Firstly, I'm sure that there are some sensible cyclists, just as there are plenty of bad car and lorry drivers, but there is a difference: in town if you do something stupid in a car you might hit a pavement or bump another car, but if you do daft things on a bike you will probably get seriously hurt or killed.
Driving through Winchester one dark evening last week I only just spotted a cyclist, dressed all in black, on a racing bike with no rear lights. It was the equivalent of going out on a suicide mission, and when I tooted my horn at him, he gave me the finger. Had I killed him, I have no doubt it would have been seen as my fault.
A geriatric lady riding her bike down Parchment St in Winchester....the wrong way on a one-way street. Try that in a car and you'll be in trouble, but if you're a cyclist...
At the traffic lights on North Walls, indicating that I plan to turn left towards River Park, when a cyclist decides to ignore my signals and come up the inside of me - he only just got away with it - had I hit him I've no doubt he'd have thought it was my fault.
Traffic lights seemingly don't apply to cyclists - watch them and you'll find that most simply ignore them.
Cyclists are, more often than not, total muppets on the road. Fact!
Be careful about tarring all cyclists with the same brush. I cycle to work wearing high vis jacket, and list on my bike. That doesn't stop me from narrowly avoiding injury on a nearly faulty basis due to drivers stupidity, one incident resulted in a three day hospital stay, a load of metal holding my wrist together and 6 weeks off work.
ReplyDeleteBTW, in the scenario you mentioned where you wanted to turn left, had you hit the cyclist it would have been your fault. It is the drivers responsibility to ensure their turn can be completed safely, similarly to if you were moving to a left lane on the motorway. However, as a cyclist I would always let the car turn and you should be applauded for using your indicators, many drivers do not.
Well if everyone wasn't so lazy and rode bikes we wouldn't have this problem now would we?
ReplyDeleteSorry Son, he would not have been held responsible had there been a collision. The cyclist would be reported (after scraping him off the road) for attempting to overtake on the nearside, which is an illegal manouver, and for failing to allow a preceding vehicle sufficient room to carry out their intended manouver aka "Careless Driving".
ReplyDeleteHave a read of the Highway Code . . instead of pretending to (you might find what a "Hazard Line" is. :)
However the chances of him being reported are quite remote . . when was the last time you saw a Police Officer in the flesh, rather than on the telly ?