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Why is there so much animosity towards cyclists in Sheffield?


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In the relative short time I've properly lived in Sheffield, I've witnessed a disproportionate amount of abuse and aggressive deliberate dangerous driving from motorists towards cyclists. As a motorist only I find this extremely shocking and wondered where all this animosity comes from, and why anyone even bothers to commute by bicycle in Sheffield?

 

Im not sure theres lots of animosity towards cyclists on our roads. Having said that things like this dont help

 

Reading your post you just seem to be pee'd off that the cyclists are clearly getting around the city much faster than yourself.

 

It's OK to be jealous, the bike is a much faster mode of transport in the city.

 

Give it a try, it's much less stressful than being sat in traffic :)

 

(taken from this thread http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1395210 )

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No, as I was, in my part of the discussion, making it very clear I was referring to the example of going through a red to get clear of large packs of impatient motorists.

 

I'm not surprised that you look at cyclists going through reds and conclude to yourself that they're all 'lazy'. I'm equally sure that, even if they had a chance to explain to you the real reasons they're going through reds, you'd dismiss them as liars or deluded, and continue to view them as 'lazy'.

I conclude that because I'm sat on my bike having stopped at the lights.

If they claimed to have run the lights for safety they would indeed be lying, and whatever else they made up as an excuse would be just that, an excuse.

I suppose impatient might also be an excuse.

 

It does seem a little inconsistent, as, ordinarily, cyclists aren't at all lazy- after all, they climb on a bike and physically power it with their own effort, in contrast, to, say, getting in a car and getting fat.

 

But, that portion of cyclists who go through reds sometimes, are suddenly 'lazy' :)

Lazy, impatient, arrogant, dangerous nob heads. But that's too much to type every time, so I'll just say lazy and you can expand it in your head.

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I have just driven back through the city centre and to be honest the two bad things I saw were both car drivers. One was a red light runner and the other was a BMW driver who doesn't seem to know what a cycle lane is for. See the link

Could we call the white car driver lazy and impatient?

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I have just driven back through the city centre and to be honest the two bad things I saw were both car drivers. One was a red light runner and the other was a BMW driver who doesn't seem to know what a cycle lane is for. See the link

Could we call the white car driver lazy and impatient?

 

Certainly impatient. No physical effort involved in stopping/starting a car though, so can't really say lazy.

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Certainly impatient. No physical effort involved in stopping/starting a car though, so can't really say lazy.

 

Given that 'lazy' is defined as

 

'a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so'

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laziness

 

neither can it be applied to a cyclist going through a red, as cycling involves 'activity or exertion'.

 

Face facts dude, you're trying to redefine the English language if you're going to persist in using 'lazy' to apply to cyclists going through reds.

 

For someone who's so preoccupied with everyone following the 'rules', you're conveniently slack with the rules of English.

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I have just driven back through the city centre and to be honest the two bad things I saw were both car drivers. One was a red light runner and the other was a BMW driver who doesn't seem to know what a cycle lane is for. See the link

Could we call the white car driver lazy and impatient?

 

The white car driver clearly didn't look at the lights (or didn't care) and just went - certainly don't need idiots like that on the road. If that footage were handed onto the police, would they be likely to do anything with it - even if just giving the registered keeper a warning to be more vigilant?

 

Had an example today just off the Triangle Estate at Handsworth. A lady, maybe in her 40s, was stood at the crossing, but totally engrossed in her mobile phone. The light for cars was red, so a few cars waiting at the lights, as she stood there, oblivious. Then, as the lights for the traffic turned to green, and a car turned left out of the Triangle Estate up towards Asda, she just started walking across, head down and totally oblivious still, as this car had to brake sharply.

 

She just wandered off, no acknowledgement at all, when she could've been ploughed into the road. It seems to be a growing trend, with pedestrians showing no awareness of any traffic around them, whether car, bus or cycles.

 

---------- Post added 25-04-2015 at 19:00 ----------

 

Given that 'lazy' is defined as

 

'a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so'

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laziness

 

neither can it be applied to a cyclist going through a red, as cycling involves 'activity or exertion'.

 

Face facts dude, you're trying to redefine the English language if you're going to persist in using 'lazy' to apply to cyclists going through reds.

 

For someone who's so preoccupied with everyone following the 'rules', you're conveniently slack with the rules of English.

 

Selfish would've probably been a better choice - putting themselves and their own convenience ahead of the safety of others - and ignoring rules that others have to follow?

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It seems to be a growing trend, with pedestrians showing no awareness of any traffic around them, whether car, bus or cycles.

 

---------- Post added 25-04-2015 at 19:00 ----------

 

 

 

I totally agree, there also seems to be a fashion to saunter across the road and make traffic stop. Then you also get idiots like the guy in this clip that I encountered earlier in my journey.

 

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I've been riding around the city today and have observed several things:

 

- Several paths are shared cycling / pedestrian usage, with little signage and no indication once you've joined them

- Several cycle lanes have been closed due to roadworks or utility maintenance

- Many car drivers seemingly do not know what the red box at traffic light junctions is for

- Many car drivers in queues of traffic leading to the city do not appear to consider that there may be cyclists also using the road and position themselves very close to the parked cars, or the edge of the road, making it very difficult to cycle past

 

I enjoyed two nobs in a car yelling at me to use the cycle lane that I was actually already cycling in ... very perplexing :hihi:

 

I also cycled down the canal and had to stop several times as fishermen were obstructing the pathway with various bits of gear, children, chairs, dogs, drugs (!) and came across walkers / joggers who were oblivious to other users

 

All in all it seems there are a lot of opportunities for conflict, so surely the burden is on each of us to take care of ourselves and those around us ... a bit of courtesy, patience and politeness costs nothing.

 

For those who are about to get excited that I'm a cyclist, I am also a driver (my daily commute is 3 hours, so I cover a lot of miles) and in my experience I find I rarely get anywhere more than 5-10 mins earlier by tearing around like an idiot ... I use the same care when approaching / passing a cyclist as I would any other road user

Edited by mc55
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Given that 'lazy' is defined as

 

'a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so'

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laziness

 

neither can it be applied to a cyclist going through a red, as cycling involves 'activity or exertion'.

 

Face facts dude, you're trying to redefine the English language if you're going to persist in using 'lazy' to apply to cyclists going through reds.

 

For someone who's so preoccupied with everyone following the 'rules', you're conveniently slack with the rules of English.

 

It can certainly be applied to cyclists who don't stop because stopping means using effort to get going again. It's a perfect example of laziness.

 

---------- Post added 25-04-2015 at 21:18 ----------

 

The fact that you think that stopping at red lights is a preoccupation with the rules says a lot.

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