Nothing selective about it. I fully quoted you in both instances.
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Yes - there are nasty malignant car drivers who are inconsiderate to cyclists
Yes - there are nasty malignant cyclists who are inconsiderate to motorists.
I have nothing against a thread or rant against the above. Go right ahead and complain about bad drivers, bad riders, bad service at the pub too. It's your right
Demands for "special care" for cyclists simply because they are more vulnerable is a totally different matter to the above. You should expect no more than to have the same rights/responsibilities as any other road user.
Perhaps it isn't so much a case of rights/responsibilities/duty of care/ or anything like that.
Maybe it is just a case of what you are prepared to have on your conscience, possibly for the rest of your life.
If you fail to give another car driver enough room or right of way, you might have to live with the fact that you scratched someone else's pride and joy and might lose your no claim bonus on your insurance policy.
If you fail to give a cyclist enough room or right of way, they might finish up under your wheels or under the wheels of another vehicle. The consequences of that might easily be the death of the cyclist.
Which of those two things would you prefer to have on your conscience?
everyone is vulnerable
a pedestrian is vulnerable to a bike
a bike a vulnerable to a car
a car is vulnerable to a truck
a truck is vulnerable to a semi
Not giving adequate clearance.... IS a matter of (NOT) giving what is due.
My argument starts with the premis that a cyclist should be given what he is due, proper clearances and regard. Nothing more special than any other road user.
You just argued from a place where the cyclist is denied his due. That's a matter for a thread about bad drivers. Doesn't have any weight regards special privs for cyclists.
Exactly.
Now let me be the devil's advocate. The (invalid) argument, about special privileges for certain road users, sees the tables turned back the other way - what if a ****ing stupid ignorant careless example of a cyclist tosses his own life under my wheels through his own carelessness or recklessness and causes me pain and suffering and anguish over his death - despite it being NO fault of mine at all.
In fact I dread this every day I drive in Malaysia because it is a very real possibility, happens to someone every day here. Then, not only do I suffer anguish for the rest of my life uncomforted by the knowledge it wasn't my fault - I will be rotting in jail too.
But this too, please realize! as I do, is a matter for a thread complaining about bad drivers/riders. It doesn't justify expectations for special care or privilege for any road user.
This possibly unique risk I face (kamikaze road users) is well understood by me. As are the consequences even if a death is not my fault. I still drive on the road regardless THIS "vulnerability" that I feel/face. I choose to take this risk. I could choose to take public transport but it is not why I want.
I do NOT feel a need to lobby for my protection as if I have a special right to have my vulnerability insulated from those life&liberty threatening two wheelers on the roads.
Taxes go to one big pot which is then spent according to however the current government would like to spend it.
With cyclists using the roads there is an argument that there is less use by cars which reduces damage, along with a reduction in traffic so there is less need to build and subsequently maintain new roads. Cycling for either sport, recreation or commuting on the roads also reduces health issues which reduces the cost of global healthcare, which in turn means more money can be spent elsewhere.
You are welcome.
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