What is it about cyclists......? | Thread profile

bombat, I agree, the proportion of cyclists in London that stick to the rules is far too low. It annoys me too. Some things, like riding through ped crossing when peds are on the crossing REALLY get me going and I do have a word with such pillocks given the opportunity. But I have to pick you up on this: and most dangerously breaks the rules of the road is cyclists. If that is true, why are cyclists responsible for so few serious accidents?...

I agree with all your safety concerns, except that I'm not sure it would lead to malicious abuse of the DPA to get personal detail any more than it does for motorists. Does that happen all that much? The reasons I disagree with it are that... It would - like the Aussie example of compulsory helmets - deter people from cycling and cause more harm than good; It would also be a nightmare and prohibitively costly to administer; It would be...

Sorry, poor choice of words. When I said 'most dangerous', I meant 'most likely to cause an accident' rather than 'most likely to kill or seriously injure another person'.

"except that I'm not sure it would lead to malicious abuse of the DPA to get personal detail any more than it does for motorists." The difference is that for motorists, there's ... [1] ... no prejudice. Motorists see themselves as part of the same group... the precludes prejudice on the basis of that group... one car driver isn't going to let the fact that another road user is also a car driver. [2] ......

Morning LePetitFou, I'm impressed that you can marshal all those statistics at this time in the day - I'm usually making toast, or somewhere on the bike. As you mention, it's easy to draw tribal boundaries and when it comes to marking those boundaries (in luminous paint) this BB can, at times, really go to town. I'm a driver myself and know it's unfair that all drivers are deamonised by cyclists ... I'm a cyclist...

I could almost have written the alyourpal's original post myself. I became a ‘born again’ cyclist about 12 years ago, a couple of years after becoming a widower. I got into it by accident when my cousin, an Oxford don, invited me to visit. The best way to get around Oxford is on a bike so there I was, wobbling uncertainly through Oxford, scared of the traffic, but finding it hugely enjoyable nonetheless. Wind the clock forward a year...

Did the CTC provide the statistics about how many of those 101... That figure is the final statistic in the post, although I presume most of the accidents involving vehicles on footways are cars pulling out of drives, and long vehicles turning and cutting over pavements.

Be interesting to hear what other Continental and Scandinavian countries make of it – any takers? I'm both a car driver and cyclist in Switzerland, where the attitude is one of tolerance and mutual respect. Many roads have a cycle strip painted down the side, and the cars don't seem to mind that they occasionally have to alter their course by a few degrees to swerve round a cyclist. Shared foot/cycle paths are common, and the bikes...

Its about two years since I became 'a cyclist'. Nearly 50 years ago I was a keen teenage cyclist, but then cars, girls and life intervened. It was only after receiving a Fatwa from the quack that I joined the ranks of cyclists again. Since then, I have thoroughly enjoyed rediscovering life from a bicycle saddle. I know that I am now much fitter than most people, even much younger people, but not as fit as daily cyclists who commute...

In my experience - Some drivers don't like cyclists as they perceive us as using "their" roads without paying. - Some drivers don't like cyclists as we filter past them in traffic as they sit in their vehicles. - Some drivers don't like cyclists as they half wish they were doing the same but don't want to try it. Then again - Some modern laws to help/protect cyclists are/or appear to be at the...