After 20 years of trouble with my left knee ( Driving F88s,F10s,DAFs and leyland Roadtrains heavy clutches and football the causes) i had an operation to rebuild it in August 2008. To build the strength back up ive been riding my bike on the roads around Red House nr Doncaster.Im sorry to say some of the driving from so called HGV drivers is apalling, why do they insist on leaving very little space between their truck and myself,(i wear my hi-viz so i can be seen) anything less than 1 metre is too close. I know some cyclists are a pain but dont tar them all with the same brush,if you come up behind one get off the gas and wait till there’s enough room to pass safely. And just a quick thankyou to the Scania (red with white stripes,step frame van trailer)driver this morning A638/A1 junction you are type im on a about. Park your truck up there will be a professional driver along soon!!
1,2,3,4,5… and breathe 
the last incident you mention, it not the drivers fault, it’s the truck, all Scanias are driven like that
Ha ha,very good but thinking about it hmm ,no that would be a coincidence would’nt it ?
I thought slow moving vehicles were supposed to “pull over” to allow traffic to pass.
It’s good to hear your on the road though. Around where I live the cyclists all seem to ride on the pavement, gobbing off at pedestrians to “get out of the way” and are quite happy to knock them down if they don’t.
Cyclists are evil scum as far as I’m concerned. They should be registered, taxed, MOT’d, insured and their riders should be licensed.
I’m reminded of the obnoxious evil barsteward riding on the pavement that shouted at a bunch of school children to “get out of the way, I’m not stopping”. He rode straight into them, killing one of them and got away with a paltry fine. The judge at the court bolocked the CPS for not charging him with manslaughter.
I use my bike quite a bit out on the roads, I consider myself a sensible rider, I use the road or a cycleway if there is one.
A good 10 or so years ago I got knocked off by an artic, badly broken leg, broken shoulder blade, broken vertebra, multiple head gashs and the like. I was lucky I guess, this was on the A43 near the Kettering scrapyard, I was cycling down the hill and the truck cut back in a little too early, probably underestimating my speed as at the time I used to race bikes so would have been doing quite a speed. It was dark but I had twin halogens on the front, flashing LED’s on the back and a ‘Sam Brown’ flashing LED shoulder belt on.
I don’t blame the driver, it was an avoidable accident, but an accident. The upside is that I am very patient when I encounter hazards on the road, horses, cyclists and the like and always wait for plenty of room and time before making a move.
The majority of cyclists are nothing more than ‘pedestrians on wheels’ and if drivers approach them with this thought in mind then this usually leads to a different approach to a situation that involves them.
ROG:
The majority of cyclists are nothing more than ‘pedestrians on wheels’ and if drivers approach them with this thought in mind then this usually leads to a different approach to a situation that involves them.
Pedestrians on wheels are subject to the highway code the same as everybody else. The sooner these pedestrians on wheels realise this, the safer it will be for everybody.
99% of incidents involving cyclists are due to the arrogance and contempt cyclists have for the law and all things within their scope. Taking a proficiency test should be mandatory and bicycles registered to enable easy identity when holding cyclists responsible for their actions/crimes.
I live in Oxford, a town filled with moronic students and academics, all of whom assume they can do no wrong. 99.999% ignore traffic regulations and the police just stand by and watch. Dozens of people have been run down on the pavement and zebra/pelican crossings by cyclists, including an 84yr old and the police’s “official” response is “we don’t prosecute cyclists for anything”, yet are quite happy to prosecute motorists when they are involved in an incident with a cyclist who just rode through a red traffic light or shot out of a side street, wearing iPod headphones while texting.
Fortuanately more cyclists have been killed than pedestrians. It would appear natural justice takes over where the legal system fails. The latest death involved a 65yr old spandex cycling enthusiast riding “on” Oxfords dual carriageway ring road, 2mtrs away from a perfectly good cycle track. This numnut rode straight into the back of a broken down van and killed himself. The one before involved an alleged “brilliant” student with excellent career prospects riding through red traffic lights straight under the wheels of a bin lorry going through green traffic lights. The one before that involved a 21yr old student that rode out of a one way street the wrong way and got crunched under the wheels of a passing bus. On both occasions the drivers were prosecuted and convicted for dangerous driving.
Had a near miss this week with a pack of cyclists. I’d just pulled out of a collection and moved out to pass a parked lorry when a cycling club, complete with spandex, helmets and all the ususal trimmings came hutling out of a T junction and into my path. I would have estimated the speed at between 20-25mph and it was about 18:30 on an industrial estate. Riding in a swarm the front folks started to move kerbside buut some of those near the middle didn’t couldn’t react quick eneough and at least 1 rider came a cropper and ended up on the grass verge under their machine.
Picked themselves up quick enough but the look of thunder directed my way was more Charles Hawtry than Charles Bronson.
Wiretwister:
Had a near miss this week with a pack of cyclists. I’d just pulled out of a collection and moved out to pass a parked lorry when a cycling club, complete with spandex, helmets and all the ususal trimmings came hutling out of a T junction and into my path. I would have estimated the speed at between 20-25mph and it was about 18:30 on an industrial estate. Riding in a swarm the front folks started to move kerbside buut some of those near the middle didn’t couldn’t react quick eneough and at least 1 rider came a cropper and ended up on the grass verge under their machine.Picked themselves up quick enough but the look of thunder directed my way was more Charles Hawtry than Charles Bronson.
Don’t be surprised if you get a visit from the feds. Cyclists can do no wrong and if you have a phone number on your truck, I expect they phoned up and had a whine about it. Has your boss said anything? Think through a good responce.
Not much to say on this thread really is there? I mean, if you’re going to push the view that cyclists dying is somehow a positive thing then the sheer crassness of it rather renders the rest of your argument nul and void.
We all have to exist on the roads together, like it or not.
As a former club cyclist I try to see both sides of the coin. The law as it stands is pedestrians and cyclists being classed as riders use the road by right!!When we get behind the wheel we use the road by license .Club riders wear lycra no spandex involved.We should all extend courtesy to each other.Maybe some on here will be pleased to know that I was knocked down by a blind woman driver a couple of weeks ago wrecked a perfectly good bie inthe process
berewic:
ROG:
The majority of cyclists are nothing more than ‘pedestrians on wheels’ and if drivers approach them with this thought in mind then this usually leads to a different approach to a situation that involves them.Pedestrians on wheels are subject to the highway code the same as everybody else. The sooner these pedestrians on wheels realise this, the safer it will be for everybody.
That’s the problem - the majority do not THINK that way about cycling so a good driver will take the way that a cyclist is likely to think as part of a safe driving plan.
The Who is to blame when something goes wrong is most definitely the wrong way to approach this or any other driving senario.
The How can I prevent or How can I make safe is a much better and safer way of thinking for the driver to adopt.
What’s that old saying - Know thine enemy and the way they think so as to beat them - in the driving game this means to be ahead of the other road user in terms of observation, prediction and safety.
Don’t it feel good when you’re driving and you say to yourself “I KNEW that was going to happen” and you have already made the safe allowances for it before it did 
I do and that’s probably why I have never been involved in anything involving a cyclist,apart from when I poked a stick through the front wheel of one riding too close to me on the pavement, but it don’t mean I’m happy about it though.
berewic:
… poked a stick through the front wheel of one riding too close to me on the pavement, …
A mate of mine did something that on the close where I live - a 15 year old was riding a moped/small motorbike amongst his kids on the pavement - he put the steel bar through his front wheel - the youth never rode on the pavement again…
alamcculloch:
As a former club cyclist I try to see both sides of the coin. The law as it stands is pedestrians and cyclists being classed as riders use the road by right!!When we get behind the wheel we use the road by license .Club riders wear lycra no spandex involved.We should all extend courtesy to each other.Maybe some on here will be pleased to know that I was knocked down by a blind woman driver a couple of weeks ago wrecked a perfectly good bie inthe process
So what were you doing wrong then?
Arrogantly riding in the middle of the road, ignoring traffic lights, shooting out of a side street or did you just have your head stuck in your proverbial?
Cycling clubs should be banned off the road and restricted to cycle tracks or sports stadiums.
berewic:
Cycling clubs should be banned off the road and restricted to cycle tracks or sports stadiums.
I must have different ones around here than you have as all the club cyclists I come across have a great awareness of what is going on around them and a good knowledge and application of the highway code - I would not class them as ‘pedstrians on wheels’ 
ROG:
berewic:
Cycling clubs should be banned off the road and restricted to cycle tracks or sports stadiums.I must have different ones around here than you have as all the club cyclists I come across have a great awareness of what is going on around them and a good knowledge and application of the highway code - I would not class them as ‘pedstrians on wheels’
I’m banning myself from this post ROG, it’s winding me up and I’ve already gone beyond acceptable boundaries.
berewic:
I’m banning myself from this post ROG, it’s winding me up and I’ve already gone beyond acceptable boundaries.
That’s ok, I’ve managed to ‘wind you up’ 
on another post about books 
Dear Berewic,
Please tell me what I was doing wrong.I was riding down a main road when a driver decided to turn right off the main road onto a minor road. In my humble opinion she should have waited until the road was clear before crossing the hazard line on the main road.Perhaps things are done differently in your neck of the woods. I dont think she would have done it if I were driving the bus at the time.!!
berewic:
‘…the police just stand by and watch…’
Therein lies a major root of the reality tree.
- Tony Blair, his illicit heir & mainstream parties tell us ‘how proud we are and should be’ to embrace the fullness of diversity in UK: Anyone not doing so is declared racist, anti-social, etc, etc.
- UK citizens believe it en masse.
- Foreigners & their terrorists choose to hate us at the same time UK banks diversify into making themselves & their shareholders (even) more money - not least through embracing America’s moral high ground(?)
- World enters Credit-Crunch
- Tony Blair’s illicit heir leads European & World leadership into saving the planet.
- What few plod we have left that aren’t policing terrorists & the diverse living ‘standards’ of UK accommodated migrants & disenfranchised toe-rags now have additional burden to defend Tony Blair’s illicit heir from getting annihilated in London, etc.
- Meanwhile, the UK electorate continues to perpetuate a mythical & starry-eyed view of ‘real life’ in UK by voting-in more European & World stage crazed, mainstream wannabes.
- Ordinary UK citizens squabble over the state of their back yard oblivious to realising that diversity is riddled with societal divisions - thus allowing the politico’s to conquer their voice
- Thus, plod is far too busy playing catch-up and corralling ‘diversity’ to find the slightest time to police the living veins & arteries that are the roads of the World’s once best country…
Moral? We get what we vote for whereby a miscreant cyclist can do what they ■■■■ please because the UK apparently applauds the colourful ‘diversity that he brings to society’…
Don’t get me wrong, but I ride a bike responsibly yet it does my swede-in to see other cyclists abuse the roads and all of it’s other users but I think my rationale explains where plod has gone through maintaining that our national priorities have been voted for & thereby shot to bits…