135 replies to this topic

[ckn]

The other thread had me thinking of things that annoyed me but I knew the reasons why and struggled to come up with too many that were on topic. So... here's one for people to rant about things that annoy them and they know damn well why they annoy them.

My starter is cyclists. Not your occasional cyclist but your poser types who ride around in their lycra shorts and think they own the bloody road.

Two months ago, I bashed my knee very badly on a London bus when getting off. A cyclist decided to cut up the bus to save a millionth of a second on his journey, the bus driver had two options: flatten the cyclist or brake sharply. He chose the latter and I went sharply forward and caused a decent cut in my knee as well as significant pain.

Since then, I've been paying attention to how poorly the typical commuting cyclist rides. Far too many cut red lights, ride on the path to avoid a red light, cut up cars, are careless about damaging cars on the way past and simply are arrogant to the point that they make London taxi drivers seem like shy, retiring types.

The AA gave away 5000 free cycle helmets and hi-vis vests in London in April yet the amount of criticism they got from cyclist groups was quite ferocious. Apparently, encouraging cyclist safety was giving the wrong impression...

I have no problem with the majority of those riding Boris-bikes, they seem to actually follow the rules in London, maybe due to them not being so "experienced" in riding in London.

Today, driving around the outskirts of Ipswich, I encountered two groups of these lycra-clad idiots who insisted on riding next to each other on the twisty countryside roads. First group was two cyclists next to each other and required a bit of patience getting past. Second group was three cyclists riding next to each other, chatting away and going so slowly that it was impossible to get around them. I lasted 30 seconds before I sounded my horn and got a finger flipped at me in return. I overtook anyway at that point, still wasn't entirely safe but the cyclists were giving me few other options.

So... Cyclists. You annoy me and I know damn well why you annoy me.

[Steve May]

Bill Turnbull.

Because he's a ######.

[Steve May]

Bill Turnbull.

Because he's a ######.

Over officious sweary filters that won't let you type p i l l o c k.

[ckn]

Over officious sweary filters that won't let you type p i l l o c k.

Fixed

Probably even more of an annoyance now though!

[Wolford6]

Tory ministers with index-linked pensions who berate other public sector workers who are striking to try and retain an identical status.
Especially Tory ministers telling state school teachers that parents can do the job when neither those ministers, nor their children, went to state schools.

[bowes]

Burglars

[JohnM]

1. poser types who ride around in their lycra shorts and think they own the bloody road.

2. Two months ago, I bashed my knee very badly on a London bus when getting off. A cyclist decided to cut up the bus to save a millionth of a second on his journey, the bus driver had two options: flatten the cyclist or brake sharply. He chose the latter and I went sharply forward and caused a decent cut in my knee as well as significant pain.

3. Since then, I've been paying attention to how poorly the typical commuting cyclist rides. Far too many cut red lights, ride on the path to avoid a red light, cut up cars, are careless about damaging cars on the way past and simply are arrogant to the point that they make London taxi drivers seem like shy, retiring types.

4. The AA gave away 5000 free cycle helmets and hi-vis vests in London in April yet the amount of criticism they got from cyclist groups was quite ferocious. Apparently, encouraging cyclist safety was giving the wrong impression...

I'm surprised. I'd always seen you a a sensible, thoughtful, logical and knowledgeable person.

1. They own the roads just as much as you do. There is no such thing as road tax – no one pays it anymore as it was abolished in 1937. In fact, Winston Churchill argued against road tax, as he feared that ‘it will be only a step from this for [motorists] to claim in a few years the moral ownership of the roads their contributions paid for’

see here

2. see my final points

3. I'll give you that, they should set a good example for motorists to follow by adhering to the law and the highway code. Where's your copy of the HC?

4. There is no evidence that cycle helmets reduce either the incidence or severity of injuries to cyclists. Indeed they put people off cycling, so reducing the health of the nation generally. The fact that a commercial organisation dedicated to selling you insurance chooses to demonstrate it's illogical ignorance in this way is no excuse for sloppy thinking on your part. see

Final points. During the last five years for which the data is available (2005-09), there were 3,051 pedestrians killed in collisions with motor vehicles: 2,118 involving cars, 933 involving other vehicles. That’s an average of 610 a year. By contrast, there were 11 pedestrians fatalities in cycle collisions during this period, an average of 2.2 per year.

Of course, these statistics say nothing about who was at fault. However, even if we look at pedestrians killed on the footway or verge, the figures still show that the threat to pedestrians comes overwhelmingly from motor vehicles, not pedal cycles. There were 226 pedestrians killed by motor vehicles on footways and verges in that five-year period: 161 by cars, 65 by other vehicles. That’s an average of 45 a year, almost one a week. Even if we double the period to a whole decade (2000-09), the total number of pedestrians killed by cycles on pavements or verges was just three.

But surely, you might ask, all those tearaway cyclists in London must be causing a lot of injuries, even if not actually killing people? Well, over the last ten years, motor vehicles have been injuring pedestrians on London’s footways at a rate of 447 a year (250 in collisions with cars, 197 with other vehicles). The figure for cycle collisions is ten: that’s just 2% of the total.

As for jumping red lights, the ten-year average for pedestrians injured by law-breaking drivers is 105 (78 with cars, 27 with other vehicles) while the figure for cycles is just five. Again, that’s just 4% of the total. There has not been a single pedestrian fatality in collision with a pavement or red-light-jumping cyclist in London at any time in the past ten years.

source: here

[ckn]

I'm surprised. I'd always seen you a a sensible, thoughtful, logical and knowledgeable person.

According to a policeman friend of mine, the only reason more cyclists aren't charged with traffic offences is that it's so hard to identify them via CCTV. In April, the City of London police seemed to do an exercise of hanging around junctions and stopping cyclists who broke the law and ticketing them. It was very amusing to see these people getting caught and whining so much at being caught.

If I could have identified the cyclist who cut up the bus I mentioned above, I'd certainly have reported them to the police and considered suing them as it was a quite bad injury. As there was absolutely no hope of identifying the cyclist, I didn't bother. So, add one unreported injury by cyclist to the stats. Same with others I see in London, people get hit or sideswiped by cyclists and choose to do nothing as it'd be pointless.

[Wolford6]

they should set a good example for motorists to follow by adhering to the law and the highway code. Where's your copy of the HC?

Mine got mislaid shortly after I passed my driving test in 1976. I'm sure it will turn up again any day soon.

[Severus]

Sticking up for cyclists here and deflecting some of the criticism, as both a cyclist and a driver, car drivers are far worse than cyclists on the whole. Most of the time it isn't on purpose (although you do get the occasional tosser who wants to make some kind of point. Only yesterday a car was turning right, made eye contact with me and decided to make the turn anyway causing me to break sharply, thankfully no car was near me at the time. Just WTF was he trying to prove?) and just a result of poor driving. Passenger side mirrors and indicators are there for a reason people, use them. Also, there is no need for drivers to hug the kerb, give us cyclists a metre on the inside and everyone can get where they are going.

I've suffered a nasty injury resulting from poor driving and I always stop at red lights, and don't ride on the pavement etc. I was speaking to a colleague of mine who is an experienced cyclist and he was saying he's changed his cycling habits because it is safer to cycle like a ###### than sensibly. The rationale is that car drivers are more aware you are there.

Also, there was a study reported on the BBC website a few years ago that showed that car drivers are less likely to give cyclists room when they are wearing helmets. Us cyclists just cannot win.

Edited by Severus, 29 June 2011 - 06:32 PM.

[Old Frightful]

Taxi drivers.

[Maximus Decimus]

I've been on both sides of the divide.

As a cyclist, I never felt safe and never trusted drivers. As a driver I always dread coming up to a cyclist because I don't like overtaking them, too many sway from side to side and obviously the consequence of slightly misjudging the gap are far greater than simply scraping a car.

When I went to Australia I saw how they made cycling a priority with more dedicated cycling lanes and personally this is the best solution to the problem. However, Australia has the luxury of space and we don't so I don't see it improving any time soon.

[JohnM]

We will win in the end, though as you can see, even then normally sensible CKN has chosen to ignore the research and facts , preferring hearsay evidence instead. And I've not even started on the way the police, CPS and courts favour motorists over cyclists.

see here where a cop car cuts up a cyclist.

Edited by JohnM, 29 June 2011 - 06:41 PM.

[Johnoco]

Cyclists are a pain in the arris. Not everyone wants to travel at 10mph thanks. Do one you muppets!

[Maximus Decimus]

Tory ministers with index-linked pensions who berate other public sector workers who are striking to try and retain an identical status.
Especially Tory ministers telling state school teachers that parents can do the job when neither those ministers, nor their children, went to state schools.

This last statement was ludicrous and helped fuel the anti-teacher nonsense that the right wing are more than happy to.

I recently wrote an essay on the curriculum and Michael Gove just seems determined to ignore years of research for his own ideological purposes. I remember him from being a journalist and never liked him them, the idea of him being the Education secretary always made me very uncomfortable.

[terrywebbisgod]

Sums it up.

[paley]

Help files for 3rd party GUI controls. What is the point of them?

[Maximus Decimus]

The idea that there are people who profit from horrid cirumstances. For instance a young girl gets kidnapped and probably murdered (Madeleine McCann) and the newspapers, publishers etc will make a great deal of money from it.

It's unavoidable but I just hate the idea that they've made money they wouldn't have made if it hadn't happened.

[Bob8]

According to a policeman friend of mine, the only reason more cyclists aren't charged with traffic offences is that it's so hard to identify them via CCTV. In April, the City of London police seemed to do an exercise of hanging around junctions and stopping cyclists who broke the law and ticketing them. It was very amusing to see these people getting caught and whining so much at being caught.

If I could have identified the cyclist who cut up the bus I mentioned above, I'd certainly have reported them to the police and considered suing them as it was a quite bad injury. As there was absolutely no hope of identifying the cyclist, I didn't bother. So, add one unreported injury by cyclist to the stats. Same with others I see in London, people get hit or sideswiped by cyclists and choose to do nothing as it'd be pointless.

When they did that in Oxford, I was also amused. There was no excuse for it. I am afraid that in London a normal sensible person who would abide by the rules would not cycle. Equally, in most towns there is little point in signalling as motorists are often unaware of its meaning even if they see the cyclist.

There are plenty of bad cyclists and in most places only the foolhardy cycle, that is much of the problem.

[MattSantos]

Cyclists that use the sodding pavement.

I hope they all get piles.