights which from 30 meters away are like a little pin point of light. Compare that to car headlights which are about 30cm wide and 10cm tall in many cases.
Making a 5mm by 5mm LED flash doesn't look like a bicyclist - it looks like a distant light behind things, simple as that. It's even worse when it's on a helmet as it disappears and comes back at random times.
You aren't even vaguely close to having a grasp on reality.The strobing bicycle lights are another fallacy - doesn't help at all. A large steady light is best (as posted above) but cyclists like LEDs so get really small tiny, little lights which from 30 meters away are like a little pin point of light. Compare that to car headlights which are about 30cm wide and 10cm tall in many cases.
Making a 5mm by 5mm LED flash doesn't look like a bicyclist - it looks like a distant light behind things, simple as that. It's even worse when it's on a helmet as it disappears and comes back at random times.
Sound isn't like light - it diffuses very dramatically in air.
You are 100% wrong that a motorcyclist is silent until they are next to you.
More importantly the size of the light unit is irrelevant.
What matters is the shape of the beam: very narrow like a laser vs. broad like a standard lamp in your living room.
The modern LED lights look very much like headlights from a distance.
This whole "strobes look like a distant car" is literally the most moronic complaint I have ever heard from a motorist.
You know how you can tell that you are faced with a bike not a car in front of you?
USING YOUR OWN f
kING HEADLIGHTS.You quite clearly aren't safe on the road.
If you think a LED light in a bicycle looks like a car headlight then you just need to get off your bicycle and stand at the side of the road until another cyclist goes past then look. You'll see.
But overall, this is a classic example of why cyclists die - you can't have a sensible discussion with them, they are always right and we (who are also cyclists) are always wrong, there's no accommodation of the others views or appreciation for fact.
Bye
George111 said:
Some motorcyclists believe a loud exhaust makes them more noticeable to car drivers when they are filtering but that's not true either, in a car with a bike approaching from behind, the noise is sent backwards away from you and you only hear them once they are next to you or even just in front - too late.
Actually it's easy to hear a louder exhaust, and on a bicycle or as a pedestrian it can help. George111 said:
The strobing bicycle lights are another fallacy - doesn't help at all. A large steady light is best (as posted above) but cyclists like LEDs so get really small tiny, little lights which from 30 meters away are like a little pin point of light. Compare that to car headlights which are about 30cm wide and 10cm tall in many cases.
Wrong. They help because something flashing draws attention, at dusk especially. My bike light has a strong focused beam which is a great colour. There are lights specific to various riding. Cyclists are damned either way, unlike the hordes of drivers with aftermarket or badly adjusted Xenons.George111 said:
Making a 5mm by 5mm LED flash doesn't look like a bicyclist - it looks like a distant light behind things, simple as that. It's even worse when it's on a helmet as it disappears and comes back at random times.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 26th February 11:42
George111 said:
If you think a LED light in a bicycle looks like a car headlight then you just need to get off your bicycle and stand at the side of the road until another cyclist goes past then look. You'll see.
I don't need to.I have had loads of local driving friends say that two-up a couple of bikes coming towards them looks a lot like an SUV (owing to the height of the lights).
And similarly the level of brightness and area covered by these lights is similar to that in my cars.
I can see it for myself.
Of course some guy with a flashing knog doesn't look remotely like a car.
But those are only ever used in cities where there are plenty of street lights so are hardly relevant to this conversation.
If you think that a robust defence to a demonstrably idiotic stance makes cyclists more vulnerable then you are even more deluded than your previous posts imply.
Enjoy the flounce.
WinstonWolf said:
George111 said:
Negative Creep said:
WinstonWolf said:
Negative Creep said:
Wish we'd follow Holland's lead and ban flashing lights on bikes. Had some idiot behind me recently with what can only be described as a strobe light, and it's seriously distracting
Cyclists, get some lights.Cyclists fit lights.
Bloody cyclists and their lights...
No it doesn't, I can spot the difference between a headlight passing trees and a strobing cycle light. I take it you haven't passed your test yet or you don't drive very often?Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff