Truck hazard

[Frood42]

Need we be reminded of this
Not sure even an airzound would have helped here:

 

[Platinum]

The road environment should be changed so that stupid behaviour by any road user, whether carelessness, negligence, ignorance or just making inevitable human mistakes does not automatically result in a death sentence.

 

[bianchi1]

The road environment should be changed so that stupid behaviour by any road user, whether carelessness, negligence, ignorance or just making inevitable human mistakes does not automatically result in a death sentence.

Any ideas?

Cotton wool cars and trucks limited to 5 mph driven on rubber roads should do it.

 

[Frood42]

The road environment should be changed so that stupid behaviour by any road user, whether carelessness, negligence, ignorance or just making inevitable human mistakes does not automatically result in a death sentence.

nah, everyone just needs to take responsibility for the hazards they bring to the road, put down those mobile phones, oh and yeah, the bowl of cereal with milk...

oh and get some road engineers who in city centres or urban areas don't prioritise the speed of traffic flow over vunerable road users, like the dinosaurs at TFL who still cannot get a segregated cycle lane right (thinking CS2 extension)...

 

[jarlrmai]

Thanks for the advice, let me know how the horn would have prevented this

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_fgrPas-0E


or this

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w90hPZcJU38


or this

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gku1dyYTn0


Let me make it clear, if a cyclist has to use a horn then the truck driver is doing something wrong.

 

[Teuchter]

All these generalisations are really starting to get on my nerves!
I don't jump red lights, I have lights, I have a helmet (not needed by law), I stay back from large vehicles, I don't ride on the pavement (unless it is a shared space pavement, then I go slowly to look out for pedestrians), I let buses out from bus stops, I ride in a visible position... .

I think the point most of us are trying to make is that you do all of this and as a result guess what...

You're still alive.

Any generalisations are aimed towards the people who don't ride as well as you. We all see plenty of them every day so don't try telling me they don't make up a significant proportion of the cyclists out there. Thus the generalistations.

 

[Frood42]

You're still alive.

Yeh, great, so I am still alive, and I should be thankful for that, should I..?
What a poor state of affairs it has come to when I have to be grateful to still be alive when I get home at night...

Sometimes I do wonder though how I am still on the bike, despite me taking plenty of precautions I still get numpties, but at least if I get hit by someone on a bike I will still get up again...

And why the hell should I be thankful that I am still alive because some twit was paying more attention to their mobile phone than to the road ahead...
I see more people messing with mobile phones (and seems to be mainly young women) in cars than I see RLJ cyclists in London...

I just want to get to work and home again without having to worry that some impatient twonk isn't going to pull out in front of me or hit me from behind, but sadly I cannot do this when I am riding on the road...

And while there are cyclists out there with less than helpful attitudes, they don't make up as much of a significant proportion of the People on Bikes out there as your wording suggests... I see just as many cars jump red lights as I do cyclists, and they are all in the same mad cap rush to get home or to work, it's bonkers...
Pedal to the floor to get to the next red light where they then have to sit in a queue, rinse and repeat several times, it's madness that they think my causing them to have to drive with a bit of care before they join that next queue is such an insult...

Any why is it whenever I near traffic lights, I have to get in primary and I have to check behind several times that the car behind me is actually GOING TO STOP... rather than gamble on that amber/red light...
.

 

[Teuchter]

Yeh, great, so I am still alive, and I should be thankful for that, should I..?
What a poor state of affairs it has come to when I have to be grateful to still be alive when I get home at night...

etc

I'd like to clarify that I'm not suggesting any of us should be grateful to still be alive after cycling. My point was that one of the reasons that you and I have not joined the ranks of statistics is because of the approach we take to our cycling, the decisions that we make and the situations that we choose not to put ourselves into (like squeezing up the inside of trucks at junctions, for instance).

I don't want to suggest that all cycling injuries and fatalities could have been avoided if the cyclists adopted a certain approach to their cycling and I know that there are plenty who have died on our roads despite riding safely.

Good road design, safety improvements to vehicles and increased driver awareness are all important. Let's not forget that the single element that plays the most important part in our own safety however is us ourselves. I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Platinum]

Any ideas?

Cotton wool cars and trucks limited to 5 mph driven on rubber roads should do it.

Surely you must have heard of sustainable safety http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/sustainable-safety/

 

[Frood42]

Good road design, safety improvements to vehicles and increased driver awareness are all important. Let's not forget that the single element that plays the most important part in our own safety however is us ourselves.

Yes, being responsible for ourselves and constantly learning is a good thing, but it can be tiring (can't think of a better word right now) to have to also be responsible for those who can so easily hurt you rather badly through simple inattention, a lazy can't be bothered today attitude, or just downright ignorance...

When I learnt to drive (just 13 years ago), there was almost zero taught about vunerable road users, and once you have memorised what you need to pass your test it seemed you could then forget it all without worry... Not forgetting once you have your license, well, you have it.

Good road design would be great (which puts people and not vehicles first), can you come teach the dinosaurs at TFL how it is done..?

 

[bianchi1]

Surely you must have heard of sustainable safety http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/sustainable-safety/

The reality.

“In The Netherlands many people use the bicycle, especially in short – primarily urban – trips. While this increases the number of cyclist fatalities, it also results in a lower number of deaths for other modes, due to a lower usage of, for example, cars.” Henk Stipdonk, SWOV, The Netherlands [The effect on road safety of a modal shift from car to bicycle, Traffic Injury Prevention, accepted paper].

You cannot fully remove risks..as much as you would like too.

 

[Frood42]

Surely you must have heard of sustainable safety http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/sustainable-safety/

Thank you for this link, the video was interesting to watch, but I can never see TFL doing this properly, they would introduce too many compromises which would lessen the effectiveness of it. The CS2 extension being one case, great they have put in a segregated cycle lane, but there are so many compromises it just doesn't quite work properly...

 

[Crankarm]

My Mum reported seeing two builders trucks literally jousting trying to run each other off a dual carriage way on the A418 recently. Both going in same direction one pulled out to pass the slower one in front, slower truck then sped up, both blocking the duel carriageway. The two trucks were then locked in a stale mate. Truck in left slower lane then drifted into side of other construction truck in over taking lane, sparks flying between the two vehicles, each trying to force other truck off road. Mum stayed well back in her car pretty frightened as she said they were mental.

 

[mustang1]

Hmmmm, so I have to have an airhorn on my bike now do I.....
I stay back from big vehicles, but you are the one bringing a large vehicle onto the road that increases the danger to every other road user, so you are the one who needs to take on some extra responsibilty for that large vehicle and the damage it can do.

Education of cyclists to help mitigate is one factor in this, but the fact remains you are increasing the danger levels to every other road user with what you bring to the road, so it is the larger vehicle that needs to be looked at, be it restricted delivery hours etc...

Most lorry drivers have been fine, the only ones I am concerned about are those contracter driven tipper trucks, they seem to be the worst for some reason, where as supermarket vehicles seem to be less so, actually no major issues with supermarket logo'd large vehicles yet...

And I do have to laugh that they say the roads are too dangerous for cyclists and they should be removed from the roads, who do they think is creating that danger...

All these generalisations are really starting to get on my nerves!
I don't jump red lights, I have lights, I have a helmet (not needed by law), I stay back from large vehicles, I don't ride on the pavement (unless it is a shared space pavement, then I go slowly to look out for pedestrians), I let buses out from bus stops, I ride in a visible position... FFS, now I have to have a horn!

Do you know what, F*K right off!


Rant over, all calm now

.

 

[classic33]

Why is the Road Haulage Association against trying to sort the problem out, or even willing to acknowledge that the problem exists?