Changing the behaviour of cyclists

[GrasB]

To my mind this is a splitter - http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Front_splitter

In short I don't really understand what you're saying

 

[marinyork]

Well it's not meant to be taken literally but refers to the manufacture of any dairy product.

 

[Norm]

Well it's not meant to be taken literally but refers to the manufacture of any dairy product.

Romanes eunt domus...

Without wishing to further derail the thread, I think that this may help with the understanding.

 

[brokenbetty]

I hear just as many complaints about cyclists doing things that are legal (claiming the lane, riding two aside, not using the cycle lane, filtering) as I do about them doing things that are illegal (RLJ, no lights, etc.) The only conclusion I can draw is that its cyclists that get peoples goats, not any associated law breaking. I think that concentrating on perceived bad behaviour by cyclists is therefore a red herring.

The complaints I hear talking to people about cycling are almost exclusively about cyclists RLJing, pavement cycling and lack of lights.

Liz

 

[BigSteev]

And long may it continue. The fact that pedestrians refuse to be disciplined and corralled is one of the few heartening things about the traffic situation in this country.

Have you tried cycling along Bishopsgate at 9am or 5.30pm? You should. It might change you opinion.

 

[Amanda P]

The complaints I hear talking to people about cycling are almost exclusively about cyclists RLJing, pavement cycling and lack of lights.

Liz

Ah. Well, where I live, there are no red lights and not many pavements. This makes it hard for my neighbours to complain about them being jumped or ridden on. (The lights and pavements, that is, not the neighbours...)

They are not slow, however (and we're back to neighbours now), to complain that they were held up for five seconds by Mrs Uncle Phil and I wanting to be able to communicate over whether or not we're taking the next turn.

 

[marinyork]

The complaints I hear talking to people about cycling are almost exclusively about cyclists RLJing, pavement cycling and lack of lights.

Liz

The complaints I hear are these too but it's unlikely the people complaining have ever actually seen such activities. Last night I saw a NINJA (saw being the important bit), a whole one. Wow.

 

[theclaud]

Have you tried cycling along Bishopsgate at 9am or 5.30pm? You should. It might change you opinion.

Not that I can recall, on a weekday anyway. But there are plenty of places in cities where high levels of pedestrian activity makes a place not good to cycle through at certain times. Very different kind of space and movement, but the Mumbles-Swansea bike path is unbearable to use on summer weekends. A lot of people seem to think the answer is to get strict with pedestrians about where they may and may not walk. I think the answer is to put up with it, or go a different way.

 

[marinyork]

Not that I can recall, on a weekday anyway. But there are plenty of places in cities where high levels of pedestrian activity makes a place not good to cycle through at certain times. Very different kind of space and movement, but the Mumbles-Swansea bike path is unbearable to use on summer weekends. A lot of people seem to think the answer is to get strict with pedestrians about where they may and may not walk. I think the answer is to put up with it, or go a different way.

Absolutely, although that opinion has lead to much criticism when it has been aired on CC and C+ or accusations of aggressive riding.

 

[John the Monkey]

I think the answer is to put up with it, or go a different way.

I agree entirely. People attempting personal bests on shared use paths are putting themselves and pedestrians at risk, and would be better off on the road.

 

[GrasB]

With all due respect to people who don't ride bikes, simply they don't have a clue. I don't go for PBs but I'm capable of sustaining 19-21mph for longish periods on the flat with reasonable wind conditions. At that speed it's simply not safe to be using a shared cycle path. There are some I use but they're out in the country side, seldom used by peds (the one running along the A1301 between the A505 roundabout & Hinxton for example) & if there is a ped I'll slow right down to pass.

My opinion is such; if you're going to make provision for cycling you need to make separated cycle ways where peds aren't allowed, else you're effectively making problems for faster cyclists who want to ride quickly & safely

 

[brokenbetty]

The complaints I hear are these too but it's unlikely the people complaining have ever actually seen such activities. Last night I saw a NINJA (saw being the important bit), a whole one. Wow.

I don't know where you live, but on my commute pretty much every red light is RLJed. The people I hear complaining see such activities daily just getting from the station to the office.

 

[Cab]

I don't know where you live, but on my commute pretty much every red light is RLJed. The people I hear complaining see such activities daily just getting from the station to the office.

Its odd that its cyclists RLJing who get the goat of motorists. Last night I stopped, on my bike, at a red light that the three cars in front of me jumped by a mile. And thats a daily event; more often than not at every single junction I stop at I'll see a car go through at red, usually accelerating. Will I hear anyone bellyaching about that at work today? I doubt it...

Its not about the law breaking, its about being seen to be different.

 

[Cab]

Number of traffic lights at red this morning (visible as being red from where I was): 4

Number at which any motorised vehicle went through at red: 4

Number of such vehicles going through at red: 7 (maybe 8)

Number at which bikes went through at red: 1

Number of bikes going through at red: 2

This whole 'they hate us for going through red lights...' thing is a complete red herring. Thats just a tool by which they vocalise a more deep seated resentment. There is a name for a phenomenon where you can criticise another group specifically for doing something that is not definitive of that group any more than one you're part of; prejudice.

 

[John the Monkey]

Cab's spot on.

I guarantee that the letters page of my local paper is 100% more likely to feature whinging about cyclist not using cycle paths, lights etc locally than it is to feature the trucks that drive on the pavement to get around queueing traffic on the Crewe Road/Weston Road roundabout, or the motor traffic that routinely blocks the pedestrian and toucan crossings in the same location.