That bridge again

[gaz]

I used my horn more to say i have a voice, don't treat me like i'm not here. two short bursts isn't the same as blasting it for a few seconds.

 

[magnatom]

Mmm. Bollo is of course right. A blow of the horn is by far the minor offense here. However, I have avoided getting an Airzound as I was always worried that I might use it inappropriately. In fact I know for a fact that I would use it just as Gaz did in his video, to ensure that the driver knew that what they did was wrong (or at least know that someone else thought that it was wrong).

However, one of the things I try and do (and don't always succeed in) is to play by the rules, so that I can't be accused of being hypocritical. So with this in mind, hitting the horn is the wrong thing to do and can be perceived as hypocritical. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, and in the context of this video, it isn't really worth nitpicking about. However, that doesn't stop the nitpickers.....

 

[ManiaMuse]

Really impatient overtake, came close to two oncoming cars before he managed to get past you. Bet he was too focused on the 'bloody cyclist getting in my way' to notice the blind crest or double white lines.

I don't know why motorists do it because it puts both themselves and the cyclist in a very dangerous position. Especially when alongside the cyclist, if there is an oncoming vehicle coming over the hill or round the corner then the driver will potentially crash into that vehicle or instinctively swerve left and take out the cyclist. It's a really selfish thing to do though I suspect it has to do with the 'cyclists aren't full road users' mentality.

I can understand how frustrating double white lines can be on fast rural roads for motorists when they get held up by a slow moving vehicle or cyclist. Generally I don't mind overtakes on double white lines where they only have to straddle it a little bit. When I know I'm holding up traffic I will try to help by making space and waving them to pass when it is safe - after all I have a better view of the road ahead.

However in situations like your video, where it's only a few hundred metres of so in urban traffic and the driver has to completely go over the lines to overtake, it's just completely unecessary.

 

[hackbike 666]

Funny that Magnatom says that as I find I use my horns less and less and half the time I forget about them..

Hardly used it on the last seven commutes...

 

[Tinuts]

Funny that Magnatom says that as I find I use my horns less and less and half the time I forget about them..

Hardly used it on the last seven commutes...

I find it's generally quicker to shout alerts than use the AirZound. Mine is usually reserved for warning motorists that they are too close to me. Anyway, they run out pretty quickly if used much! The AirZound that is, not the motorists.

 

[gaz]

Funny that Magnatom says that as I find I use my horns less and less and half the time I forget about them..

Hardly used it on the last seven commutes...

I noticed i used it quite a lot when i first got it. but now if i use it once a commute, then thats a lot.

 

[ferret fur]

Yes yes but where did you get the HUD??? It's fabby

 

[gaz]

Yes yes but where did you get the HUD??? It's fabby

It's made with a java application and uses data from my garmin.

 

[benb]

It's made with a java application and uses data from my garmin.

More details please - how can I do it?

 

[Bollo]

If I sounded a bit irritable about the HC, that's because I was drunk. And because it's a tactic often used on here to drag a discussion down into some tit-for-tat point scoring while ignoring the main issue. Arguing that the original overtake is wrong only because it violates the HC is like arguing that Josef Fritzl is a bad man because his cellar didn't have planning permission. It was a bad overtake because it had potentially life-threatening consequences, against which gaz's horn-sounding was an irrelevance.

I quite often toot like this. My intention is not aggressive, it's driver education so that hopefully next time they pass a cyclist they will think a little before doing quite so impatiently. Usually it involves a pushing out motion to the side. Anecdotally, it seems to have worked on most of the regular drivers on my commute.

Sorry Mikey, I really don't buy this one. Certainly an Airzound can have a slight shock-and-awe effect on drivers, and an arm out can snap them out of their stupor, but 'educate'? There are times when I've shouted and stuck an arm out that have prevented a bad overtake, but I've usually been called a bearded clam when the driver eventually does make it past. I don't care, because the shout/wave has done it's job of keeping me safer, but I'm not kidding myself that the driver has attained cycling enlightenment and won't skin the next cyclist he or she sees.

I noticed i used it quite a lot when i first got it. but now if i use it once a commute, then thats a lot.

I did try an Airzound for while after a string of cut ups, but didn't bother beyond a month or so. It didn't achieve anything that you couldn't do my shouting and there's was always that moment when you press the button, only to be greeted by a baby's fart. And they make your bike look like those comedy drinking hats......

 

[BentMikey]

Oh, drawing attention to a mistake most definitely does have an education effect. The drivers might bitch and moan at the time, but afterwards they will think a little, and they will be less keen to overtake impatiently and close when the last time they did this to the cyclist all around saw their mistake. Some won't change, sure, but most people will alter their behaviour a little.

Anecdotally, a couple of months of training the regulars on my commute had close overtakes down to perhaps a third of their initial level when I first moved out here.

 

[gaz]

More details please - how can I do it?

You need some data from a GPS unit and a video file in .mov
instructions etc.. can be found here

 

[Tynan]

so you splice that data in later, it's dead cool

having it there all the tme live would be nice, or even better actual floating in the air in front of you as you ride

app for that?

 

[benb]

Cheers Gaz, will have a play later.

 

[gaz]

so you splice that data in later, it's dead cool

having it there all the tme live would be nice, or even better actual floating in the air in front of you as you ride

app for that?

it's a long process as well. You have to trim both movie and gps data too match and then start it off. A 1min clip takes around 50mins to render.