Not our finest 4 minutes in Bristol

[Das]

I find that 'Roads are paid for out of income tax and given I've got a proper job and you drive a van for a living why don't you get off my road' does the job.
For the records I don't really believe the above sentiment but if someone's already past the point of no return it really really does the trick as a retort.

Again Roads are paid out of Council tax budgets, not from income tax. Except building Motorways which is paid from central Government and funded from every taxation you can think of, VAT, PAYE, VED, Tobacco, etc etc.

Lets not go down the bedroom tax route, it is/was a taxation based on the fact that someone living in a council house who is on Housing benefit, living alone, in a 3 bedroom house pays extra because there are families of 5 out there living in a 1 bedroom house and cant get a house suitable for them. The bedroom tax is a great idea, Unfortunately it falls down at the first hurdle because there is no where to move people to who are prepared to move anyway.

 

[palinurus]

Can you really trigger one of those radar "30mph Slow Down" signs on a bike?

Yeah.

There's one on the way home I can't do because it's uphill, but I'm good with the rest of them on the right bike.

 

[dellzeqq]

It's hard to make any judgement about cyclists in Bristol based on this video......other than the obvious one that the motorist in question has a huge chip on his/her shoulder.

and a minute willy

 

[Exile]

A week...

In Portsmouth you could do that in a day!

Following today's commute homw, I'm now sure it would only take a day up here too.

 

[growingvegetables]

Give me a week and I could film and edit together a compilation ......

A week! Somebody's done it a wee bit quicker - got a fair few of your points from the guy's own footage

[edit] Guy's done the same on Keith Peat - couldn't happen to a nicer bloke




[/edit]

 

[Arjimlad]

I think that a lot of Bristol drivers are finding it hard to come to terms with the increased number of cyclists on the roads. They need to pay greater attention & look out for bikes a lot more than hitherto.

My experience of cycling in Bristol is that alongside the riders who keep to the Highway Code & ride predictably and "sensibly", there are plenty of cyclists who jump red lights and do daft things, so drivers are having to get used to looking out for these scofflaw riders as well as the "normal" ones.

In other words, it might be said that drivers are having to learn to think like we cyclists have done for ages, and anticipating bad riding - that car (bike) waiting to join the road will probably pull out in front of you, although you have right of way that oncoming car (bike) isn't going to stop for you, and just because the lights are in your favour it doesn't mean that car (bike) won't carry on into your path regardless..

This represents a challenge too far for certain rather dim drivers like the chappie making the video above. Some of them resent having to learn to pay proper attention and basically, apply advanced driving skills which they have never been taught nor appreciated the need to learn.

 

[summerdays]

I think that a lot of Bristol drivers are finding it hard to come to terms with the increased number of cyclists on the roads. They need to pay greater attention & look out for bikes a lot more than hitherto.

My experience of cycling in Bristol is that alongside the riders who keep to the Highway Code & ride predictably and "sensibly", there are plenty of cyclists who jump red lights and do daft things, so drivers are having to get used to looking out for these scofflaw riders as well as the "normal" ones.

In other words, it might be said that drivers are having to learn to think like we cyclists have done for ages, and anticipating bad riding - that car (bike) waiting to join the road will probably pull out in front of you, although you have right of way that oncoming car (bike) isn't going to stop for you, and just because the lights are in your favour it doesn't mean that car (bike) won't carry on into your path regardless..

This represents a challenge too far for certain rather dim drivers like the chappie making the video above. Some of them resent having to learn to pay proper attention and basically, apply advanced driving skills which they have never been taught nor appreciated the need to learn.

Only a minority of drivers, I think most cope with the cyclists. I'm not sure what will happen in the future as the number hopefully continues to grow. There was a report based on the census figures where they worked out that in certain age groups (under 40's) it is more common not to commute by car than it is to use a car in certain areas of Bristol (Bishopston/Redland etc). Depends how road space is taken from the car and allocated to the bicycle or other forms of transport. That might get these drivers a little agitated!

 

[Arjimlad]

It is a minority, you're absolutely right, but they are vocal and sufficiently numerous to be a downright nuisance. We certainly have strength in numbers.

 

[CopperBrompton]

If I were to rock up at my local post office and ask to pay my road tax, the response I would get would be "OK love, have you got your insurance and MOT?"

Surely they would reply "Why aren't you doing it at home online? What are you, some kind of barbarian?"

 

[CopperCyclist]

Regarding the road tax old chestnut - I do have to say that as soon as anyone says "road tax was abolished in...." despite being factully correct, albeit in a very narrow sense, they have actully lost the argument before it's even started. I'm a cyclist but for me the difference between "vehicle tax" (or "excise duty" which means "tax" ) and "road tax" is irrelevant, and unless you are prepred to first explain what "hypothecation" means, you'll get nowhere.

Much more likely to pursuade is "how much extra tax do you think I should i pay for not driving today?". Or "how much road tax should my 4 year old daughter pay to ride her bike" or "how much more tax than a hybrid petrol car would be fair for a bike?" "Lorries, and for that matter, bentleys pay more tax than you - should they get right of way?" ... Or "isn't tax proportionate to wearing out the road - so a bike would be fourpence a decde then" etc

The only time I've had to say anything, I just said "that's not how road tax works though. If I bought the right sort of car I wouldn't pay any either" and that was acknowledged quite quickly!