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Problems that cyclists have with pedestrians and car drivers

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I cycle around town and country for recreation and commuting.  It is faster, more reliable and/or less faff than the alternatives, but I am tired of getting a bad rap.  I respect other path/road users where it matters, but I do not like to waste my time and pedalling effort for no good reason.

Why should the law make me stop for red lights?  Obviously if the junction is occupied because it is the turn of other traffic or pedestrians then fair enough, but otherwise it's stupid.  Why should I sit like a lemon at an empty junction while traffic builds up behind me, waiting to squash me in the free-for-all when it goes green?  All concerned are better off if I am already out of the way!  Also numerous non-UK places permit inside-turn-on-red, giving way to other vehicles and pedestrians of course. It is even easier for a cyclist than a car to nip left.  I get honked but the car drivers are cross because they are stuck waiting, not because I am actually causing them or anyone else any inconvenience.  So it is a daft law and I am pleased that the police cannot ever be bothered to punish me in any terribly onerous way.

Also pedestrians whine about being "nearly killed" on cycle/footpaths when all that has happened is that a cyclist (me) has gone past at a perfectly safe, stoppable speed, but the pedestrian jumped out of their skin because I have "appeared out of nowhere" (i.e. they weren't paying attention and ignored the ringing and clicking sounds of my approach).  Is it really too much to ask that people are aware of what is going on around them?  I have to keep a look out for cars on a road or I'd get squashed, why shouldn't they keep a look out for cycles on a cycle path?  When there is a whole gaggle of them, or a pair of pushchairs, or a dog on a lethal extendable lead, it would be no harder for them to keep to one side of our nice three-metre-wide purpose-built path and routinely leave a bicycle-sized gap than it is to block the entire width, and then they wouldn't have to be coaxed out of the way in the first place.  Even on the bits which have a big picture of a BICYCLE on one side and a PEDESTRIAN on the other, they still walk wherever and tut at me.  I am usually nice about it, slow down, say thank you, but they are a pain.  To keep myself harmlessly amused I have a mental fantasy in which my bicycle is equipped with heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles which home in on dogs' rears from fifty yards back, and imagine their looks of canine surprise at the moment of impact.

Cyclists, car drivers and pedestrians And neither pedestrians nor car drivers like it when I cycle over a pedestrian crossing.  Why not?  What possible difference can it make whether I am pushing my bike or sitting on it, except that the former is less convenient for me?  As far as I am concerned if I am going slower than 5 mph then I am a pedestrian and if faster then I am a vehicle.  A wheelchair is more of an obstacle than I am!  All I want to do is cross the road to turn right, I wouldn't have to use the lights at all if there weren't cars zooming past ignoring my "please let me into the middle" hand signal (and then, sometimes, turning sharply left having "forgotten" that I am there).

I think that being a cyclist has made me a more alert and considerate driver and pedestrian and I don't value anyone's opinion about cyclists unless (a) they are both a cyclist AND a driver/pedestrian, or (b) the cyclist they are whining about has actually done something which violates safety or common sense rather than just broken some rule designed for a ton of high speed killer metal, not a bike.

By: Grumbleweed


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Fed up Pedestrian

Fed up Pedestrian

Walker,

I totally agree with everything you say.

collar,

Cyclists don't actually cause any damage to pavements, unlike car drivers who park on them. The police are not interested if anyone reports an altercation with a pavement cyclists unless actual broken bones are involved.
20/08/14 Fed up Pedestrian
0
collar

collar

Cycling on the sidewalk? Isn't it illegal in most countries including the UK? Maybe it is allowed in the interests of safety.

Cycling nuisances are a common law misdemeanor, a criminal act. It should be reported to the police in charge of the roads to take action for the pedestrians' sake.

The pavements commission (whatever else it is known by) through its enforcers is responsible for seeing to it that anyone causing danger and/or annoyance that entails exposing pedestrians to personal danger, to the likelihood of injury to their persons, property and peaceful enjoyment of the pavement/sidewalk and other road users can be held liable to prosecution.

As long as you, the pedestrians, tolerate such anti-social cyclists and do nothing to report the matter to the the police, you are only letting them get away with it, this intolerable conduct. How well it can be policed depends on the nature and quality of the city's policemen and women. I personally will not tolerate what damage these 'cyclists' do to our well-kept pathways .

Lastly, write a letter to your counciller of the town/city hall, and bring the police to book if they do not intend to stamp-out this menace. That should make sure the police come down on them like a tun of bricks.
20/08/14 collar
0
Walker

Walker

This article demonstrates exactly the arrogant, inconsiderate, unaware, get out of my way now, don't you realise I'm a cyclist, why should I slow down or stop, i didn't actually hit you attitude I have grown to depsie as a pedestrian.
19/08/14 Walker
0
Samson (Delilah's too busy to post)

Samson (Delilah's too busy to post)

racehorse22..... you don't pay for the upkeep of the roads with your road tax. Your "road tax" is actually called "vehicle excise duty" and is a general taxation that actually has NOTHING to do with road maintenance.
16/08/14 Samson (Delilah's too busy to post)
0
Working and taxed.

Working and taxed.

quite correct. Don't forget they don't pay insurance or an MOT certificate for their silly machines either.
16/08/14 Working and taxed.
0
racehorses22

racehorses22

the cyclist want safer roads ,cycle lanes even barriers between them and cars i pay for the up keep of these roads with my road tax so why shouldnt cyclists pay to use those roads ,they want all the safety measures but are unwilling to pay their share never mind the mug car drivers will pay it .
16/08/14 racehorses22
0
collar

collar

Our road system is not without fault. As long as motor-vehicles rule the roads there will be mistakes. There have been tragic errors in the cycle-path system. No human has resolved the issue of error satisfactorily, but the drive to do justice within that margin of error must continue.
08/02/14 collar
-3
racehorses

racehorses

They want a share of the road they want better this better that for cyclists pay a licence or something for it as we the driver has to do we need insurance in case we hit anything so make them do the same , simple .
08/02/14 racehorses
-4
Pedestrian Pat

Pedestrian Pat

Feros

Yes, a cyclist is far less likely to kill another person than a motorist but it is hardly "virtually impossible". On pavements alone cyclists have caused the death of at least four people that I am aware of in the last five years. There are, of course, more deaths in other countries and these are just those that I know about.

The potential to kill surely has nothing to do with VED though.
10/11/12 Pedestrian Pat
2
Feros

Feros

@jobby I disagree. Road tax, or vehicle excise duty as it's now known, is not required because a bicycle is not a motor vehicle, and it's virtually impossible for someone to go fast enough on a bicycle to kill another human being (considering that in this country, drivers are charged various rates dependant on their vehicle's emission output, which, for a bike, is zero).

Insurance -is- virtually required, for the cyclist anyway. The risk of injury from the millions of potential reckless drivers on the road is a cause for concern for a cyclist, and they often have to maintain an awareness far above that of a driver, which is why many find it wise to invest in life insurance, because a cyclist isn't protected by a large steel or Aluminium plated shell.

As for fuel tax, that would be absolutely absurd. The only fuel a bicycle requires is the food the cyclist needs to fuel his/herself. No petrol, no tax.

And finally, an MOT is also pointless. Most cyclists repair their own bikes, because a monkey could fix one, and if not, they pay an extortionate amount for a "trained" bike engineer to do it for them.
09/11/12 Feros
-5
Kenny (Site Admin)

Kenny (Site Admin)

Not intentional Pedestrian Pat, it's just one of the things I never got round to putting back when the new site went live :-(

It will be there in the next version. Oops, let that slip.. Sorry, due for some upheaval again I'm afraid, hopefully get some of the features I'd intended with this release in.
28/09/12 Kenny (Site Admin)
-5
grumpyoldwoman

grumpyoldwoman

It happens Pat; some people do it out of sheer malice, or they just don't like to be confronted with the truth.
27/09/12 grumpyoldwoman
3
Pedestrian Pat

Pedestrian Pat

How can some one mark me down just for posting a link to a story about cycling? I haven't expressed an opinion to disagree with.
27/09/12 Pedestrian Pat
-5
Friday Lunchtime

Friday Lunchtime

Those are 'red herrings', Fred, and not germane to the discussion. If you can't see that then it's you that is 'simple', which appears to be the case.

Bicycles should bear visible identification so that they are accountable. Cyclists abuse the law and other road users because they know they are not identifiable. In one word, they are cowards.

They would not be so cowardly if they were accountable
10/09/12 Friday Lunchtime
-4
Fred E

Fred E

Road tax abolished in 1937.
Insurance not needed as they cause so little damage to person or property.
Petrol duty not paid because they don't use petrol!
MOT not needed because chance of bicycle defect causing injury so low.
Simples!
10/09/12 Fred E
-6

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