Two-wheeled trolls...

[summerdays]

If it's that much of a pain to drive a bus along while obeying the highway code, either the parking should be restricted or the bus rerouted, but it's not really for people on bikes to do the bus company's job of talking with the council or traffic commissioner.

Seriously? If it's a major problem the the bus company or the cyclist should be reporting it and trying to find a solution, but we can have a much more pleasant experience by occasionally thinking of others. On a typical journey I've let buses pull out from the bus stop, cars change lanes etc, and I've had someone hang back for me to move lane or encouraged me to pull out of a side road in front of them. If I'm in a good mood I'm far more likely to do it, if I get put into a bad mood by one really inconsiderate driver then I've noticed my goodwill can slip for a while, but then it's restored usually by another considerate person, even a smile can do it.

I'm not trying to do someone's job, I'm trying to help someone occasionally when it doesn't compromise my safety etc.

 

[mjr]

Seriously? If it's a major problem the the bus company or the cyclist should be reporting it and trying to find a solution, but we can have a much more pleasant experience by occasionally thinking of others.

Seriously. I agree in general, but that thought of others should not always be "is that nobber in the large vehicle going to disregard common sense (give way to a low-power vehicle coming uphill), politeness (after you) and the highway code ("give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road") and attempt to take the small bit of road space I'm using by force?" I'm generally a happy smiley give-way type, but if I didn't successfully vary my speed so we'd pass at a gap (and it seems far from certain that the bus would have dipped into a gap), I don't see me liking a dive into the roadside trees at any point in the posted video - at what point would you?

encouraged me to pull out of a side road in front of them

That really annoys me. If they're unpredictable enough to do that, what else will they do? Floor it once I'm in their path, then claim (correctly) I'd pulled out in front of them with insufficient gap? I wish they'd drive normally, then I can make my decision on when to pull out based on probabilities and more predictable behaviour.

I'm not trying to do someone's job, I'm trying to help someone occasionally when it doesn't compromise my safety etc.

Are you? It reads a bit like you're enabling motorists who deliberately put others at risk - for example, in the Reading video, we don't know what was behind the rider and behaving unpredictably isn't usually as safe.

 

[bpsmith]

If it's that much of a pain to drive a bus along while obeying the highway code, either the parking should be restricted or the bus rerouted, but it's not really for people on bikes to do the bus company's job of talking with the council or traffic commissioner.

You're seriously deluded.

 

[mjr]

You're seriously deluded.

Yeah, wanting roads managed for reasonable safety, it's just a deluded fantasy idea...

 

[martint235]

[QUOTE 4066192, member: 45"]

[/QUOTE]
Whatever happened to that idea? I have a bus stop near my house where the road immediately goes through a pinch point in front of my house. The number of cars that not only won't let the bus pull away from the stop but that will actually lean on their horns when the bus driver gets fed up and pulls forwards is amazing.

 

[bpsmith]

Yeah, wanting roads managed for reasonable safety, it's just a deluded fantasy idea...

No, that's what they call a perfect world. One which we would all like, ideally, but reality clearly shows us otherwise.

Back in the real world, the incident in question, isn't really an incident. Bus came through. Cyclist passed without being forced to do anything or change path. The rest of the world carried on about their day, rider included. Just another day on our roads.

The attitude of the rider is all that is in question here.

 

[summerdays]

Seriously. I agree in general, but that thought of others should not always be "is that nobber in the large vehicle going to disregard common sense (give way to a low-power vehicle coming uphill), politeness (after you) and the highway code ("give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road") and attempt to take the small bit of road space I'm using by force?" I'm generally a happy smiley give-way type, but if I didn't successfully vary my speed so we'd pass at a gap (and it seems far from certain that the bus would have dipped into a gap), I don't see me liking a dive into the roadside trees at any point in the posted video - at what point would you?


That really annoys me. If they're unpredictable enough to do that, what else will they do? Floor it once I'm in their path, then claim (correctly) I'd pulled out in front of them with insufficient gap? I wish they'd drive normally, then I can make my decision on when to pull out based on probabilities and more predictable behaviour.


Are you? It reads a bit like you're enabling motorists who deliberately put others at risk - for example, in the Reading video, we don't know what was behind the rider and behaving unpredictably isn't usually as safe.

If it helps you to know that I'm not above complaining, I'm still trying to find out about my bus interaction where I was forced to change lanes last week, so I'm not above complaining where I see the need to.

You are very suspicious if you think someone who invites you into a gap in traffic is unpredictable and about to floor it (apart from anything the fact the are going slow enough to let me out says they are unlikely to floor it). If I'm not happy with the gap, I'll wave them on with a smile to say thanks anyway.

We don't know what is behind the cyclist, but they should also be looking ahead and seeing the bus, it's more likely there isn't anything else the bus wouldn't go, or the thing behind is definitely going to have to hang back for the bus assuming it is larger.

 

[mjr]

[QUOTE 4066192, member: 45"]

[/QUOTE]
Makes a nice change from around here, where Norfolk Green (now Stagecoach in Norfolk) have only "no entry to cyclists" signs on the back.

 

[mjr]

The attitude of the rider is all that is in question here.

So, in your opinion, the bus driver's actions are not in question and the rider should be happy to have an inch clearance between his handlebar and the bus?

If so, it's little wonder that 39% of people think the roads are too dangerous for them to cycle on (Mintel Bicycles in the UK 2010).

 

[bpsmith]

It's arguable whether the bus was already passing the parked cars when the cyclist deliberately continued, just to prove a point. An inch clearance? Hardly.

I think that opinions, like your own, are what make up said 39% of that 5 year old report. The 2013 report shows this to be 32%, which equates to twice as many people thinking the roads are safe to ride on vs not safe to do so. Using your report as a guide, on the basis that this is a 7% drop in 3 years, then the roads must be getting safer. When the report is created for 2016, this could be down to 25% if opinion is linear.

Just proof that statistics can be used however you like when it comes to arguing the toss over things.

EDIT: Interestingly, people who don't cycle regularly have a 39% higher mortality rate.

 

[Milkfloat]

Makes a nice change from around here, where Norfolk Green (now Stagecoach in Norfolk) have only "no entry to cyclists" signs on the back.

Seeing as we are a left hand drive country and the sticker looks like it depicts the front of a bus, then surely it says that buses must not overtake cycles?

 

[BEHMOTH66]

[QUOTE 4066192, member: 45"]

[/QUOTE]
this is a request not a rule of the road

 

[DaveReading]

Seeing as we are a left hand drive country and the sticker looks like it depicts the front of a bus, then surely it says that buses must not overtake cycles?

No, it's meant to denote the back of a bus with a rear view of a cyclist overtaking it on the offside:

That, and the "Pass with Care", seem pretty reasonable advice to me.

 

[BEHMOTH66]

maybe I should put a sign on my back do not pass within 3 feet on my right, do you think motorist would take a blind bit of notice?

 

[martint235]

maybe I should put a sign on my back do not pass within 3 feet on my right, do you think motorist would take a blind bit of notice?

Some would. Some wouldn't. Same as the bus sign really. Fail to see your point.