London Taxi twerp

secretsam

Apparently right of way to traffic crossing an adjoining road doesn't apply when that traffic is bikes

Taximan tried to kill the biker in front of me, failed, then sought out a second try on me

we ended up sharing opinions in a loud voice, luckily no damage to me or bike (couldn't give a F :evil: k about his cab)

Another cabbie slowed down to pass us and gave me what appeared to be a sympathetic look

Why are some cabbies fine (e.g. the one who flashed me in to his lane the other week), and others total
w :shock: kers?

graeme_s-2

SecretSam wrote:

Why are some cabbies fine (e.g. the one who flashed me in to his lane the other week), and others total
w :shock: kers?

For exactly the same reason you find this mix in every other walk of life. Some cyclists are fine, some others are total wankers.

Doom

SecretSam wrote:

Why are some cabbies fine (e.g. the one who flashed me in to his lane the other week), and others total
w :shock: kers?

Sadly the same reason some cyclists are total tw :oops: ts... usually ignorance or arrogance mostly a combination of both!!

DavidTQ

of course its also possible to catch mr cabbie on a bad day and if you had met under other circumstances have thought he was a sound guy... possible at least

secretsam

DavidTQ wrote:

of course its also possible to catch mr cabbie on a bad day and if you had met under other circumstances have thought he was a sound guy... possible at least

possible, yes

But unlikely... :roll:

Gussio

Graeme_S wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

Why are some cabbies fine (e.g. the one who flashed me in to his lane the other week), and others total
w :shock: kers?

For exactly the same reason you find this mix in every other walk of life. Some cyclists are fine, some others are total wankers.

Here here. There were some proper tossmonkeys doddering around on two wheels yesterday evening causing a danger to themselves and those around. Conversely, this morning I had a jocular exchange with senor cabbie, while waiting at lights, about the general state of capital's roads. He was a nice guy and let me pull away infront of his cab. There are good 'uns and bad 'uns in most groupings*.

Who knows, this evening the tables may be turned.

* Disclaimer: ALL private cab drivers (the ones with the yellow and white licence stickers in the rear window) are complete menaces. They will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.

dondare

SecretSam wrote:

Apparently right of way to traffic crossing an adjoining road doesn't apply when that traffic is bikes

Taximan tried to kill the biker in front of me, failed, then sought out a second try on me

we ended up sharing opinions in a loud voice, luckily no damage to me or bike (couldn't give a F :evil: k about his cab)

Another cabbie slowed down to pass us and gave me what appeared to be a sympathetic look

Why are some cabbies fine (e.g. the one who flashed me in to his lane the other week), and others total
w :shock: kers?

Pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, cabbies, bus-drivers, WVMs; they're all members of the same species.
Except perhaps WVMs.

Cyclegent

To be fair to cabbies, I think a lot of the cyclist/taxi friction comes from:

a. the fact that we share bus lanes, so apart from buses (whose drivers I believe are given better training on passing cyclists) taxis are sometimes the only other road vehicles that come dangerously close

b. the London taxi is famous for 'turning on a sixpence' and the nature of the job requires a lot of slightly dodgy driving to get through traffic etc. I don't know if cabbies have it in specifically for cyclists any more than they do for WVM and crazy-leg peds.

secretsam

OK, am prepared to let this one go, as the overwhelming opinion here is that they are generally committed but OK

Agree on private hire drivers, total horrors the lot of them

Wobbly cyclists? Perish the thought...

BentMikey

Gussio wrote:

Here here. There were some proper tossmonkeys doddering around on two wheels yesterday evening causing a danger to themselves and those around.

Assuming you mean cyclists, then that's wrong. Cyclists rarely bring danger to others, even when they are wobblers. I'm very happy with the wobblers, because they keep drivers on their toes, and teach them to pass with a wider berth and treat all cyclists with a little more care and caution.

Gussio

BentMikey wrote:

Gussio wrote:

Here here. There were some proper tossmonkeys doddering around on two wheels yesterday evening causing a danger to themselves and those around.

Assuming you mean cyclists, then that's wrong. Cyclists rarely bring danger to others, even when they are wobblers. I'm very happy with the wobblers, because they keep drivers on their toes, and teach them to pass with a wider berth and treat all cyclists with a little more care and caution.

I envy you for travelling on roads where drivers are willing to learn the error of their ways and then go on to develop a healthy respect for fellow commuters.

BentMikey

Huh? The point is that wobblers on bikes are not dangerous per se and are a good thing, even if you're annoyed with them.

Gussio

BentMikey wrote:

Huh? The point is that wobblers on bikes are not dangerous per se and are a good thing, even if you're annoyed with them.

I didn't mention "wobblers". My reference to dodderers includes people turning left or right without looking or signalling. To my mind, this type of inconsiderate and thoughtless riding does pose a danger to other road users.

BentMikey

But how are they going to hurt anyone?

Gussio

IMHO erratic riding is at best a nuisance and at worst dangerous. It can cause anyone else on the road to swerve, putting themselves and others at risk.

Oddballcp

BentMikey wrote:

But how are they going to hurt anyone?

By colliding with another cyclist.

benny2891

They aren't likely to hurt anyone directly. Unless they lose control of their bike completely and hit a ped...

But, as far as I am concerned, the most important element to road safety for all concerned is riding in a controlled, predictable manner. Bike, trike or car. Wobbling, sudden lane changes, etc. can all lead to emergency manoeuvres by other road users, which can lead to accidents and injuries to others.

I don't think that wobblers should get off the road, but I do think they should be trained on how to ride a bike properly / safely.

BentMikey

Well I'm sure we'd all like the wobblers to learn and improve for their own safety, but the point remains that for the most part they don't bring danger to others.

The danger only comes when other road users start to make assumptions and don't allow for unpredictability. For the most part this is due to impatient and aggressive driving or riding. This type of road user brings the danger to everyone, the wobblers largely don't. In fact I'd argue that the wobblers bring safety to us all, because the single largest factor affecting cycling safety is to have large numbers of cyclists, no matter what their standard.

The more manouverable the road user, the more unpredictable they tend to be. That's part of what puts the fear into car drivers about cyclists and pedestrians - the fact that they find us unpredictable, and yet have a duty of care towards us. Same goes for cyclists towards pedestrians.

BentMikey

And I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I've been one of the impatient and aggressive cyclists for the last week and a bit, for those of you that haven't read on cyclechat.co.uk

Not to the standard I expect of myself.

benny2891

I generally agree with your sentiment, but not your logic.

All road users should operate their vehicles as predictably as possible. Control of the vehicle is the first requirement in being able to do this. I agree that the more cyclists out there, the better it is for all of us, but only if they are riding in a safe manner. The more the merrier on the roads I say. But if you are on the roads, you have a certain level of responsibility to other road users, including reasonable control of your vehicle. That goes for all road users, not just cars.

secretsam

BentMikey wrote:

And I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I've been one of the impatient and aggressive cyclists for the last week and a bit, for those of you that haven't read on cyclechat.co.uk

Not to the standard I expect of myself.

Have read the thread

Blimey, you sound like me... :roll: :oops: :twisted:

mailmannz

I guess it really doesnt matter what your form of transport is...everyone is capable of being an ass on wheels!

Mailman

mailmannz

Cyclegent wrote:

To be fair to cabbies, I think a lot of the cyclist/taxi friction comes from:

a. the fact that we share bus lanes, so apart from buses (whose drivers I believe are given better training on passing cyclists) taxis are sometimes the only other road vehicles that come dangerously close

b. the London taxi is famous for 'turning on a sixpence' and the nature of the job requires a lot of slightly dodgy driving to get through traffic etc. I don't know if cabbies have it in specifically for cyclists any more than they do for WVM and crazy-leg peds.

The other day as I was going home from an out of time trip on the train, we were sitting following a guy on a bike who appeared not to be making any haste to get out of the way...sort of just doddled down the road, no real hurry in his cycling at all.

Even though was no where else for the cyclist to go, his very actions could have worked the cabbie to the point of boiling over because all he see's is a twat on a bike making no effort to get out of the way.

Mailman

spen666

mailmannz wrote:

The other day as I was going home from an out of time trip on the train, we were sitting following a guy on a bike who appeared not to be making any haste to get out of the way...sort of just doddled down the road, no real hurry in his cycling at all.

Even though was no where else for the cyclist to go, his very actions could have worked the cabbie to the point of boiling over because all he see's is a fool on a bike making no effort to get out of the way.

Mailman

He is under no duty to get out of the way! He is a road user and entitled to use the road

Oddballcp

mailmannz wrote:

Cyclegent wrote:

To be fair to cabbies, I think a lot of the cyclist/taxi friction comes from:

a. the fact that we share bus lanes, so apart from buses (whose drivers I believe are given better training on passing cyclists) taxis are sometimes the only other road vehicles that come dangerously close

b. the London taxi is famous for 'turning on a sixpence' and the nature of the job requires a lot of slightly dodgy driving to get through traffic etc. I don't know if cabbies have it in specifically for cyclists any more than they do for WVM and crazy-leg peds.

The other day as I was going home from an out of time trip on the train, we were sitting following a guy on a bike who appeared not to be making any haste to get out of the way...sort of just doddled down the road, no real hurry in his cycling at all.

Even though was no where else for the cyclist to go, his very actions could have worked the cabbie to the point of boiling over because all he see's is a fool on a bike making no effort to get out of the way.

Mailman

He certainly was a fool if he was doddling along in front of a train.

Gussio

He may have been riding a railway velocipede...

mailmannz

spen666 wrote:

mailmannz wrote:

The other day as I was going home from an out of time trip on the train, we were sitting following a guy on a bike who appeared not to be making any haste to get out of the way...sort of just doddled down the road, no real hurry in his cycling at all.

Even though was no where else for the cyclist to go, his very actions could have worked the cabbie to the point of boiling over because all he see's is a fool on a bike making no effort to get out of the way.

Mailman

He is under no duty to get out of the way! He is a road user and entitled to use the road

This is the point Im trying to make.

The cyclist wasnt actually doing anything wrong BUT to the cabbie it could have appeared that the cyclist wasnt actually making any effort what so ever to get a move on...which in turn could cause the cabbie to lose his cool etc.

Mailman