I think I’ve discovered the stupidest cyclist (sorry, bike rider) on the road. A36 Southampton-Bath about a week ago, about 1am, I came across a guy wearing black, no lights, cycling the wrong way down the narrow, bendy single carriageway with some planks at least 4ft wide tied to the back. I really was expecting to read about his death in the paper the following day.
London, which I did a few weeks back in a car, I found particularly scary. The smallest vehicle I drive regularly is my 3.5t van, and not being used to the tiny mirrors (and that stupid one in the middle of the windscreen which I’ll never get the hang of ) I don’t know how I survived without hitting one of the push/motor-bikers overtaking both sides simultaneously.
I would fully support the introduction of a mandatory cycling proficiency test before allowing these people on the road. At my school, pupils had to do one before they were allowed to cycle in - it wasn’t exactly comprehensive, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Ive experienced the exact same problem with cyclists and motorcyclists in the middle of london as well. Just last week i was on the A14 going into london, i stopped at some traffic lights as did all the vehicles around me. As i was coming to a stop i happened to c not one, not two, but three cyclists coming towards the rear end of my trailer weaving in and out of cars. Then the lights turned to green i had my eye on two of them but the third one had dissapeared and i didnt have a clue where he was. Just after the lights was a fairly tight right hander where the lanes tightened considerably and i had to get my trailer quite close to the kerb, as i started to position the truck for the corner i saw a flash of yellow in the corner of my eye, right in my nearside blind spot. then someone shouting “OI u ****, watch where ur going” and a hand shot up by the window giving me the usual sign that brainless morons give u wen u nearly run over them and they dont realise its their fault so they blame u. So yeah i fink cyclists, motorcyclists and even a lot of car drivers should be forced to undergo training so that they see what its like from our point of view.
The cyclists round here are quite safe,they ride on the pavement,it’s the pedestrians that run the risk of being wiped out by these idiots on two wheels .Yet the police cars drive right past ignoring the law breaking.That is the opportunity to get in and educate these idiots.
I saw a trailer a couple of weeks back with a sign on the rear left hand door.
“Cyclists please do not pass this vehicle on the left hand side, you may be in a mirror blind spot”
Or something along those lines.
Thought it was a good idea, wouldn’t mind one of those on the back of all the vehicles I drive.
However, even better would be a sprung bar at about shoulder height, controlled by a switch in the cab. See cyclist passing on left hand side of trailer, push button and bye bye cyclist!
Oh god that would make my day that would.
I’ve read comments on other forums from cyclists and as far as they’re concerned we should be able to see them or we shouldn’t be on the road, No amount of explaining blind spots and having to watch loads of mirrors and out the fronts at the same time will convince them they are wrong.
But every road user has a responibility to look after their’s and other well being.
Maybe one way of spreading the message would be to get in touch with a local cycling group and ask them if you could take a truck to one of their meetings to show them the visibility problems. But if you go be ready for a bit of hostility from some members. After all some believe we have no right to be on the road.
Another place to get the message across would be a school visit, or maybe a compnay to get in touch with the local police road safety unit and tell them that they have a truck at their disposal for any road safety activity.
I’ve had a non truck driving passenger in my truck this week and he reckons just sitting in the passenger seat he’s learned loads about the space a truck needs on the road and the stupid things other road do round trucks.
xrayday:
The cyclists round here are quite safe,they ride on the pavement,it’s the pedestrians that run the risk of being wiped out by these idiots on two wheels .Yet the police cars drive right past ignoring the law breaking.That is the opportunity to get in and educate these idiots.
Now that raises an interesting point in safety terms…
Which is more liable to cause death or serious injury to one of the parties - a cyclist colliding with a pedestrian or a cyclist colliding with a 1 tonne+ vehicle
ROG:
Given the choice, where should the cyclist ride
They should follow my example…
Up and down muddy hills!!!
Only time my bikes go on the road is when they’re attached to the back of my car!!!
Nah, I do go on the road now and then, but I put a little bit of thought into it before I do… Lights? Hi-viz? Quieter route?
A lot of cyclists just jump on they’re bikes and off they go.
I’m the first one to criticise cyclists when I see them pedalling along dual carriageways when there’s a perfectly good path on the other side of the barrier. Or I’m driving behind one and he squeezes along the inside/outside of traffic at the lights. I think they need knocked off their bikes once or twice to get the message through.
ROG:
‘…Given the choice, where should the cyclist ride…?’
Or: Where does the Government tell cyclists to ride …or come to that, what does Brussels say?
Never forget that we have voted for this non-leadership and that the answer is that no-one seems to know/care - which stops at the feet of the electorate/non-electorate …and that’s seemingly an evidenced fact in the absence of a flippin’ clue.
On a bike forum i’m on, they are putting together things to put up on traffic lights, spoke cards to put on peoples bkes to get them aware.
Theres diagrames been made of the lorry blind spots and poster designs going around.
Its a London based bicyle forum.
Now weather people will pay attention to this i have no idea. And infact i doubt that some will. But then i never get why they go on the left when they can go on the right and be safer.
JoeG:
On a bike forum i’m on, they are putting together things to put up on traffic lights, spoke cards to put on peoples bkes to get them aware.
Theres diagrames been made of the lorry blind spots and poster designs going around.
Its a London based bicyle forum.
Now weather people will pay attention to this i have no idea. And infact i doubt that some will. But then i never get why they go on the left when they can go on the right and be safer.
It’s a good idea. However, cyclists are like wagon drivers, a minority claim to know everything there is to know, and no amount of posters, stickers or publicity will make them think otherwise.
I had one this morning. Emerging left minor to major road
I had passed the cyclist well before the end of the road. He then caught me up while waiting at the junction to emerge. He came up the near side just as I was about to move he joined the major road without looking right and a car nearly took him out. If I had not checked the nearside mirrors he would now be somewhere else as I was ready to follow the passing car.
chippy:
I had one this morning. Emerging left minor to major road
I had passed the cyclist well before the end of the road. He then caught me up while waiting at the junction to emerge. He came up the near side just as I was about to move he joined the major road without looking right and a car nearly took him out. If I had not checked the nearside mirrors he would now be somewhere else as I was ready to follow the passing car.
You have just described one of the few times that I have used the horn whilst stationary - it prevented a collision between the cyclist and, in my case, a van.
The place you definitely don’t want to be is alongside, or slightly in front of, their front wheels at any time but especially at junctions. This is because lorry drivers who have killed cyclists by left-turns (making up more than a quarter of all cyclists killed in London in the last 6 years), even if they signal, often fail to look in their left-hand mirrors to check for cyclists.
this is supposedly from a professional cycling journalist after 15 years in the job…
To be fair, he’s a professional courier rather than a professional journalist… although I digress.
Doesn’t it reinforce someone else’s point above though, that it’s a small (vocal) percentage that believe they know everything there is to know about other road users?
Equally, it’s good advice, albeit based on an incorrect assumption.
"As a HGV driver and cyclist/pedestrian, I wouldn’t go within 6ft of any HGV unless I have made eye contact with the driver first. Its basics people, wise up, machines are dangerous! Always prepare for the unexpected and never assume anything whilst dealing with vehicles.
Chiz:
As a HGV driver and cyclist/pedestrian, I wouldn’t go within 6ft of any HGV unless I have made eye contact with the driver first. Its basics people, wise up, machines are dangerous! Always prepare for the unexpected and never assume anything whilst dealing with vehicles.
– Mike Sep 30, 06:50 PM
Now there’s a balanced view. Sound advice.
well said same when your driving with some of the dheads
The cyclists driving cars cause just as many problems.How many times do you see a hatchback with two or three bikes strapped across the back obscuring all the rear lights,indicators,number plates and the view from their rear view mirror ?
) I don’t know how I survived without hitting one of the push/motor-bikers overtaking both sides simultaneously.
