CYCLISTS

[WILDECELT]

Hi all was on my way to work this morning was around 6.45 and i was waiting to turn right (behind a police car) the car turned right and i followed him only to brake hard to avoid a cyclist cutting across my path.
The reason i am writing this is
1The cyclist had no lights on
2.it was still quite dark
3 she was wearing a grey top and hat with dark legging which blended in nicely with the dark surrounding.
Having narrowly avoiding her she shouted some abuse at me to which i pointed out that she was virtually invisible riding along, and in saying all this the police car had stopped and watched all this go on and done nothing not even caution her for having no lights .
It seems to me that cyclists get away with murder they jump lights mount curbs etc..
Having said that i know the majority of cyclists are responsible it's just the few like anything that gives them a bad name.
but it annoy's me just the same
I'll try riding my motorbike when it's dark without lights and see if i get pulled

[NickD]

[Ste]

The one thing I really don't get about cyclists who jump red lights, turn in front of cars without looking and other such dangerous things they do is that surely as a cyclist they shoudl pay more attention to everything around them as if they jump a red light and a car hits them they're really going to know about it!

Although maybe their eco friendly leaders have managed to make them invinsible but I doubt it.

[Jimmythe1]

The underdog always gets right of way!

If you run into a child, becuase the git was blindly wondering around - it's your fault.
If you're on a skateboard and you hit a pedestrian - it's your fault.
If you hit a pedestrian when riding a pushbike - it's undoubtably your fault.
If some nonce on a kerb walks out in front of you when you're riding down the street on any kind of bike - the blame is on you.
If a car pulls out and hits you while filtering - it's the car drivers fault.
I would sure as hell blame a lorry if it decided to run me over, even if I was lying in the road.
So it goes...............

It might not be the law, or common sence - it's just the way it is
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There's no way to happiness, happiness is the way.

[NickD]

[aqualung1]

2 local bike shops near me have large signs

"Lights are a legal requirement on bicycles"

shame the local cyclists are obviously unable to read

[WILDECELT]

Hi all, as i pointed out the cyclist was virtually invisible to me untill the last moment like she just materialised out of nowhere.I did mutter sorry at first but then she decided to rant off, so who ever she was i hope she chokes on her lentil soup tonight

And yes she did look like a eco hippy must of been her purple boots or the hand knitted jumper she was wearing made by the south american one eyed,one legged inca group

[RealNinja]

I can understand your anger at the pedestrian, I won't let my children out at night on their bikes as they have no lights, and some cyclists are definatly a few cookies short of a jar.....

BUT.....

Most cyclists are very, VERY carefull in the traffic, due to having to be!

The total lack of respect shown for cyclists is unbelievable. I used to cycle into work and back for 4 years, and racked up a total of about 10 accidents and 3 destroyed bikes.

Unfortunalty they have to take risks in order to get anywhere in the traffic, consider how much car drivers like to try and stop you filtering through the traffic in a morning and multiply it by about 10!

In your case you were justified in being angry, she was in the wrong, she shouldn't have tried to pass you when you were turning right (I assume you did your lifesaver.....?) But please don't react by making an assumption of alll cyclists
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You will become my force of retribution. Where you tread, doom will follow. Go now and claim your destiny

[buddha]

[tgabber]

[RealNinja]

By accidents I am including bar clipping BTW

My 3 destroyed bikes came from 2 minor accidents, that did enough damage to warrent the bike being uneconomical to repair and one major accident where a woman hit me at 60 mph+ cos I assumed that because she wasn't indicating, she wasn't leaving the main road......
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You will become my force of retribution. Where you tread, doom will follow. Go now and claim your destiny

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

I used to cycle to college last year from Eltham to Dartford (not all the time), and the quickest and safest way for me to do this was to join the A2 and go down the hard shouler.
This is a very busy road, however there's about 5 junctions in either direction and I can pick my way out and dont have as many (if any) sudden pulling out into my path's from cars as they make up their mind well before going in whatever direction, whereas people suddenly change their minds to avoid traffic on normal roads. There's no traffic lights or roundabouts, the latter of which provide you with no respect, broad daylight and car decides to pull out on me even though I had direct eye contact in broad daylight, he floored it. then stopped, i dragged metal pedal along side of brand new Jag
Along the A2 I was also going the opposite way to traffic so a bit quieter.

So f**k normal roads and go onto A-roads!
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Pictorgraphicalfantastical

[G]

[pipnet11]

Used to ride (and race) my bike almost every day for about 4 years, no accidents except the ones involving me having a close encounter with a few trees. I find that the majoity of people on bikes arnt cyclists, they are just people on bikes. This sounds a bloody daft statement, but serious cyclists will know what I mean. Obviously there are some people who ride there bike everyday and are still idiots, but lots of people on bikes have simply got on and rode away on bikes which are often badly maintained. Same as getting on a motorbike without any training and no MOT and riding away.
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I love the girls that do, I hate the girls that dont, I hate the girls who say they will and then they say they wont, but the girl I like most of all and I think youll say Im right, is the girl who says she never has but looks as though she might. - Max Bygraves

[Flip]

Pesonally I think that until cyclists pay road tax (even if was just £15) they should stay off the f*cking road. They get in the way, their slow and a pain in the arse. How can a machine so thin need to ride so far away from the kirb?

I also hate it when cyclists ride paralell to each other, taking up the whole lane and don't pull over to let traffic past.

to cyclists.

[cagiva gezzer]

I'm a cyclist. I have no time for people who cylce without any lights. A nice close fly-by is always called for. Being the mean bastard that i am, i wouldn't be that bothered about hitting one. They are in the wrong, you're in the right.

But, coming from the other end, i get pissed off with car drivers who don't have any consideration for cyclists during the night. I used to ride a lot at night and i was always getting pissed off with people who wouldn't dip their headlights.

My solution, buy a 45W vista light system . Ride along with a 2W 'normal' light, wait for the buggers to get nice and close and flick on 3x15W halogen lamps straight at the buggers. Not sensible, but funny!

I do have my brain wired slightly wrong. My idea of a fun night is to get the train into london and do some street riding....
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[pipnet11]

[RealNinja]

[Flip]

[pipnet11]

Well I was generalising. Obviously a fast, 1 handed manual down the highstreet significantly improves your chances
____________________
I love the girls that do, I hate the girls that dont, I hate the girls who say they will and then they say they wont, but the girl I like most of all and I think youll say Im right, is the girl who says she never has but looks as though she might. - Max Bygraves

[craigie b]

Being a regular cyclist I would tend to agree with G in so much as we/they do get demonised like motor vehicles own the road. On the other there is absolutely no need to go out with out lights and cycle like a twat....But not everyone does this so its not fair to blame all of us.

[mchaggis]

There's no need for them to pay road tax I think though. Their total weight is rarely over 100kg, and they rarely go above about 20-25. Both of those things mean that they cause pretty much no damage to the road whatsoever, so there's no need to pay to maintain it.

This is why HGVs have to pay so much as the amount of damage they do is often huge, especially on porous noise cancelling road surfaces.
(Grooves from the HGVs compressing the surface solid again, resulting in a rubbish surface for driving on and losing all the noise benefits.)

The bus routes through the back streets of my local town are a mess, the roads are uneven, bumpy, liberally sprinkled with gravel and covered with tar snakes from where the cable company has dug their 18 inch wide trench and buggered up the surface. And the 13 tonne buses only run through there four times an hour....

As for cyclists/ people on bicycles, I always give them space, but won't usually move further over than the central white line. You would think that they would realise that they should wear reflective clothing, helmets and use lights in the same way as motorcyclists mainly realised they needed to wear helmets even before it was compulsory.
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I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[Ste]

[headlamp]

I still have my pushbike rusting merrily away in my shed - stopped using it about 5 years ago!

Anyway, what appalls me about cyclists is there total lack of regard for any traffic regulation or sign. In West London it seems 'de rigeur' to jump lights (i.e. if you don't then you're not cycling properly! ). Despite there being a network of cycling lanes, which as a motorcyclist woe betide you go in one, they are generally ignored by cyclists who prefer to filter (at an annoying 5mph) in the middle of the road. Equally pedestrian crossings might as well not exist (clearly the law concerning overtaking the car nearest the zebra crossing does not apply to cyclists!) - I'd understand it if these were the so called lycra louts but in fact its cyclists of all ages.

[mattsmith95]

Cyclists are a real menace, it's really bad up in London.

TONIGHT..I was going up Wardour St, got to the top and waited
at the lights. When they turned green I looked left and this twat
shot straight across, he didn't even look. If I had just pulled off
without looking I would of killed him.

Most cyclists don't bother with traffic lights or zebra crossings,
many don't bother with lights. Some only have one light, a tail
light but no front light. The scary thing is when a cyclist is riding
down a one way street the WRONG WAY. I don't bother having
a go at them because they will just tell you to fuck off.

Bottom line is they don't care about anyone but themselves,
the law doesn't apply to them so they think.

If the Police did their jobs properly cyclists would perhaps start
obeying the law, well maybe. The Police have powers to stop
and issue tickets to cyclists for breaking the law but they still
turn a blind eye just as before. Cyclists even break the law in
front of police, they know they will not be stopped.

Things have to change, I am scared that one day I may end up
knocking or even killing a cyclist.

The goverment are no help, when they brought in the law last
December banning the use of mobile phones without a hands
free kit they forgot to include cyclists.

If I was to ride my bike the way cyclists do I would be in prison
and banned for life. Cyclists don't have a licence to lose, CUNTS!