LHS, thats a very good video

LHS: yeah confused.com trying to recover ground after their rather disastrous press release the other day.

Was slightly curious at the driver saying:
“Drivers know that cyclists do irritate us from time to time: the amount of time I see cyclists without helmets on…”

Why is that irritating? Can’t say that, as a driver passing a cyclist, I’d even be looking to see if they had a helmet on (more likely to be checking out the bike or clocking what speed they were doing 😀 )

I have had car drivers shout “wheres your helmet” at me.

I had a taxi driver jump out of his black cab in Croydon. I had to calm him down as he literally looked minutes away from a heart attack. He really did think he owned the road and it was his ‘manor.

Saying that he looked like had had a lifetime of agro himself getting upset with other road users.

When commuting on a bike you need to understand that you will get tools ‘teaching you a lesson’ at least once a week – just let it go. Otherwise where is the health benefit of cycling into work? You’ll die from the stress before you even get to your stressful job.

When commuting on a bike you need to understand that you will get tools ‘teaching you a lesson’ at least once a week

Nope, never had that.

LHS: yeah confused.com trying to recover ground after their rather disastrous press release the other day.

Was slightly curious at the driver saying:
“Drivers know that cyclists do irritate us from time to time: the amount of time I see cyclists without helmets on…”

Blimey deja vu or what?!

His video made me laugh more than anything. Good stuff!

I was (light) cycling with a retired copper mate of mine who recently got himself a bike. He asked why I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I said I didn’t really need it for this ride (trundling along a wide tarmac towpath towing a child trailer).

He asked me: “Is it illegal to ride without a helmet on the road?” 😯

So if (some) police don’t know then no surprise the public think it is the law.

Same goes for the use of cycle lanes I suspect, which many people seem to think are compulsory (I wonder if they also freak out when a Bus or Taxi moves out of their lane?).

if he added another 50cm then cars couldn’t do half the overtakes

It’s easy to misjudge that. I often pull out far enough that I’m sure no-one would be stupid enough to try to pass me but still find them trying. In fact that’s exactly what happened with the bus that took me out and put me in hospital. The same with cars coming the other way on a single track road – if I can touch you, you’re too close.

There are some ludicrous cycle facilities in London – I think one of his clips shows Vauxhall bridge. That has a 50cm cycle lane (narrower than my bars) and a 2.9m motor vehicle lane – nice.

This nearly killed me the other day I was riding the cycle lane, didn’t know the road, when I was passed by a bus. The bus ‘kept in lane’ by following the white line in the centre but look at the width of the road at that point. Emergency dismount onto the pavement for me. The angles of the Google pics don’t really show just how much it narrows at that point – it *is* wide enough for a bus to pass you just before that point.

There are a lot of dicks in cars. There are a lot of dicks on bikes as well – drove across London last night (11pm) and staggered by the number of cyclist on the road with no, or completely inadequate, lights, dark clothes, no reflectives. Lights are cheap and reliable now – theres no excuse.

Hey TJ,

I have had car drivers shout “wheres your helmet” at me.

Do you carry around copies of peer reviewed studies to show them? And keep arguing until they beg you to stop? Lol 😉

Or do you just use the ‘pineapple poo’ approach? (which made me lol and I will probably pinch…)

People like Gaz are attempting to change things

And home-made YouTube vidoes are famous for that … every day I hear many many heartwarming stories of people eternally indebted to YouTube for helping them make their driving perfect in every way

Assuming a lot but:

He registered Youtube account in 2006

There are ~ 120 vids

So around 2400 journeys (twice a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks/year, 5 years)

So assuming he has only one incident on a journey that’s only 5% of his journeys.

The fundamental point you’ve missed here, joao, is that people are discussing the issues here and I’d imagine other forums, may send the video to friends and colleagues etc, which will stimulate more discussion, etc. So it could very well have some impact somewhere down the line. Speshly if more videos of this type keep appearing.

All you’re doing is spouting some blinkered guff that’s instantly forgettable.

Which has the effect of raising your blood pressure, but very little else tbh.

Now stop being silly, and listen to what Imnotverygood and others are saying. You might learn something.

There are a lot of dicks in cars. There are a lot of dicks on bikes as well – drove across London last night (11pm) and staggered by the number of cyclist on the road with no, or completely inadequate, lights, dark clothes, no reflectives.

Yep, but the dicks on bikes are only a danger to themselves.

And home-made YouTube vidoes are famous for that …

Nu-meeja innit?

Social networking and the like is the way things get done these days. You may not approve, but gaz545 has over 1.1 million views of his videos, more than 2000 subscribers, plus he has a blog, website, twitter etc.

That may be a drop in the ocean, but I suspect it is a bigger drop than any little rant on here makes.

BTW, he changed to a new channel on YouTube about a month ago.
He is now just CycleGaz.

It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong on the roads, a 15 ton bus hurts when it hits you on a bicycle.

My rules for cycling on the road:

1. Give way to every vehicle.
2. Expect every vehicle to try and knock you off.
3. Look over your shoulder constantly for vehicles/cyclists up your chuff.
4. Expect to not be seen by anyone, no matter how expensive/shiny/cool you think your bike/lycra may or may not be.
5. Expect pedestrians to walk out in front of you.
6. Don’t be suprised when you are overtaken by a beautiful girl in a flouncy skirt on a rickety old shopper, looking like a she doesn’t have a care in the world with her headphones in, while you are a quivering wreck, having nearly been killed 17 times in the last minute.
7. Expect every other cyclist to run a red light, (flouncy skirt girl included), and make it through the junction unscathed.
8. Expect to be beeped/sworn/crashed into when you attempt the
manoeuvre highlighted in 7.
9. Expect every other road user to treat the cycle lane as a car park, or to ride their motorcycle at you when in the cycle lane.
10. Never think you’re going to win in a fight with a bus.

Good rules GG, but (aside from the obvious argument about being bullied on the roads) doesn’t rule 1 mean you are behaving less predictably than other road traffic? A pretty common complaint levelled at cyclists.

I think maybe something more like “Be ready to give way to other vehicles” might be betterer.

Ok GrahamS, I think you’re correct –

1. Be ready to give way to all vehicles, at all times.

(I added the last bit, hope you don’t mind) 😉

Yep, but the dicks on bikes are only a danger to themselves.

Was coming up with analogies to this cycling home yesterday, nipping to pub for lunch on a friday is a common theme, couple of beers then back to work. If I do it and start tinkering with some PC internals while still connected to the mains and get a shock or fry myself boohoo me, own fault, the crane driver outside working on our new building has a couple of lunchtime snifters, accidentally drops a load of steel onto the pavement and kills a few passersby that’s a big deal. Now the same rules apply to both of us no boozing during work but the implications are very different. Same applies to cars (motor vehicles) and cyclists yes they both have the same rules that they both should follow but I’m far more concerned about one group following them to the letter than the other and it’s nowt to do with which group/s I currently belong to it’s to do with who’s going to cause the carnage when they get it wrong.

1. Be ready to give way to all vehicles, at all times.

could get you in trouble as entering/joining the flow of traffic tends to be where accidents happen eg weaving in and out around parked cars gets you into more cases of contention rather than holding a line down a long row of cars. No idea if you do that but I see plenty who do.

I have a condensed version of the same rules –
1. Every other road user is a moron.

😉

could get you in trouble as entering/joining the flow of traffic tends to be where accidents happen eg weaving in and out around parked cars gets you into more cases of contention rather than holding a line down a long row of cars. No idea if you do that but I see plenty who do.

See rule 3. 😉

Edit – Dez’s rule also applies too.

Yep, but the dicks on bikes are only a danger to themselves.

I fully support this argument most of the time but I’d be pretty screwed up if I ran down and killed someone whether it was their fault or not. I’d like the police to pay a lot more attention to bad driving but I’d not have a problem with them fining light free cyclists as well.

DezB – Member

I have a condensed version of the same rules –
1. Every other road user is a moron.

🙂

Every other road user is a moron

Problem is, that’s what everyone thinks; they’re never in the wrong, it’s always someone else …