Petty annoyances on the road....

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Jdsk
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Jdsk »

richards wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 10:52pm I have epilepsy and brake lights don’t bother me at all. I am no expert but my understanding is that flashing lights (and only at a certain range of frequencies) are what can precipitate fits in some people with epilepsy.
"Different people will be affected by lights at different flash or flicker rates. Lights that flash or flicker between 16 and 25 times a second are the most likely to trigger seizures. But some people are sensitive to rates as low as 3 or as high as 60 a second."
https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/photos ... e-epilepsy

(Other authorities might quote slightly different ranges.)

Jonathan
thirdcrank
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by thirdcrank »

My point about brake lights wasn't intended to be linked to epilepsy but rather to not so petty annoyances.

I'm not going to look it up, but in terms of wattage, brake lights are something like 4 times as powerful as tail lights. (21W v 5W IIRC) and this is particularly obvious in the dark. And reinforced by the almost universal row of high-level LEDs (actually at eye level for somebody following.) It's common nowadays for drivers waiting at traffic lights just to keep the footbrake applied rather than apply the handbrake instead. (I'm not sure but that might once have been a fault on the driving test.) Indicators left on adds to the annoyance. Applying the handbrake then pumping the footbrake in irritation - perhaps not so common as it used to be - just puts the brass knobs on IMO.
Tiggertoo
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Tiggertoo »

De Sisti wrote: 24 Nov 2021, 4:20pm Drivers at traffic lights using their footbrake to hold their vehicle stationary instead of the vehicle's handbrake. Their brake lights dazzle anyone behind them. It's extremely difficult
for those with cataracts or suffers of epilepsy to be behind vehicles at such times.
Mmm! interesting. I never use my handbrake. Having automatic gears, it just isn't necessary.

I recall hovering on an incline in Norwich when I was waiting at a light on a hill, balancing the accelerator and clutch to hold the car still was a skill I excelled at. Do I miss manual shifts? Some times, but automatic gears make driving much less of a challenge in traffic.

Cars owned with manual shifts: Singer Bantam, Austin Ruby, Ford Anglia, Ford Cortina GT (fabulous car), Jaguar XK150 soft top (wonderful to drive and first car I ever hit 100 MPH driving), Ford Mustang (first car after moving to the US), Morris 1000, Mini Estate, Peugeot (diesel)
.
Cars owned with automatic gears: VW Passat, (we have owned three of these), VW Tiguan (current car and first car I can load the bike in the back without having to take the front wheel off).

Motor bikes/scooters owned with manual gears :roll: : Bond motors scooter (Piece of junk), BSA 150 (wonderful to ride - but not in London where I worked) and the bike that carried my wife and I to Spain on our honeymoon.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by [XAP]Bob »

thirdcrank wrote: 26 Nov 2021, 10:42am My point about brake lights wasn't intended to be linked to epilepsy but rather to not so petty annoyances.

I'm not going to look it up, but in terms of wattage, brake lights are something like 4 times as powerful as tail lights. (21W v 5W IIRC) and this is particularly obvious in the dark. And reinforced by the almost universal row of high-level LEDs (actually at eye level for somebody following.) It's common nowadays for drivers waiting at traffic lights just to keep the footbrake applied rather than apply the handbrake instead. (I'm not sure but that might once have been a fault on the driving test.) Indicators left on adds to the annoyance. Applying the handbrake then pumping the footbrake in irritation - perhaps not so common as it used to be - just puts the brass knobs on IMO.
Some vehicles also keep the brake lights on despite using the handbrake... mine does.
It automatically applies the handbrake, and automatically releases it, but it keeps the brake lights on. If I manually apply the handbrake (or the lights take many minutes and the car defaults to full handbrake mode) then I have to go back to the footbrake, select drive and then move off - which is something I do only once a journey normally.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Tiggertoo wrote: 26 Nov 2021, 4:03pm Mmm! interesting. I never use my handbrake. Having automatic gears, it just isn't necessary.
It was commented on when I was driving colleagues round in the US that I used the handbrake and they never did.
I find it's a good safety margin to have something else holding me still.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
millimole
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by millimole »


[XAP]Bob wrote:.
I find it's a good safety margin to have something else holding me still.
I don't think the manual brake button (where you'd find the handbrake normally) does anything different to the 'hold' function that I described above. 'It's just a switch that applies the brakes' is how the dealer described it to me.
Leicester; Riding my Hetchins since 1971; Day rides on my Dawes; Going to the shops on a Decathlon Hoprider
mattheus
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by mattheus »

mattheus wrote: 14 Oct 2021, 10:25am It's got to be none/improper use of indicators.

It rarely causes high risk, but it is SO EASY to do right, and just makes life nicer for other road-users.

You learn to do this religiously to pass the test - why stop now??
This very nearly went from petty to very very painful this morning.

Riding towards mini-roundabout (with 3 exits); me and a driver are both going straight-on, but in opposing directions. No-one is indicating.
At THE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT the driver sticks his right indicator on.

I decide to go for it, swerving a little left. It all happened too quick to know if an emergency stop would have saved me.
And he narrowly avoided hitting me.

Honestly, if he'd planned a way of running a cyclist over with a sort-of-legitimate excuse, he couldn't have planned it much better.
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Cowsham
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Cowsham »

Cycling along in a bit of a hurry to get to town and back before dark and I get a phone call from my dentist about rescheduling an appointment because the dentist had to self isolate. Stopping on the footpath to answer the phone.

Meanwhile I guy in a big range Rover pulls up at the opposite side of the busy road and shouts across at me looking for directions. ( he'd missed his turning and wanted to know where it was ) I points to the road end where he should go.

This is not good enough for him so he makes a u turn and pulls up beside me and this time shouting across out the passenger window.

Meanwhile I'm checking my shift pattern while trying to arrange this appointment struggling to hear the receptionist over the traffic and this inconsiderate Chelsea tractor driver shouting. I had to break the conversation with my dentist and give him the directions again to get him to move on.

He could clearly see I was on the phone -- I should have sent him on a bum steer.
I am here. Where are you?
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RickH
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by RickH »

mattsccm wrote: 26 Oct 2021, 2:23pm Let's take this a bit less seriously.
Might I add single panniers to my hit list?
Even worse, this morning I saw a bike with a single front pannier. :roll:
Did I mention my mates who think they are doing the world a favour by fitting nice mudguards but failing to realise that off the peg mud flaps are useless and need and whopping great extension?
What about the pseudo-mono-pannierist?

Sometimes I will go out with very little stuff with intention of doing some shopping on the way home. In which case I will put up to 3 empty panniers (1 rear & 2 front) inside a single pannier, along with any odds & ends (rain jacket, tools, etc) for the outward journey.

I used to be quite fussy about balancing front panniers but having found that, in practice, when necessity has meant that I couldn't I found it doesn't really make a jot of difference. I've seen people out with a single front pannier a few times.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
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TrevA
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by TrevA »

I was a confirmed mono pannierist when I commuted to work. I had a big Altura Fusion waterproof rear pannier that I could stuff everything I needed into. It had rubber feet and would stand up on its own no matter how full. I had a set of Ortlieb Back Rollers too, but in my experience they didn’t cope well with being half full, losing their shape somewhat, so they were kept just for touring.

I still use the Fusion for shopping.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
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TrevA
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by TrevA »

Not sure if it’s already been mentioned but people who don’t know how to use mini- roundabouts. I was recently turning right at one, chappie going straight on failed to yield, perhaps because he was eating the sausage roll he’d just bought from Greggs. He didn’t take kindly to me hooting him, telling me to F Off.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
peetee
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by peetee »

TrevA wrote: 26 Dec 2021, 9:12am Not sure if it’s already been mentioned but people who don’t know how to use mini- roundabouts.
IME this often happens at minis that are the junction between a main road and a minor one and the offending driver, on the main road, fails to yield to the one emerging from the side road even though it’s to their right and it’s lesser status is irrelevant.
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
Manc33
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Manc33 »

Cars that won't go past me when "you could fit a bus through there". Have they knocked a cyclist off in the past? Are they drunk? I don't trust these people! I'm not saying cars should take risks and pass too close, I am saying there's endless instances on really wide roads where they still won't go past me. Get real! GO. PAST. ME.
We'll always be together, together on electric bikes.
thirdcrank
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by thirdcrank »

TrevA wrote: 26 Dec 2021, 9:12am Not sure if it’s already been mentioned but people who don’t know how to use mini- roundabouts. I was recently turning right at one, chappie going straight on failed to yield, perhaps because he was eating the sausage roll he’d just bought from Greggs. He didn’t take kindly to me hooting him, telling me to F Off.
I've just seen a cyclist ride anti-clockwise on a busy mini-roundabout to get directly to the righthand exit. The driver committed to emerging from the RH entry - with priority - was able to stop and avoid a collision.
Phil Fouracre
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Phil Fouracre »

Manc33 wrote: 27 Dec 2021, 4:38am Cars that won't go past me when "you could fit a bus through there". Have they knocked a cyclist off in the past? Are they drunk? I don't trust these people! I'm not saying cars should take risks and pass too close, I am saying there's endless instances on really wide roads where they still won't go past me. Get real! GO. PAST. ME.
Fully agree! On another level, it’s frightening because it just shows that their judgement is so poor - if they can’t overtake when there is space, what happens when there isn’t? The follow on from not overtaking when there is lots of space, is that they then get frustrated and push past when there isn’t any.
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
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