Safe Speed Forums

Agree completely



They do it and it should be anticipated, however aggressive manouvres are plain dangerous. I'd rather ride over a drain than around it if I think it's going to cause me harm. If the road is narrow then to ride out in my opinion is causing other road users unnessary delay, being legal is one thing but causing a tailback is wrong.



still dangerous nevertheless.



It may be legal but IMO is totally and utterly inconsiderate. I sometimes ride in a group and may ride in pairs, one behind each other leaving at least two car lengths between the other pair. I would never entertain riding side-by-side and can see no benefit for other any road user.



I would agree and they generally don't, in London this is quite common, as are the dead cyclists who perform this manouvre. Unfortunately many of the parents of these unfortunates go on to blame the wagon driver saying they should have been looking.



I generally define this by how much room they give me when they are accelerating to overtake. The way I look at it they may have been folloing closely however a quick wave may make them a little cyclist friendly in the future. In other words we are all embassadors for each other, one's actions whether good or bad could have an effect on driver to cyclist behaviour in the future. Courtesy costs nothing to administer yet could reap more results than we know.



See your point here and perphaps that's the problem, with more people taking up cycling people are being able to use roads and not know the first thing about them. Whilst we can ask motorists to shoulder much of that responsibility, I don't think it should be the sole responsibility considering the actions of cyclists. I'm not saying more legislation but better education would be far more useful.

wouldn't that be nice. As I'm now commuting in to London I get to see lots of 'new' cyclists about. One pulled out of a junction to my right, wobbled slowly across a 4 lane road and planted herself bang in front of me but going about 15mph slower than me. Obviously I had made the mistake of thinking that she would stay to my right, using the available 1 and a bit lanes (there were parked cars) until I'd passed her . "Well you could see me coming" was all she said after I'd 'politiely' asked her to open her eyes.
Well, I guess the only consolation is that she's not driving, at least not as much, with that attitude.

You've a very good point with this one. I keep telling my brother who's as tight as they come, spend a few extra quid on quality items, decent lights, relective jacket etc and it could end up saving your life. Nah, he'd rather have the cheapy stuff from halfords. Guess he's waiting for his birthday.

Here's a link to a test of the lights I use:

Lupine

Mine is the edison on the bottom left. For comparison a British standard front light has less power than the LED2003 option. Before I got this light people used to turn in front of me all the time. Having one of them hit me convinced me the price of the light was well worth it. Now people even give way to me - they probably think I'm on a scooter.

Your kidding!!!


A few of those and we could floodlight our local footbal pitch.

helmet mounts are available


I did a quick google for some stuff about segregated paths and found this link
Research

I think it's more to do with a distraction then anything else, but it's nothing specific to cyclists. Clearly it's important to concentrate on the road primaily, anything else is of secondary importance. Any road user who is engrossed in music is not paying adequate attention to the road. However so long as your attention is not affected then their should not be a problem. Often when negotiating tricky junctions or bunching on the motorway I can forget entirely what song has just been on the radio. It also probably irratates the hell out of my passengers the way I can completly tail-off a conversation if something is developing on the road ahead.



Yes I agree. We've got enough legislation but some education would be welcomed and also more discretionary enforcement. Going through red lights and riding on the pavement are the two I'd like to see addressed. One cyclist I saw yesterday, on approach to a queue of traffic mounted the pavement and rode round a blind left hand bend. If there'd have been someone walking there it would have been a nasty accident.

I'm certainly not suggesting cyclist are in anyway a greater theat then motorists, or that there aren't good and bad motorists(lets not start that again) but some more discretionary enforcement is needed to protect the majority of good responsible cyclists.

ok, but is it any more distracting than just having your car stereo turned up - or even on? You often see people 'dancing' in their car or drumming on the steering wheel. Then there's the bling boys with £5K worth of stereo equipment in £50 worth of car. Some of them I could hear quite clearly on the 8th floor of my work building.

My honest answer is "I don't know". I would hazard a guess, and would be open to corrections, that it is more distracting then a car stereo. My thinking being that a walkman or indeed an IPod if your into these new gadgets is more immediate whereas a car stereo is more in the background or 'wallpaper' is you like. Yes I agree that those who are so engrossed in their music and it's so loud could be just as much distracted, if not proberbly more so.

However I can see a difference in that the radio or a cd may help increase and maintain a driver's arousal, espeically on the motorway. I wouldn't expect the same benefit for cyclists simply because their is much more physical effort involved.

I would expect loss of hearing on a bicycle to be more significant than in a car, since bikes tend not to have mirrors. As a cyclist I am more reliant on hearing what's behind.

but it all depends on the situation. On my morning commute there's so much traffic noise that it's not really providing me any information. On quiet roads you can hear people coming but how often does this knowledge actually help you? (once again, just thinking out loud here, not arguing for or against ipod/walkman use)

I used to cycle everywhere when I lived in Manchester since I couldn't afford a car or motorbike. Now I rarely cycle at all, and have had a major change in attitude. Here's my thoughts:

When I pass a cyclist, I leave as much room as possible. I don't like 'squeezing' past in the same lane because I remember how much this used to irritate me when I was cycling, and how uncomfortable it is for the cyclist. So generally I'll pass either on the other side of the road, or on d/c the next lane over. There were times when I was cycling that I would actually move over to the right to block traffic when I knew that there wasn't enough space to get past me safely, but on the other hand I would always try to move out of the way when there was space. Even down to the odd occasion when I had an HGV or something else large behind me on a narrow road and I hopped onto the pavement to get out of the way, or stopped briefly.

I agree completely that cyclists and motor vehicles should be segregrated since neither seems capable of sharing their space effectively and safely. However, I used to use a dedicated cycle lane that passed through a park and was next to a pavement away from the road, and it used to infuriate me when people insisted on walking in the cycle path (clearly marked with white lines and red tarmac), or crossing it without looking. I also agree that it isn't safe for someone doing 20mph on a bicycle to share the same space as pedestrians, so the answer has to be a properly designed and segregated network of cycle lanes in urban settings. The problem comes on main NSL trunk roads which are often too narrow to allow space for a cycle lane, and digging up the counrtyside to build one isn't an option.

I also think that cyclists should be expected to take responsibility for their actions and mistakes. At the end of the day they are road users and are therefore bound by the highway code, and just like the rest of us should have to face the consequences when they don't.

The answer has to be a change of attitude on both sides. I do know how frustrating is can be to be stuck behind a cyclist doing 10mph on a NSL road with no space to pass, but I do think that sometimes we're all just in too much of a rush, and a little patence and consideration on BOTH SIDES goes a long way.

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You give as much space as possible (Gatsobait - )
when passing cyclist or horse - and pass at sensible speed and not one which will alarm a horse or cause turbulence to a cyclist. If insufficient room - drop back, give yourself and the cyclist space and time - and look well ahead for the first safe overtaking gap. COAST philosphy

Cycle paths - we use them when available - Mad Cats refuse to use the daft ones in the Lake district though - and some are just ridiculous - narrow and unusable - or go nowhere. In that case - safer to use the road. Would love to see similar cycle paths to Holland, North Germany and parts of France and Switzerland

Riding two abreast may well be legal - but - if it is inappropriate for the road conditions - lads here will have a quiet word about it and if three and more are riding abreast - we definitely have words about it. As well as pavement cycling, and other illegal riding practices



Yes - wear helmet when I ride and high viz - everyone in this family rides bicycles - and the Swiss have some very stylish "be seen in the dark" gear. There is a decent range available if you are prepared to shop around.


Lights? No exuse not to have spare battery or bulb in kits. We have Lupine Edisons 5 - battery time is about 4 hours on full power - so if you do not use the high beam facility - lasts a lot longer. - and we always have spare batteries as well.

You get what you pay for on lights ...I'd say the bese budet light (abpout £50 is the Knight Light Adventurer - battery time 5 hours - low power warning and 10W high beam and 5W get you home on commute beam.

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

I'd say at least 6-8 feet clearance.

On subject on cycle lanes .. I use them if them make sense to me. Have to say some of the cylcle lanes around here are just daft. I do thank Steve C of the JJs here - for giving me a contact name to complain to as Ambleside in particular is a disgrace and an affront to commone sense! On this - I believe he is pro-safety

I confess that to some extent I am a lucky man - live in the Lake District - which means good scenic drives, horseriding, fell walking and pedal cycling.

As I live in one of the UK's major holiday resorts and ride and drive for pleasure (no matter how many times I see the scenery here - am gobsmacked by it all - and by birth am a Dalesman - so rural life is in my blood really). Anyway - one of the benefits to me is that I have some of the best places to ride horse or bike or drive my car in this area - and an addend bonus is tha t we meet people form all over the world here.

So - based on what a 19 strong party from Sydney, Australia declared to me on one of my fave rides around Ullswater and and an American party at Buttermere.... am going to say to all UK drivers



I think this is indeed worth mentioning as it seems to indicate that we are indeed a nation of safe drivers on aggregate

As regards wearing a helmet - wear one as matter of course.

As regards a high viz bib or tunic - lots of really stylish wear on the market these days and I do have a selection of suitable attire. I also have various light weight lycra garments - shorts , three quarter and fulkl length and in a variety of colours too.

This is a rural area and we do not always have street lighting. It's as my sister-in-law once pointed out on C plus (they moaned but they know deep down she's right ) - you really do need this gear if only to be spotted in the dipped or high beam head lamps in these areas. Anything which makes you stand out and visible is a bonus.

Lights? Like IG, Kriss and Mike. an rest of family world wide .... Wildy and self use Lupines. You carry a spare battery in your kit - but normally I'd expect about three hours at high power.
If on budget - agree with IG over the Knight Light Adventurer. Vistalight is £100 and battery will power for just 45 mins on full power.

Cateye ABS (about £150 - 3 hour battery) or Lumicycle (£160 and 4 hour burn time battery wise) or reasonable buys.

My advice anyway....

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Smily to penny.. penny to pound
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Like Paul, i imagine cyclist lying on road having fallen over at right angles - that is MINIMUM space.I also remember a workmate of mine complaining about motorists - he had found a solution - bash the roof if going slow.
Horses - i stop and let horse go round me - why - if horse hits me when stopped - i did nothing to spook horse -it hit me.And if i meet horse in country in firms van ,i stop to let horse go round me =good pr.Too many horsey people with mobiles these days prepared to phone up and complain.
(Q to BIB - are horses riders /cyclists allowed to use mobile on move?)

If you're coming up to a horse travelling in your direction, how on earth do you stop and let it go round you?

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

Sorry - lost in typing - let it pass - either on one side or other - or any way it wants to -except over you