Petty annoyances on the road....

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Slowtwitch
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Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 11:35pm

Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Slowtwitch »

mattheus wrote: 12 Nov 2021, 2:17pm
Blibbka wrote: 12 Nov 2021, 1:34pm Bike lights that are brighter than the Sun and seem to be pointed to eye-level, meaning that you're temporarily blinded (applies when I'm on
a bike and worse if I'm in a car).
non-petty.
About 5 years ago I was completely dazzled by a high power led front light of a cyclist while crossing a busy junction. Lighting that's available now is an order of magnitude more bright. My son's front light is brighter than our car :lol:
jb
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by jb »

Most LED lights are point sources which makes them appear bright to an on coming person, put the same light through a bigger lens and it doesn't seem as bright, so car lights which are orders of magnitude brighter than even modern cycle lights don't seem to dazzle nearly as much as they should.
Which is why the B&M Cyo or the Edilux are much better for road use as well as using the available light more intelligently.

Point light sources are a petty annoyance to me (just to keep on topic :D )
Cheers
J Bro
mattheus
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by mattheus »

Had a geezer in a town-centre last week; his single front light was *way* too bright for use in society. One strike.
Light was on variable flash, something like pulse-pulse-pause ... repeat. Two strikes.
As we were both moving slowly down a street with no traffic, I stopped to have a polite chat. He basically said "I'm alright Jack". Accused *me* of wanting an argument ...

Three strikes. No appeals.
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foxyrider
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by foxyrider »

and on the subject of lights - why are they all pointing directly into my eyes?

Had a guy in one of the Bath tunnels the other week whose light completely blinded me to the point of dangerous, a few degrees downward would still get him seen but it wouldn't blind others and he'd be able to see the road surface as well. Bring back Never Readies :lol:
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
De Sisti
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by De Sisti »

mattheus wrote: 16 Nov 2021, 12:25pm Had a geezer in a town-centre last week; his single front light was *way* too bright for use in society. One strike.
Light was on variable flash, something like pulse-pulse-pause ... repeat. Two strikes.
As we were both moving slowly down a street with no traffic, I stopped to have a polite chat. He basically said "I'm alright Jack". Accused *me* of wanting an argument ...

Three strikes. No appeals.
I suppose he is correct. I mean, would you stop a motor vehicle if you thought the driver was doing
something to annoy you? Best just leave alone and carry on with your business.
jb
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by jb »

New road surfaces that stop just before a pothole :x

Mind you the whole road re-surfacing department seems to have swallowed the book of 'How to be King of the False Economies'.
Cheers
J Bro
mattheus
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by mattheus »

De Sisti wrote: 19 Nov 2021, 11:43am
mattheus wrote: 16 Nov 2021, 12:25pm Had a geezer in a town-centre last week; his single front light was *way* too bright for use in society. One strike.
Light was on variable flash, something like pulse-pulse-pause ... repeat. Two strikes.
As we were both moving slowly down a street with no traffic, I stopped to have a polite chat. He basically said "I'm alright Jack". Accused *me* of wanting an argument ...

Three strikes. No appeals.
I suppose he is correct. I mean, would you stop a motor vehicle if you thought the driver was doing
something to annoy you? Best just leave alone and carry on with your business.
I've stopped plenty of drivers for various different "chats".
I don't really value your input here, given your preference for lights that make life difficult for other road-users.
cycle tramp
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by cycle tramp »

De Sisti wrote: 19 Nov 2021, 11:43am
mattheus wrote: 16 Nov 2021, 12:25pm Had a geezer in a town-centre last week; his single front light was *way* too bright for use in society......He basically said "I'm alright Jack". Accused *me* of wanting an argument ...
I suppose he is correct. I mean, would you stop a motor vehicle if you thought the driver was doing
something to annoy you?
Yes, I have on the past when a road user* was doing something stupid, dangerous and ignorant, and I may do again in the future.
(* strangely the last time was when I spoke to a cyclist who had overtaken me, as I had stopped to allow space for four on coming horse riders)
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Cowsham
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Cowsham »

Petrol / diesel prices at an all time high but traffic still as busy as ever.
I am here. Where are you?
Blibbka
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Blibbka »

Cowsham wrote: 12 Nov 2021, 5:44pm
Blibbka wrote: 12 Nov 2021, 1:37pm Ooh.. motorcyclists taking up the bike box. I'm pretty sure they're not for motorbikes but this seems to be a well-kept secret, or just completely ignored.

Bike box?
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driv ... top-lines/

To be honest I wasn't sure what to call it so looked it up. Apparently "bike box" is the official name. Perhaps I should have just said "Advanced Stop Lines".
Blibbka
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Blibbka »

foxyrider wrote: 16 Nov 2021, 7:54pm and on the subject of lights - why are they all pointing directly into my eyes?

Had a guy in one of the Bath tunnels the other week whose light completely blinded me to the point of dangerous, a few degrees downward would still get him seen but it wouldn't blind others and he'd be able to see the road surface as well. Bring back Never Readies :lol:
My feeling too.

A light pointed directly forward, I think potentially can actually put the cyclist more at risk.

I notice it particularly when I'm driving. A cyclist may be approaching in the opposite lane. Light literally dazzles me. Now I can't see anything in the proximity of the cyclist apart from the light. Which means I can't see where the cyclist is looking, if he or she is indicating with his/her arms, if they're slowing down, turning, etc.

My biggest fear in this situation is if the cyclist is considering a turn across my lane into a side-road. I'd have absolutely no way of telling. And it puts me in quite an uncomfortable situation.

Makes me realise how many cues I take from body language, line of sight, etc, when anticipating cyclist movement.

I've often thought that a front light really doesn't need to be very bright for road use, and in fact it'd make more sense to have a bright light pointed backwards to the body of the cyclist; so instead of just seeing blinding lights with no context, you see a light and an illuminated person on a bike - much more humanising, better able to see body language etc.
Mike Sales
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Mike Sales »

Blibbka wrote: 23 Nov 2021, 10:42am

I've often thought that a front light really doesn't need to be very bright for road use, and in fact it'd make more sense to have a bright light pointed backwards to the body of the cyclist; so instead of just seeing blinding lights with no context, you see a light and an illuminated person on a bike - much more humanising, better able to see body language etc.
It is often suggested that a sailing boat at night should shine a light on its sails to be more visible and identifiable to larger vessels approaching.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
mattheus
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by mattheus »

Mike Sales wrote: 23 Nov 2021, 10:50am
Blibbka wrote: 23 Nov 2021, 10:42am

I've often thought that a front light really doesn't need to be very bright for road use, and in fact it'd make more sense to have a bright light pointed backwards to the body of the cyclist; so instead of just seeing blinding lights with no context, you see a light and an illuminated person on a bike - much more humanising, better able to see body language etc.
It is often suggested that a sailing boat at night should shine a light on its sails to be more visible and identifiable to larger vessels approaching.
Makes a lot of sense.
And I'd say similar for car headlights. In built-up areas with normal streetlights no-one is using their headlights to see where they are going, especialy if there is lots of other traffic around. Sidelights are plenty bright enough to see a vehicle.

Lights shining in other road-users' eyes - whether from a cyclist, a car/van, or indeed runners and dog-walkers! - are possibly the biggest problem making winter roads more tricky/dangerous than summer. Worse when it rains in the dark,
Blibbka
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by Blibbka »

Mike Sales wrote: 23 Nov 2021, 10:50am
Blibbka wrote: 23 Nov 2021, 10:42am

I've often thought that a front light really doesn't need to be very bright for road use, and in fact it'd make more sense to have a bright light pointed backwards to the body of the cyclist; so instead of just seeing blinding lights with no context, you see a light and an illuminated person on a bike - much more humanising, better able to see body language etc.
It is often suggested that a sailing boat at night should shine a light on its sails to be more visible and identifiable to larger vessels approaching.
Exactly ... the difference between "there's something over there with a bright shiny light, maybe a cyclist or could be a motorcycle" and "there's a cyclist coming this way watching me expectantly and indicating right"
colin54
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Re: Petty annoyances on the road....

Post by colin54 »

Not petty for the animal; but vehicles which hit an animal and drive off without stopping, leaving the animal to die (if not dead already).
The poor creatures just end up as a flattened mess in the road after a day or two.
I was reminded of this on Monday in Southport on the bridge, where a gull had just been clipped, leaving it's entrails across the road, I had to stop and wring it's neck in case it was still alive (it wasn't), bagged it up, and put it's remains out on the marsh.
I've had to do the same multiple times with geese, hares, pigeons.
People must be aware they've hit something; pretty poor behaviour in my opinion.
Nu-Fogey
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