Today I'll mainly be moaning about ...

[doog442]

Close passes to vulnerable road users by Irresponsible motorists in 2 ton vehicles and vans.

School run mums who are so intent on getting Tarquin to school on time they have to make up time by pretending cyclists don't exist.

Motorists who fail to use adequate observation, fail to clear their windscreens, side windows etc.

Motorists who have little concept of the Highway code. 

Impatient motorists who see a cyclist and simply have to pass them, no matter what. 

Motorists who blind cyclists with their headlights. 

Netherlands has the right idea, its called 'strict liability'. The assumption is that if a collision occurs between a cyclist and motorist the motorist is at fault until proven otherwise. I guess when you know that's the law you may well pay a little more attention, drive a little more carefully and kill or Injure less people.  

However I agree that folk who ride a bicycle without lights are Irresponsible, just like any irresponsible person. 

However most proper, regular cyclists aren't irresponsible. Anyone can be a cyclist and without doubt many of us have been at some point, however its easier to label 'cyclists' under a generic term, from a 14 year kid meeting his mates down the park to a drug dealer who uses 2 wheels to deal his dope to someone who commutes daily. 

Down here we have a large transient population, many deem themselves to be outside the law, some use a cycle to get from A to B many don't care if they can be seen or not. 

You can shout from the rooftops but none will be reading the forum and none of them care what you think. Irresponsible people are simply a section of society. 

[LenT]

4 hours ago, First_Lexus said:

Some cyclists would do well to remember that the moral high ground counts for little in a mortuary…

Undoubtedly true in a real world encounter.  And yet I find myself troubled by the implication that ‘might transcends right’.  There’s something admirable about those who will maintain a matter of principle to their own personal detriment.

The example that comes to mind is best illustrated by, as it happens, a drawing I once saw.

Imagine, if you will, a small sailing dinghy.  At the tiller sits an elderly naval type staring resolutely ahead.  In front of him is his wife, pointing anxiously at the huge oil tanker bearing down on them.

“Ignore them, Doris.” he’s saying. “Steam gives way to sail.”

[First_Lexus]

9 hours ago, doog442 said:

Close passes to vulnerable road users by Irresponsible motorists in 2 ton vehicles and vans.

School run mums who are so intent on getting Tarquin to school on time they have to make up time by pretending cyclists don't exist.

Motorists who fail to use adequate observation, fail to clear their windscreens, side windows etc.

Motorists who have little concept of the Highway code. 

Impatient motorists who see a cyclist and simply have to pass them, no matter what. 

Motorists who blind cyclists with their headlights. 

Netherlands has the right idea, its called 'strict liability'. The assumption is that if a collision occurs between a cyclist and motorist the motorist is at fault until proven otherwise. I guess when you know that's the law you may well pay a little more attention, drive a little more carefully and kill or Injure less people.  

However I agree that folk who ride a bicycle without lights are Irresponsible, just like any irresponsible person. 

However most proper, regular cyclists aren't irresponsible. Anyone can be a cyclist and without doubt many of us have been at some point, however its easier to label 'cyclists' under a generic term, from a 14 year kid meeting his mates down the park to a drug dealer who uses 2 wheels to deal his dope to someone who commutes daily. 

Down here we have a large transient population, many deem themselves to be outside the law, some use a cycle to get from A to B many don't care if they can be seen or not. 

You can shout from the rooftops but none will be reading the forum and none of them care what you think. Irresponsible people are simply a section of society. 

@doog442agree with most of this. My post was simply an observation that, having driven in and out of London for over a decade, too many cyclists rode in a way that put themselves in peril. Personally I’d rather concede the moral high ground and be alive!

The example of The Netherlands is an interesting one. With so many cars now having dash cams by choice, I wonder whether a lot of this could be avoided simply by making the fitting of them mandatory. People - drivers and cyclists - might think a bit harder if they knew their vehicle was recording something that would be used as evidence…

 

[Phil xxkr]

12 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

Moaning about almost all electric devices. Coffeegrinder with a 50 page handbook. A satnav with a 250 page handbook. Philishave with a 30 page handbook of which 15 are legal warnings. Why is everything so complicated?? 

How about a Lexus RX with 1300 pages of handbooks.? No doubt John will say "not enough" 🤣

[Phil xxkr]

11 hours ago, doog442 said:

Close passes to vulnerable road users by Irresponsible motorists in 2 ton vehicles and vans.

School run mums who are so intent on getting Tarquin to school on time they have to make up time by pretending cyclists don't exist.

Motorists who fail to use adequate observation, fail to clear their windscreens, side windows etc.

Motorists who have little concept of the Highway code. 

Impatient motorists who see a cyclist and simply have to pass them, no matter what. 

Motorists who blind cyclists with their headlights. 

Netherlands has the right idea, its called 'strict liability'. The assumption is that if a collision occurs between a cyclist and motorist the motorist is at fault until proven otherwise. I guess when you know that's the law you may well pay a little more attention, drive a little more carefully and kill or Injure less people.  

However I agree that folk who ride a bicycle without lights are Irresponsible, just like any irresponsible person. 

However most proper, regular cyclists aren't irresponsible. Anyone can be a cyclist and without doubt many of us have been at some point, however its easier to label 'cyclists' under a generic term, from a 14 year kid meeting his mates down the park to a drug dealer who uses 2 wheels to deal his dope to someone who commutes daily. 

Down here we have a large transient population, many deem themselves to be outside the law, some use a cycle to get from A to B many don't care if they can be seen or not. 

You can shout from the rooftops but none will be reading the forum and none of them care what you think. Irresponsible people are simply a section of society. 

In my opinion Doog the Netherlands example is not one I would subscribe too. Essentially you are saying, guilty until proven innocent, what a precedent to set! And no doubt legal aid will not be available because your crime was so self-motivated. 

[dutchie01]

If you ever visit Amsterdam you see what the result of this is. Cyclists own the streets in complete anarchy. Driving in all directions against the traffic through red lights on and off pavement always taking shortest routes no light et night etc etc. Want to moan about something? here you have it.

On the other hand that law does protect the weaker in traffic and rightfully so. Maybe its just Amsterdam then? 

[Steve]

Today i'll mainly be moaning about... Lane filtering. 

Why is it that someone has to squeeze you out of your lane filter ... that makes my blood boil.

Last week a van in front of me was squeezed and he did not budge so they clipped each other, the van then turned off so the person who squeezed forfeited damage because of their selfishness. Made me chuckle and big lesson learnt.

[Cotswold Pete]

2 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

If you ever visit Amsterdam you see what the result of this is. Cyclists own the streets in complete anarchy. Driving in all directions against the traffic through red lights on and off pavement always taking shortest routes no light et night etc etc. Want to moan about something? here you have it.

On the other hand that law does protect the weaker in traffic and rightfully so. Maybe its just Amsterdam then? 

Amsterdam seems to be a case of bike-overload, which is as bad a car overload in other places.

I used to like Amsterdam but became more crowed than ever with tourist and much preferred Antwerp - plenty of bikes, but less busy/mad/urgent but walking the pavements you do have to dodge the bikes hanging off drain pipes etc.

Have cycled around Paris on one of their 'Boris Bikes', now that was an adventure not to be repeated in a hurry.

But my moan of the day (given the high number of local roadwork traffic lights) is people who seem to wait for the green light and then spend 5 seconds selecting first, meaning if you are the back, you get the next red light and a unnecessary delay.

[royoftherovers]

2 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

Amsterdam seems to be a case of bike-overload, which is as bad a car overload in other places.

I used to like Amsterdam but became more crowed than ever with tourist and much preferred Antwerp - plenty of bikes, but less busy/mad/urgent but walking the pavements you do have to dodge the bikes hanging off drain pipes etc.

Have cycled around Paris on one of their 'Boris Bikes', now that was an adventure not to be repeated in a hurry.

But my moan of the day (given the high number of local roadwork traffic lights) is people who seem to wait for the green light and then spend 5 seconds selecting first, meaning if you are the back, you get the next red light and a unnecessary delay.

 

[Phil xxkr]

3 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

If you ever visit Amsterdam you see what the result of this is. Cyclists own the streets in complete anarchy. Driving in all directions against the traffic through red lights on and off pavement always taking shortest routes no light et night etc etc. Want to moan about something? here you have it.

On the other hand that law does protect the weaker in traffic and rightfully so. Maybe its just Amsterdam then? 

Protect on one hand and then use guns on them the next minute 🤔

[Phil xxkr]

On 11/19/2021 at 1:34 PM, LenT said:

It’s a rare beef curry of mine that doesn’t feature some tomatoes in it.

And, as everyone knows, tomatoes are a fruit - not a vegetable.

Do you use rare beef in a curry Len? Unusual 🤔

[LenT]

1 hour ago, Cotswold Pete said:

But my moan of the day (given the high number of local roadwork traffic lights) is people who seem to wait for the green light and then spend 5 seconds selecting first, meaning if you are the back, you get the next red light and a unnecessary delay.

A very legitimate moan, but surely only part of the story.

Until I was forty, I worked and drove daily in London. Time and road space were considered to be at a premium.  So at lights drivers would stop about a foot or so apart.  

It also used to be said  that the definition of a millisecond was the time between lights turning green and the car behind sounding its horn.

I then relocated my business interests to Leicester.  Almost the first thing I noticed was that cars halted some distance from the lights - almost as though the driver had to take a bit of a run up to get over them.  The second thing was that cars halted almost a car’s length from each other, as though nervous of catching something contagious.

And the final moan, as Pete has so correctly identified, is that the wait at the lights would appear to be so long for some drivers that they clearly had to remind themselves of the required procedure once they noticed they had changed.

[Alan305]

20 hours ago, doog442 said:

… Netherlands has the right idea, its called 'strict liability'. The assumption is that if a collision occurs between a cyclist and motorist the motorist is at fault until proven otherwise…

Bit like Saudi Arabia. If a foreign national is involved in a road accident they are liable. If they had not been in the country the accident would not have happened. Simples.

[DanD]

On 11/19/2021 at 6:55 PM, Phil xxkr said:

You sound like John Inman 🤣

Mincey by name...

[paulrnx]

I’m free

[Ala Larj]

2 hours ago, paulrnx said:

I’m free

I’m expensive!

[Mincey]

13 hours ago, DanD said:

Mincey by name...

Steady!

[PCM]

FreeCycle: ( Giving away things no longer needed to others. )

People who say that would like the thing you are offering... you wait in... they don't turn up.

Just rude.

[paulrnx]

Loving this thread 👍

[First_Lexus]

‘Seedless’ satsumas that contain pips. And ones that claim to be ‘easy peel’ when they’re actually the opposite…😡

[dutchie01]

On 11/24/2021 at 8:54 AM, Phil xxkr said:

In my opinion Doog the Netherlands example is not one I would subscribe too. Essentially you are saying, guilty until proven innocent, what a precedent to set! And no doubt legal aid will not be available because your crime was so self-motivated. 

 

20 hours ago, LenT said:

A very legitimate moan, but surely only part of the story.

Until I was forty, I worked and drove daily in London. Time and road space were considered to be at a premium.  So at lights drivers would stop about a foot or so apart.  

It also used to be said  that the definition of a millisecond was the time between lights turning green and the car behind sounding its horn.

I then relocated my business interests to Leicester.  Almost the first thing I noticed was that cars halted some distance from the lights - almost as though the driver had to take a bit of a run up to get over them.  The second thing was that cars halted almost a car’s length from each other, as though nervous of catching something contagious.

And the final moan, as Pete has so correctly identified, is that the wait at the lights would appear to be so long for some drivers that they clearly had to remind themselves of the required procedure once they noticed they had changed.

This will be a cultural thing?  Different from city to city from country to country. Rome, Italy comes to mind. 2 Lane junction that normally can have 2 cars next to each other waiting for the red light can also contain another six scooters and 4 motorcycles. All next to each other. Everybody then races off the moment the other traffic-light turns orange. Thing is the others don't stop at orange so it always ends up in a cacophony of horns and heavily gesticulating Italians. In Switzerland on the other hand a single policeman can direct an entire junction. Everybody stops and waits for his instructions. 

[Phil xxkr]

1 hour ago, First_Lexus said:

‘Seedless’ satsumas that contain pips. And ones that claim to be ‘easy peel’ when they’re actually the opposite…😡

Yes, Ed, always intrigued me as to how you grow seedless grapes 🤔

[LenT]

36 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

Yes, Ed, always intrigued me as to how you grow seedless grapes 🤔

It’s not easy, Phil.

It often involves a lot of hard grafting.

[Phil xxkr]

1 minute ago, LenT said:

It’s not easy, Phil.

It often involves a lot of hard grafting.

Very very good len

[Mincey]

2 hours ago, PCM said:

FreeCycle: ( Giving away things no longer needed to others. )

People who say that would like the thing you are offering... you wait in... they don't turn up.

Just rude.

Now then, now then....

I stopped Freecycling when I wanted to get rid of two pretty good Dawes cycles which belonged to my parents. I had about ten requests for them and I wanted to be fair, so I gave them to the first responder, even though there were a couple saying that the bikes would make a great difference to their lives. What a mistake. They came to collect them, then as they got back into their car, said they were going on eBay. I will never, ever, ever put anything on Freecycle again.