Drivers silly season?

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Tiberius
Posts: 799
Joined: 31 Dec 2014, 8:45am
Location: North East England

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Tiberius »

Nearholmer wrote: 25 May 2023, 12:20am People on bikes.
^^^^ - It's as simple as that. 'People' are the common denominator in just about every incident that I've ever had.

Two of my most recent near misses involved cyclists (the non 'e' variety) One breezing, head on, around a blind bend on the wrong side of the road, the other JUST managing to squeeze between myself and a double decker bus.

A belter this morning though. A Google street view car did a cracking right hander into a side street, nearly wiping me out as I approached from the opposite direction. YO12 area, I will look out for myself on Google Earth.
Stevek76
Posts: 2085
Joined: 28 Jul 2015, 11:23am

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Stevek76 »

Nearholmer wrote: 25 May 2023, 12:20am People on bikes.

People do daft things.
People on motorbikes.

Irks me that the media instinctively refers to these things as ebikes or cycles. They're, legally, an unapproved motorvehicle and being ridden by someone without the necessary insurance, licence and so on.
The contents of this post, unless otherwise stated, are opinions of the author and may actually be complete codswallop
Airsporter1st
Posts: 784
Joined: 8 Oct 2016, 3:14pm

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Airsporter1st »

Tiberius wrote: 25 May 2023, 1:17pm
Nearholmer wrote: 25 May 2023, 12:20am People on bikes.
^^^^ - It's as simple as that. 'People' are the common denominator in just about every incident that I've ever had.

Two of my most recent near misses involved cyclists (the non 'e' variety) One breezing, head on, around a blind bend on the wrong side of the road, the other JUST managing to squeeze between myself and a double decker bus.

A belter this morning though. A Google street view car did a cracking right hander into a side street, nearly wiping me out as I approached from the opposite direction. YO12 area, I will look out for myself on Google Earth.
…… but you are doing it too: … “a Google street view car driver did a cracking…….”

Sorry I am struggling to get rid of the bold type - driver is the bit I intended to emphasise.
Benz3ne
Posts: 252
Joined: 25 May 2021, 8:53am

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Benz3ne »

I've had a few recently that haven't been present prior to the nice weather.
1. Two younger people (seemingly younger than myself in the 31yo camp) on a petrol moped on a shared pathway. They kicked out as they came alongside me but didn't make contact. I, quite happily, shouted at them on this occasion (I usually bite my tongue) and they shouted a nice 'F. U.' back and carried on. A cyclist coming the opposite direction to me then advised me that they had actually made contact with him. I asked if he was okay, and he confirmed he was.
2. That same day, someone was driving in a single lane carriageway behind me. There was a parked car on 'our' side of the road, which I started moving to the centre of the lane to avoid (after checking). This car then decided to overtake me, pretty slowly considering I was at around 20mph at this point, whilst a car was oncoming in the opposite lane, which they had moved into to make the overtake (towards an island in the road also). They had to then stop, started moving back into 'our' lane whilst I was sandwiched between them and the parked car. They even apologised to the person oncoming, seemingly oblivious to my presence. I'm fairly certain my handlebar passed the threshold of their open passenger window. How I wasn't actually collided with is beyond me...
3. Yesterday. Coming onto a roundabout, traffic coming off a dual-carriageway with a short single carriageway before meeting the roundabout present. I had right of way and was established on the roundabout, whilst someone decided to check their phone (down by their side) and pull out in front of me. Had I not been concentrating enough to tank on my brakes when I did, I would have been slow-dancing with their bonnet I'm sure. I gave a loud 'oi', but they seemed none the wiser.

It does appear to be seasonal but, conversely, my wife has had a lot of close passes (to the point that she's bought herself a cycling camera as it makes her feel less anxious) over the course of the year so far. Mostly people overtaking her around islands, or in a similar vein to my #2, with oncoming traffic and not enough space.
Last edited by Benz3ne on 26 May 2023, 10:46am, edited 1 time in total.
Benz3ne
Posts: 252
Joined: 25 May 2021, 8:53am

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Benz3ne »

Airsporter1st wrote: 26 May 2023, 10:34am
Tiberius wrote: 25 May 2023, 1:17pm
Nearholmer wrote: 25 May 2023, 12:20am People on bikes.
^^^^ - It's as simple as that. 'People' are the common denominator in just about every incident that I've ever had.

Two of my most recent near misses involved cyclists (the non 'e' variety) One breezing, head on, around a blind bend on the wrong side of the road, the other JUST managing to squeeze between myself and a double decker bus.

A belter this morning though. A Google street view car did a cracking right hander into a side street, nearly wiping me out as I approached from the opposite direction. YO12 area, I will look out for myself on Google Earth.
…… but you are doing it too: … “a Google street view car driver did a cracking…….”

Sorry I am struggling to get rid of the bold type - driver is the bit I intended to emphasise.
Use [ / b ] without spaces to end bold text. :)
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Cowsham
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Joined: 4 Nov 2019, 1:33pm

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Cowsham »

Nearholmer wrote: 24 May 2023, 8:16pm
Why the other clot decided to ride on the wrong side, rather than tucking in behind me on the proper side, totally beats me, but the driver must have gone home cursing us ….. both wearing orange tops and riding blue bikes, she would surely have formed the impression that we were together.
Maybe just you going past a large shop window. :lol:
I am here. Where are you?
ThePinkOne
Posts: 246
Joined: 12 Jul 2007, 9:21pm

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by ThePinkOne »

People is the common denominator.

There seems to be a reduction in socialization as a whole. "I'm going to do what I want and don't care if it is bad for you" type of thing. Seems worse following COVID and across all generations. Lack of awareness of impact of one's actions on others and even where there is awareness, not caring. Polarised opinions too- anyone who doesn't see things their way is bad and can be ignored or even harmed.

I wonder if "Social" Media (where folks can sit behind a keyboard) and the lack of consequences for behaviour are causing it at least in part?

The way cars are driven, plus the increase in persons living in a bubble of noise of their own generation whether electronically (I won't call it "music") or by their own voices (shoutiness in person and on media), plus aggressive responses to challenge seem to be key symptoms- but it's not just car drivers, it's across society.

TPO
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Jdsk »

What's the evidence that anything has got worse?

Thanks

Jonathan
cycle tramp
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Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by cycle tramp »

Jdsk wrote: 26 May 2023, 1:02pm What's the evidence that anything has got worse?

Thanks

Jonathan
..I think it's anecdotal.... certainly people seem more time-stressed than I remember them being when I was growing up... personally I'm blaming the decline in people's patience on several things - on demand viewing (can you imagine current society having to wait a whole week for the next t.v. episode ?) and next day product delivery... when I was a lad you filled out (in black ink, please) the order form, wrote a cheque and had to wait for a whole 28 days before delivery...
...I think if you suggested that to the latest generation they'd have an anxiety attack... which is a shame, because I'm pretty damn sure 'having stuff to look forward to' actually, increases your mental health.
(Please note; no facts or figures were harmed in the formation of the above opinions; remembered events may be different from actual recorded events, any similarly between the above and any text generated by use of an artificial stupidity engine is purely coincidental).
Last edited by cycle tramp on 26 May 2023, 3:57pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Jdsk »

cycle tramp wrote: 26 May 2023, 3:51pm
Jdsk wrote: 26 May 2023, 1:02pm What's the evidence that anything has got worse?
..I think it's anecdotal.... certainly people seem more time-stressed than I remember them being when I was growing up... personally I'm blaming the decline in people's patience on several things - on demand viewing (can you imagine current society having to wait a whole week for the next t.b. episode) and next day product delivery... when I was a lad you filled out (in black ink, please) the order form, wrote a cheque and had to wait for a whole 28 days before delivery...
...I think if you suggested that to the latest generation they'd have an anxiety attack...
Thanks.

Yes, service is now often much quicker and that increases expectations.

But it's often asserted that personal behaviour has deteriorated in many ways, usually accompanied by nowadays. I'm not convinced.

Jonathan
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by cycle tramp »

Jdsk wrote: 26 May 2023, 3:55pm
Yes, service is now often much quicker and that increases expectations.

But it's often asserted that personal behaviour has deteriorated in many ways, usually accompanied by nowadays. I'm not convinced.

Jonathan
Well, if it helps we might have improved since Roman Civilisation. Certainly I think it's probably illegal now to allow babies to die of exposure, which is a step in the right direction... and slavery (at least in its more honest sense) is definitely frowned upon...
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
JohnW
Posts: 6667
Joined: 6 Jan 2007, 9:12pm
Location: Yorkshire

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by JohnW »

Jdsk wrote: 26 May 2023, 1:02pm What's the evidence that anything has got worse?

Thanks

Jonathan
The evidence of our eyes and our experiences.
Nearholmer
Posts: 3927
Joined: 26 Mar 2022, 7:13am

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Nearholmer »

Your eyes may pick out different things, and your experience teach you different things from the next person’s.

Personally, I’d say that some things have got better, some have got worse, and that we’re still the same cartload of monkeys, swapping between horns and haloes moment by moment, that we ever were.

And, one thing I surely don’t believe in is A Past Golden Age.
JohnW
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Joined: 6 Jan 2007, 9:12pm
Location: Yorkshire

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by JohnW »

Nearholmer wrote: 26 May 2023, 10:35pm Your eyes may pick out different things, and your experience teach you different things from the next person’s.

Personally, I’d say that some things have got better, some have got worse, and that we’re still the same cartload of monkeys, swapping between horns and haloes moment by moment, that we ever were.

And, one thing I surely don’t believe in is A Past Golden Age.
Well - traffic levels, at least locally to my area, have doubled since the covid plague started.
This is unofficially confirmed by the local authority - which may mean twice as many gud-uns - but twice as many bad-uns and by observation the lights controlling Pelikans are treat with increasing contempt.
Nearholmer
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Joined: 26 Mar 2022, 7:13am

Re: Drivers silly season?

Post by Nearholmer »

Well, yes, during lockdowns there was barely any traffic round here either, but whether the amount of traffic now is higher than it was in 2019 I’m not so sure.

I thought you were talking about life in general, not just traffic.
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