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I ride bikes.
I stop at lights and other places I'm required to.
I ride on the road.
I give way.
I over take on the outside.
etc.
etc.
It ain't difficult to ride a bicycle sensibly and considerately.
Well said richmtb. Similar to what I was going to say, but couldn't be bothered in the end. Preaching to the converted (in most cases on here, but not all, obviously).
I'm sure the irony that if number plates prevented law breaking he wouldn't have a job is completely lost on him.
As is the irony of acting the guardian of all that is right and proper on the roads while spending his entire day trying to get rich piss-poor law-breaking motorists let off on technicalities.
People are people. Some are nice, some are utter arses. Whether they be on a bike, moped, motorbike, driving a car, taxi, bus, truck, coach, lorry or even on foot.
Sure, but
1). Driving turns some otherwise pleasant people into selfish nobbers
2). If someone is going to be an utter arse, I'd prefer it if they're on foot or bike rather than in 1.5 tonnes of metal.
cookeaa » Eh? Really?
Did that really require questioning? I mean, do I really come across as that kind of arsehole...
🙂
In case it didnt quite come across in written form correctly, what I was getting at was
1) Cycling gets a huge amount of investment these days in terms of infrastructure. That's great. It's not perfect and never will be, there is a danger that we come across as ungrateful for what we have and simultaneously expect too much without acknowledging how far we have come.
2) In the pursuit of a little balance on a naturally-biased biking forum I was highlighting that it is not black and white. That pass looked close, but not that unreasonable from the front camera. The reaction and subsequent elements were out of order
3) Some cyclists on the road expect unreasonable gaps to be left and this can sometimes affect the cyclist's reaction. Two cars on the country road was an extreme example for other road users and not something that would/should be appropriate, but for some drivers they might concede that they have already made some adjustment that they have given more room to a cyclist.
4) The driver was cautioned for his public order offences and assault, NOT for his driving or the pass.
5) Presumed liability for the larger road user is not going to happen until cyclists can be identified or be accountable. How on the one hand can we say 'dry your eyes' I only jumped a red light and not also dry our eyes if we get a bit spooked by a close pass. This might come across that I am defending the driver, which I am not, I am just mentioning that it will come across as slightly duplicitous from the cycling community.
Some responses if I may dufusdip:
1) Cycling gets a huge amount of investment these days in terms of infrastructure.
Ha ha ha Sorry? Where's that? Certainly not in the UK.
The 2015/16 Transport budget is £28 BILLION ([url= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443232/50325_Summer_Budget_15_Web_Accessible.pdf ]page 5 if you are interested[/url]).
How much of that will be spent on cycling? Difficult to say since the government refuse to have cycling in the budget, but we know [url= http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article4037945.ece ]past spending amounted to around £278 million a year[/url] for the whole of the UK.
Meanwhile [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13924687 ]the M74 extension near Glasgow cost £138.4 million per mile![/url] [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23744619 ]HS2 could cost £80 billion[/url]
2) In the pursuit of a little balance on a naturally-biased biking forum I was highlighting that it is not black and white. That pass looked close, but not that unreasonable from the front camera.
Bit late by the time he is past him no? Did you look at the still I posted from the rear camera. From that I'd say the clearance could be measured in inches.
[img] 
[/img]
3) Some cyclists on the road expect unreasonable gaps to be left and this can sometimes affect the cyclist's reaction.
Define "unreasonable". In countries that bother with laws about such things (e.g. France, Germany, Spain) generally agree that 1.5 metres is the minumum safe passing distance. That seems about right.
4) The driver was cautioned for his public order offences and assault, NOT for his driving or the pass.
Which is part of the problem.
5) Presumed liability for the larger road user is not going to happen until cyclists can be identified or be accountable. How on the one hand can we say 'dry your eyes' I only jumped a red light and not also dry our eyes if we get a bit spooked by a close pass.
Lost me there. What does getting a bit spooked by a close pass have to do with presumed liability?
Presumed Liability kicks in when someone is injured or property is damaged, not when they just get a fright.
I get the feeling that a lot of riders using cameras are just looking for someone to 'offend' them so they can try to take the moral high ground and initiate an argument. What was the expected outcome anyway - the car driver was hardly likely to offer his sincere apologies and mend his ways was he?
Either suck it up, have a bit of a moan and let it go or actually try and batter the guy and get arrested - your call. Don't ask the world to tell you how righteous you are just because you have a camera strapped to your head.
There can be little doubt that, like other forms of social media, many camera users are trying their damndest to get their like/view count up. Having something inflammatory or controversial up almost guarantees this.
I get the feeling that a lot of riders using cameras are just looking for someone to 'offend' them so they can try to take the moral high ground and initiate an argument.
The argument was initiated by the driver being nob.
Er, no. The driver was unaware that he had upset the rider. The rider initiated the argument by stopping next to the car and confronting him, regardless of whether that was the right thing to do or not...
No. There would be no argument without poor driving.
Circular argument. I am filming this you know, expect me to be outraged at any moment!
Bullet, next time you drive like a prick and I catch it on camera, stop and have a chat about it. Then I probably won't feel the need to upload to youtube.
teasel - Member
cookeaa » Eh? Really?
Did that really require questioning? I mean, do I really come across as that kind of arsehole...
Well if you have to ask... 😉
The driver was unaware that he had upset the rider.
He's not very observant then - I'd have thought the cyclist shouting at him as he squeezed past might have been a clue!
I get the feeling that a lot of riders using cameras are just looking for someone to 'offend' them so they can try to take the moral high ground and initiate an argument.
Yes everyone knows that you cannot initiate an argument with a car driver unless you have a camera on your head
Most CCTV is also used to encourage crime and those who fit it are asking to be robbed and in a very confrontational way
[i]Most CCTV is also used to encourage crime and those who fit it are asking to be robbed and in a very confrontational way[/i]
🙂 Likes.
...The driver was unaware
they usually are, pretty much of everything outside of their airconditioned metal bubble 😕
so we're saying that wearing a camera is some form of honey trap... and all drivers would be considerate, calm and reasonable were it not for those camera-wearing two-wheeled maniacs trying to be run down so they can create footage of purple-faced fat men falling over?
I feel like I've fallen down a rabbit hole
Most CCTV is also used to encourage crime and those who fit it are asking to be robbed and in a very confrontational way
Excellent
...The driver was unaware
they usually are, pretty much of everything outside of their airconditioned metal bubble
Yep. And all cyclists jump red lights and knock toddlers down on pavements.
These are the facts 😉
Circular argument. I am filming this you know, expect me to be outraged at any moment!
If I aim 1.5 tonnes of metal at you, you'll have every right to be outraged.
Have we all seen [url= http://road.cc/content/news/159991-video-doored-cyclist-falls-path-black-cab ]the video of the cyclist getting doored in London[/url]?
That was filmed from a camera in a taxi cab.
Can someone explain who deliberately caused this one so they could post it on YouTube?
Or does that only happen when it is a cyclist that is filming?
[i]knock toddlers down on pavements[/i]
Yep, didn't I hear they sent that kid out onto the pavement in front of bikes cos they were short of CCTV footage?
I love this place.
Have we all seen the video of the cyclist getting doored in London?That was filmed from a camera in a taxi cab.
Can someone explain who deliberately caused this one so they could post it on YouTube?
Or does that only happen when it is a cyclist that is filming?
Shit, though. Have you seen the very first comment on that.
This all really is a losing battle and a waste of ****ing time. This country will never change.
At least the "door opener" looked apologetic, I suppose.
...This all really is a losing battle and a waste of **** time. This country will never change.
I fear you're right, petrol-crimes will always be dealt with leniantly it seems, and the apologists are numerous.
Have you seen the very first comment on that.
Yeah had the same discussion on a local cycling FB group.
A guy [url=
it on there[/url] saying [i]"I think cyclist should have been more competent and alert always make sure you're at least 6ft away from cars"[/i] and went on to say he needed a rider awareness course.
No suggestion that the driver needed was incompetent or needed door-opening awareness course!
Likewise the [url=
posted it on their FB feed[/url] and it got someone criticising the cyclist because he wasn't wearing high viz. 🙄
We just have to carry on riding in a defensive way, and maybe filming to catch the useless bastards that are the majority of drivers.
I'll keep using the camera and don't really give a toss if there are idiots that think I use it to try to find trouble. I know what it's there for.
My awareness - and mostly, I'd say [u]adaptability[/u] has kept me in good stead so far.
[i] maybe filming to catch the useless bastards that are the majority of drivers.[/i] Yeah, badly worded, but I know what I meant anyway!
The door-bike-taxi video
I ride that road once or twice a week. It's a nightmare along there - you'll notice all the cars parked in the mandatory bus lane!
Is this a southern problem?
All these angry bikers and drivers all have southern twangs to them... probably explains a lot.
Mr Cyclist riding down that road, although he is fully within his rights, he was picking a fight from the off. If I had cars behind me I would move in to the gap, but hay Im a chilled out northerner and lifes too short.
I hope the guy was ok when he fell that could have been very nasty
[i]Is this a southern problem?
All these angry bikers and drivers all have southern twangs to them... probably explains a lot.[/i]
It could well be. Maybe drivers are better up there, but they are mostly useless down this way.
Nice that your chilled out northern outlook allows you to point out what the cyclist is doing wrong, like most of the .. nah, can't be bothered.
DezB they were both tozzers.
Is that better 🙂
Mr Cyclist riding down that road, although he is fully within his rights, he was picking a fight from the off. If I had cars behind me I would move in to the gap
So would I if there were cars held up behind me for any length of time, but that's not what happened here.
At the start of the video the cyclist is just completing a right hand turn into that one-way street. The driver comes through the junction and then just drives past like the cyclist isn't even there, despite there clearly not being enough room for a safe pass. He starts to overtake before the cyclist even gets to the gap he could conceivably move in to.
(I agree that the cyclist chasing him down was a bad move by the way. That was never going to end well. But I can understand his anger).
And round and round it goes....