Safe Speed Forums

Here at Crewe we now have 'death by traffic lights' on my way to the station (8 sets in a mile). I would think there are enough of them to even control pigeons in flight!!

However, to give the 'movement prevention' people their due, separate cycle lanes have been installed for cyclists which to my eye appear much safet than slugging it out with the 44 tonne lorries et al.

Yet I see virtually NO cyclists using them !! All those I see seem to prefer risking it with the rest of us, and believe me there is plenty of risk in these new signalled roundabouts.

Is there a common death wish amongst you all, or is it just the normal perversity of the British

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Good manners maketh a good motorist

where are the cycle lanes ?

on the pavement so you have to stop and wait to cross every side turning? and avoid hapless pedestrians who can't work out what the white line in the middle of the pavement is for?

on the road in the gutter where all the rubbish gets brushed to by the traffic? and often on an unhelpful camber? oh and with sporadic drains for added spice? or you become invisible to cars turnng left and cutting you up?


these and many other reasons why cycle lanes are often worse than playng in the traffic

if none of the above apply then... i dunno

I think I've seen so many bad cycle-lanes in my time that I'd rather use a road than a cycle lane in pretty much 99% of my journeys.

The trouble with these things is that whoever puts them there isn't a cyclist and is simply paying lip-service to a LA "Policy on Cycling". I've got a classic one on my commute to work. It's a shared use pavement covering about half a mile, the road is a 30 limit with on street parking either side and predominantly residential, herein lies the problem. At every driveway there are giveway markings on the cycle path, this creates about 17 junctions on the cyclepath. If I cycle on the road there are three junctions! It's a no-brainer really.

This, and many other dodgy cycle-lane experiences (some echoed by ed_m above) are why I try to avoid cyclelanes, and, to be honest as a cyclist, I'm traffic and tend to be happier mixing it with cars, lorries and buses than with pedestrians, dog walkers and pushchairs!

Hmm -


Wildy and those in-laws have always found UK pedestrians to be really daft on these. You do seem to see better discipline and respect abroad but it's probably that like my wife - they grew up with them and thus have more automatic respect when using them.

... well if I'm riding on one of these - I simply behave as I do in the car and give way to the pedestrian regardless. But then - find the pedestrian does not walk into my path anyway as

1. Ride as I drive with COAST
and

2. I give a little tinkle on my bell in much the same way as I may just give a very light tooty toot with the horn. (basically a "too-oo" as opposed to a "BLAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH _
TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT-T-TUT!:wink:

Feel better for that now - had one of those weeks, Lurgies not me - all my patients!




Try Ambleside my friend. Now on my 200th letter of complaint over this and others in the National Park. Narrow and nasty and they think a 20 mph solves things...

Should not be there - it's to fill some target or other. Bit like the NHS and the waiting lists which are still there really.



Agree on the first one... on the second - we have to use ears to listen for the cars following us. I can tell from a car's engine what he intends to do and take what I think is a common sense COAST plan of action. depending on the situation...






Oooh - you seen my letter to the council cretin here then. Have challenged him to ride on that lane with me driving up behind him Not sure if I'd apply COAST in this situation though.... boxedin: :stirthepot" But would show him as and he would be to point of and if he discovered at first hand how bad some of the so-called lanes really are.


I think I mentioned one headlined in a Manchester paper as a "Whelly Bad Lane" as it goes nowhere - literally. It;s on a residential and the paper reported the residents were pranging each other in cars and on bikes...

As you say

a NO BRAINER

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We use our smilies on YOU today
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KEEP SMILING
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Smily to penny.. penny to pound
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But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
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Ohh ....roundabouts are a source of danger to many cyclists. I have lost count of the numbers of accidents at roundabouts - and for all road users the real danger of the roundabout revolves around [i] local conditions;/i] amnd not necessarily bad design Think small roundabouts are worse than large ones for cyclists and the main issue is aggression and not speed on roundabouts.

We discussed this at length - we had a funny troll at the time. Kidna liked that guy Papamau who hated roundaboputs and was in favour of the policemann directing traffic and crossroads instead as I recall. One of the gang posts to his site [size=9]- Marianna is the "Frenzied Feline!" (The cat thing with them - "nine life family!"

Anyway think for the ease of deabte and so as not to have a confusion of threads - will start a new thread on roundabouts general.

Important as drivers do need to see this from a cyclist's point of view and I will seek out the old Papumau thread and and early Paul post on mini-roundabouts as link's worth reading so that our cyclists on board and on lurk can read through. I am hoping some of our fiercer critics over the road will join in this section of the forum With the exceptin of the obvious troll - I think I speak for all of us when we say they will get a warm welcome and respect in most ansers though I cannot vouch for WIidy Or Kriss if she decides to join in.

In the meantime - visit this site, Guy is worth a read and lots of very sensible stuff on his site. Well worth a look.

http://www.nuttycyclist.co.uk/

Some very interesting advice on "challenging routines such as roundabouts and lights" and I fully support his work on thiis. There are some excellent suggestions for a good ride as well.

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Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.