Cyclists, new Highway Code rules

[dutchie01]

Malc it will never stop, last week me slowly driving in my village a 16yo schoolkid with headphones simply crossed the road like i was invisible, left the pavement on which he was cycling (!) . Car alert systems went crazy, the car and myself hit the brakes as hard as we could hit the horn shouted all sorts of insults to him ( only realizing the windows were closed ) and in 5 seconds he was gone not realizing he escaped a certain death....

[royoftherovers]

17 minutes ago, dutchie01 said:

Malc it will never stop, last week me slowly driving in my village a 16yo schoolkid with headphones simply crossed the road like i was invisible, left the pavement on which he was cycling (!) . Car alert systems went crazy, the car and myself hit the brakes as hard as we could hit the horn shouted all sorts of insults to him ( only realizing the windows were closed ) and in 5 seconds he was gone not realizing he escaped a certain death....

There is a phrase which fits many many situations ,but one which is rarely used these days, but which in my view should be used regularly by those in authority, but are they scared to use it , because they do not know what it means ?

"Driving/ Riding, without due care and attention".

[dutchie01]

John, those in authority in this case are the parents. If i knew who this young man was i would visit them for sure.

It seems traffic has become more lethal over time. In our days headphones, mobile phones, apps instagram and what else did not exist. Our only danger of distraction was too much beer? ( and girls of course..) 

[ganzoom]

9 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

Our only danger of distraction was too much beer? ( and girls of course..) 

You do realise both of those things still exist :).

[ganzoom]

13 hours ago, Malc said:

yesterday a cyclist tested my patience .......... me and a Q of cars at the red lights ........  cyclist just dashed up our inside (s ) and zipped thru' them .....  nothing coming BUT hey I guess it's a well known fact that cyclists can make up their own rules of the road eh ! 

Malc

So you got annoyed at another road user who didn't get stuck in traffic? The red light thing is bad, but one of the main reasons I commute to work on my pedal bike is because it's QUICKER. Even motorbikes gets stuck in the school run traffic.

Instead of getting jealous, why not try it? eBikes are fab for urban travel, so much more efficiency and effective than any car.

[Spacewagon52]

5 hours ago, ganzoom said:

So you got annoyed at another road user who didn't get stuck in traffic? The red light thing is bad, but one of the main reasons I commute to work on my pedal bike is because it's QUICKER. Even motorbikes gets stuck in the school run traffic.

Instead of getting jealous, why not try it? eBikes are fab for urban travel, so much more efficiency and effective than any car.

I think the annoyance is seeing the cyclist jumping a red light.

[Malc]

5 hours ago, ganzoom said:

So you got annoyed at another road user who didn't get stuck in traffic?

not at all .  my annoyance was with the cyclist who broke the law knowingly and unremittingly and would methinks continue to do that until someone stopped him .......  maybe dead in his tracks 

Malc

[Malc]

5 hours ago, ganzoom said:

Instead of getting jealous, why not try it? eBikes are fab for urban travel,

I'm jealous of  ....... you ............... probably not having some infirmity ....... and like me  having to use my Blue Badge from time to time 

Malc

[Bluemarlin]

On 5/3/2022 at 2:15 PM, Malc said:

yesterday a cyclist tested my patience .......... me and a Q of cars at the red lights ........  cyclist just dashed up our inside (s ) and zipped thru' them .....  nothing coming BUT hey I guess it's a well known fact that cyclists can make up their own rules of the road eh ! 

Malc

Whilst it's wrong for the cyclist to have jumped the red light, it's not really accurate to single out cyclists for making up their own rules.

I would suspect that, on any given day, a significantly larger number of motorists exceed the speed limit than cyclists jump red lights. That wouldn't make it accurate though to say that it's a well known fact that motorists can make up their own rules of the road.

Some road users are good, some bad, regardless of their mode of transport.

[malcolmw]

@bluemarlin

You are being a bit disingenuous with your comparison. It is, indeed, likely that a larger number of motorists exceed the speed limit every day than cyclists ignoring red lights. However, your comparison should be the proportion of each class of road users failing to obey rules. There are far fewer cyclists doing far fewer road miles than drivers but we all seem to see examples of red light running.

The salutary effect of the likelihood of punishment discourages drivers from erring while cyclists cannot be identified.

 

[Moleman]

16 minutes ago, Bluemarlin said:

Whilst it's wrong for the cyclist to have jumped the red light, it's not really accurate to single out cyclists for making up their own rules.

I would suspect that, on any given day, a significantly larger number of motorists exceed the speed limit than cyclists jump red lights. That wouldn't make it accurate though to say that it's a well known fact that motorists can make up their own rules of the road.

Some road users are good, some bad, regardless of their mode of transport.

If it is not you it is Doog, take a chill pill lads and change the record. Yes some motorists regularly break the law and do stupid things, and many cyclists do the same, just accept it.

You are on a car forum, expect a bit of stick toward cyclists. 😁

[Moleman]

9 minutes ago, malcolmw said:

@bluemarlin

You are being a bit disingenuous with your comparison. It is, indeed, likely that a larger number of motorists exceed the speed limit every day than cyclists ignoring red lights. However, your comparison should be the proportion of each class of road users failing to obey rules. There are far fewer cyclists doing far fewer road miles than drivers but we all seem to see examples of red light running.

The salutary effect of the likelihood of punishment discourages drivers from erring while cyclists cannot be identified.

 

@Malcolmw 

Trying to converse with cyclists using common sense and logic would appear to be a waste of time, given the responses some of them make on this forum. Remember as a car driver you are always wrong.

[Bluemarlin]

4 minutes ago, malcolmw said:

@bluemarlin

You are being a bit disingenuous with your comparison. It is, indeed, likely that a larger number of motorists exceed the speed limit every day than cyclists ignoring red lights. However, your comparison should be the proportion of each class of road users failing to obey rules. There are far fewer cyclists doing far fewer road miles than drivers but we all seem to see examples of red light running.

The salutary effect of the likelihood of punishment discourages drivers from erring while cyclists cannot be identified.

 

We all see examples of speeding every day. I bet you can't find a day when you don't see a car speeding. Perhaps you've even exceeded limit yourself in the past, I know I have. The numbers don't really matter with regards to the general point though, although I still think that even proportionately speeding by cars would outnumber light jumping by bikes.

Given the number of speeding tickets issued, I'm not sure motorists are discouraged that much either. Even so, the salutary effect of death or serious injury is as much a deterrent for cyclists.

Either way, I think it's a fair comparison.

[Bluemarlin]

14 minutes ago, Moleman said:

If it is not you it is Doog, take a chill pill lads and change the record. Yes some motorists regularly break the law and do stupid things, and many cyclists do the same, just accept it.

You are on a car forum, expect a bit of stick toward cyclists. 😁

I'm perfectly chill, and do accept it.  I was just replying to a poster who didn't seem to accept it, and implied it was only cyclists who make up the rules.

As both a car driver and a cyclist, I'm happy to accept stick where appropriate, as much as those who wield it should be happy to accept a rebuttal 😉

[Moleman]

4 minutes ago, Bluemarlin said:

I'm perfectly chill, and do accept it.  I was just replying to a poster who didn't seem to accept it, and implied it was only cyclists who make up the rules.

As both a car driver and a cyclist, I'm happy to accept stick where appropriate, as much as those who wield it should be happy to accept a rebuttal 😉

Good for you. If you believe your responses over the last hour were achieving that, then I am happy for you.

[doog442]

3 hours ago, Moleman said:

Good for you. If you believe your responses over the last hour were achieving that, then I am happy for you.

No good for you, I'm happy for you stuck inside your 1 ton metal cage preaching good practice to all comers. 

 

 

[doog442]

4 hours ago, malcolmw said:

However, your comparison should be the proportion of each class of road users failing to obey rules. There are far fewer cyclists doing far fewer road miles than drivers but we all seem to see examples of red light running.

 

I see red light running and speeding every day with cars on every single trip, every single day and that's when driving. I could walk down every road within a mile of my house and find dozens of cars breaking the law right now, be it parked too close to a junction or with the nearside to the kerb at night, obstructing the pavement etc or a myriad of other offences.

If I looked closely at tyres I'd  find numerous illegal tyres and hundreds of construction & use offences - without doubt and that is a fact.  Notwithstanding no insurance or vehicle excise licence offences. Proportionally a MPV will commit a road traffic offence far more frequently than a cyclist (and that includes you) - its a fact backed up by evidence. Trying to 'dress up' something based on extremely limited observation or prejudice or the comments paper of your local rag doesn't really cut it I'm afraid . 

There's a reason for speed limits, speed cameras and the Road Traffic Act - motor vehicles, because they kill. Despite being a petrol head clinging onto my straight six, that's the truth.

This forum is an oddity, despite it being a motoring forum the proportion of posters displaying these archaic views is much larger than say BMW or Audi - perhaps its down to demographics, or grumpy old git syndrome - I'd say both, I'd wager the average poster is older, with less cyclists (because the demographic is older) so we get ridiculous threads like this that wouldn't see the life of day elsewhere. Or at least if they did, you'd get a more reasoned and balanced response. 

 

[Ala Larj]

53 minutes ago, doog442 said:

I see red light running and speeding every day with cars on every single trip, every single day and that's when driving. I could walk down every road within a mile of my house and find dozens of cars breaking the law right now, be it parked too close to a junction or with the nearside to the kerb at night, obstructing the pavement etc or a myriad of other offences.

If I looked closely at tyres I'd  find numerous illegal tyres and hundreds of construction & use offences - without doubt and that is a fact.  Notwithstanding no insurance or vehicle excise licence offences. Proportionally a MPV will commit a road traffic offence far more frequently than a cyclist (and that includes you) - its a fact backed up by evidence. Trying to 'dress up' something based on extremely limited observation or prejudice or the comments paper of your local rag doesn't really cut it I'm afraid . 

There's a reason for speed limits, speed cameras and the Road Traffic Act - motor vehicles, because they kill. Despite being a petrol head clinging onto my straight six, that's the truth.

This forum is an oddity, despite it being a motoring forum the proportion of posters displaying these archaic views is much larger than say BMW or Audi - perhaps its down to demographics, or grumpy old git syndrome - I'd say both, I'd wager the average poster is older, with less cyclists (because the demographic is older) so we get ridiculous threads like this that wouldn't see the life of day elsewhere. Or at least if they did, you'd get a more reasoned and balanced response. 

 

Are you also a member of the Raleigh owners club? 😉

[ganzoom]

11 hours ago, Moleman said:

 Remember as a car driver you are always wrong.

You might be amazed to find most cyclist own cars and drive them!!

This is my cycling mileage at present, roughly 200 miles every 4 weeks pretty much 100% commuting.

This is how far I drove in just one Friday evening. I currently do about 1200 miles every 4 weeks in the car, so 6 times the mileage compared to my bike. 

As others have said I see bad driving and cycling every where all the time. The 'them versus us' attitude some people like to portray is just mad, we are all road user, all trying to get from A to B using what ever mode of transport is most appropriate for the trip, and it really is as simple as that.

 

[Moleman]

9 hours ago, doog442 said:

No good for you, I'm happy for you stuck inside your 1 ton metal cage preaching good practice to all comers. 

 

 

Point proven 

[Moleman]

8 hours ago, doog442 said:

I see red light running and speeding every day with cars on every single trip, every single day and that's when driving. I could walk down every road within a mile of my house and find dozens of cars breaking the law right now, be it parked too close to a junction or with the nearside to the kerb at night, obstructing the pavement etc or a myriad of other offences.

If I looked closely at tyres I'd  find numerous illegal tyres and hundreds of construction & use offences - without doubt and that is a fact.  Notwithstanding no insurance or vehicle excise licence offences. Proportionally a MPV will commit a road traffic offence far more frequently than a cyclist (and that includes you) - its a fact backed up by evidence. Trying to 'dress up' something based on extremely limited observation or prejudice or the comments paper of your local rag doesn't really cut it I'm afraid . 

There's a reason for speed limits, speed cameras and the Road Traffic Act - motor vehicles, because they kill. Despite being a petrol head clinging onto my straight six, that's the truth.

This forum is an oddity, despite it being a motoring forum the proportion of posters displaying these archaic views is much larger than say BMW or Audi - perhaps its down to demographics, or grumpy old git syndrome - I'd say both, I'd wager the average poster is older, with less cyclists (because the demographic is older) so we get ridiculous threads like this that wouldn't see the life of day elsewhere. Or at least if they did, you'd get a more reasoned and balanced response. 

 

Just no helping some people.

[Moleman]

1 hour ago, ganzoom said:

You might be amazed to find most cyclist own cars and drive them!!

 

Why would that amaze me, I am one of them. Unlike some I hold balanced views, not obsessive views.

[Malc]

9 hours ago, doog442 said:

you'd get a more reasoned and balanced response. 

 

I'm always reasoned and balanced and welcome the further reasoned and balanced responses advocating the severest punishment available upon all cyclists when caught running red lights ..  this won't of course apply to all good law abiding cytclists ....  just the cyclist law breakers commiting heinous crimes ......  go4it, punish 'em to the hilt I say 

Making it much much safer for us dear old motorists 

Malc

[Moleman]

Looking for a lighter more humorous view, a quick google search comes up with these questions and answers about cycling. They might explain a lot.

Have a lovely day everyone. 😁

Peace and love to all.

Why is cycling so addictive?

That high can also apply to cycling, because cardiovascular exercise releases more endorphins than other forms of exercise, and that's the problem: the more of them you release, the better you feel and the more you crave. Exercise really can become like a drug.

 Why do cyclists get so angry?

A bike rage incident can start because a cyclist, driver, or pedestrian believes that another road user was being discourteous, breaking traffic rules, or in many cases because someone felt that their safety was being compromised by the actions of another road user.

 Why do cyclists get boners?

It doesn't always happen, usually it's when I'm racing (on the TT bike) or training (on the road bike) or indeed on the turbo. My concern is that it's indicative of pressure being released, causing a potentially embarrassing 'semi' post race/ride as the blood rushes back and that this could cause problems long term.

[Spacewagon52]

24 minutes ago, Moleman said:

 

 Why do cyclists get boners?

 

No more Viagra for me! Off to buy a bike!