to think cyclists and roads are a really bad mix

[FlightAttendant]

Please don't jump on me - I come from a militant cycling family, was brought up on secret cycle campaign meetings, rode to and from school every day (6 mile round trip) and hate cars/pollution etc etc...apart from a fascination and love for old landrovers, 1960s Rovers and British bikes.

BUT over the last few years I have been driving almost daily due to where we live and the school run and so on, and it is getting more and more obvious to me how dangerous it is sharing the road with cyclists.

Don't get me wrong - there's nothing I'd like more than to see hardly any cars and loads of bikes, but the facts seem to be that millions of people want or need to use their cars, and there are more cars than bicycles on most routes.

The things I hate are, as a cyclist, being followed up a road by a legion of impatient (or even patient) cars which are belting out fumes and wasting time/petrol while they wait for me, as it's too narrow to pass. The danger aspect or course. And a lot of pissed off drivers taking out their frustrations on cyclists as a genre.

As a motorist I hate following a line of cars up a hill while said cyclist (it could be me) tries to go as fast as they can but obviously is not as fast as a car, therefore causes probably more pollution than they are saving - not sure about that, but ti seems ridiculous to me.
And particularly, I hate having to overtake cyclists which means going across the central line in order to give the cyclist safe room, and being caught up and overtaken by cyclists on each and evry side of the car, very fast, giving me little if ANY chance to see them in time to react and therefore having my heart in my mouth frequently as I have yet another near miss with someone who assumes I have 360 degree vision and can predict what they are about to do.
i hate seeing cyclists putting themselves in danger on busy roundabouts.

I would like to see the following:

Millions of proper cycle lanes, and cyclists allowed to ride slowly on pavements if and where necessary - dismounting for pedestrians/children etc probably, as a pedestrian I don't aprticularly like pavements being used but prefer it to seeing riders in danger on roads.

And a part of the driving test being to ride a bicycle out on the roads, so you get a perspective from both sides. I can see that if you drive and have never biked, you would assume they were idiots - and if you've ridden but never driven, you'd hate all car drivers!

So people ought to try both.

Any thoughts?

[FlightAttendant]

Hmmm. good point lljkk in the financial part of the argument.

I do think canal boats are quite polluting of the water Riv. unless they were powered by teams of harnessed guinea pigs.

[mellifluouscauliflower]

Although I am a little bit concerned by the idea of having cyclists on the pavement, the worst accident between pedestrian and cyclist is never going to be as bad as one between a cyclist and a car or other vehicle.

And on many busy roads the pavements are barely used by pedestrians. Yet there's one on either side. In these cases I think you could safely have a "cyclists and pedestrians" side (with pedestrians still having priority) and a " pedestrians only" side.

[FlightAttendant]

Riven - why not

might take wheeks to get anywhere though

[FlightAttendant]

Melif that is a brilliant idea.

[ByTheSea]

I have a car and also a bicycle which I like to use for local trips which won't require me to cart either a lot of stuff or other people about. I obey the rules of the road so why shouldn't I ride? It's healthier for me and better for the environment. I agree there should be more cycle paths, but motorist should be considerate as well.

[belgo]

Accidents between cyclists and pedestrians can be very very bad - I know because they happen rather regularly where I live.

Cyclists do have a responsibility to cycle safely, and of course, not all of them do. Cyclists using the pavements really is not the answer.

Ban cars that's the answer

[2rebecca]

YABU. If I'm cycling I'm part of the traffic and am going somewhere. I don't want to go on the pavement or a shared pedestrian cycle path and keep having to slow down for small children and dogs. I just want to get somewhere.
Generally I feel safe on the roads and just think some selfish car drivers should give bikes more space and accept them as valid road users.
I love the Mallorcan system where the roads are wider and there is an area for cyclists on the outer side of each side of the road but still part of the road.
The Spanish are much more relaxed about cyclists though as a nation.

[FlightAttendant]

Rebecca - that's what I meant by separate cycle paths? special lanes that go alongside roads!

Btw cycling is forbidden on motorways - do you think that's a bad idea too, out of interest?

[2rebecca]

I have never had any desire to travel on a motorway on a bike, there are usually A roads that go in pretty much the same direction, although I know some London cyclists who think it's a shame there's no cycle lane/ area for cyclists alongside the M25.
I do dislike the fact that cyclists have been stopped from using the A road from the Forth road bridge into Edinburgh. There is a thin cycle lane but it's much windyer and often overgrown.

[mosschops30]

I feckin hate cyclists

Most, and yes thats most! of them pull in and out of traffic, go through red lights, cross crossings when not supposed to, have no respect for other road users or pedestrians.

IMHO cyclists should be forced to take a test, pay tax and insurance and also be given points etc and banned for not obeying rules of the road.

[Conundrumish]

I hate cyclists on the road, whilst I agree that we should encourage cycling at one level, I detest trying to overtake them.

On a lighter note, we got stuck behind one the other day who really should have checked his rear view in the mirror before leaving. His trousers were hanging very low and we could see a lot more than we wanted to of his bottom! My children in the back thought it the most hilarious thing they had ever seen and I was feeling more and more sick each time I tried to overtake as it was really quite a grubby bottom [gross].

[cherryblossoms]

Cyclists on pavements? - No!

Pavement cycling is already happening and it's a nightmare for pedestrians; especially if those pedestrians are unable to leap lithely out of the way. So, vile for a lot of us, but lethal if you are old, disabled, young, hoolding onto young children, etc. .

Agree totally with Riven's comment about arses in cars or on bikes.

Sadly there are some horrible, aggressive cyclists, who seem to believe "two feet good, two wheels better" - and I truly suspect that when they climb behind the wheel of a car they chant "two wheels good, four wheels better ... two feet - out of my way, loser!" There are already too many of them on the pavements. Making that option legal would be carnage.

[RustyBear]

"the worst accident between pedestrian and cyclist is never going to be as bad as one between a cyclist and a car or other vehicle."

Tell that to the widow of my dad's friend, killed on the pavement by a cyclist....

[JeannotLePushkin]

Allow cyclists on the pavements? But surely even cars are already allowed on the pavements, judging by how many are parked on them...

[DuelingFANGo]

I agree it's a bad mix and they should sort out more cycle lanes IMO. I cycled as my only form of transport for years, 4 miles to work and then back again and it was a hairy adventure. I even once got knocked off my bike by a driver who decided not to give way on a roundabout and then told me he was really sorry 'I did see you honestly' - I was wearing a flourescent top and had lights; my bike was so damaged I had to walk all the way home, in tears!

Now I mostly drive but cycle when the weather is good and I find I have to really make myself very obvious and proactively use the road I am entitled to use, even when it's stopping cars from going past, because otherwise I wold have to get off and push my bike.

I don't think all cyclists cycle to save the environment, it really is the only form of travel for many people or it's just cheaper than taking the car 8 miles every day.

[DuelingFANGo]

"Sorry Riven but only last night I saw a cyclist dressed head to foot in black, no lights on his bike, riding in the pitch dark. Even in a built up area you could hardly see him, in the rain he would have been completely invisible. Not only that but he was weaving to and fro across the road, sometimes on the wrong side and the last I saw of him he shot across to the wrong side of the road and round a blind corner on a mini-roundabout."

cyclists like this do my head in because they give cyclists like me a really bad name. I assume most drivers are sensible enough to realise that one bad cyclist doesn't mean ALL cyclists are bad. I certainly don't think that of all drivers when a car decides to suddenly speed up and turn left in front of me without indicating.