You'd think that people would be more careful in dangerous conditions. A neighbour of ours many years ago was crippled for life when he came to grief on Slip Corner near Strines.
I'm surprised there aren't more deaths on Glossop Road. I was tailgated and horn-blasted the other night for being so stupid as to drive at 39 mph in the 40 mph limit. The perpetrator subsequently overtook me on a seriously blind bend narrowly missing a van coming in the opposite direction! I didn't know that the 40 sign meant I had to go faster than 40mph rather than slower. That road is dangerous yet people exceed the speed limit and overtake in stupid and dangerous places.
And don't get me started on cyclists! The people who cycle as their form of transport from A to B are generally fine. Good road sense ie sensible use of the road, courteousness, signals when necessary and plenty of warning to other road users when they are about to do something, hi-viz clothing, and apparent knowledge of the Highway Code.
Is it just me or has anyone noticed that the flashier the bike and the fancier the apparel, the stupider and less courteous the cyclist? No hi-viz clothing (and several wear black and ride black bicycles), wavering about all over the road, riding two or three apart and bunching up in groups and causing an obstruction, no checking behind or signals when they are about to pull out immediately under a car's wheels, deliberately holding up cars when passing them would enable us to get out of their way, and, believe it or not, I have had cyclist actually racing my car when I was overtaking!!!! Sunday mornings before the Tour de France were nightmare-ish
Don't these men (and they are almost exclusively men - women cyclists are much more sensible) drive cars? Don't answer that. It would be even more worrying. It's time there was a cycling test for cyclists to ride on the road and a road fund licence for cyclists.
I've been driving for nearly 50 years and the standard of driving today amazes me and not in a good way.
Don't get me wrong, proportionally there are at least as many idiot cyclists as there are idiot drivers.
However, I do find it amusing that in the space of three paragraphs you go from blasting impatient idiots who tailgate you for getting in their way, to blasting cyclists for getting in your way.
I'm a cyclist and a driver, so I can see both sides of it.
The whole high-viz thing is very over rated. It helps, to a degree, just after sunrise and just before sunset, but it makes little difference during daylight or at night. The most effective method of being seen is decent lights. However, I do despair at the Ninja cyclists who seem to go out of their way to be invisible on the road - black clothes, black bikes, no light, etc.
Some of the other things you mention though are very situational dependant.
Weaving in the lane may indicate that they are not a very good or confident cyclist, but it is more likely they are avoiding the booby traps left for them by the highways department of the local council. Boobytraps that as drivers we moan about because they damage our tyres, tracking and suspension, but which have, on occasion destroyed bikes, caused broken bones, and in a few unfortunately cases, cost lives.
On a narrow road, it's safer for the cyclists to take what is called the primary position (ie the centre of the lane), as it forces any vehicle that wants to overtake them, to do it in a safer manner, by forcing them to wait until there is no oncoming traffic, as they have to cross the centre line. Impatient or unthinking motorists will often try to "squeeze" past an oncoming car and a cyclist in their lane, which is dangerous for the cyclist.
By the way, the highway code states that cyclists should be treated as any other vehicle, and be given the same amount of room when you pass them. You wouldn't intentionally pass a motor vehicle, only giving it 3 inches of room, you shouldn't do that to a cyclist either.
Also, with a group of cyclists, on a narrow road, it is easier for the motorist (and safer for the cyclists) to pass a bunch of cyclists riding 2 or 3 abreast, than it is to pass a lone line of cyclists riding single file.
Many people get frustrated when they get held up by slow moving traffic, I do as well. But it is an odd phenomenon that causes some people to get irrationally irate at being held up by a cyclist, but to merely get a bit miffed at a tractor or similar slow moving motor vehicle.
Some sort of cycling license wouldn't actually be a bad idea, but in all honesty the Driving License doesn't noticeably improve driving standards, so I don't know how effective it would be.
And as for a Road Fund License for cyclists. Again, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea, but why only cyclists? Why not make all road users pay a road fund license?
Topic: Road deaths (Read 8225 times)