Sunny weather = poor driving

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Comments

  • victor ludorum
    victor ludorum Posts: 310
    whome wrote:
    When you are a pedestrian, you don't ring a bell or shout at other people to get them out of your way. As a cyclist you should not expect more favours, in fact you should see pedestrians as having more right than you in almost all situations.

    My point is that you should not expect him to get out of the way. If he wants to step aside, then that is his generosity.

    No, but you can say 'excuse me', which for a pedestrian travelling without bells or horns amounts to much the same thing.

    As a pedestrian, you are not compelled to move out of the way if somebody says 'excuse me', but are expected to be reasonable and do so. If you don't, when it is perfectly within your power to do so, then you will be viewed as deeply rude.

    If a pedestrian was wandering down the middle of a clearly marked road, then most drivers (and indeed the Law) would take an extremely dim view of it. If a cyclist rides on a public pavement without the benefit of a designated cycle-way, that too would be wrong. We ought not ride on pavements, so it is not unreasonable to expect pedestrians not to walk on cycle-ways. If a pedestrian is walking on a marked cycle-way (or a shared use path) and a cyclist asks them (politely) to move, they ought to do so as soon as is convenient.

    In your system, the rights of everybody are subordinate to the whim (the 'generosity') of one.
    Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.
    (John F Kennedy)

    Hairy Roadie (new scoring) FCN 1/2
  • Gussio
    Gussio Posts: 2,452
    claash wrote:
    I reckon most of it is due to dehydration.

    Dehydration from the one or two cold ones consumed at lunchtime with office mates, clouding judgement during the evening drive home. Or dehyration from the 10 or 11 cold ones at the BBQ the evening before.

    People drink more in the summer, including drivers :(
  • whome
    whome Posts: 167
    OK, so maybe I do mention this a lot - like I said before - I'm just trying to stop us becoming what we hate in motorists - having a go at the less vulnerable road users and expecting right of way over them because of size/speed. We should respect pedestrians right of way, in the same way we expect other vehicles to respect ours.

    Some people seems to have a "hate everything" attitude. Cars cutting them up, pedestrians stepping in front of them, etc.
    Training, highway design and increasing cycle numbers are important to safety. Helmets are just a red herring.
  • victor ludorum
    victor ludorum Posts: 310
    Gussio wrote:
    claash wrote:
    I reckon most of it is due to dehydration.

    Dehydration from the one or two cold ones consumed at lunchtime with office mates, clouding judgement during the evening drive home. Or dehyration from the 10 or 11 cold ones at the BBQ the evening before.

    People drink more in the summer, including drivers :(

    You might be on to something there. Nothing seems to quench thirst like a frosty one and hot weather seems to alter one's perception of the effect of the alcohol. Perhaps brains already slowed by heat and humidity aren't best able to appreciation the further weakening of one's mental state by alcohol.

    In that light, how do we explain my sense that drivers go faster and pass more closely in the rain. (at least taxi drivers do, I'm certain of it.)
    Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.
    (John F Kennedy)

    Hairy Roadie (new scoring) FCN 1/2
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    whome wrote:
    OK, so maybe I do mention this a lot - like I said before - I'm just trying to stop us becoming what we hate in motorists - having a go at the less vulnerable road users and expecting right of way over them because of size/speed. We should respect pedestrians right of way, in the same way we expect other vehicles to respect ours.

    Some people seems to have a "hate everything" attitude. Cars cutting them up, pedestrians stepping in front of them, etc.

    Yes you do mention this a lot, too much, perhaps, especially in threads about driving in hot weather :?: . You seem to miss the point that less vulnerable road users do have to take responsibility for their own actions. I presume you would not think that a pedstrian wandering down the middle of an A road is a good idea, but you seem to see nothing wrong with them doing so on a bike path.
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    I hate no one - I love driving, walking, running, driving our boat, etc, and try in all cases to be as polite and safe as possible. Hence feeling rather annoyed when a pedestrian is blatantly rude when the majority are completely fine.

    Rights of way can be blurred - it's all about being safe, sensible, trying to anticipate danger to yourself and others and keeping the peace.

    This view that we should try our best not to upset anyone reminds me of the PC brigade going completely over the top and ending up a laughing stock. Yes they had the right idea, but they went about it completely the wrong way.

    The same applies to cycling.
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    Gussio wrote:
    claash wrote:
    I reckon most of it is due to dehydration.

    Dehydration from the one or two cold ones consumed at lunchtime with office mates, clouding judgement during the evening drive home. Or dehyration from the 10 or 11 cold ones at the BBQ the evening before.

    People drink more in the summer, including drivers :(

    This dehydration thing is interesting

    In aviation it is a recognised problem:
    http://www.pilotfriend.com/training/fli ... /dehyd.htm
    Dehydration also contributes to fuzzy thinking, poor decision-making, dizziness and muscle fatigue

    It is also true that your tolerance to alchohol is varied depending on your state of hydration. A beer after a long day in the sun certainly makes me more wobbly than it would otherwise.
  • whome
    whome Posts: 167
    I pretty much agree with everything you wrote in that last post Matt. So I'll try to leave it at that (and my previous post summarising my position).
    Training, highway design and increasing cycle numbers are important to safety. Helmets are just a red herring.
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    I've had both severe dehydration and hypothermia - the effects are actually remarkably similar.

    A sort of drunkeness - dizzyness, slurred speech and a feeling of extreme weakness. Trouble is, it feels almost "normal" and no panic sets in making it more dangerous.

    I should think heat is the main contributor in the Summer rather than alcohol. We need to drink more but often forget or just ignore hydration.
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    I think most drivers would be unaware of the effects of de-hydration. I certainly don't remember covering it in my driving lessons!
  • victor ludorum
    victor ludorum Posts: 310
    whome wrote:
    OK, so maybe I do mention this a lot - like I said before - I'm just trying to stop us becoming what we hate in motorists - having a go at the less vulnerable road users and expecting right of way over them because of size/speed. We should respect pedestrians right of way, in the same way we expect other vehicles to respect ours.

    Some people seems to have a "hate everything" attitude. Cars cutting them up, pedestrians stepping in front of them, etc.

    Sorry for continuing OT. But...

    But that bears no relation to what Surf-Matt was saying. Nothing in his postings suggest that belief. He was just voicing a certain amount of frustration at the unwillingness of a single rather impolite individual to make space for him to continue his lawful progress without unnecessary interruption. (and without telling him he ought not to be on the pavement when he was, in fact, using a designated cycle lane.)

    I completely agree that we should respect pedestrians right of way, in exactly the same way that we expect drivers to respect ours. But part of intelligent and safe road use is recognising that we are smaller, and often slower than a motor vehicle, and modifying our behaviour accordingly.

    For example, while riding along a main road I tend to take the primary position in the lane - this is my 'right' and as such is unassailable. However, if other vehicles catch up with me, it is my responsibility as a careful and considerate road user to make space and allow them to overtake me as soon as it is safe and reasonable to do so.

    Where we consent to use cycle-ways, which we are not required to do, it is not unreasonable to hope that pedestrians show us the same consideration which we must show to other road users and to them.
    Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.
    (John F Kennedy)

    Hairy Roadie (new scoring) FCN 1/2
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    Victor - completely agree.

    An example occurred this morning.
    There is a rather blind T junction with poor visibility on my cycle each morning. Cars approach steeply downhill but it's hard to stop quickly - so I give the junction a very wide berth and approach it slowly.
    This morning someone came down and pulled in front of/across me - if he'd stopped in time (it was my right of way) he would have skidded.

    Now the motorist was wrong and acknowledged so with an apologetic wave. I just slowed down, waved back and let him pass. These things happen.

    Sometimes the lines of who's right and wrong are blurred - just ride/drive/walk "defensively" and expect to unexpected and we'd all get along a lot better.

    People love to rigidly stick to what's "right" and what's "wrong" and end up making a complete mess of it all.
  • bellys
    bellys Posts: 456
    will3 wrote:
    Don't like whinging but last night's commute brought about 4 people doing crazy risky overtaking/undertaking manouvres to gain litterally seconds or less:

    Is this due to the warm weather? It does seem to bring out the imatience in people



    there all in a rush to get home for a beer :lol:

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