Cyclists above the law?

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 23:11
Cyclists above the law? - galileo

Today I walked toward a road junction which had the 'advance stop line' marked so pedal cyclists could stop ahead of other vehicles at the traffic light.

The light was red, a woman cyclist pedalled straight through the 'cyclists' box and past the final stop line. I called out to her saying "Hey, you are supposed to stop at red lights" to which her reply was "You don't understand how to stay alive on a bicycle".

Unbelievable. She obviously feels that bicycle riders are exempt from all provisions of Road Traffic Law and that some divine providence will preserve her from a gruesome end.

And some people think it is a good idea to make car drivers liable in any accident with a cyclist?

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Thu 29 Aug 2013 11:26
Cyclists above the law? - cockle {P}

I'm surprised she heard you, didn't she have her earphones in listening to her iPod, MP3, etc.?

Some cyclists round here are now moving away from the little in ear speakers and moving to the full over ear headphones, obviously the traffic noise is interfering with their listening pleasure....

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Thu 29 Aug 2013 21:36
Cyclists above the law? - focussed

Ireland seems to be heading in the right direction as far as curbing the behaviour of the two-wheeled twerps.

On the spot €50 fines to be introduced.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/cyclists-facing-onthespot-50-fines-for-riding-on-footpaths-29429494.html

Bring it on!

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Thu 29 Aug 2013 22:47
Cyclists above the law? - monian

Instop/start traffic in Colwyn Bay this morning, a heavily leg waxed and lycra'd rider riding a shed of a bike, cut from the middle of the carriageway in front of my car and pulled to the nearside scratching the rear offside wing of the car in front with avengance in the process from the end of the handlebar.

The cyclist who was long gone, and had carried on whilst the driver got out to inspect the 'scratch/scrape' damage to his pristine vehicle. He was not pleased with what might be a a potential cost of several hundreds of £s.

The more observant reader may note that this posting, whilst not being 'genderist / sexist', is certainly bicyclist

Ian

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Thu 29 Aug 2013 23:55
Cyclists above the law? - galileo

Cyclists also seem to have a poor sense of humour. At work a while back a known cyclist was posting on the boars a notice of a meeting of the "MTB club". I said I was surprised to hear of a Motor Torpedo Boat club as few must remain in usable condition and we were 50 mils from the sea. He explained patiently, with a straight face, that MTB stands for Moun Tain Bike

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Fri 30 Aug 2013 08:50
Cyclists above the law? - Ordovices

It is pretty terrible. I mean, I've never seen a car, or van, or lorry, or motorbike do it. Unless you count the M32 to ring road junction every workday morning.

I suppose that is why they have had to fit light cameras at the Uni crossroads too, for all of those nasty cyclists that jump those lights, on the dual carriageway.

Edited by Ordovices on 30/08/2013 at 08:58

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Fri 30 Aug 2013 09:38
Cyclists above the law? - RT

It is pretty terrible. I mean, I've never seen a car, or van, or lorry, or motorbike do it. Unless you count the M32 to ring road junction every workday morning.

I suppose that is why they have had to fit light cameras at the Uni crossroads too, for all of those nasty cyclists that jump those lights, on the dual carriageway.

But at least the cameras can be used to trace, and fine, red light jumpers - unlike all the anonymous on two wheels.

Next time I feel unsafe driving on the road, I'll try going on the pavement "as it's safer" !!

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Fri 30 Aug 2013 10:33
Cyclists above the law? - Ordovices

Safety can be a relative concept. Even an AK 47 has a safe end, and a safety catch. Must be quite comforting to those that it shoots :) Some TV celebrities were once accepted as being safe.....

My point in my previous post really was that all road users transgress, we tend to notice when it's others, less so when it's us, and more so when they are making progress that we aren't.

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Sat 31 Aug 2013 11:20
Cyclists above the law? - Bromptonaut

Ere we go again.....

The trouble with the ASL boxes is that motorists ignore them. It's not just those caught in the box when the light goes red, all sorts either creep in or just stop there. Cyclist then looses the visibility/protection the box is supposed to give.

There are certain junctions where I'd do same as rider observed by OP. Need to make sure you can still see the lights though.

And you only need to watch a major London junction for a couple of minutes to see motor vehicles jumping red on every phase of the sequence buses/taxis are worst offenders. Parliament Sq/Gt George St is one example, Chancery Lane/High Holborn another.

Then there's speeding too......

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Sat 31 Aug 2013 16:29
Cyclists above the law? - nortones2

"I'll try going on the pavement "as it's safer" !! "Noted already by car drivers on the A34 approach to Manchester. Congested? Drive along the pavement, all 4 wheels, and jump the queue to the junction. The police don't have to account for traffic deaths: it's not on their "to-do" list.

Edited by nortones2 on 31/08/2013 at 16:30

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Sat 31 Aug 2013 12:48
Cyclists above the law? - Bromptonaut

Cyclists also seem to have a poor sense of humour. At work a while back a known cyclist was posting on the boars a notice of a meeting of the "MTB club". I said I was surprised to hear of a Motor Torpedo Boat club as few must remain in usable condition and we were 50 mils from the sea. He explained patiently, with a straight face, that MTB stands for Moun Tain Bike

To be fair you have to be of a certain age to 'get' the alternative interpretation of MTB.

And if the same people are constantly making bike jokes it becomes a bit wearing.......

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Sat 31 Aug 2013 15:57
Cyclists above the law? - galileo

I just question the logic of 'T' in the acronym, can't think of any similar examples?

Edited by galileo on 31/08/2013 at 15:58

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Sun 1 Sep 2013 09:53
Cyclists above the law? - Collos25

The "T" stands for terrain.

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Sun 1 Sep 2013 12:10
Cyclists above the law? - galileo

The "T" stands for terrain.

I am obliged to my learned friend, the guy in my original post was not forthcoming with this explanation.

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Sun 1 Sep 2013 17:48
Cyclists above the law? - Avant

This is an example of the unaccountable desire for three-letter acronyms, even when they're not needed.

A friend is a modern languages teacher: nothing wrong with ML if you want to abbreviate it, but nowadays it has to be MFL. There are various possible interpretations of this, but the official one is that the F stands for foreign.

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Sun 1 Sep 2013 18:03
Cyclists above the law? - FP

"...nowadays it has to be MFL."

Possibly this is because there is also EFL (= English as a Foreign Language), where you do need all three letters in the acronym.

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Fri 6 Sep 2013 14:02
Cyclists above the law - A Confession - Bromptonaut

Over many years on my old commute from Euston to Lincoln's Inn I'd cured myself of the red light jumping habit. I don't mean blatant barging through stuff but rather the sneaky kerbside turn or ignoring overlong all red pedestrian phase. The only gain was to get to the red light it was unsafe to jump a few seconds sooner.

I'm afraid riding to new location in Westminster I've relapsed. At three locations either crossing or joining a major throughfare I'm finding either the bike won't trigger the lights (Strand) or I'm staring at an empty road with traffic held at a red further back (High Holborn and Bloomsbury Way). Nip through on strength of observation as I would without the benefit of the lights.

If I get caught by a Copper I'll just have to pay the fine but no harm is being done to anyone and I'm perfectly safe. Just like car drivers speeding.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 06/09/2013 at 14:06

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