Seeking drivers willing to spend a bit of time looking at the roads from the viewpoint of a cyclist. On their normal everyday ride, often commute. Cycle trainers will take you down quiet roads, away from heavy traffic. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to convince one or two of you to take up the offer.
The alternate, cyclists see it from a HGV drivers point of view has its limitations. Most notably the insurance side & companies allowing you to carry passengers. Having spoken with the editor of Commercial Motor & in his words he’s “up for it”. So, anyone on here willing to take part?
The intention is not to try & scare the s_ _t out of you, but show you what cycling, in everyday traffic is like for us as cyclists.
We can work together to try & sort this problem out, or wait whilst legislation is brought in to cover the problems faced. Labour have a raft of measures to sort the problem out, whilst Boris, well he has his own ideas on how the industry should sort it out for itself.
With similar bikes now available from some local railway stations. “Boris Bikes”, if they are the only reason, are available elswhere. So it will no longer be soley a London issue/problem.
I think its more important that a cyclist UNDERSTANDS simple road LAW in the 1st instance , most truck drivers have at some point in their lives have ridden a cycle of some description so understand the dangers
The problem here is that on both sides the preachers are only preaching to the converted.
The half wit cyclist intent on death and the equally half witted attending the steering wheel won’t even be aware of another viewpoint, and in many cases too aggressive/stupid/obtuse/disinterested to be able to see the situation other than from their own perspective.
There are thousands of cyclists intelligent enough not to put themselves in harms way.
Equally there are thousands of competent lorry drivers who know how to drive, they also know how to set their mirrors up and keep things clean enough to be useful, and most importantly take a pride in their work.
Its the tiny minority of numpties on both sides causing this problem, you can’t educate the terminally stupid.
A major issue also is there are simply too many people crammed into this small island, and thats only going to get worse, forward planning for the logictics of overpopulating the country was never even considered.
The rate of attrition due to overcrowding in all ways will only get worse.
It’s the cyclist that needs educating not LGV drivers. Don’t we jump through enough hoops already,to in most cases earn little more than the minimum wage!!
Hold on lads and lasses.There is new invention out to protect cyclists in the blind spot of large vehicles.
How it works;A strong laser light image in the shape of a bike.
The laser image shines out ahead of the road so the driver will see the image in front of the vehicle and be aware a bike is near the vicinity of the vehicle.
The inventor is a young lady.The production line is in China.
Brucewillis:
It’s the cyclist that needs educating not LGV drivers. Don’t we jump through enough hoops already,to in most cases earn little more than the minimum wage!!
There are thousands of uneducated knuckle dragging lorry drivers that will bully any other road user because they suffer small ■■■■■ syndrome. I see this on a daily basis and since I became a driving assessor I’m amazed how some drivers even get their licences.
You just have to read these very forums to see that lorry driving doesn’t require a high IQ and indeed there are many posters on here who I wouldn’t let push a wheelbarrow with a flat tyre let alone a 44t lorry.
I have just bought myself a bike and started cycling for the first time in 20 years. I try to avoid busy roads, but today I rode along St Andrews road in Avonmouth and I was intimidated once by a dhl tanker and also a co op artic who both decided it was acceptable to drive within 3 feet of my rear wheel.
Now at nearly 7 feet tall and 24 stone I don’t scare easily but dealing with drivers like this scared the ■■■■ out of me, and even though against the law I did my return journey on the footpath.
After 25 years as a truck driver I already know how not to
mangle a cyclist,what I dont know how to deal with is a
dark clad, ipod wearing, unlit, manic with a Darwinian approach
to their future.
If I drove a truck the way that some cyclists operate their conveyance
I bet my career as a lorryist would not make 26 years.
Brucewillis:
It’s the cyclist that needs educating not LGV drivers. Don’t we jump through enough hoops already,to in most cases earn little more than the minimum wage!!
There are thousands of uneducated knuckle dragging lorry drivers that will bully any other road user because they suffer small ■■■■■ syndrome. I see this on a daily basis and since I became a driving assessor I’m amazed how some drivers even get their licences.
You just have to read these very forums to see that lorry driving doesn’t require a high IQ and indeed there are many posters on here who I wouldn’t let push a wheelbarrow with a flat tyre let alone a 44t lorry.
I have just bought myself a bike and started cycling for the first time in 20 years. I try to avoid busy roads, but today I rode along St Andrews road in Avonmouth and I was intimidated once by a dhl tanker and also a co op artic who both decided it was acceptable to drive within 3 feet of my rear wheel.
Now at nearly 7 feet tall and 24 stone I don’t scare easily but dealing with drivers like this scared the [zb] out of me, and even though against the law I did my return journey on the footpath.
Its not just a foot path its a cycle way too Check out street view I also know the area well ) so may be as you state
I became a driving assessor
you should go back to school and retrain on what the signs say and mean
I was actually up at the other end of St Andrews road by the roundabout at honda, and there is no cycleway there, so I don’t actually think I need to learn my signs.
There is only cycletrack for a short section of st Andrews road which is by the railway station. The rest of it requires either illegally riding on the footpath or having to deal with knuckle draggers that think it’s ok to try and intimidate other road users.
So may I suggest you do a bit more reasearch before assuming someone is wrong because it just reinforces the general consensus that alot of drivers on here are just a bit thick.
daleyboy:
I was actually up at the other end of St Andrews road by the roundabout at honda, and there is no cycleway there, so I don’t actually think I need to learn my signs.
There is only cycletrack for a short section of st Andrews road which is by the railway station. The rest of it requires either illegally riding on the footpath or having to deal with knuckle draggers that think it’s ok to try and intimidate other road users.
So may I suggest you do a bit more reasearch before assuming someone is wrong because it just reinforces the general consensus that alot of drivers on here are just a bit thick.
Have a nice day
that’s SMOKE LANE FELLA not St Andrews road the cycle path is posted as far as the traffic lights at the jn of Kingsweston lane actually so maybe you really do need further education
daleyboy:
I think you will find St Andrews road runs right upto the old level crossing by Hambrook pallets
it sure does and most ppl that ride bikes down that way will more often than not ride on the Wide path where the cycle way crosses at the traffic lights… where Honda is on the cabot park est that’s all cycle way on that est…
I’m not ■■■■■■■■ but I wouldn’t ride the road down there fella I would use the path /cycle way the path was at some point marked as a CW until you cross the bridge to go past the old Exel depot … knowing its a high risk High volume Heavy goods traffic area using your noggin saves lives and the plod wouldn’t turn an eye if you were on the path there any way , Why … because if your alive and riing its less hassle for them.
classic33:
Seeking drivers willing to spend a bit of time looking at the roads from the viewpoint of a cyclist. On their normal everyday ride, often commute. Cycle trainers will take you down quiet roads, away from heavy traffic. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to convince one or two of you to take up the offer.
The alternate, cyclists see it from a HGV drivers point of view has its limitations. Most notably the insurance side & companies allowing you to carry passengers. Having spoken with the editor of Commercial Motor & in his words he’s “up for it”. So, anyone on here willing to take part?
The intention is not to try & scare the s_ _t out of you, but show you what cycling, in everyday traffic is like for us as cyclists.
We can work together to try & sort this problem out, or wait whilst legislation is brought in to cover the problems faced. Labour have a raft of measures to sort the problem out, whilst Boris, well he has his own ideas on how the industry should sort it out for itself.
With similar bikes now available from some local railway stations. “Boris Bikes”, if they are the only reason, are available elswhere. So it will no longer be soley a London issue/problem.
Count me in. It’s a problem that we need to sort by a mixture of education and tolerance. I drive a LHD artic around London on a weekly basis, have been both a motorcycle and cycle courier in London and am a keen road cyclist, so come at this problem from a number of angles. One thing I would love to be able to take a average cyclist in London who has no awareness of their surroundings and have them in the cab with me to see how close they come to danger. Cycling in London isn’t dangerous on its own but an additional level of awareness is required, which most cyclists don’t have.
So whilst theres some just willing to have a go at those on the other side of the argument, blame them, I know what I’m doing. There’s no-one willing, that doesn’t already cycle, willing to give it a go.
Reference has already been made to what are called “ninja’s”, no lights, dressed in black & unwilling to obey the “rules of the road”, equal scorn is heaped upon them in the cycling world. We can say that there are drivers willing to do exactly the same, in their own way. No rear plates fitted, non use of indicators when passing & tailgaiting. All legal requirements, but ignored on a daily basis.
The question is what can be done to stop these people? Knee jerk reactions tend to over address the issue & we are getting close to knee jerk reactions happenning.
The response, to the problem, here has been much the same as on the cycling forums. Except that this time its coming from those with the larger legal road vehicles. I’ve been shoved of the road, from a well marked cycle lane, by a driver of a well known local company. Been made to take evasive action when a driver has decided to creep his way out onto a junction, ignoring the road markings & lights. What makes this any different to those cycling “ninjas”? A small minority on each side, willing to ignore the rules to meet their own ends. Whilst at the same time, maintaining that the other side is soley to blame.
It seems that there are not too many willing to say “count me in”.
toby1234abc:
Hold on lads and lasses.There is new invention out to protect cyclists in the blind spot of large vehicles.
How it works;A strong laser light image in the shape of a bike.
The laser image shines out ahead of the road so the driver will see the image in front of the vehicle and be aware a bike is near the vicinity of the vehicle.
The inventor is a young lady.The production line is in China.
