Pushbikes aaaaaah!!!!!!
Discussion
Just read another thread about roads prompted me to have a 
about pushbikes.
Left Merton at 7.45 for daily commute to City took the Clapham High St/Oval route rather than Clapham Old Town/ Vauxhall for a change and also loads of road works everywhere.
Got completely mobbed at the Oval by grillions of pushbikes! They stop in front of you at the lights (when they stop for them of course), cut across you at warp factor 7 out of nowhere or start off in top gear and take forever to get going. Appear from behind vans without pausing/stopping to check all is clear, then give you the glare when you ask whether they have a death wish as you've just scrubbed a 1000 miles off your tyres to avoid them.
After 14yrs of commuting are they getting worse or is it me becoming even more of a GOM!
Its a pity the BiB dont spend a week nicking them for completely disobeying RTA.
about pushbikes. Left Merton at 7.45 for daily commute to City took the Clapham High St/Oval route rather than Clapham Old Town/ Vauxhall for a change and also loads of road works everywhere.
Got completely mobbed at the Oval by grillions of pushbikes! They stop in front of you at the lights (when they stop for them of course), cut across you at warp factor 7 out of nowhere or start off in top gear and take forever to get going. Appear from behind vans without pausing/stopping to check all is clear, then give you the glare when you ask whether they have a death wish as you've just scrubbed a 1000 miles off your tyres to avoid them.
After 14yrs of commuting are they getting worse or is it me becoming even more of a GOM!
Its a pity the BiB dont spend a week nicking them for completely disobeying RTA.
Yep push bikes are a PIA in London! If its not shooting red lights and you having to make avoiding action you get the idiots pulling or stopping in front of you as you say.
I had a go a one woman who was totally clueless, she had the cheek to squeeze round me and stop in front. I shouted well done to her
On the whole I always look out for bikes, give them space and give way to them when they have legal right of way but some of the moves they make cause me to think they have a deathwish.
I had one guy moan at me at the next set of lights cos I used a bit of bus lane to get round a truck.. he said that I almost had him off which was not the case at all. He in fact was weaving all over the lane and I had to avoid him.
As far as I'm concerned cyclists can start having more of a say when they start paying to use the road, have to hold a license to ride, are legally forced to follow the highway code and have insurance.
Also have you noticed that suddenly it seem that push bikes can use zebra crossings as if they were a pedestrian as well?
I had a go a one woman who was totally clueless, she had the cheek to squeeze round me and stop in front. I shouted well done to her
On the whole I always look out for bikes, give them space and give way to them when they have legal right of way but some of the moves they make cause me to think they have a deathwish.
I had one guy moan at me at the next set of lights cos I used a bit of bus lane to get round a truck.. he said that I almost had him off which was not the case at all. He in fact was weaving all over the lane and I had to avoid him.
As far as I'm concerned cyclists can start having more of a say when they start paying to use the road, have to hold a license to ride, are legally forced to follow the highway code and have insurance.
Also have you noticed that suddenly it seem that push bikes can use zebra crossings as if they were a pedestrian as well?
but remember that in Law as a Judge once stated "a Cyclist is entitled to his wobble"!, true btw
I always give them a wide berth after one turning right just 18" from my front bumper Years ago and ending up through the Windscreen and sitting neatly in the pasenger seat in my old Allegro!, I had to pay for the damage myself
and had a Bill from the NHS for £10 which I never did pay incidentally, also a letter from the Chief Constable saying "we have Decided not to Prosecute" WTF!
Cyclists are Definately above the Law
I always give them a wide berth after one turning right just 18" from my front bumper Years ago and ending up through the Windscreen and sitting neatly in the pasenger seat in my old Allegro!, I had to pay for the damage myself
and had a Bill from the NHS for £10 which I never did pay incidentally, also a letter from the Chief Constable saying "we have Decided not to Prosecute" WTF! Cyclists are Definately above the Law
There's a simple solution - they should be made to pay poad tax, have at least 3rd party insurance, and do some sort of training so that their licence is endorsable if they committ an offence - basically, just like all other road users.
As it stands now, if one of those pink lycra wearing c*nts jump a red light and I hit them, then my insurance has to pick up the bill. It's a
ing disgrace.
As it stands now, if one of those pink lycra wearing c*nts jump a red light and I hit them, then my insurance has to pick up the bill. It's a
ing disgrace.
Funny that i happen to do all three (bike car and pushbike)and everybody seems to moan and winge about each other,it would also help if there were more cycle lanes not everybody can drive or ride a bike so the pushbike maybe their only mode of transport and sometimes its a lot quick riding pushbikes than driving cars at peak times anyway,each person has their views on how someone should ride or drive not everbody view is right.I do agree that cyclists should have some sort of insurance not only for their own protection but also incase of damage to others.
I suppose you can blame the local councils etc trying to get poeple on their bikes go green they say help save the world, ha load of tosh the damage is already done!
I suppose you can blame the local councils etc trying to get poeple on their bikes go green they say help save the world, ha load of tosh the damage is already done!
I recently lost my licence and have reverted to the peddle power for transport and have to say that the majority of road users are completely oblivious to my presence. Whilst the situation in London may be different, in the Westcountry the problem is caused by Tw@ts who think that they have more rights just because they have a bit of tin around them. 
The point about 3rd party Insurance is good and makes sense until you think about it like a rational person. About 50% of cyclists are under 18 and therefore cannot hold a policy of Insurance by law.
When driving I tried to always give cyclists room and found generally that they reciprocated, it doesn't seem to work the other way round. If you find that you have taken tread off you tyres by having to brake hard to avoid a cyclist, maybe, just maybe, you should have seen them earlier.
The point about 3rd party Insurance is good and makes sense until you think about it like a rational person. About 50% of cyclists are under 18 and therefore cannot hold a policy of Insurance by law. When driving I tried to always give cyclists room and found generally that they reciprocated, it doesn't seem to work the other way round. If you find that you have taken tread off you tyres by having to brake hard to avoid a cyclist, maybe, just maybe, you should have seen them earlier.
Stubby Pete said:
The point about 3rd party Insurance is good and makes sense until you think about it like a rational person. About 50% of cyclists are under 18 and therefore cannot hold a policy of Insurance by law.
where did you get that from then? I'm 16 and currently have an insurance policy in my name. As will most 17 year olds driving cars (note I say most 
)...
Stubby Pete said:
I recently lost my licence and have reverted to the peddle power for transport and have to say that the majority of road users are completely oblivious to my presence. Whilst the situation in London may be different, in the Westcountry the problem is caused by Tw@ts who think that they have more rights just because they have a bit of tin around them.
Not just the West Country, it's the same everywhere. Try negotiating a roundabout on a bicycle when you're taking any exit other than the first. The t
ts think that just because they're in an armoured cage they may drive straight through a slower-moving vehicle. Turning right off a road, same thing. Not sure quite where I stand on this one, because I ride a pushbike, a motorbike and drive a car at various times.
Saw an absolute howler from a lady on a pushbike this morning though.
Imagine the scene: A busy line of very slow moving traffic. The car in front of me indicates to reverse park in a space on the left, so I stop (in my car)and give him enough room to complete the move. At which point a cyclist comes down the nearside against the kerb and stops a foot behind the rear bumper of this poor sod trying to reverse. It was a good thirty seconds before she clocked what he was trying to do, and got out of the way - by riding onto the footpath, scattering pedestrians!!!!
I've seen the same woman riding against the flow of traffic on a narrow cycle lane on the opposite side of the same road two or three times recently. Absolutely clueless, and oblivious to the danger she's putting herself in!
Saw an absolute howler from a lady on a pushbike this morning though.
Imagine the scene: A busy line of very slow moving traffic. The car in front of me indicates to reverse park in a space on the left, so I stop (in my car)and give him enough room to complete the move. At which point a cyclist comes down the nearside against the kerb and stops a foot behind the rear bumper of this poor sod trying to reverse. It was a good thirty seconds before she clocked what he was trying to do, and got out of the way - by riding onto the footpath, scattering pedestrians!!!!
I've seen the same woman riding against the flow of traffic on a narrow cycle lane on the opposite side of the same road two or three times recently. Absolutely clueless, and oblivious to the danger she's putting herself in!
I love cycling & cycle to work most days. I work on the basis of being sensible and tolerant & alive to the fact that most people just want to get to their destination ASAP & without hassle. Yes, groups of road users are - to say the least - not cycle friendly (buses, taxis, delivery vans, scool run mums) but, after 14 years of cycling in London I know how to give a wide berth to them.
Also, as for the highway code, well one of the advantages of riding a bike is the ability to be a little "continental" in one's application of the code. Just don't do anything daft and don't winge if it all goes the way of the pear whilst you're doing something illegal.
Room for all of us out there guys.....
Also, as for the highway code, well one of the advantages of riding a bike is the ability to be a little "continental" in one's application of the code. Just don't do anything daft and don't winge if it all goes the way of the pear whilst you're doing something illegal.
Room for all of us out there guys.....
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