Cars lack consideration for bicycle riders

[BobG]

Man, cars just have no love for bicycles. Even the cars filming the racers in the Tour de France run over cyclists.

One minute you're one of the five leaders on a break away in the Tour de France - the next you and your bicycle are flying through the air and you land in a barb wire fence.

Believe it or not, those guys finished the race.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWT8yeHGA0U

It looks like the driver was afraid he was too close to that tree, so he swerved over into the cyclist.

 

[Adyssa]

OUCH!

I ride a bike regularly, and I'm scared, very scared on the road sometimes. I try to do most of my pedaling well away from any roads.

 

[DaveC426913]

It looks like the driver was afraid he was too close to that tree, so he swerved over into the cyclist.

It is a matter of fact that a guy on a bike is a softer hit than a tree. He made a call.

 

[Ken Natton]

I’m aware that I might be taking this more seriously than I was meant to, but it is worth making the point that the real solution is a build up of significant infrastructure that enables those wishing to get about on their pushbikes to remain completely separate from motorised traffic. We have this phenomenon in the UK of old railway beds that are long since disused that sometimes get turned into cycle ways. When they do, they are wonderful. Being old railway beds means any gradients on them are quite gentle, and sometimes they do enable you to get to places a significant distance from your start point with only a reasonable amount of effort.

Of course, to build up the level of infrastructure required to make it a realistic alternative for routine, regular travel requirements would be expensive, and there is a question about just how many people could be persuaded to make regular use of it. But it presents a realistic opportunity to make a significant difference to our dependency on fossil fuels and it might actually make a significant contribution to the improvement of general health. I’m not seriously thinking that it is something that might actually happen but I am suggesting that maybe it ought to. And, returning to the original point, it would completely remove the issue of problematic interactions between cars and pushbikes.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

The biggest thing I hate about cycling is how everybody treats you, cars think you are in the way and pedestrians think you're dangerous.

Just yesterday I got a formal warning from a police officer for riding my bike. I rode it into the entrance of a park which you can ride in but apparently not the first 30ft of the entrance. I was riding slower than people were walking but didn't get off. A police officer jumped out of his car, thrust his hand out and started having a go. When I politely asked him if he thought it was fair to stop me when I was going slower than some of the joggers he said "cycling is cycling is cycling". I pointed out that cycling very fast into a crowd is different to cycling slower than walking and he told me to shut up or I would get a £300 fine.

I despair at the lack of due discretion in our police force, they're more like the bastard offspring of a bully and bureaucrat.

 

[DaveC426913]

The biggest thing I hate about cycling is how everybody treats you, cars think you are in the way and pedestrians think you're dangerous.

They are and they are.

A group is judged by its worst-behaved members.

...
I despair at the lack of due discretion in our police force, they're more like the bastard offspring of a bully and bureaucrat.

Do not blame the police.

As bicycling becomes more and more popular, it must encroach upon spaces traditionally considered exclusive venues - walking areas and driving areas. The friction and the infractions are part of this growing experience. Cyclists are making their presence and rights known and some often go overboard, riding on pedestrian walkways or by riding between lanes on roads.

Pedestrians and drivers and, by extension, police, must not let this get out of hand. We need to educate everyone until we find a new compromise of space.

The above sounds baised against cyclists; it is not meant to be. But cyclists are the group that is changing the status quo, so they get the most flak (squeaky wheel gets the oil).



Frankly, the other way of looking at it is that cyclists have the best of both worlds.

Unlike pedestrians, they have the speed with which to exit an situation (such as riding through a crosswalk, failing to stop at open streecar doors or even a minor collision), and unlike licensed motor vehicles, have the anonymity so they cannot be tracked down if they do leave.

They are the ninjas of the streets, with both speed and stealth in their side.

 

[Jack21222]

cars think you are in the way

How are you not in the way? You travel at half the speed limit.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

How are you not in the way? You travel at half the speed limit.

Clearly you've never seen me cycle

Saw this in the news yesterday, a man got out of his car and http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23969106-road-rage-caught-on-camera-motorist-punches-a-cyclist-and-8201-just-because-he-couldnt-overtake.do" . It was all recorded (by a helmet cam I think) but the guy hasn't been caught because it's not his car and the owner of the car isn't admitting who it was.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Lately I have heard several complaints against cyclists apparently acting like they own the road blocking lanes and congesting traffic.

 

[DaveC426913]

Lately I have heard several complaints against cyclists apparently acting like they own the road blocking lanes and congesting traffic.

Lately?

 

[OmCheeto]

A group is judged by its worst-behaved members.

Yup.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-11726010"

A 52-year-old man suffered serious head injuries when he was attacked by a cyclist in Portland Road just after 1200 GMT on Sunday.

Sussex Police believe he may have opened his door, causing three cyclists to swerve out of the way.

'e made us swerve! So we roughed 'im up a bit! To teach 'im a lesson, you know.

The lack of consideration goes both ways. Or three ways, if you count those pedestrian jerks. That's why I don't own a gun. There would be tens of thousands of dead jerks lying in their cars, on their bikes, and in there shoes, if I could have my way...

 

[Ryan_m_b]

The lack of consideration goes both ways. Or three ways, if you count those pedestrian jerks. That's why I don't own a gun. There would be tens of thousands of dead jerks lying in their cars, on their bikes, and in there shoes, if I could have my way...

I swear it's just any form of traveling (bar walking) that brings out this anger. If you and another person almost walk into each other you both leap to be the most polite, then you do that thing where you both step to the side at the same time and are in each others way again. This tends to bring out a bit of a laugh and you both go on your way with a smile.

Swap walking here to any other form of transport and it changes from "haha excuse me, no I insist you first" to "YOU BASTARD! F***ING CUT ME UP WILL YOU? *BEEP *BEEP COME HERE AND SAY THAT!"

 

[DaveC426913]

Swap walking here to any other form of transport and it changes from "haha excuse me, no I insist you first" to "YOU BASTARD! F***ING CUT ME UP WILL YOU? *BEEP *BEEP COME HERE AND SAY THAT!"

Yes. Because

1] on foot, everyone is subject to the same rules. As soon as you have more than one mode of transport, you have inequality in rules.
2] on foot, you can't help but see the other as a person. In a car everyone's anonymous.

Bikes are halfway in between. Neither fish nor fowl.