Cyclist aware drivers... are you one?

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Originally Posted by Slunnie

From everything I've ever seen within pelotons there are a lot of communication protocols up and down the pack in relation to hazards, oncoming and following cars. For small groups when there is a following car they pull into single file at the left, larger pelotons make sure they're in 2s and typically take the LHS and centre of the lane. Perhaps in the country we do things differently to those in the city. When a vehicle sits behind blowing on the horn or try's their best to sideswipe the riders, and people do, then of course they're going to be alerted to the error of their ways and will be met with a tirade of abuse. You report it the police in same way riders report FWICs. :D

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Never had much cause to report the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada.
FWIC - What does FWIC stand for? Acronyms and abbreviations by the Free Online Dictionary.

Yep. And the police can't do much about it unless they know who you are reporting. That's why cyclists should display registration numbers.

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Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Never had much cause to report the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada.
FWIC - What does FWIC stand for? Acronyms and abbreviations by the Free Online Dictionary.

Yep. And the police can't do much about it unless they know who you are reporting. That's why cyclists should display registration numbers.

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In reality, the police dont do much about it anyway. They're pretty good at finding the right riders and the right cars though.

I never believe that this topic will show so much passion :eek:
I guess that the only way to be out of the controversy will be a tricyclist riding a tricycle :(

I really do not want to weigh into the debate as from what I have seen there is both good and bad on both sides of the argument but, as for the debate on Rego, if as most bike owners say they own a car why can't the rego for the bike be anexured off the car rego similar to the accessories plates we have in QLD or perhaps along the lines of the personal plates scheme, for example, a car rego of say LRD 001 could be annexed with LRD001B or similar at a small fee, it happens now with our licencing, boat, Jet Ski etc. In the event of an infringement the plate will register the owner by way of Dept of tpt. same goes for dash cam footage. For those without car ownership then you pay as one would expect you too, the fee for those without cars could be scaled based on age etc.


Earlier today I was travelling along the Hope Island road, wide lanes, dedicated bike lane and a good straight road, as approaching cyclist all of a sudden swerves into my lane and back, Kevy needed to swing right hand wheels across the centre line to avoid him.......... guess what he was doing/

Texting?

I recently had an argument with a cycling friend about cyclists on the road... It all started when she made the comment that she does not use the scenic cycle path local to us as there are too many crossings, and that its not suited to her training....! Instead, she likes to place herself between the new Armco (to protect the cyclists on the new path) and a semi... This opened a can of worms with me.. The argument then went on when she pronounced that the and her mates ride in groups of 4 (2 pairs of bikes side by side) taking up a car sized space.... as they think its safer!!!??? How stupid can you get?? Yes, I am cyclist friendly, when they are sensible enough to use the facilities provided and paid for by us the tax payer, and when they ride in and when they ride in an orderly line, but I get the ****s on when they are daft enough to ride side by side taking up a car space, and expect fully loaded semis to pull out and pass them... I for one know that if I'm driving a loaded semi around a blind bend at 80kph, and come across a group of cyclists in the middle of the road and there's a semi coming the other way at the same speed, I am not going to put myself in front of the oncoming semi!! At least in a line, they can be passed safely, and the trucks can also pass!!

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Originally Posted by Sitec

The argument then went on when she pronounced that the and her mates ride in groups of 4 (2 pairs of bikes side by side) taking up a car sized space.... as they think its safer!!!??? How stupid can you get?? Yes, I am cyclist friendly, when they are sensible enough to use the facilities provided and paid for by us the tax payer, and when they ride in and when they ride in an orderly line, but I get the ****s on when they are daft enough to ride side by side taking up a car space, and expect fully loaded semis to pull out and pass them... I for one know that if I'm driving a loaded semi around a blind bend at 80kph, and come across a group of cyclists in the middle of the road and there's a semi coming the other way at the same speed, I am not going to put myself in front of the oncoming semi!! At least in a line, they can be passed safely, and the trucks can also pass!!

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Actually, for a cyclist it is safer to ride side by side in lanes which the law states they can do legally. Most angry motorists, when the truth is to be told, really are upset because it has slowed them down. They really couldn't care less about the cyclists safety choices. When the cyclist rides in a single file on the left of the lane, only too regularly you end up with cars passing in the same lane with hardly an effort to move into the next lane and pass properly or safely - the prime concern for the driver is to get past without being inconvenienced by having to slow or change lanes. Many drivers think they can just squeeze on past with probably very little thought about how this can pushing the rider off the road, push the rider in to street drains or pot holes that bikes cant necessarily cope with, grazing or hitting the rider, or the significant effect that the wind pushed off some vehicles can have on the bike - most notably trucks.

When you ride side by side on the other hand it forces the driver behind to pass properly, as in actually use the indicators, make a proper and safe lane change and subsequently no railroad the rider into an accident like they do when they try to fit a bike and a car into a single lane.

I'd also hope a semi-driver is responsible enough not to ever drive around a blind bend at 80kmh - that would be incredibly negligent.

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Originally Posted by Sitec

I recently had an argument with a cycling friend about cyclists on the road... It all started when she made the comment that she does not use the scenic cycle path local to us as there are too many crossings, and that its not suited to her training....! Instead, she likes to place herself between the new Armco (to protect the cyclists on the new path) and a semi... This opened a can of worms with me.. The argument then went on when she pronounced that the and her mates ride in groups of 4 (2 pairs of bikes side by side) taking up a car sized space.... as they think its safer!!!??? How stupid can you get?? Yes, I am cyclist friendly, when they are sensible enough to use the facilities provided and paid for by us the tax payer, and when they ride in and when they ride in an orderly line, but I get the ****s on when they are daft enough to ride side by side taking up a car space, and expect fully loaded semis to pull out and pass them... I for one know that if I'm driving a loaded semi around a blind bend at 80kph, and come across a group of cyclists in the middle of the road and there's a semi coming the other way at the same speed, I am not going to put myself in front of the oncoming semi!! At least in a line, they can be passed safely, and the trucks can also pass!!

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I've ridden your JB track a few times and enjoyed it, however I can sympathise with your friend. The bike track looks like it's been designed by a 14 year old to be ridden at the pace of an elderly donkey. It's extremely dangerous to be ridden at any great speed as the designers put blind corners, bollards, road crossings at right angles, sharp edged poles in the middle of the track, ridiculous gradients etc all over the place. A road cyclist riding at training speeds would definitely be safer riding on the road. If a main road was designed to such a poor standard there'd be outrage in all the national papers and the sound of ministers heads rolling. Bike track? Any rubbish standard will do. It's a slow recreational track, not a suitable track for speed. You should try the bit through Jacobs Creek if you want to experience extremely stupid path design. If it was a road you'd need 4wd.

Discussions of relative stupidity aside, basically if the riders are riding on the road, legally two by two, it's their right and the drivers of trucks have to allow for them. The bike track isn't a mandatory bike lane and cyclists aren't legally forced to use it. Now, personally I avoid that particular road like the plague (cos of too many idiot drivers out your way, mainly :o ) and use Calton/Balmoral Rds instead, but that's because I'm not a wannabe triathlete, just an old fart on an old MTB. :p

BTW I put up a JB track report here if you're interested in having a look.:)

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Originally Posted by Matman

Glad your ok,BUT it makes it hard to avoid cyclists when your doing 100kays and you come over a crest of a hill and there sitting in the lane,and you have nowhere to go as there is a truck coming up the hill from the other direction,and the only way to avoid them is by hitting the grass up the inside of them,and make sure the traffic behind you doesnt run up your ass from braking so hard.

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It's as well it's not a broken down haul truck sitting just over the crest then. Or a spillage of oil from that crashed tanker just a few yards further down. Or a tractor with his bucket at windscreen level. Seen all of those.

Easy to pick on cyclists who might be there on the road, but they're not all it could be.

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Originally Posted by Sitec

I recently had an argument with a cycling friend about cyclists on the road...

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Stop calling them cyclists. Start calling them people. Or better yet, start calling them taxpayers, or ratepayers. You know, the people who fund the roads you use.

Don't get me on rego, btw. Rego (a) doesn't pay for the roads, it just pays to administer permits, and (b) doesn't stop motorists breaking the law, so how would it help with people who ride bikes?