It's called vehicle excise duty, not road tax. Educate yourself, cupcake.
Detective OCUK forums! Help me find this registration of this close pass driver.
- Thread starter rIcK
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It's called vehicle excise duty, not road tax. Educate yourself, cupcake.
Soldato
I think you were in part to blame for creating that situation.
I appreciate the video doesn't show just how close they were but your road position basically encouraged that behaviour. You have to be naive to think all road users are going to respect you riding more defensively, you were either passing the cyclist in front or not so you shouild have been either further into the lane passing them or behind them. Also, how aware of this car were you? You are manouvering around another cyclist, or at least appear to be, so I assume you had anticipated them coming by looking behind you before moving away from the curb to make the pass? If you weren't passing them, you have positioned yourself to see ahead becasue you're too close to them and just putting yourself in danger and impeding people unnecessarily.
As a road user you are responsible for yourself as well as others and as a cyclist you should give people as few opportunities to endanger your life as possible. Middling along in no-mans land is frustrating to sit behind for a car user. You have to accept they are going to pass you and WILL pass you especially if they feel they are being impeded pointlessly. In your defence they probably could have waited and shouldn't have been so aggressive with speed but if you don't expect this from other road users and behave accordingly you are going to find yourself in a situation.
I'm all for safety but I find most other road users I come across don't help themselves. Being some of the most vulnerable road users you'd expect cyclists and runners etc to be more aware and considerate however they are mostly entitled prats. This is coming from someone who is a driver, cyclist, runner and horse rider.
I appreciate the video doesn't show just how close they were but your road position basically encouraged that behaviour. You have to be naive to think all road users are going to respect you riding more defensively, you were either passing the cyclist in front or not so you shouild have been either further into the lane passing them or behind them. Also, how aware of this car were you? You are manouvering around another cyclist, or at least appear to be, so I assume you had anticipated them coming by looking behind you before moving away from the curb to make the pass? If you weren't passing them, you have positioned yourself to see ahead becasue you're too close to them and just putting yourself in danger and impeding people unnecessarily.
As a road user you are responsible for yourself as well as others and as a cyclist you should give people as few opportunities to endanger your life as possible. Middling along in no-mans land is frustrating to sit behind for a car user. You have to accept they are going to pass you and WILL pass you especially if they feel they are being impeded pointlessly. In your defence they probably could have waited and shouldn't have been so aggressive with speed but if you don't expect this from other road users and behave accordingly you are going to find yourself in a situation.
I'm all for safety but I find most other road users I come across don't help themselves. Being some of the most vulnerable road users you'd expect cyclists and runners etc to be more aware and considerate however they are mostly entitled prats. This is coming from someone who is a driver, cyclist, runner and horse rider.
Soldato
Here's a list of cars which also pay no VED due to their emissions rate, just like a cyclist: https://www.evanshalshaw.com/blog/used-cars-with-zero-road-tax/
Man of Honour
You should have shouted out the reg verbally so it's caught on cam like the usual cycle vids on youtube 
Road tax doesn't pay for the road - it's a tax on your vehicle.
Come into a thread about cycling and quelle surprise it's turned into a bashing thread. As someone who has literally just got their bike back on the road and about to venture out for the first time in years it still shocks me how much aggression is directed at cyclists. I for one live in London and will be avoiding roads like the Coronavirus. I'll stick to the Thames path and brave the rage of pedestrians…
I mean, seriously? Look up the word entitled and you'll find a picture of some **** in an SUV overtaking a cyclist aggressively just like the OP's video. The mind boggles. I think psychiatrists should do a study as to what happens to people's brains when they come up behind a cyclist in the road, it's like something just pops and they lose all humanity
Caporegime
**deleted post quote removed**
Put the bag of glue down and try to pay attention to what you posted five minutes earlier lol.
No one's recommending that anyone ride in the gutter, least of all me. The guy in front of him has it about right by the looks of the conditions - about 1 metre from the curb.
Put the bag of glue down and try to pay attention to what you posted five minutes earlier lol.
No one's recommending that anyone ride in the gutter, least of all me. The guy in front of him has it about right by the looks of the conditions - about 1 metre from the curb.
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A double-yellow line is approx 30cm wide and starts 10-20cm from the kerb so the front cyclist is only max 50cm from the kerb. Any gutters or grates (often with dangerous drops in the tarmac around them) will extend out at least this far. Based on that, the OP looks to be approx 1m out from the kerb in order to be safe from any such hazards.
Either way - it doesn't really matter where the OP is in the road. There is no 'right place' for a cyclist to be - 50cm from the kerb, 1m from the kerb, right in the middle of the lane, over on the right side of the lane (they may be getting ready to turn right) are all OK ... it's the responsibility of the driver overtaking to give enough space to safely overtake, and if they can't do so then they need to stay behind and wait until it is safe.
Caporegime
Yes, sorry, the OP is in about the right place from the curb (1 metre from it), not the guy in front of him. I was a little taken aback from having "a truly dumb, uneducated, moronic comment from a brain-dead plank of a human being." randomly thrown at me at the time lol.
Caporegime
Road tax hasn't existed in your lifetime, unless you're in your 80's. It was abolished in 1937.
People pay VED, vehicle exise duty, car tax. Exise duty is a discouragement tax, in this case it is because of pollution and congestion. Some cars also have £0 VED to pay.
Man of Honour
Oh dear indeed. I mean ignoring the factual inaccuracies around the fact that the majority of funding for road maintenance comes from council tax and general income tax and not vehicle excise duty or fuel duty, your whole attitude is negligent of your legal responsibilities as a road user towards another road user. That being to be careful and considerate to others. Roads don't belong to car drivers, just like they don't belong to any single road user.
Soldato
I actually agree whole heartedly with this, it's a question of what is safe.. which is a very subjective value and one that I think often gets blown out of proportion when the 1.5 - 2M figure is seen as an absolute minimum.
I understand what you are saying, but it raises another point:
If the rider is already 1M from the kerb and therefore away from all the hazards cited from riding closer to the kerb, does he then need 1.5M of extra space on top? I know the answer (YES) buts if riding so far out from the kerb is seen as removing the vast majority of reasons to suddenly change direction, then logically you could argue that less room needs to be given.. I think the argument of a hypothetical random pothole would IMO always be sufficient cause to warrant extra room be given, in which case surely the optimal road position is one closer to the gutter (but not in it), this allows cars to give you more room which works better all round?
I still maintain the cyclist in front is in the safer position, they (demonstrably) are leaving enough room to allow cars to reasonably safely overtake with at least 1M+ of gap (even the offending car offers them this) which leaves that 1M+ for the cyclist to encounter some of the hazards..
But none of that contradicts your other statement, it is of course still the overtakers responsibility to do so with due care and attention.
I didn’t watch the video, but a few years ago I was driving a Black Cab north along Tottenham Court Road when I became aware of a cyclist ahead of me, riding around 45cm from the kerb.
As I was passing him, maybe one metre from his right, he suddenly swerved toward me.
I couldn’t move to the right, a car was overtaking me, so I braked, but he lashed out at my door mirror, bending it back, no damage, I just moved it back into position on its spring.
When I stopped and approached him, arms spread, palms upward, in the “what’s up?” mode, he said, “I had to swerve, there was a pothole.”
I just said, “Okay, I’m alright, you’re alright, let’s forget it, but be reasonable, I’m not clairvoyant.”
To confirm your already-confirmed answer... Yes
When I'm out on my bike I always avoid riding too close to the kerb as it is just so common for potholes, sunken grates, debris etc. to be there, but there are frequently occasions (in fact on pretty much every ride longer than 10 miles, especially on unfamiliar roads) where an unexpected pothole or other hazard comes up further out into the road and I have to take quick action to avoid it. I really don't want a car passing less than 1m to my right at that point in time. Equally, I don't want to hold up traffic unnecessarily so my default position on the road is usually around 75cm-1m from the kerb.
I don't think many cyclists (apart from some stupid kids who are trying to be obnoxious) will intentionally take a position on the road which gets in the way of traffic for no good reason.
Soldato
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Pretty much everyone I see cycling around here are on the pavement, because some of our roads are quite narrow and people keep parking half on the pavement half on the road, there is this one guy who passes me on the evening who is a right idiot he comes flying down the wrong way of the road, then mounts the pavement and shoots around the corner with no consideration of there potentialy been a person about to walk out, I always have to look out for this one guy same time every evening 22:15 ish going to work lolI can entirely understand the temptation to and people's desire to cycle on the pavement and I don't doubt that many of those who choose to do so are considerate and careful. Sadly, this is not always the case; as a pedestrian, I have had occasion to jump out of the way when a cyclist comes haring along the pavement as if they own it.
To be honest, a lot of this is down to people's lack of consideration - both motorists and cyclists
As an aside, I reckon that one in a hundred cyclists ever bother to use a bell when approaching pedestrians from behind - both stupid and inconsiderate
Soldato
UK cyclists don't think that they should cycling in a way appropriate to the conditions, everyone else should just get out of the damn way (road or pavement), which is why so many get squished. At least they win the argument on their helmet cam that is peeled from their head though.
I really miss cycling on the continent where the riders are sensible and pragmatic.
I really miss cycling on the continent where the riders are sensible and pragmatic.
Soldato
To confirm your already-confirmed answer... Yes
When I'm out on my bike I always avoid riding too close to the kerb as it is just so common for potholes, sunken grates, debris etc. to be there, but there are frequently occasions (in fact on pretty much every ride longer than 10 miles, especially on unfamiliar roads) where an unexpected pothole or other hazard comes up further out into the road and I have to take quick action to avoid it. I really don't want a car passing less than 1m to my right at that point in time. Equally, I don't want to hold up traffic unnecessarily so my default position on the road is usually around 75cm-1m from the kerb.
I don't think many cyclists (apart from some stupid kids who are trying to be obnoxious) will intentionally take a position on the road which gets in the way of traffic for no good reason.
You sound like you have a sensible approach to cycling and I guess it depends on the individual..
I've already stated I'd most certainly be positioned where the cyclist in front is, I feel from the road conditions on the video and the fact it's a two lane dual carraigeway that the distance he is in the lane reduces the gap so that cars may be tempted to squeeze by, so out of interest would you do the same?
I may be far more defensive than most (I ride motorbikes to, when filtering etc you treat cars as the enemy and use road positioning to minimise risk constantly) but when a car can damage you so easily I take that in to account and would just do what I felt was safe.
those cycle helmet cams use the widest angle lens possible which is why people are saying it's not close.
when you consider the fact that you are a quarter of the way into the lane, and the driver had to go into the right and then cut in, gives you an idea of where his mirror would have been. pretty close.
was it your lights being too bright that make it difficult to read?
when you consider the fact that you are a quarter of the way into the lane, and the driver had to go into the right and then cut in, gives you an idea of where his mirror would have been. pretty close.
was it your lights being too bright that make it difficult to read?