Anti Social Cycling to be targetting in Cambridge

[outlash]

The thing is though, the pattern I see for these problems is thus - the students leave & the amount of problems with cyclists reduce dramatically....

That's right on the button. My dad is a bus driver in Cambridge and he tells me that Stagecoach Cambridge has by far the worst accident record throughout the company because a large proportion of undergrads have the road sense of bacteria. Driving wise, it's even worse for him than where he used to work down in East London.

The funny thing is that these student bikes aren't even theirs, they hire them from a company....


Tony..

 

[russ.will]

That's right on the button. My dad is a bus driver in Cambridge and he tells me that Stagecoach Cambridge has by far the worst accident record throughout the company because a large proportion of undergrads have the road sense of bacteria. Driving wise, it's even worse for him than where he used to work down in East London.

The funny thing is that these student bikes aren't even theirs, they hire them from a company....


Tony..

There are two student populations in Cambridge. The undergrads who tend to have their own bikes, permanently occupying 50% of the cities cycle stands and the foreign language students, who fill the other 50% with their hire bikes during the summer.

The latter tend to have lights, which is handy for spotting them cycling on the wrong ide of the road. The former are harder to spot and neither are cyclists for the sake of it.

Russell

 

[PK99]

Too true. Cyclists tend to put themselves at risk -
...

not when cycling on the pavement or over pedestrian crossings against the lights.

 

[outlash]

There are two student populations in Cambridge. The undergrads who tend to have their own bikes, permanently occupying 50% of the cities cycle stands and the foreign language students, who fill the other 50% with their hire bikes during the summer.

The latter tend to have lights, which is handy for spotting them cycling on the wrong side of the road. The former are harder to spot and neither are cyclists for the sake of it.

I know the guy who repairs these bikes and he has them year round so I'm guessing there is a fair few students from these shores as well as the foreign students.

I think you're right though, none of them are cyclists as such, it's a fashion thing. Personally, if I have to venture into Cambridge I use the park & ride.


Tony.

 

[David Haworth]

[QUOTE 2205492, member: 45"]I've even seen someone ticketed for parking facing the wring way. [/quote]

What's the problem with parking the wrong way? I thought the only issue was that at night, you need to put parking lights on as you're not showing traffic a reflector.

David

 

[GrasB]

If I drove around at night and/or in the fog without lights

Not without lights but seeing missing & faulty lights on a daily basis. I've also saw people driving around with side lights on in thick fog over the summer & on a few days recently.

or up pedestrian only streets

Cycling down streets which are pedestrian only? That's a little tame compared to some drivers! For construction access 2 bollards were taken out to allow mini-digers access to a court yard, on a daily basis I see motorists driving down path between two lines of trees which is only just wide enough for a car. This means that peds literally have to squeeze them selves into the bushes to allow the cars past. I've also found my self presented with a car being driven across a very well cared for grass area because "I can't be bothered to drive back down to the main road"

or the wrong way up a one-way street

Seen weekly if not daily by motorists

I'd expect to be pulled up. If I was caught in an un-roadworthy car, I'd expect it to be impounded.

You might do but it seems to me a fair number of drivers don't

Driving through Cambridge the other night, all of these behaviours were in evidence and sometimes, they were combined.

So do I from motorists & people on bikes a like... I'm failing to see why cyclists should be singled out.

 

[Hitchington]

Too true. Cyclists tend to put themselves at risk - drivers behaving illegally tend to put others at risk.

But then again I see plenty of cyclists riding on pavements and through red lights/zebra crossings putting pedestrians at risk.

 

[David Haworth]

[QUOTE 2206100, member: 45"]At night you'd have no reflector facing oncoming traffic.[/quote]

afaik, you should not park facing traffic during the day, but you must not park facing traffic at night. IE the problem is night not just parking facing traffic. that said, I was under the impression that you could park facing traffic at night if you had your parking lights on. can't seem to find anything saying so though so maybe I just made that up?

david

 

[outlash]

I hate to tell you Tony but Cambridge (and Stagecoach in particular) have some of the worst bus drivers around - that's why their accident record is the worst...

Some of the cyclists round here aren't saints - but the cab and bus drivers have a tendency toward being psychotic. I thought London bus drivers were bad - but some of the ones round here make them look positively excellent.

Sorry, but I disagree. I drive for a living and I know just how bad people on the road can be, cyclists or otherwise. The problem with Cambridge and a lot of city centres is that the streets simply aren't big enough for the amount of traffic and the size of the vehicles, especially double decker buses. Add into the mix a large 'cycling' student population with largely no road sense, selfish cabbies, tourists and the rest of it, it's a receipe for disaster.
To pick out Stagecoach in particular is a bit harsh too, they run most of the buses in Cambridge. I'm sure the drivers are no better on routes run by Go Whippet etc etc.
If you took away the student population, the accident record would drop dramatically. I'd put money on it. When I've had to drive into Cambridge, the amount of students riding like idiots is horrifying. Ask yourself this: Would you drive a double decker bus round the city working to a relatively strict timetable? I know I wouldn't.


Tony.

 

[russ.will]

Not without lights but seeing missing & faulty lights on a daily basis. I've also saw people driving around with side lights on in thick fog over the summer & on a few days recently.


Cycling down streets which are pedestrian only? That's a little tame compared to some drivers! For construction access 2 bollards were taken out to allow mini-digers access to a court yard, on a daily basis I see motorists driving down path between two lines of trees which is only just wide enough for a car. This means that peds literally have to squeeze them selves into the bushes to allow the cars past. I've also found my self presented with a car being driven across a very well cared for grass area because "I can't be bothered to drive back down to the main road"


Seen weekly if not daily by motorists


You might do but it seems to me a fair number of drivers don't



So do I from motorists & people on bikes a like... I'm failing to see why cyclists should be singled out.

They're not being singled out. There are purges on all forms of transport offences from time to time. This time, it's the cyclists turn. Imagine if they started breathalizing them....

Russell

 

[russ.will]

But then again I see plenty of cyclists riding on pavements and through red lights/zebra crossings putting pedestrians at risk.

Quite. I need eyes in the back of my head when walking around town with my 3 year old.

Russell

 

[outlash]

You'd lose. Accident rates don't really vary with term times.

But:

There are two student populations in Cambridge. The undergrads who tend to have their own bikes, permanently occupying 50% of the cities cycle stands and the foreign language students, who fill the other 50% with their hire bikes during the summer.

Anyway, the fact is that it's difficult to get around the city at the best of times and any attempt to get people riding/driving better is a good thing.


Tony.

 

[semislickstick]

That's right on the button. My dad is a bus driver in Cambridge and he tells me that Stagecoach Cambridge has by far the worst accident record throughout the company because a large proportion of undergrads have the road sense of bacteria. Driving wise, it's even worse for him than where he used to work down in East London.




Tony..

Stagecoach got a fair bit of stick for hitting cyclists/bikes on the guided bus route itself...twice. Both drivers admitting sounding horn, one is said to have sounded the horn three times, one followed the bike for some distance but seemed unable to use their brakes.(The guided bus has a about a foot wide track, so no sudden swerving or "came out of nowhere" excuses.)
I live in a town outside Cambridge but certainly the same drivers pass though on route, there are some, even with plenty of road space closely pass and overtake just before pinch points and junctions, it does seem to me that either some aren't skilled or have a general disdain for cyclists (maybe jaded after their experiences with student Cambridge!).
Having said that, I remember one very good stagecoach driver, patient and a proper overtakes, but it was late in the evening so maybe not under so much pressure to keep to the timetable, which I imagine is probably a factor too.

 

[Crankarm]

I just want to say that Stagecoach drivers are very poor bus drivers. But Whippet Coaches are driven by psychopaths. On Castle Hill about this time, a few days before Christmas, I was walking by the lights with Chesterton Road and saw a Stagecoach double decker coming down the hill to the lights, a red light. As th bus came to an abrupt halt, didn't think it would stop, I glanced to the driver and saw that he was texting away on his mobile/i-pad. Could tell as it was dark and the screen was illuminating his shirt and face. Now if I were a passenger on this bus and could see him doing this I would have grabbed the phone and asked WTF he thought he was doing endangering the lives of his passengers and those road users around him that he could crush and likely kill.

Also I have seen MANY MANY Stagecoach buses swing round the junction with Jesus Lane into Bridge Street with a get the f***k out of my way style of driving causing peds to scatter. I banged on the side of one double decker as the pyscho driver nearly crushed 2 14-15 year old girls who were on the pavement on the corner outside the patisserie waiting patiently to cross. I have also been standing on the pavement outside the Round Church and maniac Stagecoach drivers pull round the corner off Bridge Street down past CATS at full pelt. They use their buses as battering rams against anyone on the pavement who gets in the way. Once I was on this piece of pavement, my stuff on the chruch wall, putting on extra layers and one of these maniac Stagecoach buses came round the corner. I didn't hear it as I am a bit deaf in one ear. I got one hell of fright as the Stagecoach driver emergency stopped literally one inch from my body. And I was on the pavement, not on the edge, but adjacent to the church wall. The bus driver was fuming. A traffic warden told me to get out the way. So I took my time putting on my jersey. Obviously Stagecoach has a very casual attitude to the safety of other road users as their drivers bully their way around the bus routes. In Cambridge there are many sharp turns and the front of the buses goes right over the pavement which you can imagine puts a lot of people in danger. The Stagecoach drivers don't give a fig about peds. But as I say Whippet Coach drivers are an altogether more deranged bunch of pyschopaths. They don't even bother to pull out to give you space when approaching you from behind, forcing you off the road, they never ever dip their main beam headlights on the GBW thus blinding you and at junctions they pull out deliberately and cut you up. They are c***s.

 

[MisterStan]

So i think we've established that SOME bus drivers are awful and SOME bus drivers are OK. SOME Cambridge cyclists are awful and SOME of them are OK. And all Go Whippet drivers are Psychos. Either way, this crackdown can only be a good thing for those of us who do actually behave ourselves. I got stopped by a Policeman a couple of weeks ago, he asked where i got my lights from as he was after a new set!