Calm down, calm down

[Pale Rider]

A cyclist in Liverpool got very cross when a parked car blocked a marked cycle lane.

At first blush, you might ask why the cyclist didn't just swerve around the car.

It's a one-way street with a contra cycle lane, so swerving around the car would have put the cyclist in direct conflict with oncoming traffic, including buses, as the Streetview image shows.

No excuse for damaging the car, but very poor form by the motorist, especially as he reckons he's a cyclist as well.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/new...761.607492061.1521799263-693348073.1430557524

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4...100.27156&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656

 

[Slick]

No real excuse for damaging the car, he will rightly be prosecuted for that. Who did the driver get permission from to park outside the hotel?

A bit of common sense could have prevailed there.

 

[Lonestar]

There have been some quite shocking ones on the CS 3 including a van parking on the downward gradient (2 way stretch) just past Tower Gateway towards Southwark Bridge...but no big deal just get over it or argue if you want.I know what I'd rather do.

Happens all the time but I'm fed up with arguing and getting nowhere (literally) anyway.

 

[winjim]

Looking at the google maps link it seems people routinely park outside the hotel. Take a photo, walk the bike round, continue with your journey and then complain to the hotel and the local council later, at your convenience, while sat in front of your computer with a nice cup of tea.

 

[Pale Rider]

There didn't appear to be much traffic so the cyclist could have nipped around the car without putting himself at risk.

No one can give the driver 'permission' to contravene the Road Traffic Acts, although I'm not certain of the status of the cycle lane.

It's marked by a solid white line which, as a general point, drivers should not cross.

Given it's outside a hotel, parking wardens may be turning a blind eye to loading and unloading.

 

[Drago]

It's not a question of risk - it's a question of the cyclist then riding contrary to traffic flow in a road. Even if it were safe, why should a cyclist be compelled to break road traffic law in order to allow someone to park illegally?

The cyclist is a twot for damaging the car, but make absolutely no mistake - there was no lawful or moral justification whatsoever for the car being parked where it was.

While I don't condone what the cyclist did, I find difficulty working up any sympathy for the motorist. From the tone and nature of the motorists slightly ill advised comments, I do not believe what he says when he claims to be a cyclist himself, and don't think he's an especially conscientious or knowledgeable motorist either.

Still, one piece of good will come of this. That's one BMW driver who won't ever park in a cycle lane again!

 

[theclaud]

It's not a question of risk - it's a question of the cyclist then riding contrary to traffic flow in a road. Even if it were safe, why should a cyclist be compelled to break road traffic law in order to allow someone to park illegally?

The cyclist is a twot for damaging the car, but make absolutely no mistake - there was no lawful or moral justification whatsoever for the car being parked where it was.

While I don't condone what the cyclist did, I find difficulty working up any sympathy for the motorist. From the tone and nature of the motorists slightly ill advised comments, I do not believe what he says when he claims to be a cyclist himself, and don't think he's an especially conscientious or knowledgeable motorist either.

Still, one piece of good will come of this. That's one BMW driver who won't ever park in a cycle lane again!

This. 'I'm a keen cyclist myself,' said No Actual Cyclist Ever.

 

[Lonestar]

Liverpool2733
if that was a red light the cyclist would of jumped on the curb to avoid stopping.

 

[LCpl Boiled Egg]

This. 'I'm a keen cyclist myself,' said No Actual Cyclist Ever.

Doesn't that mean 'I have a Halfords Apollo with flat tyres in my shed?'

(My phone autocorrected that to Halfords Apology... hee hee)

 

[Racing roadkill]

By all means point out they’ve parked in a poor position, but booting the car is too much, it adds fuel to the ‘cyclists are knobheads’ fire.

 

[si_c]

I knew exactly where that was before reading the article. It's a common problem on that street, vehicles of all types park there, often right up to the entry into the cycle path at the top of the road. Used to really grind my gears when I worked 100yds from there and used it on my commute.

The bigger problem with that road though is that the road at the end of the contraflow is also one way, and the cycle track ends unexpectedly 5 feet from the junction, which is a separate right hand lane on the bigger road.

So you find yourself facing oncoming traffic with nowhere to go.