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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

349 replies

GabbyLoggon · 15/04/2011 14:27

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

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 15/04/2011 22:31
RedbinD · 15/04/2011 22:32

Cyclists are a pain in the arse and should be banned from roads. The traffic laws regarding speeding, red lights and undertaking should be enforced against the self righteous sanctimonious twots.

ivykaty44 · 15/04/2011 22:34

The traffic laws regarding speeding, red lights and undertaking should be enforced against the self righteous sanctimonious twots.

I couldn't agree more Grin

tarantula · 15/04/2011 22:37

thats a good one IK. Reminds me of the cycle path over Twickenham bridge which drivers used to yell at me to use..........Except that it was on hte other side of a 6 lane duel carriage way and ended at the end of the bridge with no way of getting back to the right side of the road to continue cycling. It was grand if you were then taking the river pathwhich it was put in place for but I wasn't. I was trying to get home.

givemushypeasachance · 15/04/2011 22:37

The traffic laws regarding speeding, red lights and undertaking should be enforced against all self righteous sanctimonious twots.

Motorists, bus drivers and taxi drivers included.

hogsback · 15/04/2011 22:37

RedbinD No mention of enforcing traffic laws against the drivers who KSI thousands of cyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users every year I see.

I suppose you think that they're all just asking for it and it's their own fault.

ivykaty44 · 15/04/2011 22:39

givemushypeasachance

motorists, bus drivers and taxi drivers - are there many other vehicles that speed - I mean have you ever come across a speeding cyclists..? Wink

tarantula · 15/04/2011 22:40

Yep I think that is something I could agree on too Grin Maybe I should start collecting numbers I could pass on police. A large number of the fuckwits who think its clever to speed down narrow twisting roads, overtaking with no regard for anyone else would be my first choice.

hogsback · 15/04/2011 22:42

ivykaty - motorcyclists Blush. We occasionally speed. But only by accident. And it's not like we get in anyone's way. :)

ivykaty44 · 15/04/2011 22:43

I think the motor was the give away Grin

ivykaty44 · 15/04/2011 22:45

Trantula - just stand at the traffic lights and take the number plates of motor cars that jump red lights - you will get more in five minutes than you would on narrow country lanes - just don't stand to close like

blouseenthusiast · 15/04/2011 22:47

I live in a part of London which teems with cyclists. I do not drive a car and my experience every day is that:

  • cyclists go through the red light onto the pedestrian crossing often having to weave at the last minute around a small child;
  • cyclists ride at speed on the pavement and expect pedestrians to jump out of the way.
Which makes me think that cyclists should be tested and licensed for their own protection and so that they do not cause a nuisance / danger to others.
blondepinhead · 15/04/2011 22:47

I don't think I've ever managed to speed on my bike. Chance would be a fine thing. Where are all these rocket-powered bicycles that RedbinD sees then?

hogsback · 15/04/2011 22:47

I'm having a warm fuzzy feel for my two-wheeled sistren (motorised or not). Could be the bottle of Limoncello that I found in the bottom of the freezer though

microserf · 15/04/2011 22:51

i think it's horrible so many cyclists have been killed. i try to take great care of cyclists when i drive. one of my greatest fears is hitting a cyclist and i would rather annoy all the cars behind me by waiting to make sure there is enough space to move past them than take the chance.

erm although BUT when i am a pedestrian i am really tired of the number of cyclists who run red lights AND pedestrian crossings.

if you're a vehicle, then stop. you can't be a pedestrian AND a vehicle. i live in london and i am really, really fucking TIRED of nearly being run down by cyclists who run through red lights as if they don't matter. i have a pushchair with 2 kids in it, and i can't move as fast as you, AND i am on the crossing. not to mention the bitch who ran a red light on her cycle and nearly hit me when i was 8 months pregnant and cycled off without an apology. I don't think she even realised i was there.

personally, i think every bicycle should have a license plate and be subject to the same rules as cars. Nothing to do with my driving experience, but all about being a pedestrian in London.

ivykaty44 · 15/04/2011 22:53
blouseenthusiast · 15/04/2011 22:53

Yes microserf, totally agree. You said what I was trying to say but at greater length and with more eloquence.

happilyeverafter · 15/04/2011 22:53

I cycle and drive. I am constantly astonished at the way some drivers behave when overtaking. I was hit by a car last week. His excuse was that "he had to overtake me on a bend so he couldn't see the car coming the other way and had to pull in" Righto.

I generally avoid cycle lanes as they are mostly (but not always) poorly designed and unsuitable for riding at speed. Examples would be lanes that put you riding alongside parked cars so drivers open their doors onto you, potholes, uneven surfaces and riding alongside pedestrians.

General misconceptions by drivers seem to be that they should not ever have to slow down to overtake, cyclists shouldn't ride two by two and they leaving space when overtaking is not necessary. On a clear open road I will be cycling alongside my training buddy and regularly the overtaking car will hold his horn down as he passes. The road is clear and they can pass safely but they blare the horn because they have the mistaken belief that we should not be riding two by two and blaring their horn will 'educate' us.

Most problems I have had have been from older drivers, I did wonder if this was partly down to the new theory test that makes young drivers learn the highway code so they are more aware that cyclists have the same legal rights on the road, need safe overtaking room and can cycle side by side.

There will always be poor drivers the same as there are poor cyclists but I maintain that all road users should at a minimum know the rules of the highway code.

MissBetsyTrotwood · 15/04/2011 22:56

I think I'm a better cyclist for being a driver and a better driver for being a cyclist. Although I'm crap at both so not really saying much, is it! Wink

ivykaty44 · 15/04/2011 22:58
good night
hogsback · 15/04/2011 23:12

I'm really amazed at all these people who get held up behind cyclists in their cars.

I live in a rural, hilly area very popular with cyclists, particularly MTBers linking up sections of off-road who, let's face it, aren't the fastest of riders on the road (I'm one of them), and I don't think I've ever had to hang about behind cyclists for longer than 10 seconds.

Seriously, you need to learn to overtake or get a quicker car.

nijinsky · 15/04/2011 23:37

I nearly got hit when cycling by a woman driving her car full of dcs away from a school without checking the road was clear.

Can't say it means I now spout stuff like "I'd like to see the sanctimoneous idiots banned from the roads".

lurkerspeaks · 16/04/2011 00:05

I was knocked off my bike in London.

I was cycling downhill on a busy road. A car coming uphill turned right into a driveway directly in front of me. I was wearing high vis and it was 3pm.

According to him I should have braked and given way.

He blatantly didn't understand how brakes on bikes work. He then drove off and left me bleeding at the roadside. I got two independent, reliable witnesses and his registration number (the police who attended confirmed that the number I gave corresponded to my description of the vehicle) but then they 'couldn't trace the driver' so no prosecution ever took place.

These days I'm a member of the CTC. I have insurance and I would pursue the f++cker for all he was worth.

And yes a whole pile of people told me it was my fault for cycling. It was 3 years before I got back on a bike again but once again I cycle to work.

SardineQueen · 16/04/2011 08:58

lurker that's appalling. What a total bastard that driver was. How anyone can leave someone bleeding in the road after hitting them is beyond me. WTF are they thinking, it makes me so angry.

tarantula · 16/04/2011 09:47

Am shocked lurker but not in the least surprised. We aren't human beings any more you see. We are cyclists!
I get that attitude at least once a day. There are drivers out there (of whom my FIL WAS one) who think that cyclist are supposed to give way to cars at all time. By that I mean that they think this is actually the highway code!!! I get this so often at junctions and roundabouts, because after all they 'pay their road tax'. And if we get hit well, its entirely our own fault even if we are obeying the rules of the road.

But the best is cycling down roads with parked cars on either side where the driver coming the other way pulls into the middle of the road and expects the cyclist to (miraculously in some cases) move out of the way even when you are on your own side of the road.

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