bus lane petition, please sign

AndyManc

Always Tyred wrote:

Am I the only one who totally objects to the word "disbenefit"? I just can't sign anything that causes so much injury to language.

The guy who used it should be made to read the chapter on words beginning with "D" in his dictionary to verify that (a) "disbenefit" is no more a word than "bouncebackability" or "turnonandoffable" and (b) disadvantage or detriment would have been perfectly adequate.

That comment is totally disbelievable. :shock:

W1

I get buzzed by motorbikes all the time in normal lanes which have plenty of traffic in them - god knows how bad it could get when you stick a prat on a 996 Ducati and give him a completely empty lane to play with. The current "safe haven" of bus lanes for cyclists should be maintained- it's not as though motorbikes are held up in the traffic is it? And every ASL I'm in is always filled with idiot bikers who can't see the two foot high cyclist painted on the ground under their feet, so I'm unconvinced that they'll respect cyclists in the bus lanes either.

AndyManc

W1 wrote:

I get buzzed by motorbikes all the time in normal lanes which have plenty of traffic in them - god knows how bad it could get when you stick a prat on a 996 Ducati and give him a completely empty lane to play with. The current "safe haven" of bus lanes for cyclists should be maintained- it's not as though motorbikes are held up in the traffic is it? And every ASL I'm in is always filled with idiot bikers who can't see the two foot high cyclist painted on the ground under their feet, so I'm unconvinced that they'll respect cyclists in the bus lanes either.

Well said.

Big Red S

W1 wrote:

I get buzzed by motorbikes all the time in normal lanes which have plenty of traffic in them - god knows how bad it could get when you stick a prat on a 996 Ducati and give him a completely empty lane to play with.

Completely empty lane? They're still shared with cars (well, taxis, but they're only worse) and buses (which are like HGVs but worse).
Though I'm not sure that there's anything I could say to convince you that not all motorcyclists are idiots, so I don't think I'll bother.

The current "safe haven" of bus lanes for cyclists should be maintained- it's not as though motorbikes are held up in the traffic is it?

Yes

And every ASL I'm in is always filled with idiot bikers who can't see the two foot high cyclist painted on the ground under their feet, so I'm unconvinced that they'll respect cyclists in the bus lanes either.

IME, Motorcyclists enter the ASL for one of two reasons:
They share the same vulnerability at lights with cyclists, in that they're balancing between cars when pulling away. The safest way for a motorcyclist to deal with this is to get away from that situation as quickly as possible. This is not practicable when there's a bunch of cyclists in the ASL in front of them. It's not helped by the rarity with which cyclists leave ASLs in the same straight line as that which the road follows.
The other reason is that, having got to the front of the gap between the traffic, not entering the ASL blocks access to it for any cyclists behind the motorcyclist.

Clever Pun

AndyManc wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Am I the only one who totally objects to the word "disbenefit"? I just can't sign anything that causes so much injury to language.

The guy who used it should be made to read the chapter on words beginning with "D" in his dictionary to verify that (a) "disbenefit" is no more a word than "bouncebackability" or "turnonandoffable" and (b) disadvantage or detriment would have been perfectly adequate.

That comment is totally disbelievable. :shock:

I'm completely ungusted

ansbaradigeidfran

Always Tyred wrote:

Am I the only one who totally objects to the word "disbenefit"? I just can't sign anything that causes so much injury to language.

It does more than injure: it disbenefits the language. :P

W1

Big Red S wrote:

W1 wrote:

I get buzzed by motorbikes all the time in normal lanes which have plenty of traffic in them - god knows how bad it could get when you stick a prat on a 996 Ducati and give him a completely empty lane to play with.

Completely empty lane? They're still shared with cars (well, taxis, but they're only worse) and buses (which are like HGVs but worse).
Though I'm not sure that there's anything I could say to convince you that not all motorcyclists are idiots, so I don't think I'll bother.

The current "safe haven" of bus lanes for cyclists should be maintained- it's not as though motorbikes are held up in the traffic is it?

Yes

And every ASL I'm in is always filled with idiot bikers who can't see the two foot high cyclist painted on the ground under their feet, so I'm unconvinced that they'll respect cyclists in the bus lanes either.

IME, Motorcyclists enter the ASL for one of two reasons:
They share the same vulnerability at lights with cyclists, in that they're balancing between cars when pulling away. The safest way for a motorcyclist to deal with this is to get away from that situation as quickly as possible. This is not practicable when there's a bunch of cyclists in the ASL in front of them. It's not helped by the rarity with which cyclists leave ASLs in the same straight line as that which the road follows.
The other reason is that, having got to the front of the gap between the traffic, not entering the ASL blocks access to it for any cyclists behind the motorcyclist.

When I say completely empty lane, I mean relative to "normal" traffic lanes, where motorbikes are more limited by other traffic. Bus lanes tend to be long, straight lanes without much traffic, allowing substantially higher speeds to be achieved, especially bearing in mind the awesome acceleration of modern bikes.

Look chum I am not anti-motorbikes per se, having ridden a couple, I am simply unconvinced that I wish to share any more of the road with them than currently necessary, especially bearing in mind the above, because in my experience there is a sizable minority who already give cyclists no room. Bus lanes allow cyclists to safely overtake each other, and provide a cocoon of safe space. Not when there are bikes coming past though.

Finally I agree with you on the ASL point - in fact I think it would be sensible to have a space in front of the cyclist's ASL for motorbikes. But that's not how it currently is, and motorbikes should respect that.