Cyclists killed and seriously injured on roads.....spmeone is being unreasonable

[GabbyLoggon]

Big news in todays independent.(and elsewhere)

They say 230 cyclists are killed or seriously injured on our
roads every month.

Really? I would like to see those figures broken down to serious injury/death
The report says HGV drivers are often involved.

Cycling is becomming more popular here

I have only skimmed the thread but thought I would share some of my experiences as a cyclist in the UK.

I used to cycle to work (now work from home). There was one traffic light junction where the only safe option was to go to the front in front of the solid white line. That was because thre were two lanes of traffic sitting at the lights, the left hand lane of which could turn left (understandably) or go through the lights and turn left straight afterwards into a sort-of diagonal street, or go straight ahead. So, if you, the cyclist, wanted yourself to go into the diagonal street, there was no safe lane to be in - 'cos the majority of cars turned full left and didn't realise that you were going straight ahead and then left - but you couldn't go into the rght hand lane, 'cos some of the cars, quite legitimately, were going full straight haead - and you would cut them up.

I now regualrly cycle ds to school and then back home again. The number of times I get home ranting about drivers (on a route of less than a mile) that have driven dangerously in my path, where I have had to take avoiding action. Even though I would have been in the right, I would have been the one injured.

Every second or third trip a car pulls out across me (I am on the main road, have right of way - and there is even a lollipop man there) so that I have to do an emergency stop on numerous occasions. I am always wearing a high visibility jacket and (when the mornings were dimmer) have my front light on. If I could guarantee that I wouldn't be injured myslef, I wouldn't bother braking and would go into the driver's or passenger door and damage their car (that's how close they are when they pull out).

Drivers in thic country just don't see cyclists.

Picking ds up, we have to cycle up a short piece of road (100m max) where we position ourselves in the middle of the road as we are going to turn right, but also where there are often cars double parked on the left so that lazy drivers can "pop" into the Spar. The number of cars that are so impatient that they overtake us (cos they can't undertake us 'cos of the double parked cars) on this short section - on the wrong side of the road and directly in our path if we have started turning right (having seen that it is safe for us to do so as there is no oncoming traffic).

I always wear a helmet (especially since my mum sustained a head injury falling off her bike - even with her helmet on - but you can see where the helmet compressed as it absorbed some of the impact. That and her pelvis which she bounced on first) - but there is research that shows that some car drivers drive closer and more dangerously in the vicinty of cyclists with helmets as there seen as more "invulnerable" - despite the fact that helmets on really protect cyclists from their own falls, not impact from other vehicles.

Rant over

I have seen so many cyclists come up on the inside of a lorry waiting at lights to turn left.This is SO dangerous and stupid.The lorry cab is so much higher than the bike that the driver just can't see them there

Oh more cyclist bashing,
I am a car driver and a cyclist. Whilst recently cycling I stopped after indicting with with arm clearly that I was turn right at a junction, I looked behind me and crossed to the centre to turn right and stopped behind several cars doing the same turn. I did everything correctly but some driver thought it was appropriate to shout "you f%*king cyclist whore"???
I can only think this was because he couldn't pass behind me because I extended the queue and a car had parked on the opposite side of the road. Now if I had been a car he would have just accepted that I was waiting to turn right but Oh! no I got abuse shouted because I was on a bike.

I was thinking to start a national 'cyclist get in your cars day' because if we all got in our cars rather than our bikes (and many of us have both) then traffic jams would dramatically increase and public transport would be packed. Then maybe the drivers would not be so angry at us all the time even when we are abiding by the highway code.

Good idea - especially on a busy day like the first day back at school after the holidays

Amy - I do know which side of the road cyclists are supposed to be, would you believe . The point is that they don't stay there and are zigzagging all over the place, especially when traffic slows down.

I didn't say cyclists are dangerous to motor vehicle drivers. I said they are dangerous to themselves. They are vulnerable without the protection of a metal car around them and they travel slower than the traffic - the odds are against them. This means they need to follow the rules and be cautious.

Gabby - You are confusing me with Amy.

Good idea pretty bird lets start something.

cote - the point is that most cyclists do abide by the highway code, and yet they still get killed or injured.

"It is a miracle that so many of them survive every day, and that is only because car drivers are being so careful." Uh, yes...the onus damn well should be on the drivers to be so careful.

Its not just France where cyclists are loved. Its The Netherlands, Belguim and Italy as well. Its just that Britain prefers to produce people who spend their free time driving round supermarkets at weekends, indulging their obesity problems.

The Netherlands is a cyclists Utopia

Today cycling up a long steep hill an elderly gentleman sat on a bench shouted "good effort, you should be proud of that". I was quite touched as a) it was hard work and b) people very rarely say anythung positive to cyclists

I came to the the corner at the top and witnessed a car attempt to overtake another cyclist in front and have to brake sharply as a car was coming the other way. The cars wheels skidded, he just missed the cyclist and then accelerated off shouting 'get off the bloody road' leaving a smell of rubber in his wake

The cyclist was absolutely not at fault yet the driver seemed angry he was on the road. I witness some degree of this on most rides at the moment and find it appalling.

Cote, is your problem that we can get to the front of a line of stationary traffic, where it is actually safest for us because we're more visible? That's why very often there is that painted box reserved for cycles between the traffic lights and the cars etc behind. Not that anyone seems to respect it. In order to get to this area we quite often have to weave in and out of stationary cars, as an awful lot of drivers pull in unnecessarily close to the kerb (in order to inconvenience cyclists? Quite possibly). I think you need to get on a bike so you can actually have a well-informed view.

As a motorist I'm inconvenienced by bad drivers far more than I am by cyclists. The amount of vitriol that cyclists attract is disproportionate in my opinion, and it never seems to come from people I would consider good drivers (safe, responsible, courteous).

We have every right to be on the roads. Possibly more than car drivers, in fact, as we were bloody well here first. Check your history books.

I think the average speed of driving a motor vehicle in London is around 10-12 miles per hour, which is relatively slow compared to cycling, even I can average 12 mph cycling and its free, I don't pay £1.35 per litre for petrol to sit in traffic with the engine running

Sorry, that was to Darth!

Lack of exercise is a common cause of stress...

www.bikeforall.net/cms/70orig-fatlane.jpg

for anyone interested in the stopatred you can apply for stickers etc to give to any cyclists pass round at school for cyclists to stop at red lights

I am in France. And no, cyclists are not universally loved here. Especially where I am, where most roads are single lane and winding.

Of course, the great unexercised are of the opinion that people cycle only because they can't afford cars. Despite most cycling and triathlon clubs being populated by the most uniformly middle class bunch you could ever hope to collect together in one place.

Found this whilst I was looking at a site off the CTC website, thought it was interesting, forget the part about being paid to cycle it was the savings for local council and government that was more interesting in these times of hardship:

Get Paid To Ride
All of the common sense above should somehow lead to rewards for cyclists. A city council that builds segregated bike lanes, thereby encouraging citizens to ride, will be spending less on road works and public health.

In Copenhagen we've discovered that:
One extra kilometre of bike lanes on a road:
Building bike lanes on streets with an average of 2,500 bikes and 10,000 cars each day would bring 18-20% more bikes on the stretch of road.
Including a drop of 9-10% in the number of cars and 9-10% fewer accidents and injury.

• A saving of 246,000 DKK in the health sector.
• A saving of of 643,000 DKK in lost production.
• A collective fall in health, production and accident costs each year totalling 633,000 DKK.
• The extra kilometre would give 170,000 more cycle kilometres each year.
• For every 1 krone spent, society would save 5 kroner.

Now THAT is good economics.

In Norway, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration [Vegvesen] actually pays their employees to ride to work instead of driving. Much of the decision is based on the above facts and studies.

Here is my expierence as a motorist and a cyclist.

Cyclist - I have been knocked off my bike twice. The last time was 4 weeks ago when I was cycling home from work. I have a 900 lumens bike light (pretty damm well bright in other words!) and a light on my helmet. I am stopped at a give way , giving way when a car wants to turn right, i.e. to go past me. He decided to slice a long chunk of the give way and go on my side of the road and straight at me. it is fair to say I nearly shit myself as I am stopped and a car is coming ploughing towards me. He claims he didn't see me. I did ask eventually why he thought it was ok to drive on the wrong side of the road. (funny I never got an answer for that). Why he didn't see me with a neon yellow jacket, bright bike light and head torch is anyones guess.

Next one was a few years ago when I was cycling through the town centre in rush hour. I am peddling along a main road and a car is stopped at a give way. One I am in line with his bonnet he decides to mow me down, the dick. I am carrted off in an ambulance and off work for 26 weeks.

As a motorised I get pissed off at seeing older teenagers riding round on bikes way to small for them and darting in and out of traffic without giving a toss for their own well being or anyone elses.

These days I have to admit I try to stay to bridle paths and get my miles in at Lee Quary, Glentress or Dalbeattie forest and stay away from motorists.

As a motorbike rider as well as a cyclist I take extra car when I'm in a car.
I'm not saying I'm a perfect driver - I've 3 points for speeding but I am dead aware of other road users.

I always assume the other road user is a dick until proved otherwise!