The Zohan

I have had push bikes and motorbikes in one from or another since i was five. I am pretty sure that i am courteous and safe when out on them.

two reasons.
1)Bikes give no protection when involved with a car and you loose every time
2) Riding badly/dangerously is not that clever, you look like a pr@t and stand a good chance of coming a cropper.

MooseRacer

Why quoting my tongue in cheek reply to rb5_Paul?

Jonathan Davies

Cyclists are entitled to use the roads whether or not there's a cycle lane.

These things always end up the same - most car drivers saying cyclists are all light jumping hooligans who've got it coming; most cyclists saying cars drivers are murderous speeding hypocrites, and a few people pointing out that it's the human, not the vehicle, that makes decisions on the road.

Both are guilty of a holier-than-thou attitude in the debate imo. People do stupid things on the roads whatever they're in/on, and both classes of road user routinely break the law.

That said, I'd rather face a reckless cyclist than a reckless driver.

King RA

Hi, a big clue as to why they call it congestion charging is in the name. I'll give you a moment to think about it........

......enough time yet........no??

....now??

Eureka!! I'm sure you've got it now you brainiac you.

TheBigMan

Another example that over population clusters in Britain is a huge issue.

I'd love to know what problems in society are not due to these!!!

Lum

The cycle lane thing comes up from time to time on SafeSpeed and I have reached the conclusion that they are a bad idea for cyclists.

Have you ever tried to overtake on a road that has a hatched central reservation, note hot it's full of stones and grit and **** and you have no traction.

Cycle lanes rapidly end up the same way, except they have even smaller tyres.

So someone cycling enthusiastically (30mph+) on a road bike is going to come a cropper pretty quickly. They need to be on the road.

However because there's now this useless cycle lane, the road is no-longer big enough for cars to be able to overtake. Annoying but blame the councils not the cyclist you're stuck behind.

The ***** around town all over the pavement and roads with no lights are a completely separate bunch, usually lentil eating students. My personal favourites are the ones that have lights but then choose to carry an enormous rucksack that completely obscures the rear light. Fortunately the Met will shoot all of these in the next year or so.

Note: I haven't cycled for about 10 years. No intention to start any time soon.

Leslie

Reality,

It wasn't meant so much as a threat but rather a warning of how dangerous it is for cyclists to use the footpath especially when they ride close to disabled people as well as being outside the law.

At the age of 15 he is well past the age of reason and should certainly be able to differentiate between right and wrong. He should be able to accept being told when he is doing something wrong too. It would be a good thing if more parents had enough bottle to teach their own children the difference as well.

I did understand the moot point in your post though.

Les

imi

so are you suggesting that cyclists move towards the middle of the road or even better in the fast lane..?

Lum

I am not recommending it, though that is one action they may take to avoid all the **** that is in the cycle lane.

There are two actions that could be taken.

1) Clean the cycle lanes regularly (cars tend to fling all this debris off their lanes just by driving on it, so it never builds up)

2) Get rid of the cycle lanes and return to shared use, then the cyclists can benefit from the cars removing the debris for them, and the cars benefit from having extra space to get around the cyclists.


There should not be shared use footpaths. These are a stupid & dangerous idea because much as you may think that most cyclists are blithering idiots who are ignorant of road safety, let me assure you that pedestrians are far worse and happily wander over the line whenever they feel like it, especially young children with idiot parents. Being hit by a cyclist doing over 30mph isn't going to be nice.

Note that these, and my previous post are based on a post by the cycling lobby on a uk driving newsgroup. I just happen to agree with his point, to an extent.

It would be amusing to campaign for a 15mph speed limit on these paths though, then they might understand how we feel.

Seriously though, there are many issues that the keen cyclists and the keen drivers could agree on, and some joint campaigning (eg. for removal of cycle paths) could work wonders compared to just the motoring groups doing it and being branded the usual lot of boy racers.

phelpsa

I do indeed know the difference between right and wrong. Hence why I only ride on the pavement when there are no pedestrians around so i dont run the risk of running into people like you, endangering myself, and endangering others. Its like speeding... dont tell me you havent done 70 in a 60 limit when theres no one around!

Adam

imi

How come I dont see similar problems in cities like Amsterdam or Copenhagen.......

now either the cyclists over they obey the law.....

OR perhaps they have better lanes

OR BOTH.

crush her

I think it is more to do with the attitude other road users have towards cyclists in continental Europe than anything else. Cycling is a huge sport and riders are treated like Gods and not like an irritant as they are here. I have cycled extensively in France and have always found drivers very courteous and encouraging, this is in stark contrast to the UK.

Leslie

Adam,

Glad to hear of your stellar attitude towards pedestrians but nevertheless the footpath is not for riding on. Please could you tell some of your less thoughtful friends.

No I won't tell you!

Les