A "Cycling Utopia"

Raymond Lin · 31 Dec 2013 at 02:16

It'll never happen.

Caged · 31 Dec 2013 at 02:27

DB_SamX said:
I'd hope they would do the same, but London's looks devoid of any greenery.

What London have you been to?

beamer · 31 Dec 2013 at 02:32

Probably as frustrating as being stuck behind slow moving cyclists, in a car, and not being able to overtake them.

grudas said:
Lately as a regular cyclist I've been paying attention to drivers.. And you can see 2-3 cars at once jumping red lights quite often.. its odd that just the cyclist gets marked as the 'redlightjumper' it is quite nice idea tbh but IMO it could be done cheaper and IMO east London is not the place to start.. First should be central London and then extend it to other areas of london.. Central is way to busy when it comes to cyclists.. also I agree with the speed problem.. I overtake 90% of the cyclists I meet on the road I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to sit behind someone going at 8mph..

grudas · 31 Dec 2013 at 03:17

Hades said:
Honestly we must live in different countries then... although you seem to admit to ignoring red lights on some occasions too. Red means stop by the way. It doesn't mean "go if you personally think it's ok". Genuine question... while I appreciate jumping an empty crossing light is probably completely safe, would you do it in a car?

serious question, do you cycle? if do and do it quite often that I'd say you live in a city where majority of cyclists jump red light.. if you don't then I'd say you don't have the same view I do

I wouldn't do it in a car for simple reason - I don't want points on my license plus I'm sitting behind a wheel of a 2 tone metal box that can kill instantly, as a cyclist I would need to be going crazy fast to kill or seriously injure a pedestrian.

and because I don't get points on my license I do jump redlights when its on a crossing, never do I jump a red light at a junction and I genuinely don't get drivers or cyclists that do it.

I of course know perfectly fine what redlight means

we wouldn't have this discussion in the first place if I didn't know what "red" "amber" "Green" meant lol.

beamer said:
Probably as frustrating as being stuck behind slow moving cyclists, in a car, and not being able to overtake them.

its frustrating being stuck behind slow cars too

it works both ways IMO if a road is clear cars should be able to drive a proper pace.. cyclists on the other hand aren't propelled by a gas pedal and it all depends on the rider.

of course I understand how frustrating it is a driver to be stuck behind a cyclist but the same way I have to put up with drivers will have to do too no way out of it

no one owns the road, its a shared place and both drivers and cyclists and motorcyclists have the same right to be on the road.

Tefal · 31 Dec 2013 at 03:23

grudas said:
of course I understand how frustrating it is a driver to be stuck behind a cyclist but the same way I have to put up with drivers will have to do too no way out of it no one owns the road, its a shared place and both drivers and cyclists and motorcyclists have the same right to be on the road.

cyclists could do with mirrors though, i hate it when they hear me coming do a freaking owl neck of a shoulder check and wobble right out into the center of the road as they do it.

Tefal · 31 Dec 2013 at 03:26

grudas said:
as a cyclist I would need to be going crazy fast to kill or seriously injure a pedestrian.

unless you knock an old lady over and break her hip or hit a small child an smash their head into the ground.

grudas · 31 Dec 2013 at 03:27

Tefal said:
cyclists could do with mirrors though, i hate it when they hear me coming do a freaking owl neck of a shoulder check and wobble right out into the center of the road as they do it.

tbh I do ok without mirrors but I see what you mean.. the number of times another cyclists cut me straight off is unbelievable! I don't want to sound like an ass but those inexperienced cyclists need to pay more attention or read online about cycling on a busy road..

also I wouldn't personally be against some kind of test/license for cyclists just to teach each one of them how to act properly on the road.. the number of cyclists I see wobbling around the road is unbelievable.. many of them can't even cycle in a straight line :eek:

Tefal said:
unless you knock an old lady over and break her hip or hit a small child an smash their head into the ground.

funny you say that.. I did know an old lady over.. I was probably doing 18ish mph on my bmx and she flew off at least 2 meters when I hit her, she was at fault running to the road without looking when it was red light and she wasn't allowed to cross.. she actually ran into me.. dropped on the floor stood up said sorry and went to sit down, thankfully I managed to jump of my bike(wat) without a scratch.. bar my bar ends nothing was damaged either(good thing about bmx'es)

Cosimo · 31 Dec 2013 at 07:40

Dis86 said:
All that money saved on bodywork and resprays!

... and less of them on our roads, great!

SexyGreyFox · 31 Dec 2013 at 07:43

Theophany said:
THEY DON'T EVEN PAY ROAD TAX! RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!

But we do, bugger, you got me.

[DOD]Asprilla · 31 Dec 2013 at 07:44

Well this thread has the potential for enlightened discussion.

Captain · 31 Dec 2013 at 07:47

grudas said:
tbh I do ok without mirrors but I see what you mean.. the number of times another cyclists cut me straight off is unbelievable! I don't want to sound like an ass but those inexperienced cyclists need to pay more attention or read online about cycling on a busy road..

also I wouldn't personally be against some kind of test/license for cyclists just to teach each one of them how to act properly on the road.. the number of cyclists I see wobbling around the road is unbelievable.. many of them can't even cycle in a straight line

funny you say that.. I did know an old lady over.. I was probably doing 18ish mph on my bmx and she flew off at least 2 meters when I hit her, she was at fault running to the road without looking when it was red light and she wasn't allowed to cross.. she actually ran into me.. dropped on the floor stood up said sorry and went to sit down, thankfully I managed to jump of my bike(wat) without a scratch.. bar my bar ends nothing was damaged either(good thing about bmx'es)

Why were you approaching a red light doing 18mph?

Conscript · 31 Dec 2013 at 07:48

Cosimo said:
... and less of them on our roads, great!

And here in lies part of the problem.

I think its a nice idea, although I think the money might be better spent on education. The fact that a lot of cyclists can pick up a bike and start using busy roads when they have little idea about road craft or how to share road space, combined with poorly designed cycle lanes, leads to people thinking they are safe sitting up the left hand side of a lorry because theres a cycle lane there. Something that someone who had least looked at the Highway Code would know is seriously dangerous.

Hades · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:27

grudas said:
serious question, do you cycle? if do and do it quite often that I'd say you live in a city where majority of cyclists jump red light.. if you don't then I'd say you don't have the same view I do I wouldn't do it in a car for simple reason - I don't want points on my license plus I'm sitting behind a wheel of a 2 tone metal box that can kill instantly, as a cyclist I would need to be going crazy fast to kill or seriously injure a pedestrian.

and because I don't get points on my license I do jump redlights when its on a crossing, never do I jump a red light at a junction and I genuinely don't get drivers or cyclists that do it.

I of course know perfectly fine what redlight means we wouldn't have this discussion in the first place if I didn't know what "red" "amber" "Green" meant lol.

its frustrating being stuck behind slow cars too it works both ways IMO if a road is clear cars should be able to drive a proper pace.. cyclists on the other hand aren't propelled by a gas pedal and it all depends on the rider.

of course I understand how frustrating it is a driver to be stuck behind a cyclist but the same way I have to put up with drivers will have to do too no way out of it no one owns the road, its a shared place and both drivers and cyclists and motorcyclists have the same right to be on the road.

I used to cycle but don't nowadays. I've absolutely nothing against cyclists (apart from the one that rode into my stationary, legally, parked car and I had to sue them to recover the costs). But from my experience they simply ignore red lights for the very reason you say you behave illeagaly without a number plate.

kkelly · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:30

Are lights, high vis law? I've seen quite a lot of ninjas on my way to work latey, or folk with one tiny light at the front nothing at the back.

[DOD]Asprilla · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:38

Light are law. You are given until 30 minutes after dusk before you have to use them.

[DOD]Asprilla · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:40

Hades said:
I used to cycle but don't nowadays. I've absolutely nothing against cyclists (apart from the one that rode into my stationary, legally, parked car and I had to sue them to recover the costs). But from my experience they simply ignore red lights for the very reason you say you behave illeagaly without a number plate.

He said he ignores red lights at crossings, which whilst I don't agree with his actions, is the same as driving over a zebra crossing before the pedestrian is back in the path, something you'll see cars and cyclists do at every opportunity.

[FnG]magnolia · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:41

A cycling utopia for me would be where they are in one country and I am in a different, better one where they can't also live. There's no room, you see.

BICYCLES - NOT EVEN ONCE.

neil_g · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:46

Who would have thought that a cycling thread in GD would turn into an us vs them squabble..

Hades · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:47

[DOD]Asprilla;25573034 said:
He said he ignores red lights at crossings, which whilst I don't agree with his actions, is the same as driving over a zebra crossing before the pedestrian is back in the path, something you'll see cars and cyclists do at every opportunity.

Yes both are wrong regardless of which vehicle is doing it.

leaskovski · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:53

neil_g said:
Who would have thought that a cycling thread in GD would turn into an us vs them squabble..

I kind of expected it to be honest. I did think about not posting it, but then I realised I want to see how long it would take to get either a road tax mentioned or red lights.