"Should cycling be banned altogether?"

[Shut Up Legs]

Ah, someone's found another anti-cyclist thread. One of those threads where they never let the facts get in the way of a good prejudiced rant. The facts are that cyclists, motorists and all other types of road user have a certain percentage that use the road in a dangerous fashion. The different groups don't just share that characteristic either; they're all practised at placing the blame on the other groups' shoulders.

It's a shame that the UK and Australia don't have the strict liability laws, which recognise another undeniable fact; cyclists are far more vulnerable on the roads than motorists.

Regards,

--- Victor.

 

[hackbike 666]

Unfortunately or fortunately cars are getting safer, pity about some drivers though.

Safer for the drivers but not peds and vulnerable road users...

 

[mcshroom]

Safer for the drivers but not peds and vulnerable road users...

Safer for drivers and the people they hit. Cars have been redesigned to have softer front ends that crumple more easily to remove some of the energy from the impact. Bull bars have just about gone (which were incredibly unsafe for anyone that they hit) and marque badges have been removed (jaguars for example) or designed to fold on impact (merc).

None of these mean that it is now safe to hit a person with a car, it never has been and never will be, but they do mean that a car impact is slightly safer than it used to be. Unfortunately they can't upgrade the drivers at the same time or fit mobile phone jammers as standard.

 

[downfader]

Ah, someone's found another anti-cyclist thread. One of those threads where they never let the facts get in the way of a good prejudiced rant. The facts are that cyclists, motorists and all other types of road user have a certain percentage that use the road in a dangerous fashion. The different groups don't just share that characteristic either; they're all practised at placing the blame on the other groups' shoulders.

It's a shame that the UK and Australia don't have the strict liability laws, which recognise another undeniable fact; cyclists are far more vulnerable on the roads than motorists.

Regards,

--- Victor.

The point is we should be actively trying to stop them. Campaigning, raising awareness that an area has issues and using the reporting functions of websites to remove abusive stuff.

The thing is I've anways found yahoo answers to be pretty pro-cyclist. To find something this anti was a shock.

 

[ufkacbln]

Unfortunately or fortunately cars are getting safer, pity about some drivers though.

Again - debatable...safe for whom?

MAybe for occupants, but that is back to Clotaire Rapaille's targeted marketing of SUV's - the identified target was poor drivers who knew they were likely to have accidents and wanted the other person to be worse off.

A couple of years ago one of the Jeep models (Grand Cherokee) became the first vehicle to score ZER0 on the EuroNCAP pedestrian safety testing and is still on the roads in unchanged form.

Most vehicles only score 25 - 40% on these tests, the best scoring in the eighties

What would be nice to see is an insurance recognition where the premium cost soars if you buy a vehicle you know has a low pedestrian safety rating. You have chosen to drive a dangerous vehicle and this should be reflected

 

[HLaB]

Again - debatable...safe for whom?

MAybe for occupants, but that is back to Clotaire Rapaille's targeted marketing of SUV's - the identified target was poor drivers who knew they were likely to have accidents and wanted the other person to be worse off.

A couple of years ago one of the Jeep models (Grand Cherokee) became the first vehicle to score ZER0 on the EuroNCAP pedestrian safety testing and is still on the roads in unchanged form.

Most vehicles only score 25 - 40% on these tests, the best scoring in the eighties

What would be nice to see is an insurance recognition where the premium cost soars if you buy a vehicle you know has a low pedestrian safety rating. You have chosen to drive a dangerous vehicle and this should be reflected

Yip, its debatable. Some how that Jeep NCAP result doesn't surprise me but . It might be an urban myth but I heard 4x4's, like the jeep get away with having bumpers too high which is more dangerous to the ped; as they are classed as agricultural vehicles. How many are actually driven off road?

I'm probably rambling here as usual, but there is also a theory that by making the car safer, the driver compensates and takes more risks

 

[BentMikey]

Most of all, we need two things - many more traffic police out there, enforcing traffic law with zero tolerance. That will do wonders for the collision rate, and the number of KSIs of all road users, not just for driving standards.

 

[hackbike 666]

Fewer cyclists are being killed on the roads, even tho' levels of cycling are starting to rise. Fewer pedestrians and car occupants are being killed on the roads. Ergo the roads are getting safer.

We do not know for a fact that driving standards are dropping, even if it seems that they are. Perhaps we're getting more critical of drivers.

They aren't improving coupled with the fact people love using mobile phones when they are driving...I reckon it was easily safer when I first started commuting....How I miss the old days...I never had any trouble with motorists...

 

[Riding in Circles]

They aren't improving coupled with the fact people love using mobile phones when they are driving...I reckon it was easily safer when I first started commuting....How I miss the old days...I never had any trouble with motorists...

And then Karl Benz invented that infernal machine.....

 

[hackbike 666]

And then Karl Benz invented that infernal machine.....

Im not that old....

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

the worst are in amsterdam.they have cycleways in the city.you take your life in your hands trying to cross.....bunch of crazy germans doing 50 mph on cycles.

A good example of the intelligence level of much of the "debate"

I never knew that Amsterdam had such a problem with superhuman foreigners

 

[ufkacbln]

Yip, its debatable. Some how that Jeep NCAP result doesn't surprise me but . It might be an urban myth but I heard 4x4's, like the jeep get away with having bumpers too high which is more dangerous to the ped; as they are classed as agricultural vehicles. How many are actually driven off road?

I'm probably rambling here as usual, but there is also a theory that by making the car safer, the driver compensates and takes more risks

The bumpers are too high, and in fact bypass most "family car" side impact protection devices. In the States were SUVs are more and more common, life threatening femoral fractures are now more common in pedestrians and also pelvic and abdominal injuries in drivers.