cyclists

[ColinW]

I have managed to avoid four would be serious accidents with cyclists THIS YEAR!! (one involvinng a teenager on a bike, hands free, TEXTING!!!!!. If I can't avoid an accident because of these richard heads, I can assure them I would claim damages, even if it meant them going bankrupt! If I have to buy insurance - why shouldn't the cyclist.

 

As I said in an earlier post, you are perfectly entitled to sue them, so would I.

 

Obviously I don't know the circumstances of you near misses, but if you are having one a month it suggests that you need to use your vast experience and anticipate what is going to happen a little earlier than you are now doing. If you have time to see someone texting, you have time to keep clear of the idiot.

[Lid]

We car drivers simply have to accept that we simply do not have priority on most of the highways. As far as I am aware pedestrians, horse riders, horses and carts, farmers driving stock and cyclists all came long before motorised vehicles and indeed still have just as much right, if not more to use most of our roads. Are you suggesting all these groups need insurance before they can use a road? I keep saying this but just because some cyclists behave dangerously does not mean we suddenly have to have all sorts of new rules and regulations; after all cyclists were there first, just as pedestrians were!

[Guest Ferret1959]

We car drivers simply have to accept that we simply do not have priority on most of the highways. As far as I am aware pedestrians, horse riders, horses and carts, farmers driving stock and cyclists all came long before motorised vehicles and indeed still have just as much right, if not more to use most of our roads. Are you suggesting all these groups need insurance before they can use a road? I keep saying this but just because some cyclists behave dangerously does not mean we suddenly have to have all sorts of new rules and regulations; after all cyclists were there first, just as pedestrians were!

 

The man with a red flag came before the automobile, fancy a job?

[kleinboet]

Lid - with all due respect, without the petrol driven vehicle, the roads would still be cobbled!

[Lid]

I agree, but I am just stating how I think the priorities have arisen over the years and that motorists do not currently have exclusive right to most of our roads.

[kleinboet]

I am not asking for that! All I am asking for is the respect as a motorist given to me, that the cyclists want taken away.

We have been told on this thread that it is OK for cyclists to ignore the rules and we motorists MUST allow for that!

[Guest Rabbit]

Lid - with all due respect, without the petrol driven vehicle, the roads would still be cobbled!

 

Whats wrong with being COBBLED?? The internal combustion engine has a lot to answer for. If we just had the horse penny farthing and shanksys pony we would have never left our villages we were born in, still grown our own crops, farmed our own meat, educated our children at the local school and all attended church on a Sunday. No Tescos No Motorways, No Pollution, No Cheap Flights To Spain

I wish

[snakey1]

i believe the first tar stabilized macadam roads were laid in the 1830's thats 60 years before karl benz patented the first petrol driven car so perhaps roads might not still be cobbled if it weren't for motor cars.

Ferret to answer your questions from your post on the 17th of april(sorry it took so long)

yes i think to cycle on any major road (not necessarily housing estates were speed limits should be kept to a minimum for all vehicles for pedestrian safety) you should have to complete a road safety/awareness course(a licence is perhaps too strong a word but going on some sort of course i think is fair enough).

yes i think if you intend to cycle regularly on busy roads you should have third party insurance.

yes i think bicycles should have some sort of basic safety checks done (thats only common sense if you cycle on the road on a bike with poor brakes etc your pretty daft and asking for trouble anyway).

no i don't think wearing full safety gear should be made compulsory it is down to personnel choice as your going to be the one who gets injured in most accidents anyway.

no i don't think bicycles should be taxed. we're taxed far too much as it is.

no i don't think bicycles should be nationally registered because i don't think it is feasible or practical.

finally i don't think its ok for cyclists to ignore the laws of the road the same as i don't think its ok for car drivers to. cyclists are subject to the laws of the road the same as motorists(dangerous driving/riding etc) and as such should be prosecuted if they are caught breaking the law the same as motorists should be.If the police however chose not to enforce the laws governing cyclists that is down to them not the cyclists.

Edited April 19, 2007 by snakey1

[Guest Ferret1959]

i believe the first tar stabilized macadam roads were laid in the 1830's thats 60 years before karl benz patented the first petrol driven car so perhaps roads might not still be cobbled if it weren't for motor cars.

Ferret to answer your questions from your post on the 17th of april(sorry it took so long)

yes i think to cycle on any major road (not necessarily housing estates were speed limits should be kept to a minimum for all vehicles for pedestrian safety) you should have to complete a road safety/awareness course(a licence is perhaps too strong a word but going on some sort of course i think is fair enough).

yes i think if you intend to cycle regularly on busy roads you should have third party insurance.

yes i think bicycles should have some sort of basic safety checks done (thats only common sense if you cycle on the road on a bike with poor brakes etc your pretty daft and asking for trouble anyway).

no i don't think wearing full safety gear should be made compulsory it is down to personnel choice as your going to be the one who gets injured in most accidents anyway.

no i don't think bicycles should be taxed. we're taxed far too much as it is.

no i don't think bicycles should be nationally registered because i don't think it is feasible or practical.

finally i don't think its ok for cyclists to ignore the laws of the road the same as i don't think its ok for car drivers to. cyclists are subject to the laws of the road the same as motorists(dangerous driving/riding etc) and as such should be prosecuted if they are caught breaking the law the same as motorists should be.If the police however chose not to enforce the laws governing cyclists that is down to them not the cyclists.

 

 

Seatbelts are law and they only protect the one wearing them.

 

 

But it's a funny old World.

I sometimes get on building sites, wearhouses and service depots.

They have stricter H&S(hard hat and hi-vis jacket) than a cyclist traveling on a busy A road.

I feel the A road is the most dangerous.

 

Now think of a car/van/lorry driver at a tee junction and looking right.

A cyclist is approaching, he/she is wearing a hi-vis jacket.

The driver would see them much better than without hi-vis.

 

Why do cyclists like taking risks in the first place?

 

Saw a youth weaving in and out of traffic this afternoon on his pushbike.

Funny thing was there was a proper cyle path on the other side of the road he could have used.

Baffles me.

 

 

He's another one that buggs me, two or even three riding a bike made for one.

I sound my horn to let them know I'm appraoching from behind them and I get the 'V's and a mouthfull of abuse.

 

Might not see them next time.

[chesters1]

both cyclists and motor cyclists should be by law forced to wera hi vis jackets ,i wear one ALWAYS and probably look a bit strange walking about in a 30deg heatwave with a coat on but by near misses when i'm wearing it going without is suicide.

plenty of prats about on motorcycles with their lives depending on a headlamp as a warning wearing leathers that only blend into the background and plenty of real assholes on pushbikes with dark clothing and no lights at dusk never mind those in the dark.

seeing as my bike is little more than a motorised pushbike why dont cyclists have to pay out what i do to use the road !! and yes i do get overtaken by cyclists so some are breaking the laws i am forced to follow .

ps i creep past them uphill (just)

Edited April 19, 2007 by chesters1