Oooh - I'm Cross

[RickH]

And peadatricians getting lynched, etc.

I don't understand this comment,I must have missed or can't bring to mind the story

Not quite lynched but here is an example in the Grauniad.

Rick.

[reohn2]

I saw a yellow fiat 500 beetling down the A273 this morning, with no number plates. I looked carefully, front and rear, nix. And I couldn't see any sign of trade plates, either. Not even on the parcel shelf inside the rear window (a favourite place to put plates and beat the cameras).

What does the Law have to say about that? How are we supposed to report hit-and-runs if we can't even give a reg. number?

A couple of months ago in Stockport on the A6 that runs right through the town I saw two MotoX motorcycles doing continuous wheelies through rushour traffic,no reg plates no helmets,and straight through very loud exhausts.
The thing is they know there's every chance they'll get away with it because there are no police about to stop them.

[reohn2]

And peadatricians getting lynched, etc.

I don't understand this comment,I must have missed or can't bring to mind the story

Not quite lynched but here is an example in the Grauniad.

Rick.

Unbelievable!

[Pugwash]

My blood is boiling. !!!!!

In the last 12 hours in my town, I've seen.

3 cyclists on a busy main road in darkness without lights

2 cyclists run red lights with no regard for anyone else around.

I tackled one of the latter, pointing out that they were giving the rest of us cyclists a bad name, but I just got a mouthful of abuse for my trouble.

We now have taxi drivers filming cyclist doing this. You can guess who the media will side with.

WHEN ARE THESE IDIOTS GOING TO STOP GIVING AMMUNITION TO THE ENEMY ?

The next time some bimbo decides its fun to force a (probably) law-abiding cyclist off the and have a laugh texting her mates about it, this is all the excuse they'll think they need.

These idiots are destroying our hobby/means of transport and putting our lives at risk. Isn't it about time we serious cyclists started to think serious;y about how we are going to tackle this.

Find me a taxi driver that obeys the speed limit and pays anything resembling the correct amount of tax.

[eileithyia]

As a cycle commuter at odd times I NORMALLY see unlit cyclists esp when the mornings and evenings start drawing in..... This year there has been a definite shift, in the last couple of months I have only seen 2 unlit cyclists, all cyclists (even the manual worker types with toe-tector boots on) have had lights and often have been lit up earlier rather than later. The number of unlit cars by comparison is phenomenal, and why oh why is it the dark, grey, silver, blue one etc that are the worst culprits.

[reohn2]

............The number of unlit cars by comparison is phenomenal, and why oh why is it the dark, grey, silver, blue one etc that are the worst culprits.

And why do they drive on side lights on the motorway at 80+ in poor visibility/rain!!!!

[niggle]

Harold Shipman worked for the NHS, he also wore black lace up shoes

I wear black lace up shoes and work for the NHS

Me as well and I even have a beard

[ChrisPAmbulance]

I'm glad this caused such a good discussion. It's what I intended.

I don't feel any moral responsibility to other cyclists, but I do concern myself with my own safety. There are so many drivers out there who seem to use RLJ etc to justify their diabolical treatment of cyclists.

No matter how good and law abiding a cyclist you are, the next nutter on 4 wheels may just see you as another red light jumping, pavement riding, pedestrian killing, traffic congestion causing enemy that they saw at the last junction or read about in the daily hate. Your actual behaviour won't matter in the slightest.

The more we can do to correct this perception the better. And the fewer the tiny minority of cyclist who indulge in idiotic behaviour the better for all of us.

However, my opinion on this is slightly clouded right now as on Sunday, I was knocked off my bike on the A518/A34 roundabout by some "person" in a BMW who just looked down on me sprawled on the tarmac like you would look at a dog turd and then drove off. (I'll post the details later)

...And there just aren't enough angry faces on my keyboard to show how cross I was about this.

[Vorpal]

However, my opinion on this is slightly clouded right now as on Sunday, I was knocked off my bike on the A518/A34 roundabout by some "person" in a BMW who just looked down on me sprawled on the tarmac like you would look at a dog turd and then drove off. (I'll post the details later)

...And there just aren't enough angry faces on my keyboard to show how cross I was about this.

Sorry to hear. I wish you well. In case you don't know about them, there are a couple of posts on the forum that may be relevant.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=69901
and
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49627

The second is titled 'instructing a lawyer', but I think that some of the information is relevant for anyone who has been in a crash and wants to do something about it.

[Mark1978]

I don't really understand the hatred of pavement cyclists tbh. Stop for a moment and think about why they are there. It isn't for the purpose of breaking the law or causing inconvenience to anyone. It's because they are scared of riding on the road - is that their fault? Certainly not, and you aren't going to 'solve' the issue by fining them and getting them to ride on the road, because they won't; I'd wager for the vast majority of pavement cyclists it's that or they don't cycle at all.

[Mark1978]

However, my opinion on this is slightly clouded right now as on Sunday, I was knocked off my bike on the A518/A34 roundabout by some "person" in a BMW who just looked down on me sprawled on the tarmac like you would look at a dog turd and then drove off. (I'll post the details later)

...And there just aren't enough angry faces on my keyboard to show how cross I was about this.

I trust you've contacted the police? Hit and run is a serious offence.

[ChrisPAmbulance]

Unfortunately not.

On a technicality, he didn't actually touch me, just drove straight across my bows from the left whilst I was turning right forcing me down onto the central reservation. But also, I was so shocked by the whole thing that I didn't think to get his registration plate until he was well out of sight(a). All I know is that it was a black BMW sedan and there are a lot of those around.

PS. If any of you reading this are the nice lady in the red mini who did stop to see if I was alright. I am so sorry that you had to listen to the stream of invective (Not all of it English) that I sent northwards up the A34. You shouldn't have had to to hear that, but at the time, I felt entirely justified.

(a) I am one of those riders who, up until the weekend was saying thatI have been riding for 45 years and never seen the sort of driver a lot of posters here allude to, it must be an exaggeration. 99.99999999% of car drivers I encounter are very courteous - but I guess there's always one.

[foxyrider]

The RLJers annoy me, but not half as much as the ****s who insist on cycling on the pavement. We need as many cyclists on the road as we can get, so that we are noticed more.

So called cyclists on pavements are our worst enemy (except for young children). How will motorists appreciate us as proper road users unless we assume our rights as normal traffic? I don't know about London, as I've never cycled there, but in normal situations we should be able to ride on the roads just like other users. We all pay for the roads through our taxes, and we are therefore entitled to use them in the same way as anyone else

Here in Sheffield its the Police who ride on the pavement citing the roads as being too dangerous for their officers!

[mjr]

(a) I am one of those riders who, up until the weekend was saying thatI have been riding for 45 years and never seen the sort of driver a lot of posters here allude to, it must be an exaggeration. 99.99999999% of car drivers I encounter are very courteous - but I guess there's always one.

Yeah and it only takes one sadly. I feel like things are improving, at least in the fens, and the nutters are becoming rarer and/or I'm avoiding where they lurk without thinking about it or it's because I've changed which jacket and headgear I use most. I had one europarts van (something like a kangoo) start to pull out across me as I rounded a roundabout today (on road, rather than the cycle track that gives way to his entry slip road), but he thought better of it and stopped.

Personally, I suspect the number of central/east european drivers here who actually ride bikes and know how to drive around them may be having some influence too. British commercial drivers still seem to be the biggest problem, or maybe I just remember them more because they're labelled.

Live and learn: next time I bet you get their number plate.

[ScotchEgg]

Unfortunately 90% of the cycle tracks round my way incur some riding on the pavement sections. Its a cheap way to set up a cycle network, but a disaster waiting to happen.