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…
I hope you feel better soon having got that of of your chest.
Having taken up cycling last year and currently going out ON THE ROADS (I know Berewic, shocking itsn’t it?!) I have found HGV drivers to be alright most of the time. I’ve had a couple of near misses but cars are universally much worse. I was doing 30 in a 30 limit and a car overtook on a blind brow. Only the reactions of the oncoming driver saved an accident. I find that cars don’t seem to be able to judge speed and many drivers cannot cope with the idea that bikes go quicker…when they’re going downhill. (weird)
I see absolutely no reason why cyclists should be banned from the road, they are usually as quick as and ceretainly easier to pass than tractors and horses etc. The ‘registration, road tax’ argument is ridiculous as there must be millions of bikes in the UK, many of which are barely ever used and often only for a nice trip to the pub on a sunny day. Cycling should be encouraged, its good fitness and is far better for short trips than jumping in the car all the time.
To Berewic and chums - why don’t you give it a try, you might like it. Good for the beer belly too!
I’m not the world’s biggest fan of cycles but registration and licencing for them would be just daft IMHO, I’d sooner the resources be put to use chasing down unlicenced and uninsured car drivers. Some form of proficiency test in schools should be occuring, along with teaching kids how to behave around lorries, but then again from watching the driver who nearly got himself squashed in our yard today by standing in the blind spot of an artic if a professional driver can’t manage it what hope have joe public got.
Cyclists, Horse riders, pedestrians - once they are taxed, insured and treated like motorists/lorryists, then i will treat them with respect, till then - GET OFF THE ROAD.
By all means use cycle paths, bridleways and footpaths. I will TRY to give you the widest berth i can, and stick to the rules of the road, i will not deliberatly run you down, and will try all i can to avoid it.
But, if you GET OFF THE ROAD, then it wont be a problem
Dom Perry:
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.
I think we’re dealing with an angry Darwinism supporter.
Darwinism ■■
The belief in the ‘survival of the fittest’ theory.
Among other things, Darwinism reaches the conclusion that, eventually, those too stupid to survive kill themselves off.
Unfortunately H&S are doing their best to ensure they don’t kill themselves off, but that they thrive and produce even more stupidity .
berewic:
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.
As of this morning we still live in a constitutional monarchy so the “feds” would have no duristriction as they would be the forces of a republic! Why would they phone and complain the rider who fell did so because of their own inattention and collided with one of their riding partners? At the time of falling the rider hadn’t passed the front of my vehicle. I wasn’t involved other than as a witness and I couldn’t honestly say who bumped into who.
I don’t know if your dislike of cyclists is real or just for effect but wishing harm to another human is not a nice trait and, just as numpty cyclists are unlikely to recognise fault the same can be said for any other road user, an understanding that as humans we make mistakes / errors of judgement sometimes will go further when trying to avoid repeating that mistake. IMHO. I ride a bike occasionaly and am very consious that should I collide with a car/ lorry then the chances are I will come off worse. That self preservation instinct is a strong influence on my riding style when I have to share the road.
uckna:
Cyclists, Horse riders, pedestrians - once they are taxed, insured and treated like motorists/lorryists, then i will treat them with respect, till then - GET OFF THE ROAD.
By all means use cycle paths, bridleways and footpaths. I will TRY to give you the widest berth i can, and stick to the rules of the road, i will not deliberatly run you down, and will try all i can to avoid it.
But, if you GET OFF THE ROAD, then it wont be a problem
but they’re not going to get off the road !! So we’re going to have to share it
If you want truck drivers to be treated with respect then it’s a good idea to treat other road users with respect I don’t think wanting them off the road will do anyone any favours
uckna:
Cyclists, Horse riders, pedestrians - once they are taxed, insured and treated like motorists/lorryists, then i will treat them with respect, till then - GET OFF THE ROAD.
By all means use cycle paths, bridleways and footpaths. I will TRY to give you the widest berth i can, and stick to the rules of the road, i will not deliberatly run you down, and will try all i can to avoid it.
But, if you GET OFF THE ROAD, then it wont be a problem
Dear Uckna. The point is that as cyclists horse riders and pedestrians have the RIGHT to use the road they are in no way subject to tax or insurance or licencing.If you are in receipt of of a vocational licence you should look to your laurels .
uckna:
Cyclists, Horse riders, pedestrians - once they are taxed, insured and treated like motorists/lorryists, then i will treat them with respect, till then - GET OFF THE ROAD.
By all means use cycle paths, bridleways and footpaths. I will TRY to give you the widest berth i can, and stick to the rules of the road, i will not deliberatly run you down, and will try all i can to avoid it.
But, if you GET OFF THE ROAD, then it wont be a problem
Dear Uckna. The point is that as cyclists horse riders and pedestrians have the RIGHT to use the road they are in no way subject to tax or insurance or licencing.If you are in receipt of of a vocational licence you should look to your laurels .
And they’ve had that right long before cars/lorrys have even been invented!
uckna:
Cyclists, Horse riders, pedestrians - once they are taxed, insured and treated like motorists/lorryists, then i will treat them with respect, till then - GET OFF THE ROAD.
By all means use cycle paths, bridleways and footpaths. I will TRY to give you the widest berth i can, and stick to the rules of the road, i will not deliberatly run you down, and will try all i can to avoid it.
But, if you GET OFF THE ROAD, then it wont be a problem
Dear Uckna. The point is that as cyclists horse riders and pedestrians have the RIGHT to use the road they are in no way subject to tax or insurance or licencing.If you are in receipt of of a vocational licence you should look to your laurels .
And they’ve had that right long before cars/lorrys have even been invented!
I think you will find that most club cyclists are actually insured, either through British cycling or the CTC.
I agree with you that the standard of cycling is not as good as it could be but could that not be said for everything? We have bad drivers in our industry, bad van drivers, bad car drivers, bad motor cyclist, bad pilots the list is endless. They should bring back the cycling proficiency back to schools, teach at an early age the dangers faced on the roads, but you should also be taught in driving lessons the dangers of cyclists and pedestrians
I have been knocked off my bike 2 times, once by a registered blind man who was driving and the second time by a police car, surely they should have known better.
To sum up I think we should ALL (i mean cyclist, pedestrians, drivers etc.) be more educated to the dangers on the road.
8 legger:
‘… They should bring back the cycling proficiency back to schools…’
Until society demands that to be done, ie a major party includes it in a referendum manifesto, it’ll remain a diversity issue of scant interest to the whole nation.
It’s the result of having been politically divided as a nation now ‘enjoying’ a generic consumerist quality of life that is largely diluted (to the academic/puerility level of Jonathan Ross et al?) whilst simultaneously being politically dumped into the hugely unsatisfying & undemocratic greyness of one-size-fits-all Europeanism.
I’m half anticipating a response of 'If yo wanna ride a bike safely, then win the lottree, bye yorself sum land an’ ride it their…’
When i started this post it was to make a point about poor driving by drivers who should know better ie:
HGV drivers. I really do not understand why there is so much animosity towards cyclists.
Since i started driving trucks over 25 years ago i have had one angry confrontation with a cyclist,he came up the inside of my trailer whilst in traffic.Lucky for him i saw this happening,waited til’ he had got passed and then i moved along in the traffic.I drove past him as the traffic moved and i closed the gap making it impposible for him to get by…or so i thought.He then procceded to grab the sides of the trailer to pull himself along because he couldent get by whilst riding.I couldent move the truck, so i got out to point out the errors he had made,at which he called me all the names under the sun.We had some words but he was still none the wiser.This is the only time it has happened,i have overtaken hundreds of cyclists , and have never had a problem since,so why is there such a hatred of cyclists by some HGV drivers,its quite worrying really.
mick palmer:
When i started this post it was to make a point about poor driving by drivers who should know better ie:
HGV drivers. I really do not understand why there is so much animosity towards cyclists.
Since i started driving trucks over 25 years ago i have had one angry confrontation with a cyclist,he came up the inside of my trailer whilst in traffic.Lucky for him i saw this happening,waited til’ he had got passed and then i moved along in the traffic.I drove past him as the traffic moved and i closed the gap making it impposible for him to get by…or so i thought.He then procceded to grab the sides of the trailer to pull himself along because he couldent get by whilst riding.I couldent move the truck, so i got out to point out the errors he had made,at which he called me all the names under the sun.We had some words but he was still none the wiser.This is the only time it has happened,i have overtaken hundreds of cyclists , and have never had a problem since,so why is there such a hatred of cyclists by some HGV drivers,its quite worrying really.
Your example would be a good start.
My animosity towards cyclists comes from personal experience of two & half years driving a black cab in Oxford, a university town with tens of thousands of cyclists. An entire weeks experience with cyclists in Doncaster or Leicester would be condensed into 10 mins of any weekday in Oxford. Oxford may be renowned for it’s academic excellence but when it comes down to common sense, these academics have between none and very little. When you have to share the road with tens of thousands of cyclists with, at best, very little in the way of common sense and only 1% of those abiding by the rules of the highway code, respect for cyclists diminishes very quickly to be replaced with contempt and indifference.
berewic:
My animosity towards cyclists comes from personal experience of two & half years driving a black cab in Oxford, a university town with tens of thousands of cyclists. An entire weeks experience with cyclists in Doncaster or Leicester would be condensed into 10 mins of any weekday in Oxford. Oxford may be renowned for it’s academic excellence but when it comes down to common sense, these academics have between none and very little. When you have to share the road with tens of thousands of cyclists with, at best, very little in the way of common sense and only 1% of those abiding by the rules of the highway code, respect for cyclists diminishes very quickly to be replaced with contempt and indifference.
LOL, a cabbie lecturing on dangerous driving. I’ve heard it all now! Sure you just don’t like someone getting somewhere before you? Wouldn’t be that would it, oh no.
Your fondness for exaggeration is so amusing. Do you really expect us to believe you ‘stuck a stick in the spokes’ of a cyclist who rode too close you you? How? Do you carry a stick specifically for such ‘emergencies’? You must have reacted pretty quickly- have you considered a career as fighter pilot?
1% of cyclists are law abiding eh? I’ve heard that 66% of all truck drivers are prostitute murdering weirdos that drive watching ■■■■■ on their laptop! Any more stats? They really are very good!
uckna:
Cyclists, Horse riders, pedestrians - once they are taxed, insured and treated like motorists/lorryists, then i will treat them with respect, till then - GET OFF THE ROAD.
By all means use cycle paths, bridleways and footpaths. I will TRY to give you the widest berth i can, and stick to the rules of the road, i will not deliberatly run you down, and will try all i can to avoid it.
But, if you GET OFF THE ROAD, then it wont be a problem
berewic:
My animosity towards cyclists comes from personal experience of two & half years driving a black cab in Oxford, a university town with tens of thousands of cyclists. An entire weeks experience with cyclists in Doncaster or Leicester would be condensed into 10 mins of any weekday in Oxford. Oxford may be renowned for it’s academic excellence but when it comes down to common sense, these academics have between none and very little. When you have to share the road with tens of thousands of cyclists with, at best, very little in the way of common sense and only 1% of those abiding by the rules of the highway code, respect for cyclists diminishes very quickly to be replaced with contempt and indifference.
LOL, a cabbie lecturing on dangerous driving. I’ve heard it all now! Sure you just don’t like someone getting somewhere before you? Wouldn’t be that would it, oh no.
Your fondness for exaggeration is so amusing. Do you really expect us to believe you ‘stuck a stick in the spokes’ of a cyclist who rode too close you you? How? Do you carry a stick specifically for such ‘emergencies’? You must have reacted pretty quickly- have you considered a career as fighter pilot?
1% of cyclists are law abiding eh? I’ve heard that 66% of all truck drivers are prostitute murdering weirdos that drive watching ■■■■■ on their laptop! Any more stats? They really are very good!
Your limited life experiences do you no credit and what you chose to believe is your own affair. The idea of being upset about anyone getting anywhere before me never even entered my head but it did yours. 66% of lorry drivers make up a hell of a lot of lorry drivers and if that were anywhere near the truth, there wouldn’t be any prostitutes left for you to pay.
I don’t make stuff up just to entertain idiots like you.
Your refusal to accept things at face value suggests to me you lie so often you think everyone else does and if I’m such a bad driver how come I’ve never been involved in a serious accident and only picked up six points on my license in the last 26yrs driving something or other full time. The six points were picked up due to twice being nicked in speed traps. Both in the last 10yrs. 1998 & 2008.
The big problem i have with cyclists (some i hasten to add, not all), is when i have waited for a safe place to pass, given them plenty of room, then had to stop at traffic lights and they ride back up the inside!
No other road user would do that so why do cyclists think its acceptable?
JB:
The big problem i have with cyclists (some i hasten to add, not all), is when i have waited for a safe place to pass, given them plenty of room, then had to stop at traffic lights and they ride back up the inside!
No other road user would do that so why do cyclists think its acceptable?
that does my head in , why do some of them do that and why dont they just wait for you to go as your only going to have to overtake them again .
(weird)
Sure you just don’t like someone getting somewhere before you? Wouldn’t be that would it, oh no. 
and why dont they just wait for you to go as your only going to have to overtake them again 