Bloody cyclists

Axe_meister

No this is not a rant about Mamils and cycle paths, but cyclists who ride a black bike wearing black clothes on an unlit street after dark with no lights.
Now the weather is grim out there at the moment visibility is down massively.
Nearly hit one of these nutters this evening, the only thing that made me see him was the fact that his mobile phone was glowing against his ear and I was creeping out of a junction as I could see fuck all due to all the vans parked right on the corner of the junction.

littlegreenman

I see them every morning as I walk to my bus stop. Idiots!

And I am a bicyclist meself, them dicks have a death-wish.

joneve

Aye. Agree with this. I am slightly guilty as I went out in the middle of the day on Saturday and the weather took an unexpected turn and got very dark and stormy. I was in black (red bike though!) but in my defence it wasn't forecast!

Either way I felt very conscious that I wasn't very visible.

Axe_meister

I agree with German law. You are caught on a bike (even in day time) without lights and reflectors it's taken off you.

xSkarloey

What annoys me about cyclists who don't take the trouble to make themselves be seen in the dark is that they're not just posing a danger to themselves but to everybody else. 

I'm starting to feel a similar way about cyclists near me who insist on riding with the traffic on dual carriageways where the speed limit is 40 MPH and higher in certain sections. This when there are adequate cycle paths on both sides of the road. 

I wish these cyclists no harm at all, but I fear they;re putting themselves in harm's way. 

Drew_TNBD

Oh great, another one of these threads.

Sambostar

A girl was run over near us.  She was lying in the middle of the road at 11:30, just over a hill in a 40mph zone.  No way you could stop in time or even see her until you were on her.  The bloke got charged with reckless driving and it probably fooked him up for life.  Now this was no forest road with ponies and cattle wandering about, this was a main road.  So you stick to the limit and get charged.  What do they expect?  You to do 1mph?  Total waste of her life.

The sooner these idiots are all driven over the better for all of us.  Get them off the road and change the law so they can serve 40 year jail terms for being invisible.  It's the only way they will learn to think about anything other than themselves.

Townies and Eastern Europeans walk down the main road in a national speed limit zone at night.  With respect, facing oncoming traffic, but some of them think it's bolshy to walk out in the road, totally dressed in black.  No way you can see them if someone is driving toward you at night though. 

Yet if you hit them, you would be in prison for reckless driving or manslaughter.  You'd have a hard job to survive 40mph impact. At 60mph your head explodes.

crunchman

I'm a cyclist (and a car driver too) and I really don't get people who cycle in dark clothes with no lights at night.  Absolutely mad.

@Skarloey were you involved in the previous cycling thread.  I really don't want to revisit my rant in that in full, but as I said in detail there, most cycle lanes are totally useless.

I'd also take issue about your belief that you are putting yourself in harm's way by cycling on a dual carriageway.  It's actually pretty safe.  The vast majority of serious accidents with bikes are at junctions.

You are also less vulnerable to pedestrians on a dual carriageway.  Most of them aren't quite stupid enough to walk out onto a dual carriageway without looking.  I do need to point out that the only time I have ended up in A&E was because of a pedestrian who walked out without looking (from behind another pedestrian who saw me and stopped.  I had no chance of avoiding).

Sambostar

crunchman said:

  I do need to point out that the only time I have ended up in A&E was because of a pedestrian who walked out without looking (from behind another pedestrian who saw me and stopped.  I had no chance of avoiding).

If you were driving a car when this happened you would be charged with reckless driving.  Cyclists are like the feminists of the highway code.

Deadman

It's not just cyclists. The amount of drivers who don't put their lights on when it's foggy, dark, raining etc. is so annoying. They're probably the same ones who put their fogs on when there's a bit of mist in the air or visibility is clear.

Gassage

Axe_meister said:

I agree with German law. You are caught on a bike (even in day time) without lights and reflectors it's taken off you.

It's a modernist take on Lebensraum.....

benecol

Sambostar said:

Townies and Eastern Europeans

ANY WORD ON THE GYPSIES, DUBIOUS-RIGHT-WING-POSTER?

JAYJO

I cycle and also drive. It pissess me off when cars overtake me and then leave no space for me to cycle up to the cycle box at the lights, makes my piss fizz!!!. I can see ahead about 6 cars for example all leaving the space and then some twat comes along and blocks my path. It seems quite blatant to me and i really do get angry especially when theyve only just overtaken me and then cut in. Wankers

Col_Decker

I pass a chap every morning on the way to work. Rain or shine he's there. Now this guy is easily visible as he's lit up like a xmas tree, but still he insists on riding along the dual carriage instead of the cycle path. Why do that? Why put yourself in danger like that? A bit of a knob head perhaps.

crunchman

Sambostar said:

crunchman said:

  I do need to point out that the only time I have ended up in A&E was because of a pedestrian who walked out without looking (from behind another pedestrian who saw me and stopped.  I had no chance of avoiding).

If you were driving a car when this happened you would be charged with reckless driving.  Cyclists are like the feminists of the highway code.

If I'd been driving the pedestrian wouldn't have walked out.

xSkarloey

@crunchman Sorry to hear you've been in A and E.

I think we should amicably agree to disagree and give each other plenty of room as we pass.


But seriously, stay safe.

equalsql

Col_Decker said:

I pass a chap every morning on the way to work. Rain or shine he's there. Now this guy is easily visible as he's lit up like a xmas tree, but still he insists on riding along the dual carriage instead of the cycle path. Why do that? Why put yourself in danger like that? A bit of a knob head perhaps.

Probably to avoid the broken glass, pedestrians, slippery wet leaves (and slugs) and (in winter) compressed/black ice that makes cycles ways a lot more dangerous to use on a daily basis. 

Col_Decker

I'd rather take my chance with a slug than a HGV

joneve

equalsql said:

Col_Decker said:

I pass a chap every morning on the way to work. Rain or shine he's there. Now this guy is easily visible as he's lit up like a xmas tree, but still he insists on riding along the dual carriage instead of the cycle path. Why do that? Why put yourself in danger like that? A bit of a knob head perhaps.

Probably to avoid the broken glass, pedestrians, slippery wet leaves (and slugs) and (in winter) compressed/black ice that makes cycles ways a lot more dangerous to use on a daily basis. 

Bingo. 

Phil_aka_Pip

equalsql said:

Col_Decker said:

I pass a chap every morning on the way to work. Rain or shine he's there. Now this guy is easily visible as he's lit up like a xmas tree, but still he insists on riding along the dual carriage instead of the cycle path. Why do that? Why put yourself in danger like that? A bit of a knob head perhaps.

Probably to avoid the broken glass, pedestrians, slippery wet leaves (and slugs) and (in winter) compressed/black ice that makes cycles ways a lot more dangerous to use on a daily basis. 

you forgot the dog shit. dog shit on your tyres always makes fixing punctures so much more pleasurable ...

RocknRollDave

It's not just the cyclists, though. I lost count of how many idiots were driving around in the drizzly gloom without their lights on this morning.