Is it illegal to ride up the inside of cars at traffic lights...

[Crankarm]

"Ride up the inside of cars........."

 

[Tynan]

my post was measured and serious and considered, I'm far from cavalier in my riding and my accidents per mile are bloody good given it's London rush hour riding

peds die falling down the stairs, I wasn' suggesting a ped can't be killed by a bike ffs

the ones that said sorry and walked off had all caused the accident, usually by running out into the road without warning, usually from from behind a high sided vehicle, I was usually still lying in the road when they said sorry and walked off

god knows why I'm bothering to explain my post, it was simple enough

based on the posts preceding mine, the tips and rules given would mean never getting to work in London, that was the thrust of my post

 

[CopperBrompton]

If they walk out from behind a vehicle and you are overtaking it at the time, the fault is 50/50: you were both moving into an area without the necessary forward vision. Legally, you have the greater responsibility as it is a requirement when overtaking to be able to satisfy yourself that you can safely complete the manouvre while there is no corresponding requirement for pedestrians.

 

[jefmcg]

In London I assume that every pedestrian is about to leap under my wheels. If they are standing waiting to cross, and aren't looking at me, I (ring my bell/slow down/swing around so I won't hit them), depending on circumstances. If they are near the kerb with no indication they are planning to cross, but not looking towards me, I (give a gentle ting/swing around) in case they make a sudden move across the road. If I am filtering past stopped traffic, particularly buses, then I go really slowly, and ring my bell like an ice cream seller or pedicab driver, so they know to look out while crossing. I know if I didn't do all these things, I would have hit a pedestrian by now.

Yup, I go much slower than Tynan, but I think it's my duty not to hit pedestrians the same way as I believe it's drivers' duty not to hit me. So far, so good on both counts.

(I've got a better route through London, so I have managed to avoid putting a bell on my road bike so far. Just saying "ting ting" - literally - on occasion, and more often "look out" in a measured tone. )

 

[Crankarm]

The answer is an Airzound.

 

[BentMikey]

Tynan, you might be interested to see this video of a driver hitting a pedestrian:

 

[BentMikey]

If they walk out from behind a vehicle and you are overtaking it at the time, the fault is 50/50: you were both moving into an area without the necessary forward vision. Legally, you have the greater responsibility as it is a requirement when overtaking to be able to satisfy yourself that you can safely complete the manouvre while there is no corresponding requirement for pedestrians.

I think you ought to be more careful before leaping to unjustified condemnation. I've ridden briefly with Tynan, and I think he's pretty careful and a good rider.

I'd like to think I'm pretty careful around pedestrians too, but I also appreciate that I ride in areas and at times that tend to have lower risk factors than some of Tynan's commute has. I've had two misses and one very minor collision with peds in 40,000 London miles, all at very low speed. I hope I can carry on with as good a record as this for the next 40,000.

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

I've had two collisions one in 1991 (Tower Bridge) and the second in 2006....I blame myself for both,the first was due to my inexperience (four peds stepped out into the road but I think I should have possibly read it better and seen it coming) and the second was due to three peds running from the other side of the road,in Walthamstow.If I had seen the run though I could have prevented it. (luckily they were unhurt and I almost managed to avoid them till they realised I was there and stopped in front of me).The other day I caught a mother with a buggy running from the other side of the road through traffic,but I had already caught it and knew what was going to happen.Unfortunately I didn't get it on camera.You have to really concentrate all the time in traffic or you will come a cropper.Strangely enough at St Pauls (same day as the buggy incident) I had a ped rush from the other side of the road (again) and make a dash for it after a taxi had passed him,saw him very late with his mobile phone glued to his ear.(it was also night time which didn't help)

 

[CopperBrompton]

I think you ought to be more careful before leaping to unjustified condemnation. I've ridden briefly with Tynan, and I think he's pretty careful and a good rider.

If a car driver had hit five or six cyclists while overtaking traffic, would you consider them a pretty careful and good driver?

 

[BentMikey]

That is a straw man, an extreme example which I don't believe is even slightly relevant to Tynan's example, and it's not worth answering.

I don't consider your behaviour here at all considerate or honourable. I'm sure you're a better person than this.

 

[CotterPin]

my post was measured and serious and considered, I'm far from cavalier in my riding and my accidents per mile are bloody good given it's London rush hour riding

peds die falling down the stairs, I wasn' suggesting a ped can't be killed by a bike ffs

the ones that said sorry and walked off had all caused the accident, usually by running out into the road without warning, usually from from behind a high sided vehicle, I was usually still lying in the road when they said sorry and walked off

god knows why I'm bothering to explain my post, it was simple enough

based on the posts preceding mine, the tips and rules given would mean never getting to work in London, that was the thrust of my post

I have cycled in London, in the rush hour and on the busiest stretches of road for years, and I have never yet hit any pedestrians and I manage to get to my destination in good time.
Am I doing something wrong?

 

[BentMikey]

I have cycled in London, in the rush hour and on the busiest stretches of road for years, and I have never yet hit any pedestrians and I manage to get to my destination in good time.
Am I doing something wrong?

I'd suspect a combination of being careful and of being lucky.

I've seen a number of posts from cyclists complaining about pedestrians running into the side of them whilst stopped at the lights. Were those cyclists doing something wrong?

 

[CopperBrompton]

That is a straw man, an extreme example which I don't believe is even slightly relevant to Tynan's example

How is it not relevant? Sure, if a pedestrian runs into you while you're stationary, there's no issue, but Tynan said that he had hit five or six pedestrians while overtaking traffic. I would expect anyone who had hit even one pedestrian let alone several to reconsider the way they manoevre around blind-spots, whether that person is driving a car or riding a bicycle.

I don't consider your behaviour here at all considerate or honourable. I'm sure you're a better person than this.

Um, we're having a perfectly polite discussion about safety. There is nothing inconsiderate or 'dishonourable' about that ...

 

[CotterPin]

I am reluctant to comment on whether other people's cycling behaviour is wrong or not but I can tell you what I do.
I ride out in the middle of lane away from the kerb and parked cars so if people do step out I have time to see them (and they may have time to see me as well), I ride covering the brakes almost all the time, and I keep a look out all the time. Can't say their haven't been a few hairy moments when somebody has stepped out in front of me and I have thought it is all going to go horribly wrong but so far (touch wood) I have been lucky and both of us have stayed upright and uninjured.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I do the same, and overtake past blindspots at little more than walking pace.

When I was 19 years old, I collided with the pedestrian who stepped out from between two stationary vehicles whilst I was filtering past. The lesson I drew from this was that I had insufficient vision into blindspots, and was cycling too quickly for the conditions. I modified my cycling and it hasn't happened again.