Cyclists - Please stop at red lights

[Crankarm]

RLJers are who Airzounds were made for.

 

[Brandane]

In order to transfer responsibility for the outcomes of their members' actions to the potential victims.

Or perhaps just offering some sound advice?
Talking from experience here; I have had the odd cyclist and car driver trying to squeeze up my left side while I am actually turning left! Now that is just plain crazy. Not talking traffic lights here, just a normal left turn. Indicators on. Problem being that an artic has to swing out to the right first if the corner is in any way tight, in order to get the trailer wheels round the corner without demolishing the street furniture. At that point your eyes have to be everywhere - checking ahead, to both sides and behind. It is also when the blind spots develop, because your tractor unit is at an angle to the trailer. Therefore the nearside mirror is pointing directly at the left side of the trailer; nothing else. If there is a cyclist down your left side at that point, you CANNOT see it. Blind-spot mirrors can help but they are not 100% reliable, especially in the rain.

 

[Brandane]

Oh sorry, I thought you were speaking on their behalf

Full stop at the end of sentences.

 

[Red Light]

[QUOTE 1845505, member: 45"]Until you stop posting nonsense like that (which you wouldn't have to if you had understood my posts on here) you'll struggle to gain any credibility.

Reconsider your intentional or ignorant choice of language.

You're biggest problem is your process of want>google>try to justify want , while discussing the issue with people who have beend researching this and objectively learning for a long time.[/quote]

As someone who has "beend researching this and objectively learning for a long time" you will of course be able to break you long time tradition and actually provide some evidence for your case.

And lets just look at the "nonsense" you highlighted in what I posted:

RLJing is not by any measure dangerous

2 deaths in London over five years from RLJing cf 89 deaths total over that period and cycling is, as has been discussed already ad nauseam, a safe activity and one comparable with walking. So RLJing is at least ten time safer than that.

no-one is suggesting they pull away from a lorry into the path of another vehicle as you speculate

[QUOTE 1845455, member: 45"]I'll repeat -you're suggesting that those who cannot manage junctions safely within the current expected and accepted boundaries would be safer ignoring reds and placing themselves in the path of other vehicles. [/quote]

So who exactly is talking nonsense here? Perhaps you should take your own advice and read what you wrote.

 

[Red Light]

Are you a Politician or what? Well versed in evading the point in any case. This is what you said was nonsense....


It is not nonsense, as there is a training program in place to make HGV drivers aware of cyclists. They have to pass a test to go on the road. Whether or not they follow that training once on the road is up to the individual, but that is not relevant to your argument - the training IS there. Cyclists on the other hand are perfectly free to go out on the road without any sort of training.

Car drivers also have to do hazard awareness tests including the presence of cyclists as part of their training and licensing. Yet it is those "trained" drivers who are adjudged at fault in the overwhelming majority of cyclist accidents, not the "untrained" cyclists. Training of drivers is a red herring and is demonstrably ineffective.

 

[Red Light]

RLJers are who Airzounds were made for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapons

 

[Red Light]

Or perhaps just offering some sound advice?
Talking from experience here; I have had the odd cyclist and car driver trying to squeeze up my left side while I am actually turning left! Now that is just plain crazy. Not talking traffic lights here, just a normal left turn. Indicators on. Problem being that an artic has to swing out to the right first if the corner is in any way tight, in order to get the trailer wheels round the corner without demolishing the street furniture. At that point your eyes have to be everywhere - checking ahead, to both sides and behind. It is also when the blind spots develop, because your tractor unit is at an angle to the trailer. Therefore the nearside mirror is pointing directly at the left side of the trailer; nothing else. If there is a cyclist down your left side at that point, you CANNOT see it. Blind-spot mirrors can help but they are not 100% reliable, especially in the rain.

I can share lots of war stories of HGV drivers doing stupid and dangerous things too. Like overtaking and pulling back in once the cab is past the cyclist, like diving from the outside lane into a parking bay despite a cyclist being between it and them or overtaking when the road narrows up ahead and there is no chance of them being able to complete the overtake. Other large vehicles have nowhere near the accident and killing rate with cyclists that lorries do (and I am not just talking articulated HGVs but construction and delivery vehicles too)

 

[ianrauk]

You know what's worse then a rlj'r?
A rlj'r wearing Hi-Viz.

 

[Red Light]

You know what's worse then a rlj'r?
A rlj'r wearing Hi-Viz.

Nah, nobody notices you if you are wearing urban camouflage

 

[Crankarm]

Car drivers also have to do hazard awareness tests including the presence of cyclists as part of their training and licensing. Yet it is those "trained" drivers who are adjudged at fault in the overwhelming majority of cyclist accidents, not the "untrained" cyclists. Training of drivers is a red herring and is demonstrably ineffective.

LoL. Are you for real?

 

[400bhp]

Training of drivers is a red herring and is demonstrably ineffective.

Quoted for posterity.

 

[her_welshness]

eh?

 

[Crankarm]

Forget motor vehicles, I think RLJing cyclists pose a major danger to OTHER cyclists and pedestrians. I don't care if they get squished by a truck, bus, car or van. Sad for the their families but their own silly fault. Feck 'em. Traffic signs and signals are in place for everyone's safety. You simply can't choose which ones to obey and which to break for your own selfish convenience.

Recently I have had several almost take me out as I legitmately cross the road at a junction. On friday a volley of abuse was hurled back at me by one charming RLJEr. The best way to teach them is an umbrella through their spokes, a cheap umbrella mind.

 

[PK99]

Car drivers also have to do hazard awareness tests including the presence of cyclists as part of their training and licensing. Yet it is those "trained" drivers who are adjudged at fault in the overwhelming majority of cyclist accidents, not the "untrained" cyclists. Training of drivers is a red herring and is demonstrably ineffective.

... and it is therefore a good idea to advise cyclists to be assertively defensive and to avoid putting themselves along side hgvs or jumping red lights.

 

[her_welshness]

Oh I entirely agree, having nearly been taken out by them on my commute quite regularly - it is f*cking aggravating. I have though seen (with pleasure) other cyclists that have proceeded through the red light and then you pass them as they are chatting to plod. They have been doing this regularly on the Embankment.

I think we should consider the semantics of RLJ and also the fact that we could call it 'early traffic lights' for cyclists on some of the most dangerous junctions. Something which I gather they are trying to implement at the Bow roundabout.

Sorry Mikey, I should have known to have been more specific , as you are going eastbound along Grosvenor Road and then turning right onto Vauxhall Bridge which is going southbound.