Cyclists apopletic about law being applied to them

[Nutty_Death]

Nothing wrong with that. No stopping though.

I'd rather no cycle lanes than non segregated lanes, as they lead to much closer passes than someone cycling on the road, because the white line will magically protect people. They are often poorly positioned making the cyclist rejoin the road frequently either due to the lane disappearing, being on the verge with poor road surface or used as a parking space.

Alongside all this you then get the hate and aggression from someone thinking you could be so inconsiderate to make a reasoned choice not to use them based on your safety and often get punished with a close pass to teach you a lesson...

 

[Edinho]

Sometimes I think OCUK is a beacon of hope with all the crap in the internet and then it comes out with a classic like this.

 

[OspreyO]

Really? For strongly disagreeing with you that more cars ran the same red light than cycles in 90 minutes?
I would put my house on the line that more bikes ran the red in 90 minutes than cars.
You interested in buying that bridge? I don’t want time wasters.

Most studies generally find that drivers break more lights.

A pilot project that saw detection cameras installed at a dangerous Dublin junction has revealed motorists broke the lights more than twice as often as cyclists.

And before fines were introduced for drivers, their rate of offending was even higher.

In the period before the fines, some 87 per cent of people breaking the lights were driving vehicles.

The stats are skewed because drivers are prevented (at some junctions) from jumping lights by being stuck in traffic. Whereas cyclists aren't.

The conclusion being if you don't want to be stuck at lights or in traffic then cycle.

 

[Rroff]

I try to use cycle lanes, but...

This one always makes me laugh:

https://goo.gl/maps/CPe7qULTipBYJnVx6

Road is quite narrow and on a corner there so any bigger traffic has no choice but to encroach on the cycle lane or risk hitting something coming the other way. No cyclist would want to use the inside half of that cycle lane with the state of the surface and drains, etc. anyway. Then there is all the space they could have utilised to put something proper in for cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles to most safely and effectively use that section... but no one wants to put the money in to do that... they'd rather just shift the buck to the drivers.

 

[Bear]

This one always makes me laugh:

https://goo.gl/maps/CPe7qULTipBYJnVx6

Road is quite narrow and on a corner there so any bigger traffic has no choice but to encroach on the cycle lane or risk hitting something coming the other way. No cyclist would want to use the inside half of that cycle lane with the state of the surface and drains, etc. anyway. Then there is all the space they could have utilised to put something proper in for cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles to most safely and effectively use that section... but no one wants to put the money in to do that... they'd rather just shift the buck to the drivers.

Those sorts of cycle lanes (painted lines) are dangerous. Lots of drivers think so long as the stay within the lines it’s ok to close pass which the infrastructure would let you assume is ok. As you note, many cyclists wouldnt want to use the lane but it then annoys the **** out of drivers who say if there is a lane, they should use it. The whole thing is a mess, half the time cars are parked in them and some are painted along side parked cars in the dooring zone.

 

[Chris Wilson]

I always remember Basher Bailey, my old form master commenting on someone getting a new bicycle for Christmas.

"Bicycles are for the working class, French onion sellers, and, like horses, for sexually frustrated women".

I do miss the old bigger.

 

[Freddie1980]

I work in the city around Tower Hill and I see cyclists jumping red lights every day without exception even when people are crossing the road. Just the other day I left the office late and some brain dead idiot come through a red and while the green light for perdestrains was on and was within a few cm's of running me over. I yelled at the guy but he just smiled and went on his way, ****.

IMO people who cycle day to day are ok it's the part timers and people who do it fun are the problem as they are typically highly ignorant of the rules of the road and the danger they bring.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Pretty sure I could go to any junction and find more than 30 cars going through on red in 90 minutes but it's OK for them because they own the road and pay a mythical road tax.

 

[haz_pro]

Focusing on cyclist going through red lights with the excuse of safety is like the police targeting grenade crime in London instead of knife crime - pointless when one is causing deaths all the time and the other isn't.

I also think recreational cycling on roads should be banned:

A.) It slows traffic down and causes a nuisance

Let's ban all recreational related driving then. Going to the cinema, going out to eat, gym, pub... They're not required journeys, off the road you come. And that would make a MUCH bigger impact to traffic and nuisance drivers (especially those damn drink drivers).

(Deleted your second strange point)

 

[Resident]

Pretty sure I could go to any junction and find more than 30 cars going through on red in 90 minutes but it's OK for them because they own the road and pay a mythical road tax.

Focusing on cyclist going through red lights with the excuse of safety is like the police targeting grenade crime in London instead of knife crime - pointless when one is causing deaths all the time and the other isn't.



Let's ban all recreational related driving then. Going to the cinema, going out to eat, gym, pub... They're not required journeys, off the road you come. And that would make a MUCH bigger impact to traffic and nuisance drivers (especially those damn drink drivers).

(Deleted your second strange point)

Please tell me you're both trying to be satirical.

The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

 

[Jean-F]

I work in the city around Tower Hill and I see cyclists jumping red lights every day without exception even when people are crossing the road. Just the other day I left the office late and some brain dead idiot come through a red and while the green light for perdestrains was on and was within a few cm's of running me over. I yelled at the guy but he just smiled and went on his way, ****.

IMO people who cycle day to day are ok it's the part timers and people who do it fun are the problem as they are typically highly ignorant of the rules of the road and the danger they bring.

You know it Freddie, and as an inhabitant of central London and a retired Black Cab driver I know it too, but OspreyO in post # 143 will argue that cars jump lights more than bikes, yeah right.

 

[grudas]

Some of the comments here. Jesus! I’m surprised you guys make it out of your road without stopping to calm down. Can’t say I’ve got a problem with any road user. Just be nice and careful around slower and more vulnerable road users. Takes little effort.

Everyone has the same right to be on the road so you can’t tell people what to do. We all break the law, be it speeding, parking somewhere we shouldn’t, doing an illegal turn etc. Jumping reds is at their own discretion imo. If anything happens they’ll be worse off most of the time. Pedestrian crossings are different but I rarely saw people jump those when people were crossing.

Then again, I’ve cycled in London for years on my daily commute and saw all kinds in every form of transport.

my view is just to chill out and take care around cyclists and other road users. I’d rather slow down for 15 seconds than risk hitting someone. A cyclist just got killed close to me on the 9th by a car driving around blind bend at 50. Driver is fine, cyclist is dead. Driver will probably get time and have to live the rest of their life replaying that one memory.

Just chill out. It’s not worth it.

 

[thenewoc]

Some of the comments here. Jesus! I’m surprised you guys make it out of your road without stopping to calm down. Can’t say I’ve got a problem with any road user. Just be nice and careful around slower and more vulnerable road users. Takes little effort.

Everyone has the same right to be on the road so you can’t tell people what to do. We all break the law, be it speeding, parking somewhere we shouldn’t, doing an illegal turn etc. Jumping reds is at their own discretion imo. If anything happens they’ll be worse off most of the time. Pedestrian crossings are different but I rarely saw people jump those when people were crossing.

Then again, I’ve cycled in London for years on my daily commute and saw all kinds in every form of transport.

my view is just to chill out and take care around cyclists and other road users. I’d rather slow down for 15 seconds than risk hitting someone. A cyclist just got killed close to me on the 9th by a car driving around blind bend at 50. Driver is fine, cyclist is dead. Driver will probably get time and have to live the rest of their life replaying that one memory.

Just chill out. It’s not worth it.

They can't have it both ways. Sanctimonious in telling drivers how to drive yet not following the law themselves. They deserve all the fines they get.

 

[Diddums]

Some of the comments here. Jesus! I’m surprised you guys make it out of your road without stopping to calm down. Can’t say I’ve got a problem with any road user. Just be nice and careful around slower and more vulnerable road users. Takes little effort.

Everyone has the same right to be on the road so you can’t tell people what to do. We all break the law, be it speeding, parking somewhere we shouldn’t, doing an illegal turn etc. Jumping reds is at their own discretion imo. If anything happens they’ll be worse off most of the time. Pedestrian crossings are different but I rarely saw people jump those when people were crossing.

Then again, I’ve cycled in London for years on my daily commute and saw all kinds in every form of transport.

my view is just to chill out and take care around cyclists and other road users. I’d rather slow down for 15 seconds than risk hitting someone. A cyclist just got killed close to me on the 9th by a car driving around blind bend at 50. Driver is fine, cyclist is dead. Driver will probably get time and have to live the rest of their life replaying that one memory.

Just chill out. It’s not worth it.

This is the best post in this thread, particularly the last four words

 

[Diddums]

They can't have it both ways. Sanctimonious in telling drivers how to drive yet not following the law themselves. They deserve all the fines they get.

Agreed, but is it worth your frustration?

 

[Richie]

Jumping reds is at their own discretion imo. If anything happens they’ll be worse off most of the time.
....
Driver is fine, cyclist is dead. Driver will.... have to live the rest of their life replaying that one memory.

That's the only issue I really have with it... If a driver jumps a red light and injures/kills someone then they will shoulder the guilt of it (quite rightly) but if a cyclist does it, the driver who inadvertently hits them may still shoulder the guilt of having injured/killed someone and it would have been avoided had the cyclist not jumped the light

Is that right?

 

[Resident]

That's the only issue I really have with it... If a driver jumps a red light and injures/kills someone then they will shoulder the guilt of it (quite rightly) but if a cyclist does it, the driver who inadvertently hits them may still shoulder the guilt of having injured/killed someone and it would have been avoided had the cyclist not jumped the light

Is that right?

Not only shoulder the guilt but be prosecuted & convicted for driving without due care despite breaking no law, just ask Charlie Austin...

 

[SexyGreyFox]

I try to use cycle lanes, but...

I use that every morning on my way to work

 

[thenewoc]

Agreed, but is it worth your frustration?

No frustration for me as I'm not the one enforcing it.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Please tell me you're both trying to be satirical.

The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

Every time I'm in my car at least 2 cars will go through red lights and if they are doing it my side they are doing it the other side and over a 90 minute period that's a lot of cars. However cars are allowed to do it because....