Well that's a butthurt response if ever I did read one.
I simply suggested that the law & punishments for an offence, regardless of vehicle used should be equal as the law is meant to be. Having the penalty for motorists much more costly than a cyclists isn't equal.
That's not how I interpreted his post. Maybe he can clarify, but I think his point was that they could put a blanket £5k fine on skipping lights in any vehicle and he wouldn't care as he doesn't do it when driving or cycling.
What's your take on his other point, about automatically recording driving offences? Let's modify the question slightly to make it fairer: if a device could be attached to
all road vehicles which could automatically fine the operator for speeding/red light/similar offences, would you be in favour?
AFAIK these countries have proper road education for cyclists too. I know in Holland between the ages of 10-12, children take road safety lesson and are tested with both theory and practical exams.
Here you get "cycling proficiency" courses that aren't mandatory and aren't partook in high numbers. Local primary round the corner cancelled their last one due to insufficient interest.
Mandatory cycle proficiency training could be useful, I agree. Funnily enough, though, it teaches things like appropriate use of the primary position on the road, which is the #1 thing I get shouted at about when on the road.
I always do look out for cyclists when driving but there's always that thought, especially when, invariably, I see one doing something monumentally stupid & putting themselves at risk, why should I be thinking about his/her safety when clearly they aren't?
Thanks for looking out for cyclists when driving. I feel your pain when it comes to the monumentally stupid ones.
Some cyclists are a danger to themselves and others and, as demonstrated in this thread, give the rest of us a bad name.
I know it's most likely a hypothetical question, but in response to "why should I be thinking about his/her safety when clearly they aren't?": sometimes people make misjudgements. Hell, I've pulled some pretty stupid moves in the past that at the time seemed perfectly reasonable but that on reflection could have ended up pretty bad. But I learnt from them and moved on.
We obviously all have a duty of care to others on the roads no matter how inexperienced they are, or how hard they appear to be trying for a Darwin award. That's not to say there's not a problem with the attitude/road craft of some road users that refuse to learn from their mistakes (or don't even see what they're doing as wrong).
I don't understand what is so difficult just share the roads, nobody wants a serious injury or worse on their conscious be it a cyclist, pedestrian or any other road user.
