[FnG]magnolia;10593256 said:
If you cannot stop your cycle safely at 22mph without having to make a decision between hitting pedestrains or hitting a truck then you are going too fast.
Wrong. What a ridiculous notion. Its no different if you are following the legal limit in a car. If some one steps out, its their fault, but the problem of both of you.
However granted, in certain conditions it is wise to slow down. Packed city centres included. Pedestrians do have a habit of stepping out without thinking to look. Where there are lots of pedestrians the odds of an impact increase significantly. Adapting your driving to the conditions applies and so in your own interests, you should exercise some common sense and follow an appropriate speed. If that means 5 mph, so be it.
[FnG]magnolia;10593256 said:
Anyway, it was more of a general comment about your typical cyclist rather than the OP, who I'm sure is atypical.
Thats a generalisation that cyclists, motorists and white van men ect can all do with out.
I can cycle safely at 22 MPH. Hell I could cycle safely at 40 MPH. I cannot predict that an idiot will just walk out without looking.
I drive a lot faster in car. Is that unsafe?
Correct. The law applies just the same to cars. We wouldn't even be having this debate if the OP were in a car.
I only ever cycle on the pavement when it it cannot be avoided or it is a designated cycle path.
Fair play, as long as your going very very slowly just in order to reach your house I cant see how anyone would consider this dangerous driving. I assume if there is a lot of pedestrians about though, you dismount and push the bike to your house?
Secondly I don't ride drunk.
Define drunk? The most horrific of drink driving accidents can occur when the drivers judgement and reactions are only slightly compromised by being "tipsy".
Sure I ride my bike with more alcohol in my system than I would if I was driving, but I make sure the route home avoids roads and pedestrians as much as possible. I also make sure I ride a lot slower.
You appear to be able to rationalise to yourself that because you are making some compromises, you are doing the right thing. There cant be one attitude to cars and one differing one to bikes. The law doesn't support that and neither should you!
I don't jump read lights or cut up cars or take short cuts or go out at night without lights. I signal when i am turning. I ride in the correct position on the road. Does this not make me a considerate and good cyclist?
Again, you think your compromises justify the fact that you are still taking risks, albeit reduced ones with other peoples (and of course your own) safety.
OK, seems that some people think I am a bad cyclist and it was all my fault. Well they can think that, I like to think that aside from the odd wobbly ride home from the pub I am a safe cyclist.
Your probably a top guy all round and we all have our faults and make mistakes. But despite your reasoning with yourself to justify it, you are conciously compromising your own and others safety with your actions. The law shouldn't even come into a lot of this. a lot is purely morality and common sense.
Maybe some of you should try being a cyclist on todays roads. Car drivers hate us, pedestrians hate us!
They do. No one deserves to be hurt though, even the fool who steps into a road without looking.
If a pedestrian crosses over a cycle line without looking - and the cyclist hits the pedestrian, who is at fault? I only ask because I did this the other day (95% of the time I look) but luckily the cyclist was going slowly and saw me.
Would you be asking this question if the pedestrian was hit by a car?
I am astounded at this.
The attitude some cyclists and non-cyclists have is unsurprising but disapointing. As a cyclist myself, I obey the rules entirely. The only compromise I make to cars is to keep to the left where it is safe to do so. If this minority of road users stopped acting so selfishly and recklessly, and properly considered what others around them are doing and why, there might be less danger and unpleasentness among road users.
The stories I could tell about other road users with any number of wheels or just two legs acting in defiance of the law, through lack of thought or deliberate selfishness!
I can name 4 such incidents that occured in the last year that could have had fatal consequences for me. 3 resulted in no harm done, but in the last one; I have had to suffer an injured knee for 10 weeks and a written off £1200 bike!
