Great to see from WM police (3 Viewers)

[pastythegreat]

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/cl...t-prosecution-not-enforcement-say-cops/020060

Any other cyclist who think something like this is easy overdue?
I think personally that there isn't enough done during driving lessons to teach drivers how to react to cyclists on the road. I also think there should be some mandatory road cycling training for cyclists before they can ride on the road as I do see some terrible riding aswell while I'm out and about. A lot of cyclist have never learnt to drive and subsequently don't fully know the rules of the road which they're using.
Glad to see a police force actually starting to take this matter seriously. For now though I'll still take caution and ride defensively where needed.

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[Nick]

What if they are in lines of 2 or 3 on a road blocking it having a chat?

I always give cyclists and horses etc plenty of room, but only so much you can do when they insist on blocking the whole road.

 

[pastythegreat]

And this is the education I'm talking about Nick. It's rare you see cyclists in threes across the road. But is actually fully legal to ride 2 abreast. And I find safer a lot of the time too.

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[pastythegreat]

2 abreast is actually safer for the driver too if it's a club ride/big group of riders

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[stupot07]

Yes this is well over due.

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[Terry Gibson's perm]

So how it be enforced from these hat cameras? Or lots of police working on this an not real crimes, yes some drivers behave badly but do do cyclists. Should be concentrating on looking for people talking in the phone while driving or drink driving.

 

[stupot07]

So how it be enforced from these hat cameras? Or lots of police working on this an not real crimes, yes some drivers behave badly but do do cyclists. Should be concentrating on looking for people talking in the phone while driving or drink driving.

They are already doing that aren't they?

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[Terry Gibson's perm]

They are already doing that aren't they?

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Which bit the phone bit as I haven't seen anybody pulled in for it and I spend a lot of time on the road dodging mad cyclists

 

[stupot07]

Which bit the phone bit as I haven't seen anybody pulled in for it and I spend a lot of time on the road dodging mad cyclists

Not sure about phones, I agree they should do more on that, but they definitely do a lot of initiatives around drink driving.


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[Terry Gibson's perm]

Not sure about phones, I agree they should do more on that, but they definitely do a lot of initiatives around drink driving.


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They should start at every home game for our landlords as that seems to revolve around drink

The phone thing drives me mad driving is hard enough without being on Facebook or those other things.

 

[Marty]

Long overdue. About time as it's completely unnecessary thing to do. It's quite scary having a car fly past you within inches.

 

[rob9872]

We pass a test and pay tax to drive on the road. Cyclists do neither but many inconsiderate ones seem to think they own it. Yes drivers are poor but plenty of idiot cyclists too. What I find really irritating is when they ride on the road adjacent to a cycle path. Like many things in life often two sides but unfortunately here oy one side accountable.

 

[Marty]

We pass a test and pay tax to drive on the road. Cyclists do neither but many inconsiderate ones seem to think they own it. Yes drivers are poor but plenty of idiot cyclists too. What I find really irritating is when they ride on the road adjacent to a cycle path. Like many things in life often two sides but unfortunately here oy one side accountable.

You don't pay tax to drive on it. You pay 'tax' on the emissions your car produces. cycles produce no emissions hence they don't pay. Same for electric vehicles.

 

[chiefdave]

pay tax to drive on the road

There's no such thing as road tax. Its VED which is based on emissions so there are cars on the road that don't pay it either.

Agree with you though, there are plenty of terrible cyclists. Bit concerning that in the article it says the police believe all accidents are the fault of the motorist, I find that very hard to believe with the behaviour I've seen on the road as both a cyclist and driver. Some of the worst offenders are the more serious cyclists who ride at a similar speed to that achievable by a driver around the city but happily weave in and out of the traffic and ignore red lights.

Why are cyclists not required to have insurance in the same way drivers are?

 

[Gazolba]

The problem with motorcyclists and cyclists on the road is you just aren't looking for them. Your mind is so attuned to looking for other cars, you don't notice bikes and motorcycles. Motorcycles can alleviate this by having their headlamps on or having a really noisy exhaust. But cyclists are a real problem. They really should have their own dedicated bike paths separate from normal roads.

 

[Deleted member 5849]

What's the law ref: cycling clubs holding time trials down dual carriageways? I thought road racing was banned?

(Not trying to turn this into a cyclists v motorists btw, few cyclists do the time trials! But I do find them to be asking for trouble, and giving your everyday cyclist prejudices to get over that they may not need to)

 

[Terry Gibson's perm]

There's no such thing as road tax. Its VED which is based on emissions so there are cars on the road that don't pay it either.

Agree with you though, there are plenty of terrible cyclists. Bit concerning that in the article it says the police believe all accidents are the fault of the motorist, I find that very hard to believe with the behaviour I've seen on the road as both a cyclist and driver. Some of the worst offenders are the more serious cyclists who ride at a similar speed to that achievable by a driver around the city but happily weave in and out of the traffic and ignore red lights.

Why are cyclists not required to have insurance in the same way drivers are?

Chief you beat me to the insurance question, as insurance drives me mad as I am 41 with a clean licence (not sure how) and drive a 1.4 diesel Hyundai i20 one quote was £1200 as I have always had company cars so have zero no claim managed to get it down to about £500 but one of these cyclists could run into me and I get the bill, should be connected to your car insurance if you want to ride a bike.

 

[Nick]

What's the law ref: cycling clubs holding time trials down dual carriageways? I thought road racing was banned?

(Not trying to turn this into a cyclists v motorists btw, few cyclists do the time trials! But I do find them to be asking for trouble, and giving your everyday cyclist prejudices to get over that they may not need to)

There was one by me not so long ago, they didn't actually close the roads off but there was 40-50 bikes hammering it down country lanes.

 

[Nick]

Chief you beat me to the insurance question, as insurance drives me mad as I am 41 with a clean licence (not sure how) and drive a 1.4 diesel Hyundai i20 one quote was £1200 as I have always had company cars so have zero no claim managed to get it down to about £500 but one of these cyclists could run into me and I get the bill, should be connected to your car insurance if you want to ride a bike.

Agree with that about it being an extension on car (or even house insurance).

You don't HAVE to have insurance to ride a horse, but you can get rider insurance which covers you if your horse kicks a car or something like that. It should be compulsory for this and cyclists.

 

[pastythegreat]

Agree with that about it being an extension on car (or even house insurance).

You don't HAVE to have insurance to ride a horse, but you can get rider insurance which covers you if your horse kicks a car or something like that. It should be compulsory for this and cyclists.

TBF most of the people I ride with (myself included) are insured for accidents. I'm insured through British cycling. Although it covers 3rd parties that's not why I got it. I got it more for if it were ever stolen/damaged or if I was to hit/be hit by a car, it'd cover my wages whilst I was off work.

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[jimmyhillsfanclub]

The problem with motorcyclists and cyclists on the road is you just aren't looking for them. Your mind is so attuned to looking for other cars, you don't notice bikes and motorcycles. Motorcycles can alleviate this by having their headlamps on or having a really noisy exhaust. But cyclists are a real problem. They really should have their own dedicated bike paths separate from normal roads.

Sounds more like a problem with your driving pal....If you don't notice cyclists and motorbikes, yyou're a menace and a liability....simple as that

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

Had a bit of a running battle with a prick in a land rover today whist riding in to work......he was busy on his phone & kept drifting into the cycle lane......it was only slow moving traffic, but after he did it the 3rd time, I banged on his window which gave him a shock...but instead of apologising, he reacted like I just threatened to rape his mum......gave me a load of verbal including threats of violence.....I rode off waving & laughing at him stranded in traffic.....

.....he caught me up further down the road & swerved right into the cycle lane beeping & then drove off.....

.......I managed to catch up with him as he was waiting to turn right.......and put a nice SPD cleat imprint in his nearside door.....the c**t.

 

[eastwoodsdustman]

Had a bit of a running battle with a prick in a land rover today whist riding in to work......he was busy on his phone & kept drifting into the cycle lane......it was only slow moving traffic, but after he did it the 3rd time, I banged on his window which gave him a shock...but instead of apologising, he reacted like I just threatened to rape his mum......gave me a load of verbal including threats of violence.....I rode off waving & laughing at him stranded in traffic.....

.....he caught me up further down the road & swerved right into the cycle lane beeping & then drove off.....

.......I managed to catch up with him as he was waiting to turn right.......and put a nice SPD cleat imprint in his nearside door.....the c**t.

I had a run in near kings newnham last year with what turned out to be a pikey I think. He nearly ran me off the road head on so I gave him some verbals. He skidded to a halt and jumped out. I'd stopped and saw he was a pikey so sped off quickly.

 

[RB1992]

I've noticed Allard Way has cycle paths now, yet the idiots still insist on using the roads.

 

[Liquid Gold]

The thing about insurance, tests, helmets etc for cyclists maddens me. People think it should be common sense for this to be the case and that they are the only ones that have thought of this but the government have properly researched all of these things and discovered that they are counter productive. Cycling is encouraged as it makes the population healthier and take strain away from the NHS, anything that makes cycling more difficult would discourage people from getting on their bike and in turn cost society as a whole more money. The thing we need more of is proper cycle lanes and motorist education. You can complain about cyclists not using cycle lanes but you also get idiots just walking their dog down them and that can get pretty dangerous too.
Also the argument that cyclists are as bad as motorists is ridiculous, yes you do get some bad cyclists and they should be punished for not obeying the rules of the road but bad motorists kill cyclists, not the other way round.

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

Bristol is currently investing a lot in cycle lanes & paths......hopefully it works well & it can become the blue-print for other cities.

We just need to reach a point of "critical mass" with regards the number of cyclist using the roads.....once you get enough on the tarmac, we become a major consideration & they can start planning traffic systems with cycling at the forefront.

Holland was not at all cycle-friendly until they started investing in the mid 1970's......it only takes a decade to transform & embed a culture of "the bike is right" and then as Liquid Gold says, all the other health & economic benefits follow.
We need to invest a couple billion quid in cycle ways in all towns & cities & the country would re-coup that cost within a couple years before going on to save billions year on year......

Unfortunately, the UK have short-termism engrained into all policies & budgets.....so we'll just have to do it by increasing our numbers to such levels that they have to invest.

 

[stupot07]

Agree with that about it being an extension on car (or even house insurance).

You don't HAVE to have insurance to ride a horse, but you can get rider insurance which covers you if your horse kicks a car or something like that. It should be compulsory for this and cyclists.

You can get insurance as a cyclist.

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[Nick]

You can get insurance as a cyclist.

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I know, I mean it should be compulsary (and for horse riders)

 

[chiefdave]

People think it should be common sense for this to be the case and that they are the only ones that have thought of this but the government have properly researched all of these things and discovered that they are counter productive. Cycling is encouraged as it makes the population healthier and take strain away from the NHS, anything that makes cycling more difficult would discourage people from getting on their bike and in turn cost society as a whole more money.

If the argument is its more cost effective for cyclists not to be insured where do I claim when one leaves a dent / scratch in my car?

 

[Nick]

If the argument is its more cost effective for cyclists not to be insured where do I claim when one leaves a dent / scratch in my car?

You phone yours up or pay yourself....

Had it happen before but with a moto-x bike (not for the road, no insurance) and had to go through my insurance (ended up paying myself as it was cheaper). Police dropped it and said they couldn't prove who was riding it (even though he was taken away in an ambulance) so no "civil" compensation.

 

[chiefdave]

You phone yours up....

And then you lose your no claims and have to pay more.

 

[Nick]

And then you lose your no claims and have to pay more.

Unless of course the cyclist stumps up.

 

[eastwoodsdustman]

Generally, a cyclists household insurance would be able to pick up any claims under the property owners liability section of their home insurance. Its rarely used but would kick in if needed.
My neighbours son got knocked over a few years ago running into the road and the car owner wanted to claim from his parents home policy. She dropped it when they went back and said he'd been injured as her car insurance could have ended up paying for his injuries.

 

[Marty]

Bristol is currently investing a lot in cycle lanes & paths......hopefully it works well & it can become the blue-print for other cities.

We just need to reach a point of "critical mass" with regards the number of cyclist using the roads.....once you get enough on the tarmac, we become a major consideration & they can start planning traffic systems with cycling at the forefront.

Holland was not at all cycle-friendly until they started investing in the mid 1970's......it only takes a decade to transform & embed a culture of "the bike is right" and then as Liquid Gold says, all the other health & economic benefits follow.
We need to invest a couple billion quid in cycle ways in all towns & cities & the country would re-coup that cost within a couple years before going on to save billions year on year......

Unfortunately, the UK have short-termism engrained into all policies & budgets.....so we'll just have to do it by increasing our numbers to such levels that they have to invest.

People need to look at us cyclists with a different mentality, We're not causing congestion or delays, we tend to be healthier, we help to protect the environment.

It would be brilliant but I can't see it ever happening. Simply isn't the space for it. You couldn't do it down the Holyhead Road, Unless you knocked a row of houses down and extend the railway bridge. Same problem down the Allesley old road. The investment required would be immense.

People don't use cycle lanes for a number of reasons. Main reason for me is that they just aren't maintained properly and most of them lead to nowhere.

The cycle infrastructure isn't there even in the city centre. The spaces of bike racks is limited and I've seen plenty of times people lock their bike to a bench's.

 

[Joy Division]

For a country that has invested so many millions into winning gold medals at cycling they should spend a lot more making our roads safer for cyclists. These gold medal winners are only going to inspire more people to cycle and the government needs to be responsible for the safety of its citizens.