Highlander:
Does any-one know if it is compulsory for cyclists to use a cycle-track if there is one?
No but it is 100% ILLEGAL to cycle on the pavement unless signed otherwise.
It is however compulsory for me to push the cuts off their bikes if they pass me on the path.
I don’t have a problem with cyclists, i cycle a lot.
Think the idea of a road tax disc is a joke because its supposedly to pay for damage to the road, even though some governments have tried to make it into a enviromental thing.
My biggest problem with cyclists and the law is not even the third party insurance.
Its the fact that some cyclists take huges risks and when the risk goes ■■■■ up, its always the motorist to blame, especially if the motorist is in a HGV.
Your turning left into a street, unless your checking your nearside mirror all the time, there is always a chance a cyclist will appear in your blind spot and god help you if you run over and kill the cyclist be spending the next few years trying to avoid picking up the soap in the shower.
Like the case where that woman was sending a text ( well sending one some time around about the time of the accident) and she hit a cyclist who ran a red light !
On the other hand the law isnt equal in Greenwich i think it was a old woman run over and killed by a cyclists a year or so ago, £500 fine. Same with that case last week £2500 for a cyclist killing someone. Bet any money a motorist espec HGV would be going to jail in similar circumstances.
it is 100% ILLEGAL to cycle on the pavement unless signed otherwise.
ILLEGAL = YES
UNSAFE = 
Example - 10 mile long NSL ‘A’ road, single carriageway in rural area with a footpath where there might be a pedestrian every 2 miles or so following the ethos of
SAFE
LEGAL
CONVENIENT (as poss)
*Before someone jumps on me for it.
When i said checking your nearside mirror all the time, i meant as in sitting staring in it and not watching anything else. Even checking the nearside mirror regularly it can take seconds for a fast cyclist to get into your blind spot and you won’t notice.
Maybe should be more cycling profficency tests, motorcyclists face the same dangers as cyclists. But prob safer in general in city streets because of the CBT where they are taught defensive riding and taught about HGV’s and their blind spots, and the way they swing out etc…
A lot of cyclists don’t think at all about defensive riding.
A lot of cyclists don’t think at all about defensive riding.
in a lot of cases I think you could have just used the first 6 words 
Its not about good and bad cyclists.
The thing is, out of every 200 cars you come across on an average road, there might be one who will cause you an inconvenience in some way, perhaps swerve in front of you, cause you to hit the brakes, or move into a position you didn’t really want to go into.
But 9 out of every 10 cyclists on the road will make me move my vehicle into the other lane/other side of the road in order to get round them, 9 out of every 10 cyclists that come up behind me when I’m at lights WILL go down the side of me rather than staying back in a safe place.
A car or other vehicle probably wouldn’t have put me in a position like that.
Its not a sweeping generalisation just for the sake of it, its simply that in a large vehicle a cyclist will cause you to have to concentrate highly on what they are doing for the time they are in your field of influence.
Its a rare occasion when the road and traffic conditions allow you to simply pull out and overtake a cyclist in a safe manner, without the need to adjust the speed or position of the truck - and whatever way you look at it, its an inconvenience to me making progress!
Alex
Hmmm… inconvenience…
NSL road, single carriageway with very limited overtaking opportunities.
Cycle at 10 -15 mph, truck at 40 mph, car at 60 mph.
Who will cause the most inconvenience to who
The person on the cycle will.
Me in truck comes up behind, has to slow to 9mph to wait until its safe for me to pass, slow loaded truck takes a while to accelerate and get past, more inconvenience for cars behind me.
Then it takes me a while to get back up to 40. More inconvenience for me and everyone behind me.
I would go faster if it were legal, and safe, to do so - but it isn’t so I can’t.
Cyclist is holding everyone up by being unable to do a fast enough speed to unimpede progress of other road users. I don’t see having to go 40 on a 60(for cars) road as a massive problem, on a lot of roads I use its the fastest a car could safely go anyway. But having to do 10-15mph behind a cyclist IS inconvenient, and certainly not sensible use of a motor vehicle.
the cycle, for the following reason…
Cycle going 10 - 15 mph , slows the HGV who’s top speed is 40 mph on NSL S. Carriageway. Car behind closes on the HGV at 60mph , and has to slam the brakes on as he didnt realise the HGV was going 10 - 15mph stuck behind the cycle.
So now the Truck and the Car are both doing 15mph behind a cyclist.
HGV has limited overtaking capabilities so would probably be stuck at 15mph for a while, whereas a car has the poke in it , and also has the benefit of being smaller, can overtake in places a HGV wouldnt be able to.
Thats the way i see it atm.
PS. Im tired just got back in from a 2 am start lol
PS. Im tired just got back in from a 2 am start
Did you get held up by a cycle 
Got a foot in both camps here, in fact I used to carry a mountain bike in the pallet tray of the reefer for use off road during a 24.
I agree that a lot of cyclists do put themselves in unnecessary danger but HGV drivers are not all faultless.
Last week I was cycling in through my local town doing about 12mph, traffic passing freely at 20mph tops.
When i was going round a left hand bend I was overtaken by a unit and empty trailer. Instantly I could tell by the position of the unit where the back of the trailer was going to end up so I braked hard and baled out dragging the bike with me onto the pavement just the rear wheel passed with inches to spare.
So no problem with using mirrors there then.
I have a foot in most camps actually as I drive a truck, cycle and also tow a caravan so most people can hate me at one time or another.
Other half and I always spend an hour at least on our bikes in the summer evenings just cycling around the fens and enjoying the views and the peace. But I have to admit my bottle goes when I hear or see a truck coming along the narrow Fen roads and nice times out of ten I pull over untill it has gone by. Self preservation is strong.
What I strongly HATE HATE HATE though are those trailers that people attach to the back of push bikes to put a child in - they are lethal 
To begin with the child is down on exhaust fume level as it is dragged along in the gutter.
Secondly there are no safety measures for the child like helmets required or any armoured clothing.
Thirdly the obvious, what if the trailer is hit by a vehicle.
The adult has a choice if they wish to use a bike and they know the dangers of the roads. The child is not given a choice - just dumped in the carrier and towed along.
My blood runs cold when I see them and I dearly wish there was a law against them
Got to admit I had a laugh today at a cyclist’s expense,sitting at traffic lights on a steep hill,looks back in ns mirror sees said nugget holding on to rear twist lock handle,lights change,I move off,twist lock twists and he falls flat on his arse!
Made my day!
Simon 
I too have a foot in both camps, a life long cyclist and still doing it, cycling, through the summer months only.
I wear lycra shorts coz they have a padded bum, saddles get harder at my age.
When I was a lot younger, my father, who was also a life long cyclist, suggested that I do the Cycling Proficency course, the course was practicle as well as classroom based with talks etc, the course at the time was conducted by the Boy Scouts, older Boy Scouts, they did a very good job I passed first time.
I don’t know if, in this day and age this course is still out there, it gave me an excellent grounding of road craft and the highway code.
2 examples of how cyclists and lorry drivers are treated in my area…
Cycling down this road I can hear a truck at my rear, I’m going as fast as possible, I make it round the last part of the “S” bend the truck is coming past as well, over the double white lines, it’s very close the draft ■■■■■ me off, the truck dosen’t stop, I have shoulder and leg grazes only, lycra shorts remain intact, just.
As I approach the cars in front of me pass the truck, when I get there the truck has his right hand indicator going, I gave him a flash thinking that he had left it on by accident, he moved out to reveal a cyclist. NONE of the cars would let the truck move out to pass a cyclist. The cyclist being a bit of a numpty, didn’t have the nouse to stop and let the truck go past.
Cyclists are in many cases VERY silly/daft/stupid in their dealings with other road users, oblivious to taffic signals for which there is no excuse, where is plod when you need him.
A lot of car drivers have little or no respect for trucks and what they are trying to achieve when moving along the road.
There are few car drivers who have the time to wait and see these days. Something which I was taught when learning to drive a car, which is also true today, “If in doubt, WAIT”
It’s very difficult being on both ends of the stick. I can understand both sides of the story, education is the key, cyclists shouldn’t be allowed on the road until thet have the basic skills to keep themselves and other road users safe.
Apologies for such a long post
I might take this cycling up.
I have just read the 1st example about Monk Fryston. It does seem to have a few benefits
OOP’s, still laughing too!‘:lol:’‘:oops:’
…and he falls flat on his arse!
Made my day!
Why?? I never understand why people enjoy making life hard for others for not reason. I dont ever get tetchy if someone happens to lay hands on my piece of metal-on-wheels…
Car drivers hate truckers cyclists and bikers. Bikers (Motorbike) hate truckers and car drivers… Truckers sneer at and hate anybody who is in a smaller vehicle or who has less wheels.
At the end of the day we are all the same and simply using bikes, cars, trucks to get about and when we are at home or in the pub we are all on the same level - so why do we not get on with each other when we are on the road?
If we bumped into somebody while we were walking down the street we would most likely apologise and help them up but on the road we are willing to take a chance on actually killing them. It is so impersonal when we are all locked away inside our vehicles. 
Its a puzzle to me.
Mothertrucker:
…and he falls flat on his arse!
Made my day!Car drivers hate truckers cyclists and bikers. Bikers (Motorbike) hate truckers and car drivers… Truckers sneer at and hate anybody who is in a smaller vehicle or who has less wheels.
Actually, I dont have a problem with anyone who is aware of their surroundings, as a biker I would sooner trust a trucker than a cage, while in a truck I am always, always mindful of the biker.
That is why I have proposed to Jolly Roger that new drivers should go through the CBT
There are too many things to fiddle with in a car and many drivers minds are not on the task in hand.
it made my day because I was having a bad one,not purely because of his miss fortune,I’d had a burst pipe on the crane,drivers side window failed in the open position and the splitter didn’t work! Just made me smile for a while.
Simon
teatree:
When I was a lot younger, my father, who was also a life long cyclist, suggested that I do the Cycling Proficency course, the course was practicle as well as classroom based with talks etc, the course at the time was conducted by the Boy Scouts, older Boy Scouts, they did a very good job I passed first time.
It used to be done through schools, but, like many things, as it wasn’t one of the government targets, it died out with the successive funding cuts.
Cycling Proficiency has now been replaced by a new cycle training scheme called BikeAbility. It has more focus on real-world, on-road training (as opposed to cycling around cones in a playground). It’s slowly being rolled out where funding is available, but as usual, it’s a slow process.