The Driver vs. Bicyclist Fight is Way More Violent in England

Someone asked why cycle in the city, and suggested cycling in the countryside.

I don't own a car.
The bus costs £5 into town, and £5 back home again. 5 days a week, Yes, I can get a season ticket, which works out cheaper..
The bus takes 2hrs to make the trip. Sometimes longer if there are roadworks or heavy traffic.

My bike is free.
My bike takes 25 to 30 minutes to make the trip, because I don't zig-zag across massive housing estates to collect fares.

Or are you suggesting that I should find a job in the countryside, just so that I don't have to risk getting in your way?

wow I hope the bus driver got plenty of satisfaction from doing that because I am sure he will be paying for it for quite a while. Also if the bike rider was intentionally aggravating the bus driver I hope he was charged for obstructing traffic or something.

I am quite happy to share the roads with bicycle riders but i think bikes should be registered and have to display a number/licence plate and have head lights,tail lights, indicators and brake lights fitted.

Originally posted by BMorris
Someone asked why cycle in the city, and suggested cycling in the countryside.

I don't own a car.
The bus costs £5 into town, and £5 back home again. 5 days a week, Yes, I can get a season ticket, which works out cheaper..
The bus takes 2hrs to make the trip. Sometimes longer if there are roadworks or heavy traffic.

My bike is free.
My bike takes 25 to 30 minutes to make the trip, because I don't zig-zag across massive housing estates to collect fares.

Or are you suggesting that I should find a job in the countryside, just so that I don't have to risk getting in your way?

Or if its that bad, you can always leave an hour early and walk.

When I used to go out on my bike (it got stolen ) I'm always looking out for dodgy drivers. You really can't trust some of these guys.

For example plenty of drivers will give you space when they go past you, but some come WAY too close to me! I often wonder if they do it on purpose.

Other times is when some cars, they will wait patiently for cars to go pass before they make the turn into a new street, but sometimes they don't notice or don't care to wait for the bike to go past and they start driving towards us and beeping their horn like we are out of the way on purpose.

Stay safe guys.

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
When I used to go out on my bike I(it got stolen

) I'm always looking out for dodgy drivers. You really can't trust some of these guys.

For example plenty of driver will give you space when they go past you, but some come WAY too close to me! I often wonder if they do it on purpose.

Other times is when some cars, they will wait patiently for cars to go pass before they make the turn into a new street, but sometimes they don't notice or don't care to wait for the bike to go past and they start driving towards us and beeping their horn like we are out of the way on purpose.

Stay safe guys.

I ride a motorcycle, and I think that cars not seeing me are similar to cars not seeing cyclists. It has something to do with how our brains are wired.

For example this video

www.youtube.com...


People driving cars are so focused on not hitting other cars, they don't even see motorcycles or bicycles even if you see them looking right at you. Kind of scary but good to know, always ride like everyone is trying to kill you.

reply to post by andersensrm

Yep well said. Great video, seen similar ones before Always be aware of your surroundings.

By the way when I went to holland and rode my bike everywhere, it was heavenly! That place is designed for bikers with special biker lanes everywhere. Infact I almost got run over because I went into the road once since the cars are not expeting you to be there unlike london.

reply to post by ANOK


they have trails, and if there's a red light they pass where people walk. not in front of cars. whoever teach cyclist to do as a car, should be shot. also where i live cyclism have trails and it takes 30mins to 1hr if you can ride your bike like a teenager to travel almost the entire city. while it takes less in a car because of traffic. I understand that if there's no trails or anything the cyclist have rights to be on the road but if there's trails or w/e beside the road he can use those while we cars cant and not # with cars.

reply to post by PhoenixOD


The cyclist is right in front of the bus - not a wise move. Also the bus driver for some bizarre reason decided to shunt him. Maybe he got mad and in an instant of rage decided to shunt the cyclist out the way.
In doing so he endangered both the cyclist and other human life. However the cyclist is pretty dumb also for driving in front of a bus in busy streets. Something I would not like to do even on a non busy road.
Did the cyclist pay for his stupidity - I believe he did. Did the bus driver I think he did also.
Had the cyclist not been there would the bust driver still have a job and not be in prison. I guess he would.

Limbo

Originally posted by Limbo
reply to post by PhoenixOD

 

The cyclist is right in front of the bus - not a wise move. Also the bus driver for some bizarre reason decided to shunt him. Maybe he got mad and in an instant of rage decided to shunt the cyclist out the way.
In doing so he endangered both the cyclist and other human life. However the cyclist is pretty dumb also for driving in front of a bus in busy streets. Something I would not like to do even on a non busy road.
Did the cyclist pay for his stupidity - I believe he did. Did the bus driver I think he did also.
Had the cyclist not been there would the bust driver still have a job and not be in prison. I guess he would.

Limbo

If you think about it, it doesn't really make sense, I mean why would the bus driver be in such a hurry, its not like he makes more money or anything. His anger is probably due to the fact, that he thought the biker was intentionally trying to police him by riding in front of him to slow him down. Never a good idea to start policing other drivers by cutting them off and such, thats where the road rage starts. The biker either wasn't thinking, or did this intentionally, either way he put himself in danger.

reply to post by BMorris


That's interesting. I looked further and it down to police discretion.

www.bikehub.co.uk...

On 1st August 1999, new legislation came into force to allow a fixed penalty notice to be served on anyone who is guilty of cycling on a footway. However the Home Office issued guidance on how the new legislation should be applied, indicating that they should only be used where a cyclist is riding in a manner that may endanger others. The then Home Office Minister Paul Boateng issued a letter stating that:

“The introduction of the fixed penalty is not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of traffic and who show consideration to other pavement users when doing so. Chief police officers, who are responsible for enforcement, acknowledge that many cyclists, particularly children and young people, are afraid to cycle on the road, sensitivity and careful use of police discretion is required.”

Limbo

That's why you carry a fire arm

Bicyclists should be required to take a basic physics course before being allowed on the road. They may be "right" by the law, but being "dead right" is still "dead". When I ride my bike, I make damn sure I'm not playing chicken with vehicles..even if I'm "in the right". Just because the light is green, of you're riding legally doesn't mean you should have your head up your butt. It looks to me like the cyclist was trying to overtake the bus, which is stupid. Then, the bus driver gets angry and makes his "point".

1: Bus diver will not do this again for at least 17 months.
2: I hope the cyclist doesn't every try it again.

It's hard to understand the perspective of a cyclist when your primary method of transportation is a car.

I used to own a car and looked at cyclists as an annoyance. But then my car died and I couldn't afford another one, so now I have to ride a bicycle to work every day and it has shown me the light.

Motorists treat you like #, you get frozen, rained on, you sweat your ass off, if someone is mowing their lawn well good luck seeing. Have fun rubbing your watery eyes the entire trip and missing half of what's going on. There are countless things about it that are annoying.

I can't tell you how many times I've been almost hit by STUPID ass motorists texting or talking on their cell phones or how many times I simply FORGOT to turn on my bike lights and got harassed by police and even slammed against a cop car for it.

The amount of crap you have to deal with as a cyclist is immense, and they deserve respect. You know how many people throw # at you and curse at you just because they are like 18 and with friends or something? Respect the cyclists! Not to mention how often our bikes get stolen...

So, I live in bum**cked Tennessee. I can imagine that in the city it is probably easier and preferred to transport yourself by bike. However, where I live cars are a godsend. It would suck to have to spend two hours just to run down to the store for a loaf of bread or whatnot. Funny thing is, I am always finding myself on the main 55mph highway getting slowed down by a gaggle of bikers riding in the middle of the lane. It is really annoying when the only road that takes me to my house is crammed with bikers going 10 miles an hour. I might as well just get on a dang bike and wait hours to get to my home. The road is way too curvy an the passing lanes are very limited. Sometimes I want to run them over. I have somewhere I need to be and they obviously do not. The are using my only route for recreation. I can't blame them for wanting to enjoy the country but for those of us who actually need to get somewhere while they frolic through the tulips, it can be very frustrating.

Originally posted by andersensrm
reply to post by ANOK

 

The only reasons you said riding on the sidewalk was dangerous is because bicycle riders ride too fast, and can run into people and such.

I said nothing whatsoever about them riding too fast. If I drive my car slowly is it OK to drive in a bike lane?

Then you say cars drive too fast and can run into bikers and such. You say cars should slow down, but bikers shouldn't? If you ride at walking speed how can you hit anyone? If you can't drive a car, there's always public transportation, so its not like your forced to ride a bike if you can't afford a car.

I didn't say bikers shouldn't slow down, I said they shouldn't ride on the sidewalk, period. Bikes, no matter what their speed, are a hazard on busy city sidewalks. Why should pedestrians have that extra worry? What about disabled people who can't move out of your way as quick as you expect? What if I simply turn around and bang into you, guess what? It would be your fault, because you're not supposed to ride on the sidewalk.

We have already proven that we can't be responsible to be trusted to simply slow down, otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion right? If I had my way motorized vehicles would be banned from city streets, and they would be turned into bike lanes.

reply to post by ANOK


Probably would make a lot of sense, if confined to the big cities, but as far as everywhere else, you need a car. Especially if by car, your still commuting hours to work, it wouldn't make sense to bike that far, but I can see in a big city such as new york, or S.F. that it would probably work better with no cars.

Originally posted by Silvertrowel
OMG.......... Your kidding me right?
You think thats a cycle lane?????

And you think its got something to do with the event in question???
ROFL

edit on 20-2-2012 by Silvertrowel because: (no reason given)

I go down that road almost once every few weeks.
I have rode a bike down there before too, and it is normal for alot of bikes to be travelling down that road, as they are suitable for bicycles hence the gigantic BIKE painted on the road in the direction of traffic.

Seriously, you tell me i am kidding and insert comments "OMG, ROFL" are you mad?

It has something to do with the event in question, because someone said they can't see a bicycle painted onto the road. It is there to signify that bikes are treated as any other vehicle in that road lane.

Your are the one who must be kidding me.

Originally posted by andersensrm
reply to post by ANOK

 

Probably would make a lot of sense, if confined to the big cities, but as far as everywhere else, you need a car. Especially if by car, your still commuting hours to work, it wouldn't make sense to bike that far, but I can see in a big city such as new york, or S.F. that it would probably work better with no cars.

Yeah cities is the perspective I'm coming from, where there is heavy foot and cycle traffic. Cities supposedly considered walking cities, like SF, New York etc.

www.prevention.com...

We could have large parking lots on the outskirts and rent bicycles lol, make a stinking huge pile of filthy lucre.

reply to post by InsideYourMind


It's basically telling you cycles have full use of the lane right? Equivalent to our yellow signs, that actually have it written out because some people here are too stupid to get the point of the graphic all by itself. Just like people fail to understand what a marked crosswalk is and that you always have to yield to pedestrians whether there is a stop sign or not.

Signs like this are constantly ignored...





We've had enough of this, occupy the crosswalks!

If a bike can't maintain the speed limit of the roadway, it should not be on that roadway. I see guys riding out in snowy weather and during white outs on roadways with 55mph speed limits. This is just asking to be killed in a real accident, let alone bus driver city justice. If the city can't provide bike path's/lanes to make the commute safe for drivers and bike riders people in vehicles will always mow people on bikes down.