Converted motorist

[WeX]

I recently went on a CPC training course for one of my HGV modules and part of the course was cycle awareness training all to do with this thing in London Boris is doing ,they had us out on a bike peddling around the roads and I felt very vulnerable when cars and buses came flying past us,I think it would do a lot of motorists good to do one of these courses it certainly gave me an incite into what a cyclist has to put up with on the roads, I think I will be more tolerant towards cyclists in the future.

 

Putting yourself in someone else's shoes is a skill.

[Cyclone]

You do realise that cycle helmets and motorcycle helmets have completely different construction standards.

 

And that the way you ride a scooter and the type of accidents that occur would be very different.

 

Whilst motorcycles can filter, they tend to do so to the outside because they can also accelerate quickly when they need to and maintain speed with the traffic flow. They are also overtaken much less often, and wouldn't generally filter up towards a left hand turn.

 

Cycles on the other hand can and do filter on both sides of the traffic, but it's safer on the left (generally) since they can't accelerate quickly if the traffic starts moving.

They are overtaken often by other vehicles and the majority of accidents are one of three types;

Left turn by a vehicle when the cycle has filtered up that side.

Left turn by a vehicle immediately after overtaking a cycle.

Vehicle pulls out in front of cycle (not having seen it).

 

---------- Post added 02-12-2013 at 09:31 ----------

 

its also no excuse that you take your own safety very seriously, im sorry but the amount of cyclists who have this belief that they own the road and can do and go where they like is breathtaking, there should be a law about cycle safety because yes they are vulnerable, just like all other road users, but take some basic safety road awareness course and perhaps there will be less fatalities

 

 

There are laws about cycle safety, they have to obey the rules of the road just like everyone else. And just like drivers some of them don't.

 

That's not an excuse to run them over though.

 

FYI - most (adult) cyclists are also motorists.

[Eater Sundae]

cyclists can easily go as fast as a 50cc motorbike, so according to all the cycling fanatics on here, 50cc motorbike riders are stupid for wearing motorbike helmets, because it doesnt really offer much protection. ....do you actually realise how silly that lame argument sounds?

 

 

Posted from Sheffieldforum.co.uk App for Android

 

A cycle helmet is nothing like a motorcycle helmet, so your post is nonsense.

 

Please take a little while to read the link posted by altus (post#11) regarding cycle helmets, then maybe you might start to understand the issues.

[alchresearch]

im sorry but the amount of cyclists who have this belief that they own the road and can do and go where they like is breathtaking

 

Same applies to car drivers. This morning I've seen three cars jump red lights and one block a box junction. Yet all the cyclists I saw had lights, all bar one had a helmet, and none of them broke the rules of the road.

[WeX]

Same applies to car drivers. This morning I've seen three cars jump red lights and one block a box junction. Yet all the cyclists I saw had lights, all bar one had a helmet, and none of them broke the rules of the road.

 

How many cars in total did you see? 4 out of how many hundreds or thousands possibly? 4 in 500 cars is less than 1% of the traffic.

 

Compare that to cyclists? Not only jumping red lights but using the pavements too? In my daily commute, I see between 1 in 4 to 1 in 6 doing something illegal.

 

That is a far greater percentage of cyclists doing something illegal than car drivers.

 

Obviously the above is not a statement of statistical evidence but rather my personal experience on a very small number of roads in the UK, so before some militant hippy riding his bike made of pure hate flames me, understand there are good cyclists out there, just as there are good drivers.

[alchresearch]

How many cars in total did you see? 4 out of how many hundreds or thousands possibly? 4 in 500 cars is less than 1% of the traffic.

 

What does it matter, the results of those cars doing those things is far more dangerous than a cycle.

[WeX]

What does it matter, the results of those cars doing those things is far more dangerous than a cycle.

 

More dangerous to whom? A cyclist that jumps a red light is more likely to be injured than a person driving a car.

 

However, its not down to the scope of danger, its down tot he law and the law is clear on the matter. It is illegal for a cyclist to jump a red light and to ride on the pavement.

 

This in some way is why there is such animosity for cyclists by car drivers. We see cyclists breaking the laws with impunity on a daily basis, while councils invest more and more money trying to catch the 1 in 100 car drivers that jump a red light.

[alchresearch]

More dangerous to whom? A cyclist that jumps a red light is more likely to be injured than a person driving a car.

 

And a car jumping a red light and running into the side of another car is going to cause injury to the driver who had the green light, and more congestion as the cars block the road.

 

Yes, both break the law and it needs dealing with, but the size and weight of the car is inherently more dangerous.

[Cyclone]

More dangerous to whom? A cyclist that jumps a red light is more likely to be injured than a person driving a car.

 

However, its not down to the scope of danger, its down tot he law and the law is clear on the matter. It is illegal for a cyclist to jump a red light and to ride on the pavement.

I don't think anyone is arguing about this. I can't see how it's relevant to what the OP posted though.

 

This in some way is why there is such animosity for cyclists by car drivers. We see cyclists breaking the laws with impunity on a daily basis, while councils invest more and more money trying to catch the 1 in 100 car drivers that jump a red light.

 

I'm fairly sure that the majority of car journeys involve the car breaking the speed limit at least once.

And a car jumping a red light is likely to injure multiple people. A cycle jumping it is mostly risking their own life.

[Bladesman]

Cyclists are more vulnerable on the road which surely makes it more important to tackle the ones that do jump the lights and switch from pavement to road all the time.

 

Not saying car drives don't do it either but they eventually get caught and punished for doing so. If a cyclist does it there might be a good chance they are not alive to receive any kind of warning or punishment.

 

Cyclists worry me on the road when I see them and I am neither a car driver or a cyclist myself.