Rant Silly Cyclists

I'm glad to see you have finally come round to agreeing with my OP:

Car drivers are by far the worst road users ......every single day I see car drivers driving dangerously, most of them don't even understand the rules at simple junctions, choosing instead to conform to a nebulous 'rules of the road' version of the highway code.

 

I understood your point, once clarified.

 

^^ ....ok, lets leave it there then, btw I have no issue with you or anyone asking for clarification in fact I welcome it, saves a lot of needless arguing over something that has not been said.

 

LOL.. agreed. No hard feeling either.... to you, or anyone else in this thread.

 

The cyclist in the video is a cock, if he is going to shout at total strangers he should expect to find one that is going to have a temper and will kick off at him.

I'm an avid cyclist, but unless that driver was dangerously close to me I'd have left it be.

I mostly cycle on small rural roads, the majority of drivers pass with plenty of space and are courteous road users but without fail every week someone will pass me with less than an arms length. Being treated as a second class road user is a fact of being a cyclist.

Cycling is a cheap, healthy form of transport, the Gov are trying to promote it for those reasons but adding in regulation like registration and licenses/testing would just put people off doing it.

 

I don't agree with licensing/testing. Anyone can ride a bike, and you can't (typically) go fast enough to kill anyone.

Registration, though. That needs to happen. It's utterly ridiculous that there is no recourse for a cyclist being an utter **** because once they ride off they're unidentifiable. If I get too close to a cyclist they report me, if they get too close to me (I've been entirely on the other side of the road when passing and they've wobbled straight across the lane towards me) then what am I supposed to do?

"Hello officer, yes, there's an unsafe cyclist riding. No, officer, I can't tell you anything much other than the colour of the bike and the rider had four limbs and a head."

Licensed, no, tested, no, registered? Absolutely. It's no big deal for car owners, so it should be no big deal for cyclists either. Road user equality goes both ways, chaps.

 

Speed isn't the issue. You can CAUSE an accident involving other people by being irresponsible. The driving test isn't there to test how skilfully you operate the car.. it's there to test how SAFELY you operate the car. Yes, anyone can ride a bike, but unless taught how to, not everyone can ride a bike RESPONSIBLY.

Anyone can drive a car.. it's not difficult

Agreed completely. Registration and wearing a means of being identified is just sensible, and I can't think of ONE logical argument against it.

 

The effort involved in setting it up? The admin required to run it? The cost?

 

Agreed I still think they should have to be insured, A cyclist is more than capable of causing a accident even a fatal one if a car owner does the insurance pays out who pays when it's a cyclist that causes the accident? not the cyclist that's for sure

 

I think insurance is prudent.

I am insured I checked the other day, its covered by my house insurance - 2 million in personal liability insurance which covers damage by my bike.

 

<rant>

I live in Glasgow and just want to say - I wish I could run over about 80% of cyclists on streets over here. Most of them are mental, breaking all the rules they can only because they are smaller than cars and simply can without notice. Riding around like drunks, ignoring red lights, etc...
Also - law stating that cyclists can ride next to each other is f*** stupid - bike is a vehicle and should be treated same as a car, that is my opinion. Do I drive my car next to the other and chat about the weather? No. But ride on bikes 5mph chatting God knows on a busy street that goes to city centre...
If I want to ride a bike, I go somewhere where there are special paths and make sure I don't irritate anyone. Not like a "saint cow"

To all cyclists that obey the law - thank you for being cautious and taking the rules seriously.
To all "other ones" - just try to put your hand on my bonnet - try it! - I will rip it off and stick it in your a**!

</rant>

..just my two pence.. sorry, I had to!

 

And who said that scots were an angry nation

(I'm marrying one though....)

 

Makes no difference whether I am or not - I was merely stating what I have seen - I have lived on the route, at one place or another along the last 25 miles for nearly my whole life, so I have watched it maybe 20 odd times, and ridden it 3 times. You ever tried riding a bike whilst holding onto a moving vehicle? Pretty dangerous Holding onto your wing mirror? So, a cyclist, rode his bike up along the side of your van, I'm guessing driver side (due to winding down the window), and just hung on? Would have to have balls of steel, for I would be worried I would soon end up under the front wheel, or on top of someones wind screen coming the other way.

But I do have some bikes, I do have a car and some feet, so I am a cyclist, a driver and a pedestrian

 

I do it with my mum if I ever see her on my bike and she's in the Previa.

I've done it on my longboard as well in the past. Best thing ever!

 

Actually I'm Polish

Polish people like to complain about anything, they love to complain, they have it in their blood...
I'm a weird one (black sheep), cause I don't like to complain, I'm a very calm/quiet person and there are really few things that piss me off - dumbass bikers is one of them

 

I ride and get regularly cut up by motorists, its the pain of commuting through a busy town centre. I also drive and have had the misfortune to sit behind (albeit in a long queue) drivers that aren't capable of overtaking cyclists when the road ahead is both clear and visible.

If you take a cautious cyclist, that cycles a metre out from the path much like Lance does and I'm inclined to agree with his method (there are puddles, as most roads are crowned all the crap gets kicked to the curb/gutter). Couple that with a driver that isn't confident to execute an overtake maneuver and you'll soon end up with a whole queue of enraged drivers that will most likely take less caution when it comes round to their turn to overtake.

The roads aren't just for cars and bicycles, there are other dangers to consider such as buses, lorries, horses and pedestrians.

As both a driver and cyclist I can see both sides to the argument, but I don't agree with mandatory registration just to ride a friggin bike.... what next? roller-skaters / skateboarders / dog walkers!!??

 

The main point is when someone does try and squeeze past you you've got a metre of space to move into.

 

I actually wasn't traveling that fast as it was still in beginning of the event and there was a lot of traffic, but your post implied I was lying, I encounter cyclist all the time where I now live and I treat them the same as I would horses ( which I also encounter often ) I slow down and give them a wide berth so's not to spook them( dumb animals are easily spooked) for the most part cyclist are like the horses well behaved but not always.

 

I feel some cyclists cycle in London just to enforce their right to cycle...

 

Getting people to use bikes instead of cars for short 'easily commutable' journeys is hard enough as it is. Adding extra cost and bureaucracy for cyclist registration would just put people off cycling.