Cycling UK Forum

Stevek76 wrote: ↑3 Apr 2024, 1:35pm

atoz wrote: ↑29 Mar 2024, 10:08am Rule of thumb to remember. Do not, on general election day, go cycling in a red jersey. Not a good idea.

The other rule of thumb though is- don't go cycling on the day of a major football match, esp one involving England. Even less of a good idea.

Not sure how either of those work?

Particularly the second, I've found Euros/World cup kickball England games to be excellent times to have a cycle ride!


At any rate, the reality is, beyond some angry internet keyboard warriors, there largely aren't any votes in it which is why taking up anti cycling positions very rarely bear any fruit for the candidates.

last Euros/World cup kickball final I went out on a ride which was fab as the roads were completely deserted, Id add minor royal weddings to that list as well.

as for the votes thing, I dont know that it can be judged that easily whether it works or not, people vote for certain politicians for lots of different reasons, sometimes even contradictory reasons. We do know local issues predominantly impact those choices even in national elections, which is why theyre never as easy to predict as the media like to claim, and transport issues if you want to stick it under an category which can range from buses to car parking charges to bypasses to cycling, absolutely there are votes there if you can unpick what the most popular thread the majority of people identify with.

fwiw I dont think any of the major parties get cycling, theyre all as bad at it as each other, and at the local level it gets ever more complicated, Ive seen plenty of those on the left deride cycling and promote the exact kind of "culture war" on cycling as their opponents on the right are claimed to be doing, and yet theyre the ones actually trying to spend the money to promote cycling.

the people who worked for Boris for a bit kind of did get it, and managed to change the conversation in political terms at least for a while but it didnt become embedded in goverment circles enough to convert it for good, and weve largely reverted to type again, which actually isnt a war at all thats just media confected stuff, its simply not a priority in government to spend much time,money or focus on cycling, if certain media outlets promote that stance as being pro-motorist instead so be it, but its largely just essentially being neither and booting certain things on to the backlog if you like for others to deal with later. Ultimately it always comes back to the economy in the end in politics.

Valbrona wrote: ↑23 Mar 2024, 1:04pm Being autistic it is possible she lacked the mental capacity to show remorse/empathy, or even understand the consequences of her actions. Depending on the severity of her condition, that is.

Likewise, she may not have in any way forseen the possible consequences of her actions because of her condition.

the weird thing is if you ascribed those attributes to any person and I deliberately want to get away from discussing the individual or the specific case here.

So just imagine someone completely different, and take that person had a condition, that prevented them from being able to judge their actions might lead to the death of another person, had anger control issues and might at any moment react and do something that resulted in another persons death, and yes I know the irony thats a personality bucket that includes alot of motorists too, so lets say its a motorist.

in no way would we accept them having that specific condition to become a mitigating defence against their actions.

its never icy or snowy enough for studded tyres to be a worthwhile choice near the coast for me.

classic example this past what I would describe as rather mild & soggy winter, I probably cleared ice off my car 3 times in 4 months, that means there was probably chance of black ice only 4-5 times in 4 whole months.

rest of the time, even though it was stupidly damp for so long, actually when the temperatures dipped below freezing overnight and during the days, it was a really dry cold, so the roads were fine. and I probably only lost one days of riding where I thought the conditions were too risky to bother.

my rule of thumb is if I see ice on cars parked outside when I wake up, and the temp doesnt rise above 3C all day after a night of freezing, then its sit at home rest day or zwift it.

you just have to keep an eye on conditions and the weather and accept there are some days you cant ride, just like you cant ride when theres stupidly strong winds, or youve got a chest infection.

or if riding is absolute must, then get a MTB and ride off road on forest trails when its icy.

Ive heard other forces have done similar with cyclist groups, though not as widely publicised schemes, its probably down to individual officers at the time with access to a budget, rather than some concerted plan across the police as a whole, and it seems patchy whether any good comes from it. its hard to judge how successful Dashcams are when forces arent obliged to publish any stats and you have to dig through FOI requests.

the irony it might be the HGV drivers themselves who curb their own recklessness, rather than "catching" anyone else.

simonhill wrote: ↑28 Nov 2023, 1:14am Lucky she has got one bus an hour.


Unfortunately the lycra thing still persists.

and doesnt make sense, most of the "normal" clothes she would be wearing have a lycra content in them, unless shes converted to sackcloth as part of her journey as well.

I did like the "putting clicks before people" line, shame she's still doing it really, but its a job I guess for some, though as a piece its hardly going to convince anyone to do anything much. I dont remember the original piece she did, I doubt Ill remember her follow up in less than a week either.

true but I suspect the thought of employing a couple of people on a job just to hold a sign up, goes against the grain of the accountants in their business, who seem to try to minimise the labour per job to the absolute bare minimum, which seems to extend the length of time they spend looking into holes, but clearly it costs less to pay people to work more hours this way, than the costs to the business because of it.

I also get the feeling there must be some working in roads rules that have changed over the past 20 years or so, that means work that used to be covered by a fairly simple set of barriers, now seems must always include temporary traffic light controls and barriered sections as almost a safety break, even if theyre not working directly on the carriageway itself.

Biospace wrote: ↑20 Oct 2023, 4:19pm

Pinhead wrote: ↑20 Oct 2023, 4:17pm UK is europe nothing here

You can believe whatever you like.

Ive got them on my UK made MINI, so I know they exist in the UK

though happy to say never activated them, but have seen them demonstrated as a feature, I think they might be linked when the ABS kicks in,but basically its emergency brake application kind of stopping power trigger aiui.

fastpedaller wrote: ↑17 Oct 2023, 8:59pm

awavey wrote: ↑12 Oct 2023, 12:48am plus remember some people are colour blind too, so couldnt tell the difference anyway

I guess you don't have colour deficient vision - It's a popular misconception that people who are 'color blind' can't tell the difference, it's much more complex

I dont, but Ive worked with two people who have told me they cant tell the difference between amber or red traffic lights, and only follow them by their position, or function in case of indicators, I presume they werent winding me up.

Pinhead wrote: ↑17 Oct 2023, 9:35am
The problem with anything like a camera image is it says NOTHING

So many people have images on T shirts they are meaningless

I agree in essence it says nothing, though it is at least a universally understood image, that you would expect an observant and competent driver to understand, but thats kind of the flaw, its purpose is meant to move the unobservant & incompetent drivers to treat you better on the road, but they wont because they arent ever looking properly in the first place.

was talking in the office yesterday about it, and one of the guys who uses a pass pixi, summed it with the example he got overtaken by a tipper truck who gave a good cars width of space, the very next vehicle that passed he described as a punishment pass it was that close, and the driver of that vehicle might be expecting some bonus post from the police about it. But how does one driver clearly do the right thing, whilst the very next driver chose not to.

someone said up the thread the impact of carrying a passpixi might be motorists only expect cyclists with these signs to carry cameras, which would be bad, I can assure you we are never going to hit a time when even a majority of motorists believe all cyclists have cameras, for all the heat & noise a Jeremy Vine or Cycling Mikey generate, the average motorist take is one is that guy off the tele, the other theyve never heard of.

There wouldnt be a close pass problem at all, if motorists thought all cyclists had cameras.

Jdsk wrote: ↑16 Oct 2023, 7:33pm
"Once the ban comes into force at the end of 2024, only electric vehicles (EVs) and low emissions gas vehicles will be allowed to drive in the zone. Plug-in hybrid heavy goods vehicles will also be permitted."

I don't know what "low emissions gas vehicles" means.

lpg I presume, if its still a thing

Could always try Primals cycling jersey, £10 of which is donated to Cycling UK coffers. Seems sold out in womens sizes so only the mens left in limited sizes https://www.primaleurope.com/products/c ... ing-jersey

I didnt get one myself, I was curious what kind of effect it would have, but not £74 curious, pass pixi is at least a bit more affordable as an experiment to try.

a couple of guys at work use the pass pixi, but their feedback always feel mixed to me, like they say youll get some drivers who spot it, and react by giving you what feels like more space, great so thats a win, but then they feel like the drivers who'd have given them the space properly anyway, so is that still a win ? a half win ?.

And then there are still plenty of the completely oblivious drivers, who either dont spot it, or dont bother reacting to it in so far as recognising theyre being warned they are being filmed, and it might be a good idea to drive sensibly, and they still close pass you, or cut you up, or drive like total idiots, so in those cases it doesnt work, and yet those are actually the ones you wanted to take most notice of it.

so ultimately does it really work ? how do you get through to drivers that leaving just 6inches gap isnt an acceptable passing distance, does a 10x10 sign do that ? my impression is it doesnt.

Biospace wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 7:01pm

Psamathe wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 2:50pm

Biospace wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 12:52pm ...
Taxing according to weight and width could encourage some highly efficient designs.

(General point, not specifically to your quoted comment but) I've felt a good way to raise the VED is to scrap it and raise the same revenue through extra tax on fuel. That way less fuel efficient vehicles pay more as well as those who do more mileage (and thus more pollution/road wear) pay with some relationship to their impact. Plus easy and cheap to setup and administer (probably save administration as could cut back on DVLA ...)

I'd expect extra tax on fuel to mean bigger vehicles pay more.

I'd actually be happy if switching the revenue from VED to fuel tax raised more money (though I'd expect some motorists/motoring organisations to kick-up about that.

What happened to the "fuel price escalator"? I thought it was a good plan.

(nb I am also a motorist, pay for VED, pay for fuel, etc.)

Ian

I think there's a recognition that putting it all on energy would penalise those in more remote parts, plus the headline 'road tax' number is known to have more effect than the drip, drip taxation of fuel alone so behaviour can be better affected.

Vehicle mass would seem a very sensible approach given we're approaching the point where a 2 tonne 'car' is normal.

but there isnt really a headline road tax number anymore, or at least we will be converging towards a point probably within the next decade, with the post 2017 VED changes, where everyone is just paying the same flat fee, because only the first year is taxed by CO2 emission rates, so that impacts the owner who first bought & registered the car, not the subsequent years and once those cars enter the 2nd hand market.

its only that 2001-2017 bit where CO2 emissions rates apply for the whole life of the car, and by 2033 how many cars from 2001 are going to be on the road still ? plus then the VED exemption currently applies to 40 year old cars on a rolling basis.

its something the government will have to revisit, maybe within the next parliament post election, and I do think adding it to fuel is the fairest method.








At which point then what do we do ?

plancashire wrote: ↑10 Oct 2023, 4:49pm

squeaker wrote: ↑5 Oct 2023, 10:15am

mjr wrote: ↑5 Oct 2023, 9:05am Won't use of big flashing reds on vans detract from their current use to mean none shall pass, not even on blue lights, such as at level crossings and emergency vehicle exits?

Very good point! Amber for hazard, Red for stop seems buried in my brain...

Yes! Railway crossing lights in UK flash red, don't they? They mean STOP.

even the amber means stop,if you are before the stop line, on a railway crossing, red is more like you shall not pass.

I dont think we need more lights, I still see people putting flashing white lights on the rear of bikes instead of red, what hope have they of understanding another colour, plus remember some people are colour blind too, so couldnt tell the difference anyway

there are quite a few roads I wont ride on thinking about it, which can make routes challenging sometimes, and its hard to explain why because its not speed, its not necessarily volume of traffic and its not around the types of traffic, its sort of nebulous combination of all 3 mixed in with a healthy recognition of the number of crashes involving motorised vehicles on them.

so basically if its an A road, NSL, with a record of crashes that involve speeding, overtaking,pulling out of junctions and a combination of cars & trucks/hgvs, I do my best to avoid them.

Cowsham wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 9:34am

Mike Sales wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 9:05am

A 92-year-old cyclist who was involved in a collision with a car last month has died.

What a shame. Still cycling at that age, but cut short by such violence.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67073490

Awful -- it just takes one -- probably cut back in too soon forgetting he had a trailer on.

very nearly got collected myself by a trailer last winter by a guy pulling out of a junction in front of me. The mudguard on the trailer just brushed my leg after I managed to avoid hitting the side of his Jeep.

had one a few weeks back, the 4x4 passed, and I thought jeez that was close, then the trailer came past and they were already turning back to take the lane...

but if thats the road in question, theres no room to pass a cyclist there in a car, let alone a car with a trailer, even if the cyclist was tucked into the side,it looks barely wide enough for a car by itself to use