depressing comments 🙁

A lot of the comments in there are sad but unfortunately also appear to be very true.

I’ve not been able to ride my bike for a while and won’t be able to for another couple of months (if I’m lucky) and am finding travelling near permanently by car a very depressing situation.

A comment I like,

“It’s not cyclists vs drivers. It’s arseholes vs everyone else.”

Cycling proficiency should be part of the driving test.

Fascinating article. Would love to see the film but their nationwide network of 25 cinemas means I would have to drive at least 60 miles to see it. Ironic that.

Huh! what is it good for?

Sadly nothing new. Or certainly nothing we (cyclists) are unaware of. Might be a nice idea if drivers (particularly those on speed awareness courses) we made to watch.

There isn’t a war, that’s utter clickbait tosh. I ride c100m a week so I’m on the road a lot and I’m not dead. If things were at ‘war’ status I’d be long gone.
Personally I think treatment of cyclists is getting better in the UK. Sure there’s regular and unnecessary abuse and some shockingly bad driving, but the numbers of drivers who wait or hold back or pass wide are increasing too…

There’s a lot of people with their knickers in a twist about cyclists but there’s no way we’d be seeing such an increase in numbers if there was some kind of war… or things were as bad as all that.

I think the “war” reference may have been to the “depressing comments”.
But I don’t read comments under articles (or videos) on the web. Ever*. There’s nothing to be gained from it.

*Except on STW 🙂

That article is part of the problem – and indicative of the qualities of the Guardian these days. Incidentally, Guardian homepage today includes stories on faeces in beards (really), someone’s partner being afraid of ‘bottoming’ (maybe the two articles are linked) and the usual desperate Milliband apologia.

Just been on a 6 hour ride on reasonably busy roads with lots of dozy bank holiday drivers. Only evidence of ‘WAR’ was one transit van who passed a bit too close, and a couple of sports bikes who passed a good distance away, but at about 100mph.

That article is part of the problem

Hmm, personally thought it was a good piece. Each to their own.
How Shit in Beards and Milliband are remotely relevant, I don’t know. But if it proves your point that you don’t like the Guardian, ok.

broess +1 – covered nearly 100 miles a week last year, less than 1 “incident” a week, none stick in my mind as being dangerous enough to really remember. And driving has got better in recent years.

Also agree that articles like this – from whatever source – highlight the 1 in 100 crap overtake and ignore the 99 decent ones.

Obviously one wrong move by a driver or cyclist is all it takes to be a tragic end.

Shit happens, always has, always will.

If, while driving, I encounter cyclists. I slow, follow, and continue to do so, no matter how many cars accumulate behind me until I can pass on the other side of the road!! Only when the road is totally clear, do I pass and I do so, with my NS wheels on the right side of the white lines.
For me it’s a matter of pride, I give cyclists all the time and space I can, and to hell with other car drivers who might not.

Sadly, when I’m on the bike, all too often I have white van man pass me within 4 inches of my handle bars…..

So, it seems to me, that we the UK, need to make driving without consideration to cyclists as anti social as drink driving.

Only question is, how do we do this?

Also agree that articles like this – from whatever source – highlight the 1 in 100 crap overtake and ignore the 99 decent ones.

eh ? it’s article about a film (and the film maker) about bikes vs cars in Sao Paulo, Los Angeles and Toronto.

Also agree that articles like this – from whatever source – highlight the 1 in 100 crap overtake and ignore the 99 decent ones.

Oh right, so you didn’t actually read the article about car culture in mAjor cities of the world? Nothing to do with crap overtakes mentioned that I recall.

In opposition to brooess’ and MCTD’s experience I rode to work last week for four days, a total of 34 miles.

In those rides I had multiple close calls including:

Three from cars
Two from buses
One from a bin lorry

I also had to kick a taxi’s door in to stop me being squashed against a railing. As in pushed it clean in! Got a cheer from the people in the pub next to me for that one 😆

It is getting better, slowly, but we have a long way to go.

I’m not sure if people haven’t bothered to read the article – it’s explained that “war” is about the design of roads and car dependency (ironically a point many of the people commenting seem not to get – I love the comment which asks how you can do a 30 minute motorway school run with a bike).

Also agree that articles like this – from whatever source – highlight the 1 in 100 crap overtake and ignore the 99 decent ones.

Because the 99 decent ones are irrelevant. If you get overtaken 1000 times a day then 1 in 100 is quite a significant number.

I’m not sure if people haven’t bothered to read the article

I’m pretty certain they haven’t. “Clickbait”? It’s far from that.