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Complete moron on a bike

I had a cyclist call me a ****er! He claimed that he had the right of way because he was going straight on. This was on a roundabout that I had already entered before he crossed the "Give-Way" markings.
The law is one thing but practically speaking one risks killing someone or being killed by sticking to the letter.

Would I pull out if I was on a bicycle and they in a car? I would be right - at the pearly gates.
As someone that drives, walks and cycles, I would say that the rude, stupid, dangerous and inconsiderate are equally distributed among all modes of perambulation, but those in cars have the most suitable hardware for doing serious damage.
But only cyclists can be hypocritical, about cars and pedestrians.
 
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The law is one thing but practically speaking one risks killing someone or being killed by sticking to the letter.

Would I pull out if was on a bicycle and they in a car? I would be right - at the pearly gates.

But only cyclists can be hypocritical, about cars and pedestrians.
Tell that to all the pavement parkers. A genuine scourge.
 
The law is one thing but practically speaking one risks killing someone or being killed by sticking to the letter.

Would I pull out if was on a bicycle and they in a car? I would be right - at the pearly gates.
Please read my post again.I did not pull out on him, I was already on the roundabout before he entered it at some speed I must add.
 
You pulled out. Otherwise you'd still be there. No-one else needs to be there for you to pull out. Those extra words are yours.

My less terse phrase would be "pull out in the situation you described".
 
You pulled out. Otherwise you'd still be there. No-one else needs to be there for you to pull out. Those extra words are yours.

My less terse phrase would be "pull out in the situation you described".
Pulled out from where? Really not clear here what it is you think the OP did that puts him in the wrong.
 
What do you mean, "pulled out from where?" Sorry I don't understand this question.

Did I write "wrong"? I wrote "Would I pull out if I was on a bicycle and they in a car? I would be RIGHT ..." My point is about safety as distinct from being right about the Highway Code. Feel free to pour over my posts to check.
 
Cyclists are allowed under the Highway Code to ride two abreast, it is often safer.

Cars have compulsory insurance due to the potential harm & damage they cause in the huge number of accidents they are involved in & cause. This does not apply to cyclists, the irony being that if more cyclists do have insurance then the humble motorist will see his/her premiums rocket.

As ever there is false equivalence between cars being delayed by 10-15 seconds & putting actual human beings at risk. Strangely you rarely, if ever, see motorists close pass horse riders, blare their horns or shout aggressively at them.

There is a difference between being a cyclist & just a person on a bike messing about.

Last weekend I was close passed & beeped aggressively by a car travelling through the Chatsworth estate. This just sums up the mentality; said driver could have just used the A6 if he was in a hurry.

The most negligent cyclist will cause less damage than the most careful motorist.

Hope I have covered everything. I also drive a BMW.

Whilst I agree with almost everything you have written there, the bit in bold is alas, not true:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...jailed-for-18-months-over-death-of-pedestrian

A bicycle (or indeed electric bike or scooter) hitting a pedestrian at speed will cause serious damage. You need to be considerate and careful whatever you drive/ride.
 
Whilst I agree with almost everything you have written there, the bit in bold is alas, not true:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...jailed-for-18-months-over-death-of-pedestrian

A bicycle (or indeed electric bike or scooter) hitting a pedestrian at speed will cause serious damage. You need to be considerate and careful whatever you drive/ride.
Of course a cyclist can kill or be killed by a pedestrian due to an accident, it is incredibly rare. Look at the number of people killed by cars in the same period, not all of them will be reckless as such.

It is also worth pointing out that at the very least the cyclist was sent to jail, he was actually a rather unpleasant & unsympathetic offender. The coverage received was far in excess of normal for a road traffic offence; there’d be no room for other news if all serious traffic offences were covered in such ways.

By way of contrast a friend of mine was nearly killed by a car which turned across him, he’s been left with life changing injuries. The driver? Wasn’t even prosecuted, sent on a driver awareness course! Driver 100% at fault BTW, my friend has insurance so the insurance company are taking a big hit.
 
I do think what is needed here is more understanding between different road users. Let's forget about the idiots for a minute as there are idiots on bikes and in cars, idiots will be idiots no matter what and there is no point calling out one after the other. It's not the mode of transport that makes them an idiot, it's just that they are.

So focusing on the more law abiding and sensible road users there still seems to be an 'us and them' mentality growing between cyclists, bikers, car drivers, HGV drivers, bus drivers etc. especially in the cities. I think all these different types of road user could do with education to see what it's like from other's perspectives. For instance, a mate of mine is a HGV driver and a bloody good one to be fair. He has had to go on several courses where he cycles to see what it is like from a cyclists perspective and he found it very illuminating and has made him think more about cyclists when they are sharing the road with him. Conversely to that, the same driver had a cyclist slide up the inside of his truck while he was turning left, luckily said cyclist was in his mirrors so he stopped, but that didn't stop the cyclist having a go before cycling off. While he was unloading the cyclist came back and my mate thought an altercation was about to ensue, but to be fair to the cyclist he came back to apologise and in the end my mate had him in the cab to show him where the blind spots were and how dangerous it was to do what he had done. A healthy and friendly exchange ensued and the cyclist went away saying he now had more of an appreciation of how difficult it was for truck drivers to see cyclists when many position themselves the way they do.

It's a lot more of this that is needed rather than having Youtube full of so called 'educational' videos of dashcam captures and vigilante road users' channels where they pick on their chosen section of the road user base vilifying them on their videoes or sending their captures to the police. It's this sort of thing that is divisive and fuels the aggression on the road where what is needed is better understanding and working together to make the roads a better place.

It's also a fallacy to fall into the trap of making excuses for one section of road users by comparing them to another. Car drivers are going to cause the most accidents simply by volume of traffic and the relative lack of training they have compared to an HGV driver or a bus driver, but that does not mean we shouldn't look at HGV drivers and how they can be safer or even cyclists... yes they rarely kill people but, for example,it is well known that many older people find the 'cycling on the footpath' thing some of them (especially in London) to avoid congested roads quite disturbing.

There are also changes to the road rules that could ease a lot of tensions. One thing I often hear, again in London especially, is the complaint that cyclists run red lights and yes they do, but most of the time when I see them do it it is perfectly safe to do so even if it is not legal. Maybe if the law was changed to allow them to proceed on red at certain junctions (if it is safe to do so) or turn left on red (if there is nothing coming and no pedestrians etc.) then this would be a good thing and would help with general traffic flow as the cyclists could make better progress.

Then there are the roads themselves. For example, one thing a lot of cyclists do currently is to mount the pavement and cycle across the pedestrian crossing at certain junctions, this causes issues with pedestrians, but what if a cycle lane was put in as part of the crossing in more places to make this move legal and sensible such as the way the crossing near Kings Cross station in London has been set up where it works well.

There is so much more that could be done and instead of everyone having a pop at everyone else (which is definitely counter-productive) road users should be working together to lobby for better infrastructure and improved rules of the road.
 
There is a primary school pupil who on cycles down the pavement outside our house on the way home from school. The road is steep and our gate is in a high wall opening directly on to the pavement. I would estimate his speed at 15mph. It scares me every time I hear him pass. If I came out at the wrong time time the effects of the collision could be catastrophic for both parties.

I cycle regularly and occasionally use short sections of pavement to link up safe cycling routes. Whenever I do I always give way to pedestrians and cycle at appropriate speeds or dismount.
 
Per the thread title, it seems appropriate to post this

Boris-Johnson-BIke.jpg
 
What do you mean, "pulled out from where?" Sorry I don't understand this question.

Did I write "wrong"? I wrote "Would I pull out if I was on a bicycle and they in a car? I would be RIGHT ..." My point is about safety as distinct from being right about the Highway Code. Feel free to pour over my posts to check.
You seem to be suggesting that the OP pulled out onto the roundabout and had the altercation with the cyclist, whereas the OP seems (to me) to have been pretty clear that he was already on the roundabout (and hence, had right of way) before the cyclist joined the roundabout. So I’m not clear what you’re getting at here, that’s all. So no, I don’t think your post is particularly clearly expressed and, yes, I did pore over it before I wrote my question. But I detect a note of irritation in your riposte, so I’m happy to let it go if you prefer. Don’t want a fuss, got enough of one to deal with on the war on woke thread.
 
Of course a cyclist can kill or be killed by a pedestrian due to an accident, it is incredibly rare. Look at the number of people killed by cars in the same period, not all of them will be reckless as such.

It is also worth pointing out that at the very least the cyclist was sent to jail, he was actually a rather unpleasant & unsympathetic offender. The coverage received was far in excess of normal for a road traffic offence; there’d be no room for other news if all serious traffic offences were covered in such ways.

By way of contrast a friend of mine was nearly killed by a car which turned across him, he’s been left with life changing injuries. The driver? Wasn’t even prosecuted, sent on a driver awareness course! Driver 100% at fault BTW, my friend has insurance so the insurance company are taking a big hit.

All true.

With reference to the last point - one of the local motorcyclists here (who I knew) was killed on a charity run when a young woman pulled out on to a main road directly in front of him. Standing piece of black humour in the biking community is the standard defence is plead young mum/needs car for work/take children to school/turn on the tears...and of course most likely the bikers fault anyway.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...rash-at-down-syndrome-charity-event-1.2198670

the verdict:

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20433828.html
 


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