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Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 20 May 2019, 10:47pm
by basingstoke123
When comparing driving and cycling while using a phone (or being drunk, or falling asleep), it's a matter of balance.
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 21 May 2019, 7:42am
by thirdcrank
It's not easy to be sure, but from watching the vid I got the impression that the rider was showing off. IMO, no matter how skilful a bike handler somebody is, they have a moral duty to do their best in terms of looking out for what's going on and being prepared to deal with it. The fact that somebody may be capable of eg juggling or playing the trombone while cycling does not make it a good idea.
The fact that the driver of a motor vehicle has a greater duty of care does not mean that others can ignore their own responsibilities.
(I can ride a fixed-wheel bike without hands although I cannot juggle or play the trombone with or without a bike. I find texting challenging standing still.)
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 23 May 2019, 1:03pm
by sulav38
The utility cyclist wrote:Cyril Haearn wrote:Telephoning while cycling is obviously dangerous to others, the rider is not in full control of the machine
I hope my singing is so bad it shocks them into dropping the phone which smashes on the ground
Needs to be nipped in the bud, one sees plenty of teenagers on the phone, doubtless they do not reform when they start driving
Is it, why is it "obvious", to whom, not me it isn't. If you're saying that about people on bikes then it's even more applicable to people on foot.
But let us have the stats for the incidents relating to phone using cyclists? I can already tell you that they (phone using cyclists) haven't killed anyone in the last 7 years, I can already tell you that any serious injuries that they may have caused will be less than what pedestrians cause to themselves (because the total number of serious injuries between peds and cyclists is just over 40 a year at last count and I don't think that's all blame to cyclists)
I go back to visit my folks every 5-6 weeks in the North and use a specific route from the railway station through an industrial estate, you can guarantee there will be at least one guy on a bike rolling up a rizla whilst having a phone conversation. I've yet to hear of ciggy rolling/phone holding cyclists having killed or maimed anyone.
I don't usually use my phone when cycling but I have a couple of times since I got a SMART phone 7 years ago, one was Saturday on the estate loop road a few hundred yards from home whilst doing circa 10mph with no vehicles and no pedestrians in sight. I sent a 4 word text, I'd say I was in more control of my cycle and aware of what was going on around me sending a text than 99.99% of motorists when they have absolutely zero distractions, IMHO I'd say I was less of a potential threat than any/all motorists actually driving in the UK, remember motorists can casually/carelessly kill with just a 'moments inattention' and do so with great regularity even with no phone, that can't be said for people on bicycles can it?
So much has been invested in infrastructure , changing speed limit etc to make cycling safer for wider (non circus skilled) commuters which has amazing benefit on environment health and etc etc.. now the difference here is a fully grown adult not only risking his life but potentially other cyclists as well just to show off the skill? I am sure there are plenty of quite locations to show off these skills? Guy is definitely skilled no doubt on that! but there is time and place for everything.
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 23 May 2019, 2:40pm
by mjr
sulav38 wrote:So much has been invested in infrastructure , changing speed limit etc to make cycling safer for wider (non circus skilled) commuters which has amazing benefit on environment health and etc etc.. now the difference here is a fully grown adult not only risking his life but potentially other cyclists as well just to show off the skill? I am sure there are plenty of quite locations to show off these skills? Guy is definitely skilled no doubt on that! but there is time and place for everything.
Sorry, but who's showing off?
I saw a boy on a bike a few days ago that would really enrage some of you: phone in one hand, helmet in the other!
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 23 May 2019, 6:07pm
by The utility cyclist
But the number of people actually using a mobile phone whilst cycling is very, very low, and the chances of that person harming others is another tiny fraction of that. I'm not saying using a mobile whilst cycling in all but a quiet area away from obstacles/threats/hazards is a particularly good idea but the facts as they are show us that it's far from being obviously dangerous as stated by the poster I responded to.
This again is likely in part to knowing that you can easily injure yourself if you lose control, even if the thought doesn't come to you that you migth injure others.
This is why both motorists have n problem using stuff that distracts them, because in most instances there is no threat of harm to them at all, and pedestrians, well, as you'll have seen, nose down, not looking at anything other than their screens not to mention headphones in at the same time blithely oblivious to everyone and everything. The stats from a review by an anti cycling type with a vested interest for the motoring industry couldn't find the dirt on people riding bikes, just came up with lots of bluster but when it came down to it the facts she had to use say that peds are more dangerous to themselves (and more at fault) when they collide with people on bikes.
It's all too easy to focus on one thing and make a connection between it and an end result, but in terms of people on bikes using phones, a) it doesn't happen that often, lower than any other group aside from maybe motorcyclists, and b) the actual physical threat of harm to everyone else is ridiculously small.
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 23 May 2019, 9:07pm
by Cyril Haearn
I often observe PoBs telephoning and surfing/playing music when cycling, seems common, must try and observe to get figures
Using one when driving is much much worse of course but when cycling there is surely significant danger, how could one brake or steer out of trouble?
Going to a unicycle event Sunday to see acrobatic cyclists performing tricks
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 24 May 2019, 1:00pm
by The utility cyclist
Cyril Haearn wrote:I often observe PoBs telephoning and surfing/playing music when cycling, seems common, must try and observe to get figures
Using one when driving is much much worse of course
but when cycling there is surely significant danger, how could one brake or steer out of trouble?
Going to a unicycle event Sunday to see acrobatic cyclists performing tricks
Again, there are simply no facts to bear your presumption out, if there were significant danger then we would see this in the figures. We simply do not see ANY person killing another whilst using a phone, I don't even think that has ever happened in fact. We would also see swathes of people riding bikes that use phones seriously injure pedestrians as well as killing/injuring themselves, and yet we don't, so given the alleged numbers of people riding bikes the threat is clearly negligible and far less than that fro pedestrians.
A bit of a bugger isn't it when facts get in the way of people's guess work
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 24 May 2019, 7:18pm
by Cyril Haearn
Or *absence* of facts getting in the way of gut feelings
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 24 May 2019, 7:28pm
by thirdcrank
I've no idea how many people use a phone while riding a bike but if it's correct that the number of people actually using a mobile phone whilst cycling is very, very low, then that might be because the majority feel it's dangerous and refrain from doing it.
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 27 May 2019, 3:45am
by BrightonRock
I am reminded of a photo of Fausto Coppi riding fixed, reading a newspaper, with a coffee in one hand and both feet on the handlebars. No one was killed.
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 27 May 2019, 6:45am
by thirdcrank
BrightonRock wrote:I am reminded of a photo of Fausto Coppi riding fixed, reading a newspaper, with a coffee in one hand and both feet on the handlebars. No one was killed.
During the daytime riding a six: ie on an indoor bike track, killing time.
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 27 May 2019, 8:04am
by Oldjohnw
BrightonRock wrote:I am reminded of a photo of Fausto Coppi riding fixed, reading a newspaper, with a coffee in one hand and both feet on the handlebars. No one was killed.
But that was a velodrome not a highway.
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 27 May 2019, 8:57am
by Lance Dopestrong
I can't fathom why anyone would spoil a wonderful bike ride by having a tiresome conversation on a mobile phone while doing so.
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 27 May 2019, 9:16am
by drossall
Depends who's ringing...
Re: Is it legal to cycle whilst using phone?
Posted: 27 May 2019, 11:43am
by Vorpal
I cannot watch the video form work.
Using the telephone whilst cycling isn't a problem, anymore than it is for pedestrians. The distraction might be. It depends upon circumstances and the environment in which the cyclist is.
Riding in a quiet place without other road users around, I have sometimes answered the phone, then stopped, if needed, such as to have a conversation that was more than answering one my kids with a yes/no question. I seldom ride along talking on the phone, but I have done it a time or two, when the conversation didn't demand much of me, I could still give my surroundings enough attention and the circumstances were safe for me, as well as others.
Other times, I have pulled off the road and waited until I could stop out of others' way just to answer the phone.
Even in traffic, although I wouldnæt do it, the main risk is to the cyclist, rather than other road users.