War on Britain's Roads

Ghostt

cooldad wrote:

There are a lot more cyclists on the roads than horses though. Especially around London.

So if anything, drivers should be even more aware of how to drive around them then!

fritzz11

Don't you think cyclists are a bit hypocritical though? Demanding 3 or 4 feet of room when being overtaken and yet squeeze down gaps 4 ins wide to get past slow/stationary cars and lorries. If you squeeze down the side of a lorry then be prepared to squashed because the driver won't know your there!

balmybaldwin

shigllgetcha wrote:

The part where the cycle droid guy was on the road and two vans passed him on either side and one had a trailer and he confronted the one with the trailer. Should he have been cycling down the white line in the middle of the road in like that in the first place?

Well, the left lane went straight on and the right lane turned right, he wanted to turn right, so got in the lane that allowed that - what else is he supposed to do. The Van that passed him on the left wasn't the real offender - his lane was clear. the guy with the trailer made a very unsafe manover

It doesn't excuse him (droid idiot) being a confrontational moron though.

allthegearnoidea

traffic droid was a bit OTT with the repeated attempts on the trailer guy, but on the whole his idea of shaming people for using mobiles ipads etc whilst in gthe car is a good one,

there was an element of pure vigilanty filming though, purposely antaganising some that all be it Were Badly driven but a waving of a hand would have done!

what did minorly annoy me though was the Lack of any momentum the police had when given footage that was obviously worthy of a charge of description, at the least, driving with out due care and attention,


the scottish guy with the fuel wagon was bloody lucky though, the waay it came past him i doubt it would have stopped if it had pulled him under!!!

batmo

Ghostt wrote:

I find it very strange how differently drivers react with horses and cyclists. Whenever I see horses on the road, people always slow right down, and crawl past leaving plenty of space, yet don't offer cyclists the same luxury even though they're more vulnerable...

Unfortunately I suspect many drivers think a horse could do some real damage to their car and also assume that if the rider is rich enough to own a horse, they're rich enough to have a good solicitor.

milko9000

Also everyone knows that a horse is liable to get spooked by the car and just leg it in a random direction at any given moment. Cyclists don't usually do that. I think the fact it's got a non-human animal involved is the only reason drivers generally slow down and give them room.

chez_m356

Batmo wrote:

Ghostt wrote:

I find it very strange how differently drivers react with horses and cyclists. Whenever I see horses on the road, people always slow right down, and crawl past leaving plenty of space, yet don't offer cyclists the same luxury even though they're more vulnerable...

Unfortunately I suspect many drivers think a horse could do some real damage to their car and also assume that if the rider is rich enough to own a horse, they're rich enough to have a good solicitor.

cat_with_no_tail

Looks to me like a fair few cyclists I've seen around town

cooldad

That wouldn't have happened if the horse had been wearing a seatbelt. Safety first kids.

cat_with_no_tail

cooldad wrote:

That wouldn't have happened if the horse had been wearing a seatbelt. Safety first kids.

I heard they cause more injuries than they prevent.

Jolly Swagman

Source?

cooldad

Jolly Swagman wrote:

Source?

The internet.

Jolly Swagman

cooldad wrote:

Jolly Swagman wrote:

Source?

The internet.

I'll download it now and have a look.

Billyjigs

I don't think this documentary informed the debate positively. Lots of sensationalism, and actually very little content for an hour long show.

craigw99

yeh they just showed bad driving then bad cycling and went isnt this bad see look they are each as bad as each other

The Rookie

Obviously there was no information or attempt to move the arguments forward - it was a TV show!

agg25

I commute about 20 miles a day through London and film every ride as well. Have been for about a year as part of a worldwide air pollution study. I would keep filming now though even when it stops. If not for an insurance policy for if a stupid driver/pedestrian causes an accident, for highlighting moronic users of the road, including cyclists.
I've been annotating every file name with what happened and when it happened so I can (when I have time) put it all together into a lowlight reel compilation of all my incidents.
Just last week I had a twat run straight off the footpath out of London Bridge station onto the road and straight into me, despite me wearing high viz, lights and having just sounded my 120 db air horn. I smashed straight into him, luckily didn't fall off and then he just took off down the road. Sometimes I wish I were a bus. I often have cars pull out in front of me, cut me off, pedestrians step off the curb without even looking, cross the road between stopped cars without looking...if I didn't love cycling so much (and hate using expensive, unreliable public transport) I'd have packed it in.
In all my years riding through London I think I've seen more cyclists pulled over than cars by the cops. I think a fair share of the blame should be directed at traffic cops for not doing anything to actively improve road safety other than look at video monitors in their offices and mail out fines. I see several cars each day go through red lights, yet have never seen any of them pull over by a cop. I'd also be happy if they were to pull over more bikes going through red lights. I've been in run ins with quite a few motorists because by the way some of them drive they threaten my life and it's worth me fighting for it. In no other part of my day does anyone directly threaten my life, but if they did do you think it's ok to just brush it off with a friendly wave and forget about it? Maybe some people's lives are important to them.
If the cops aren't going to highlight drivers mistakes then I can't blame some of the guys on the show for doing their jobs for them. I've asked the police if there's anywhere I can submit my footage of bad drivers for them to investigate. They didn't want to know about it. Too much like hard work I guess...and there's video screens to watch.

bennett_346

agg25 wrote:

I commute about 20 miles a day through London and film every ride as well. Have been for about a year as part of a worldwide air pollution study. I would keep filming now though even when it stops. If not for an insurance policy for if a stupid driver/pedestrian causes an accident, for highlighting moronic users of the road, including cyclists.
I've been annotating every file name with what happened and when it happened so I can (when I have time) put it all together into a lowlight reel compilation of all my incidents.
Just last week I had a fool run straight off the footpath out of London Bridge station onto the road and straight into me, despite me wearing high viz, lights and having just sounded my 120 db air horn. I smashed straight into him, luckily didn't fall off and then he just took off down the road. Sometimes I wish I were a bus. I often have cars pull out in front of me, cut me off, pedestrians step off the curb without even looking, cross the road between stopped cars without looking...if I didn't love cycling so much (and hate using expensive, unreliable public transport) I'd have packed it in.
In all my years riding through London I think I've seen more cyclists pulled over than cars by the cops. I think a fair share of the blame should be directed at traffic cops for not doing anything to actively improve road safety other than look at video monitors in their offices and mail out fines. I see several cars each day go through red lights, yet have never seen any of them pull over by a cop. I'd also be happy if they were to pull over more bikes going through red lights. I've been in run ins with quite a few motorists because by the way some of them drive they threaten my life and it's worth me fighting for it. In no other part of my day does anyone directly threaten my life, but if they did do you think it's ok to just brush it off with a friendly wave and forget about it? Maybe some people's lives are important to them.
If the cops aren't going to highlight drivers mistakes then I can't blame some of the guys on the show for doing their jobs for them. I've asked the police if there's anywhere I can submit my footage of bad drivers for them to investigate. They didn't want to know about it. Too much like hard work I guess...and there's video screens to watch.

TL;DR

Jolly Swagman

bennett_346 wrote:

TL;DR

TLDR

scoobywingrove

I beleave its 50/50 blame for the war on all britains roads..& roadbikers are at more risk on the roads putting themselves amongst the traffic (some idiot drivers) than mtb'ers on off roadtracks as mtb'ers are singled out (no traffic(idiot drivers) amongst them..war on britains roads wil never get better just worse!!