cyclists

[snakey1]

i don't think invalid buggys require road tax (i've read somewhere they're exempt from VED)either nor do you need to be trained to drive one and the way they hurtle along the pavement with no concern for pedestrians makes most cyclists look sane & safe by comparison. as a interesting side note a mate of mind who's a traffic warden(i know hiss boo) says disabled drivers are some of the worst for parking illegally and then getting arsey about it when they're booked, hes had loads of trouble off them. even when there are legitimate parking spaces available near by hes had them parking in bus stops and other illegal places.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

i don't think invalid buggys require road tax (i've read somewhere they're exempt from VED)either nor do you need to be trained to drive one and the way they hurtle along the pavement with no concern for pedestrians makes most cyclists look sane & safe by comparison. as a interesting side note a mate of mind who's a traffic warden(i know hiss boo) says disabled drivers are some of the worst for parking illegally and then getting arsey about it when they're booked, hes had loads of trouble off them. even when there are legitimate parking spaces available near by hes had them parking in bus stops and other illegal places.

 

I think hurtle is a bit OTT My mate Sid has a real up market one and it is hardly speedy.

 

A bit of irony " Sid's buggy tipped over due to the council putting in invalid crossing on the pavement which slope to steeply to wards the road, on narrow pavements where you cannot pass without two wheels diving into a chasm lurching the buggy over sharply" We have made a formal complaint pointing out that the crossings are supposed to assist disabled people not kill them.

[kleinboet]

Snakey 1 - Item two: You state that the do little damage to the road, and in the same breath tell me what would happen if you hit a car!!

Sorry, "if you hit a car"???? YOU SHOULDN'T!!!!! Cyclists keep telling us that motorists are the biggest danger to cyclists, shall I tell you why? The cyclist that get hit by cars are the cyclists that think motorists are a pain and should be ignored!!!!! I have seen motorists being complete rrrrrsoles, but they are in the minority, I wish the same could be said of cyclists!!

Why do you think that you are not allowed to drive until you are 17? The road IS a DANGEROUS place, which is why you have laws about HOW to drive. As long as the cyclists continue to ignore the "rules of the road" there will be vehicle/bicycle RTA's!

 

Item three: You say the police could act against cyclists - HOW?? until cycles have some form of identification on them that is readable by motorists and pedestrians, the police are powerless to act because the cyclists "scarper" where vehicles can't follow!

 

By the way, have you seen the damage made by cyclists to the road when they put themselves at risk deliberately, and the cycle lands under the wheels of a car!

Edited April 13, 2007 by kleinboet

[Guest tigger]

It's bad enough having to buy a rod Licence never mind Taxing Pushbikes !!!

[snakey1]

kleinboat, firstly my point no.1 bicycles cause very little wear and tear to a road surface FACT. i worked in the road construction testing industry for over ten years and have seen various forms of road damage caused by vehicular traffic but none caused by bicycles not involved in accidents.

Secondly I pointed out that if you hit a car your likely to come off worse on a bike than if you hit one in another car i could have said if a car hits you its simply the way i worded that statement but yes i agree you shouldn't hit a car BUT THEN A CAR SHOULDN'T HIT A BIKE,PEDESTRIAN,OTHER CAR ETC BUT THEY DO. accidents happen its not a perfect world live with that fact.The point i was making is cars are a lot more lethal to other road users than a push bike.

No cyclist i know ignores cars to do so would be suicidal but they do ride aggressively this is because they have to, if you cycle on the roads and do not ride with some degree of confidence and take up a reasonable amount of the road cars will force you up the gutter onto the pavement by they're own aggressive driving style so what you see as ignoring car drivers probably isn't as that would be as sane as a car driver ignoring an oncoming articulated lorry, you might get away with it once but probably not twice.

As for the road being a dangerous place yes it is but saying cyclists constantly ignore the laws of the road while motorists are saintly and all bicycle/car rta's are caused by the cyclist is ridiculous how many motorists every year get done for speeding, dangerous driving, driving without due care & attention etc, thousands so obviously car drivers aren't exactly the most law abiding of citizens either and the idiot drivers don't seem to be in the minority now.

point no. 3 the police nowadays use off road motorbikes and mountain bikes as well so there isn't really anywhere a cyclist can "scarper" to that the police cannot follow, the police aren't powerless to act they just chose not to most of the time.

As to whether i've seen the amount of damage a cyclist does to the road under the wheels of a car in an accident yes actually i have and its nowhere near the amount of damage done by an overly aggressive car driver when he drives like an idiot and ends up under an articulated lorry which i've seen as well.

Edited April 14, 2007 by snakey1

[kleinboet]

Isn't it funny that when the discussion comes up NOT ONE CYCLIST WILL OWN UP TO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF BAD CYCLISTS!! If you look at the statistics you will find that in a VERY large percentage of RTA's involving cyclists, the cyclist is under 20 years of age!

You also claim that cyclists "have to ride aggressively" RUBBISH!!

If there was some sort of "sorting out" those suitable to ride on the roads and those not, the accidents would drop dramatically.

I am not saying that all motorists are blameless, yet you are claiming all cyclists are!

A motorist has to wait until he is old enough to drive, and then sit a reasonably severe driving test before he obtains a LICENCE to drive. He must must know the rules and the roadsigns - do cyclists? All the do is walk into a place like Halfords, buy a bike and then RIDE it home!

[Guest Rabbit]

Snakey you are completley right. Its a no brainer really, can you imgine how much nicer safer and a whole lot less noisy it would be if we all rode bikes. Or better still walked ...cough splutter, yes walked.

Cyclists should be treated like pedestrians, you give way to them even if you may think they are in the wrong. Why? because they are vunerable to injury from cars etc.

Like I said its a no brainer really

[chesters1]

cant see how they claim to be green ,following 3 cyclists for two miles down a twisty country road i cant amagine how much extra co2 the line of cars were chucking out at 4mph,and ofcourse the resulting consequences if the road round the corner wasent clear when the more impatient overtook,forcing them by law to cycle at the roads speed maximum should sort most out.

most horse riders at least pull over or indicate when its safe to overtake but cyclists are in a world of their own

Edited April 14, 2007 by chesters1

[kleinboet]

Rabbit - SIT DOWN! Do you know how stupid you sound? I'll tell you what, let's ban all vehicles except bikes! I am disabled and would be quite happy to sit at home and let you cyclists fech my shopping, pay my bills etc.

Motorists (who pay ROAD TAX - who have INSURANCE - who have a LICENCE - who OBEY THE LAW or are punished) must treat cyclists like pedestrians - WHY!!!!!!!!!! You bang on about dangerous drivers, but when someone mentions the idiotic, suicidal cyclists that are out there, you come up with an IDIOTIC statement "motorists should treat all cyclists like pedestrians EVEN IF THEY ARE DOING WRONG"!!!!!!

The answer to this problem is not to blame the motorist, the answer is that all the good cyclists (there are a lot of them out there, and they are treated with RESPECT on the road!) should get together and get the idiots to get their act together or ban them from the roads.

You are asking a motorist to sit behind a youngster who has both hands off the handlebars and is busy texting! Never mind the fact that he is all over the road he must be "treated like a pedestrian"!!!

[chesters1]

i think if you knock a few off a road tax reduction should be awarded ,by the time you allow them room for wandering all over the place they take up as much room as a car anyway.

they slould have 3rd party insurance at least ,one hitting you (nevermind you hitting them) costs a fortune to remove the (very small in some cases) brain matter from your cars carpets nevermind extracting the bike from under the car

Edited April 14, 2007 by chesters1