UKH

Oh dear, this is great stuff

http://www.milngavieherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/milngavie-and-bearsde...


Not much happens round there I think...

In reply to Pids: Not quite sure what's wrong with this. It's true that dangerous driving and near misses on the roads aren't always treated as seriously as they ought to be. 12 cyclists killed in London this year, I believe. That's killed, as in dead, no longer alive.

In reply to Pids:
Same old same old, All cyclists are lunatics in ninja costumes without lights, jumping lights riding on pavements, blocking traffic for no other reason other than to annoy drivers. And all drivers are haring around blind with the sole intent of killing cyclists.

All depends on whether you are a cyclist or a driver doesn't it.

You'd think that both parties would have read enough of these tiresome rants that they would think twice. Something along the lines of:-

Driver: "that cyclist on the news/in the papers was really pissed off about people brushing part his elbows at 40 mph, perhaps I should give him a bit more space and acknowledge he exists."

Cyclist: "That truck driver totally didn't see me cycling along without proper lights, perhaps I should put some lights on."

Or for the minority of cyclists who give the majority a bad name
"That driver got really pissed off when I jumped those lights that he's been sat at for 10 min, I wonder if that is why he sped past me whit that Psycho rage look in his eye."
It doesn't take a lot really does it.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Bit of consideration from both parties wouldnt go amiss. Sadly as in all aspects of life though there will be tw*ts out there, be they on a bike or behind the wheel.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Most cyclists are both. I can totally understand why this guy feels the need to rant. Cycling is a good thing to do for the benefit of society and individuals but the lack of intelligent planning for cyclists by road designers really pisses me off.

In reply to Pids:

Most of us climbers are also runners, cyclists and drivers.

It is a fact of life that in winter (rain, frost, low sun, dark nights), 90% of drivers can not see people walking dogs, people dressed in black, many cyclists who may be either at the side of the road or near the verge.

As a pedestrian and cyclist, I take 100% responsibility for my invisibility and I will stay alive that way. When a car comes - I stay way back upon the verge away from the road until it passes.

In reply to gethin_allen:

If you're a driver, then there's a risk you get annoyed by a bad cyclist and if you're a cyclist, there's a risk you get killed by a bad driver.

No much difference, when it comes down to it, I guess.

In reply to gethin_allen:

"That cyclist has to actually use muscle power to accelerate uphill and into the wind after he stops for a pointless red light when nothing's coming. Meanwhile I can step on the gas without noticing it. I empathise with his decision to jump a light when he can see and hear better than me and is far more manoeuvrable."

In reply to Pids:

Milngavie is a "suburb" of Glasgow (ooooh, they'd lynch me with their knitting needles if they heard me say that) mainly populated by reasonably wealthy people in their 60s and 70s.

You are correct that not much happens there

In reply to Dave Cumberland:


Sorry, not sure I understood this ^^ You mean that when cycling you make sure you are the least visible possible and every time a car comes you jump off your bike and into a hedge?!!

In reply to Rollo: I accept I am largely invisible to drivers. Yep I stay off the tarmac when walking in the dark until the car has passed. When cycling I am well lit, but sometimes I will get off and take cover. My point being that 90% .. .. as above.

In reply to professionalwreckhead:

You are going to get a whole raft of hateful emails informing you that they are in East Dunbarton, not Glasgow! lol

In reply to Dave Cumberland:

Fair play, I gues this at least puts you "in control".

It does often feel like the objective dange from cycling is more than that of the climbing I do. Scarily out of control.

In reply to Pero:
"If you're a driver, then there's a risk you get annoyed by a bad cyclist"

Or there is the risk of you running down and killing a cyclist that has just done something a bit silly that they could have avoided very easily if they had plugged their brain in before heading out. Worse for cyclist yes but not exactly a pleasant experience that you are going to forget in a hurry for the driver or the family of the cyclist or the people who come along to scrape the cyclist off the tarmac.

Cyclist do need to take some responsibility for their actions. When go out cycling at night I look like a neon flashing Christmas tree, that's me taking responsibility, if a driver then crashes into me and claims not to have seen me then I know for a fact that they weren't paying attention.

I also stop at all traffic lights and do my utmost to avoid riding on pavements unless absolutely essential and then I do so very slowly.

In reply to Stone Muppet:
"That cyclist has to actually use muscle power to accelerate uphill and into the wind after he stops for a pointless red light when nothing's coming."

That's the sh!ttest excuse ever. If you want to ride on the road and have people acknowledge your right to be there you have to abide by the law like other road users. If you want to accelerate freely at pace either get fitter or drive a car/ride a motorbike.

In reply to Pids:

I seem to have had a bad run of it of late, to the extent that yesterday morning, before cycling into London, I signed up with British Cycling to get some insurance.

Having done that, on the way into town yesterday I passed some poor cyclist who was laid out on the road near the Oval, survived a lunatic van driver sprinting between traffic lights at Vauxhall and a learner scooter rider who was weaving in and out of the blue cycle lane (without looking)all the way from Vauxhall to Parliament Square. She nearly got me three times, and similar for the others in the vicinity.

On the way back home I had to do two emergency stops in 300 yards for people overtaking and turning left at the same time.

I don't think I've ever been so glad to get home in one piece.

I am a Christmas tree too - three lights front, three light back, refective tabbard and lit, reflective wrist bands, plus fluo yellow wheels and a bike covered in reflective tape.

It's getting ridiculous .

In reply to gethin_allen:

Excellent so I can now disavow the right of at least 90% of all car drivers to be there. Because I can't imagine more than 10% (generously) have ever not exceeded the speed limit.

Seriously now, in the OP's article the author complains of cyclists being "I “the other,” the scapegoat" ... yet cyclists are perfectly happy to scapegoat a subgroup within themselves. Nipping onto a pavement and jumping a red light aren't always dangerous on a bike (yes sometimes they are of course and I wouldn't advocate it in those situations).

Focus on the real problem which is dangerous driving from both sides, bikes and cars.

Or the even more fundamental problem which is why in an age of plenty our society sees fit to require tired and pissed off people to handle lethal machines on the roads every day in the first place.

In reply to Pids:

/me settles down and get the popcorn

It's friday night, I can see this one having legs!

In reply to gethin_allen:

not really, Im both and people are generally way less aware in cars in my experience, many car users do not know the rules of the road properly and feel they naturally just have priority over cyclists for some reason.

Additionally, if a cyclist is at fault and bumps into a car, the car driver is unlikely to die or be seriously injured. It isnt a level playing field. Many drivers or newspaper hacks seem to think that fault is what is most important (or at least thats what they focus on), seemingly forgetting that cyclists are actually dying, irrespective of fault.

Equally, while the point about pedestrians is often made in this discussion, people seem to ignore the fact that many other motorists die due to poor/ dangerous driving by other road users. Cyclists rarely die in bike to bike smashes.

In reply to fxceltic: In reply to gethin_allen

incidentally im only disagreeing with the "all depends" bit, not your overall point, which I agree with.

In reply to Rollo:

Cycling and driving on the A66 are WAY more dangerous than climbing, by miles the most dangerous thing I do.

In reply to gethin_allen:

and perhaps the driver should be thinking - "Why do cyclists upset me so much when they go through red lights if it means they are not in my way when I pull away from the lights. It's a bit pathetic that I get so worked up because they might be making better progress along the road than I am..."

In reply to Dave Cumberland:
As an aside i think as cyclists you have to bear in mind that at some point someone or something no matter how random is going to try clatter you. To illustrate the point I was cycling along a seemingly empty canal tow path on the way into work yesterday when a dog darted out of the bushes causing me to have to slam on the anchors. The mut had been hidden in the bushes as its owner was there too taking a shit! Not what you want to witness first thing in the morning.

In reply to Jim Hamilton:

+1

A bit like being stuck behind a coach: if it's full of people that's a good thing because you're not stuck behind fifty single-occupant cars (over a mile of tailback at 50mph)

Still annoying to be behind one of course.