Thread: Cyclist aware drivers... are you one?

Have fun...

Single file remember....

RESPECT... like the SONG.

Say hi to those girls..

Bit hard to tell with you all wearing the same CLOTHES... make sure your not behind a GUY...

Anway I will appreciate thats its you and not me when I get into my truck, with the WARM heater on... going past the CYCLISTS, who are getting fit, and eating a BIG MAC for lunch, then THROWING A TANTIE, cause they never got diet COKE or SKIM milk with there 17 Coffee for the day...

Originally Posted by Chad

[snip]

Maybe if the Majority of Cyclist weren't Arrogant *******, there wouldn't be so much anomosity between them??


[snip]

Change 'cyclist' for '4WD' and you'd fit right in with a lot of peoples attitude in the city

Generalisations and stereotypes don't really help anyone......

Yep ride a pushy and a motor bike so more than aware of the problems and lack of vision of some people.
However a lot of cyclists are their own worst enemy. Biggest issue is not giving way to cars, expecting cars to give way and not using bike lanes. Groups of riders are the worst, not giving way or room.
Annoys me no end when they are two or three abreast, blocking tarffic and will not merge to single file or use the bike path 2 metres away.
A few weeks ago driving on a highway at 100kmph with nice bike lane on the edge of the road, group of bikes, several two wide (which is legal), plenty of room in the lane for this, but one tosser had to ride outside the line. Well at 100kmph on a dual carriageway and another car right alongside us, I had nowhere really to go and I know what I was going to hit and it was not going to be the car on my right. Luckily I squeezed through because there was no way I would have been able to stop, Did give him a blast on the hooter and a few choice words.

I like to think I am.
Well, I was a cyclist until the day a car decided to take up all but 2m of my stopping space, and promptly jam on the brakes to miss the car in front of it, which suddenly slowed to turn into a driveway. I think my nose has grown back into one piece now.

One thing that surprised me when I was learning to drive a truck (HR) was just how similar the two vehicle types were in terms of acceleration and braking. Both require more distance, and are much more sensitive to the gradient than other traffic.

Anyway, just like cars, trucks and motorbikes, once one figures out how they are likely to behave, it's not hard (for a perfectionist ) to be accommodating and drive for them.

I am a cyclist and have been so for 32 years. For 30 or those years I have been riding in Sydney traffic. Distance wise I cover in the order of 20,000km per year, and have done so pretty consistantly for the past 12 years. I have raced nationally so I can appreciate what is required in terms of the required training. To be competitive, 400 to 500km each and every week of the year at the bare minimum is pretty much where you need to be.

The law allows cyclists to ride two abreast (side by side) and to occupy an entire lane, so they are not doing anything which is illegal in this regard. I am also a motorist and have been so for a smiliar period of time. Sydney's traffic levels are now such that I will avoid main roads as much as I can when riding, there are just too many cars, too many people in too much a hurry.

I have been knocked down at a round-a-bout, even though I was already within and had the right of way. I have had a number of near misses over the years, and in the vast majority of cases, the motorist is at fault.

If the law required all motorists to ride a bike for 6 years in all manner of traffic prior to being eligible for obtaining a driver's license, then the negative attitude that some people have towards cyclists would be so very different indeed.

A cyclist could be your son or daughter, your brother or sister, what attitude would you like other motorists to have towards your family members?

Ron.

I am always surprised by the animosity that comes up when someone mentions cycling in a forum. Other parts of the world that I have driven/cycled in- everyone is treated with respect, in Australia it seems we have to hate someone who is doing something we don't do- cycling, 4WDs, trucks etc. I have even met people with a pathological hate for cyclists whose kids ride bikes- bizarre. I have not heard of an instance where a car driver was killed by a collision with a cyclist but regularly hear of cyclists being killed by collisions with cars- rarely the cyclists fault in law but still the same outcome.

But, I do regularly commute to work on a cycle and by far the majority of other road users are respectful. I don't really care if cyclists go through red lights (I don't) as they are the ones that get hurt- not the car drivers. I understand that car drivers aren't always expecting cyclists, especially when the cyclist is travelling a lot faster than the cars so I take responsibility that I am seen as much as I can. And, when I am driving, if a cyclists pulls up next to me, I tell them they can lean on my car- why would I care. Not something I would ever do as a cyclist but doesn't harm me at all if others do it.

One trick I have when I commute is that whilst I ride a flash bike, I wear a pair of stubbies and an old t-shirt. Even though I ride the same as I did when I wore lycra, I get a lot less hassles. I assume that people feel a bit sorry for me in thinking that I have lost my licence or car and have no choice but to cycle!!!

Cheers

Brizmatt

Cyclists and traffic - been there done that - both ways.

As an older student at Uni a few years back I cycled everywhere and being a Uni town, the traffic was somewhat used to cyclists but I still had my share of knock-downs. I went through three bikes in the 10 years at Uni.

What a lot of motorists do not realise, is the amount of dangerously sharp debris that builds up on the side of the road - glass, sharp metals, and stuff that at times forces the cyclist to ride wider than otherwise needed. This seems to be especially bad on corners where the debris gets concentrated by motorists tyres etc.

If you do not believe me, get out of your cars and walk a few kilometres along a busy roadway. Glass and Uni towns are the same as beach towns and babes - always on the look out...

On the motorists side now, and I travel some quiet windy backcountry roads often. A lot of cyclists also use these roads as weekend training grounds and are sometimes in bunchs of up to 12-15 riders. I sometimes have to wait for a few minutes (as a courtesy) for them to sort themselves out into some sembleance of single file. If after a reasonable amount of time, I get pushy and start the down shift and lean on the horn. The message gets through but sometimes I wonder how some of them ever get back home with some of their antics.

They are public roads and are a common ground. Differences in opinion of entitlement are always to happen in common areas.

I ride to work. Although the traffic in bundaberg is considerably less than say sydney, there is a lot of drivers that seem to be asleep at the wheel. That said I ride a mountain bike and don't have much trouble. I think going slower gives people time to work out what should do. One think that is scary is the people that come in really close as they go by (going the same direction as me). I don't know whether it is target fixation (drive where they look) or they are trying to frighten me but it isn't very nice. Specially if it is a bus and it has crossed the white line to go by a foot away. Also a lot of people need to learn where they are driving. 4wders are pretty good, because if you don't learn this the sides of your 4wd get pretty dinted. But so many people don't specially when it comes to cutting corners. On the corner near my house cars regularly go around the corner completely to the left (inside of the corner) of the white line, even the police cars.
I also think that there should be some better sort of education or something for people about the rules and commonsense of riding a bike on the road. For example don't right the wrong way down the road at night with no lights whereing black! I have seen (just) this many times here. You are likely to get run over by a car or another bike.
Dan.