On now

Going to be shouting a bit here…

WTF….. Some scary driving there!

A few lucky escapes.

Glad most of our routes are off road

Some scary riding too, to be fair.

Shame the young guy with the major part in it comes across as a smug so and so. Sorta discredits what he did capture.

Id happily **** Gareth the web developer, who commands the road when he needs to that is not what cyclists need ,im sure a lot of us drive in London and also cycle ,as a cyclist its my responsability to keep safe?

come across it every day in Manchester, there are shit drivers and equally shit cyclists.

Hmmm not as bad as the preview films made out then 😯

Some of the cyclists (Gareth) came across as complete knobs – that’s the last thing we need.

Some stupid car drivers and some stupid cyclists – no real shocks.

Well done to the lady who got changes to the Cement Lorries – a real positive contribution and a nice epitaph for her daughter.

A lot of them did give the majority of cyclists a bad name.
I come across aggressive motorists even in my village. I have banged on vehicles in the past to let them know I am there, before I get squished.

Thankfully I am a badass, and no-one f’s with me!

The taxi driver at the start said it best- it’s human nature, so once someone blows their top, beware as they will want to kill!

About what I expected from the earlier thread, not really sure what positive/negative contribution a rather London-centric documentary like that really makes, sensationalist but also failing to draw any real conclusions.

Probably actually served to just reinforce the entrenched beliefs of anyone viewing it really whether Militant cyclists or motorists…

come across it every day in Manchester most places in the UK, there are shit drivers and equally shit cyclists.

As many bell ends on bikes as there were behind the wheel, shocking displays of total disregard for other road users displayed on both parts. I thought the programme was well balanced. A few bad representations of cyclists but the motorists faired no better.

Fair, lets all try and do better.

That Gareth was a Smug **** and is not the sort of person who should be used for a cyclist opinion.

I drive a lot in London for work and everybody has a responsibility to one another on the road. Due of care and all that jazz.

I just wish motorist would realise how venerable cyclist are!

Good program all the same!

i think the general consensus is we’re as bad as each other……

why did they have to show the street racing though?

is this how motorcyclists behave?

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unvJpxJ0if4[/video]

and the suggestion is that the M1 crash on monday night was two beemers racing? is that normal?

Gareth has done nothing to improve cyclist’s journey ! Jerk !!!

I thought Gareth seemed pretty reasonable and put across a good point. Maybe other than ‘It can be a bit like a war out there’, not helpful.

I’m glad they showed the taxi driver (the Gareth incident) trying to explain his actions with the footage played at the same time, he dug his own hole there and came out looking an idiot.

I got a bit of dust in my eye watching the part about the young lady who was killed, just could not get that blighter out! 8)

Overall I thought it was less bad than I’d feared, and may at least make people realise that we’re all just people trying to get somewhere, and these things can affect any of us.

EDIT: Lorry driver’s comments were a bit off, his attitude seems to be “My driving is fine, if someone goes under my wheels, it can’t be my fault.” What a French shower.

There were very few people who came out if that well.

Safety on the road is everyone’s responsibility. If you go up the inside of a truck or coach you are inviting issues. Headphones on busy streets – foolish. Riding quickly past pedestrians – a little daft, red light jumping – erm. Behave out there and live to tell the tale.

The older taxi driver nd the black taxi driver, big thanks to them for appearing, and watching and sharing their stories, same for the tanker driver.

As for Gareth………………

Its a dangerous place out there, not helped by overly fast riding cyclists, and some motorists with obvious personality defects , that should have been picked up at nursery school in their little tikes cars.

Very well done the producers.

For people who didn’t realise, I’m pretty sure Gareth the web developer is ‘Gaz545’/’CycleGaz’ of the Silly Cyclists video blog thing

Homepage

He is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20624639

A cyclist has been killed in a collision with a lorry in east London.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene on Commercial Road, Stepney, shortly before 08:30 GMT.

🙁

Telegraph and Independant reviews seem quite sensible.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9722102/The-War-on-Britains-Roads-review.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cyclists-hit-out-at-depiction-of-the-war-on-britains-roads-in-bbc-documentary-8382245.html

Anyone found the Mail or Express review yet?

I find the ‘safest’ way to cycle on the road is to assume everyone is a plonker and expect the un-expected at all times. Yes it’s nice to cycle fast, but there is a time and place.

Gareth just epitomises the wrong attitude to take, rides too fast and assumes, wrongly, that the ‘rules of the road’ will protect him.

rides too fast

Uh? How do you suggest he rides slower than his normal riding speed? Wind his brake blocks in?

🙄 You vary your speed to suit the road and traffic conditions by using your brakes and gears. Don’t know the No. but isn’t that a rule in the highway code?

If there was a line of stationary traffic are you sugesting that’s it still ok for a cyclist to travel at ‘his normal riding speed’ which could be anything up to 30mph??? 🙄

That’s not what you said, you just said he “rides too fast”, so you meant: he sometimes rides too fast?

isn’t that a rule in the highway code?
Nope, can’t find that: https://www.gov.uk/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82

Try looking in the whole highway code that applies to all vehicles on the road;-

126……..Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear…

Plus a whole number of rules;-
https://www.gov.uk/general-rules-all-drivers-riders-103-to-158/general-advice-144-to-158

ah forget it. You stick with your car driver’s view of the cyclist. I’ll stick with mine

Mine has done me good for 45 years of cycling, so it appears to work 😉

Martin Porter QC’s write-up of it is well worth reading. He raises two key points – firstly the false equivalence between bad behaviour on bikes and in cars, and secondly the total indifference by the police to certain types of dangerous driving.

http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-bbc-and-war-on-britains-roads.html

Good article.

the driver was driving a substantial vehicle badly around vulnerable roadusers and the cyclist was not presenting any danger to anybody

If anyone missed it it’s on iplayer here.