to think cyclists ought to sit a test before being allowed on the road?

[SantanaLopez]

I live on a route popular with amateur cyclists. Yet again this morning another group of folk were causing absolute havoc on a two lane road. They aren't dressed properly, they don't signal, they don't even look where they're going. One man was weaving along instead of cycling in a straight line!

So while I have a cup of tea and a cake (for medicinal reasons)- aibu to think that they should have to be tested before being allowed on the road? I know drivers are the biggest hazard, but safety works both ways!

Less you are way out of line. I've done a lot of cyclist-defending in this thread because I feel very strongly that we cyclists generally get a disproportionate amount of criticism from car owners.
But I also would like to defend the OP who has merely tried to express an opinion which perhaps not everyone agrees with. I hope I have been reasonable and polite in everything I have said, as has the OP. As have a lot of the people on this thread, including many that I strongly disagree with.
You however have been irrational and aggressive. Whatever your argument is (and frankly I'm not entirely sure), such aggression is hardly likely to help you make your point.
Shall we get back to being grown-ups now?

She bird, just read your earlier ignorant post about road tax.
Worryingly, you appear to believe that since you pay it, this gives you more right to be on the road than other road users.

Just to educate you a little, road tax was actually abolished in the 1930's. The tax is now based on vehicle emissions which is why some cars do not have to pay.

It's attitudes like yours which make me worry for my DS's when they are cycling.

Hi OP can't see why your posts have attracted such venom

Oh and shebird, your comment about 'road tax' is ridiculous.
You don't own the road. We all have as much right to be there as each other. Of course we should be considerate and safe but to claim ownership because you happen drive a machine which pollutes so much that you are required to pay to offset the emissions, is ludicrous.

tbh Santana I will be avoiding the Glasgow suburbs like the plague. Why the hell would I want to go anywhere near someone with views like yours? Don't flatter yourself.

I find it so sad that everything in this country is geared towards fast food, living unhealthy lifestyles and driving everywhere. I do understand that there are a lot of people who have little experience of life, who do very little to have different experiences in their lives, and who as a result have little or no tolerance of anyone who chooses to live a slightly different lifestyle to them.

However I do not think the health benefits of cycling are disputed.

It would be like me if I went around criticising supermodels for being ugly. But I don't.

Then again, I've just come back from working in Belgium, and there is a slightly different attitude there. Its so damned nice and excrutiatingly wholesome to see young men congregate in the town square of an evening to go out cycling gulp in groups, with their friends, instead of driving around in souped up cars.

Different culture, different values. Honestly, its like the Third World here at times.

Its 1 in 11 cars which don't have insurance. Of those, there is probably quite a high number which also don't have an MOT or road fund license.

But fair enough, we don't exclude people from services because they pay less than higher rate income tax, do we?

You sound like a raving lunatic.

I have stated over and over again that I am scared driving on the same roads as cyclists who break the Highway Code over and over again. I have not once said that cycling on the roads should be banned.

I will not be replying to any more of your posts, you are clearly spoiling for a fight.

Which great economy would that be Volestair? And why do you think German is spoken in Belgium?

I don't understand these people who get so worked up when they are driving. I don't. You get all sorts of things on roads - tractors, pedestrians, cyclists, slow drivers, bad drivers, fast drivers. Its part of driving. Unless its a motorway. If you get that worked up about other road users on roads on a Sunday, you have serious problems.

I will not be replying to any more of your posts, you are clearly spoiling for a fight

Santana I'm not actually that interested in you. Stop putting yourself at the centre of everything. I'm more interested in not encountering drivers who share such sociopathic attitudes on the roads.

Why do you start threads like this if you can't cope with people disagreeing with you?

Excuse me for laughing at the hypocrisy.

Less you have made this entire thread about you and referred to other people's behaviour as 'sociopathic'.
Excuse the rest of us for laughing at the hypocrisy.

Errr the point about road tax has already been addressed but could I just point out that road maintenance is generally funded through central and local government, ie through general taxation. Anyone who pays tax will have contributed to this, it's not funded at all by vehicle excise duty.

We therefore all pretty much own the roads, not just motorists.

Why do people get so het up about insurance. You do realise that insurance is there for your own benefit not other's don't you? You would still be liable if an accident was your fault even if you didn't have insurance. I wonder why so many cyclists are willing to take the risk? Unless it's because there isn't much risk because cyclists very rarely cause damage/injuries.

Excuse me limited but as I'm the one paying the road tax I think yes it is more my road than yours and if you want to be treated as an equal road user than obey the Highway Code, wear safety gear and pay road tax.

shebird I'm not a cyclist.

Like you, I'm a car driver.

Unlike you, I have a firm grip on reality and the niceties and legal requirements of treating other road users with due care and attention.

It's not my road, and it's certainly not yours, love.

Check with the police if you don't want to take my word for it.

Volestar I don't think German is spoken in Belgium, LessMissAbs. I think you have a weird attitude to health, physique and morals and that you come across really really weird. Just because I've used a word that originates in a foreign language, and have also mentioned a particular country, doesn't mean I think the language comes from the country

No, really, its you. I can think of lots of things to object to, but other people legally being on the road isn't one of them.

I have no idea why anyone would want to make it more difficult for people to take exercise in one of the most popular, easily accessible sports in the world. Or to put children off learning to be healthy and active, and instead put obstacles in their way.

To celebrate sitting in a car and being intolerant just because your journey is marginally delayed due to other road users. Yes, there are motorways where you can drive fast and not encounter these pesky other human beings.

I find it really sad that so many people have obviously never done such a basic thing as riding a bike for years, if at all (and no, I don't mean driving your bike to an off-road cycle path and riding approx. 2 miles and then driving home again once in a blue moon).

I don't really get why overtaking cyclists irritates you all so much. What possible journey of such great importance could you be embarking upon that makes you think these thoughts about other people? Its weird. Seriously weird. Can't you just overtake them by thinking about how you drive round them, instead of attributing all this weird stuff to them?

Should we have insurance to cross the road? Or walk on the pavement seeing as so many people meander along it texting or drunk or stupidly trip people up with wheely suitcases, which happened to me in a collision with a large gormless bloke today?

I would like to see at a minimum some sort of registration or identification plate on bikes. I was side swiped while stopped by a cyclist who rode off and I had no way of seeking compensation for damage to my car that cost a lot of money to repair. Cyclists can cause accidents, and just because they may come off worse than a car, that doesn't mean they should be immune from the financial consequences of their actions.

It's important to look at the serious / life changing injuries as well as just deaths.

The other thing to take into account when thinking about this topic, is the ages of the people. Lots of people being wiped out before they've even got going.

I am really looking forward to advances in motor vehicle tech which will start to reduce this toll.

I think you should have taken photos and reported them to the police for not dressing properly.

Midnite, I came off and damaged my bike avoiding a pedestrian who stepped out without looking. Should pedestrians wear identification too?