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Following on from #bloodycyclists 'gate and the report that the [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22614569 ]BBC[/url] are running today, what can the Singletrack masses do to make cycling on the road a bit more pleasant for all and prevent the outbreak of cyclist vs driver warfare?
I accept that we are a relatively small group but there must be something we can do to make a start. Maybe we could pledge to ride courteously, stick to the highway code and smile and wave at every opportunity to paint cyclists in a better light. Or we could post pictures/videos of menace motorists/cyclist/pedestrians to a website/blog/#hashtag.
Any better ideas?
Carry machine guns and RPGs.
we could pledge to ride courteously, stick to the highway code and smile and wave at every opportunity to paint cyclists in a better light.
That's just crazy talk you loon - you're gonna get flamed to death by flames for that nonsense about the highway code to start with! 😉
ride only on trails, it's called singletrackworld, not commuterworld.
Encourage roadies to smile and quit the man-leotards.
I think the big thing cyclists can do is not ride like dicks.
I'm super-aware of cyclists when driving but nearly took someone out last week in my van - I was lining up to turn left at a near stationary pace and he shot down the inside. I dread to think what could have happened if I wasn't so acutely aware of cyclists.
Stupid behaviour on the roads only further feeds the anti cyclist lobby's argument.......
would we have to stop at red lights? crazy talk
Deleted.
I'm going to end up sounding like Gandhi.
Nice idea this being courteous lark but it'll never work.
When was the last time you remembered a courteous driver when out cycling, or a courteous cyclist when driving?
It's human nature to only recall the bad stuff, not the good. Part of the survival instinct I guess.
I think the big thing cyclists can do is not ride like dicks.
So I'll follow my training instead and take primary position, drivers love that!
My view is biased I suppose, I cycle legally and courteously, and i still get abuse, and I've been properly hit twice, and had brushes (e.g. side on contact) loads of times. So for me, as a driver, cyclist and pedestrian, the source of danger is >99% from dozy, impatient, aggressive, inattentive drivers. I don't do the stuff that cycle haters moan about (other than be on the road in the first place) and I get trouble, so if everyone on a bike behaved like angels why would that make the roads a significantly safer place to be?
It's human nature to only recall the bad stuff, not the good.
That may well be true, but if there's no bad stuff to recall.....
Go out cycling to the pub, and the shops and stuff
Do it dressed in normal clothes - instead of dressed like a power ranger
Look like a person riding a bike rather than a "cyclist"
Disclaimer - I do do the above - I also dress like a power ranger a fair bit too
Nothing the car is king and the roads are full of inconsiderate cocks in large metal killing machines
the roads are too busy and manners are close to none existent
How I ride make **** all difference to how other drivers drive.
Give us all cameras [bike and car]so we can report every offence, GPS chip in every car and bike and everything gets prosecuted
Roads will be empty pretty soon if we do this
Don't be a Dick.
Simple it's easier to piss on others from the moral high ground
mikewsmith - Member
Don't be a Dick.
Pretty much this.
Rusty Spanner - Member
Deleted.
I'm going to end up sounding like Gandhi.
What you wrote was spot on Mr Spanner.
I think it helps to not piss drivers off if you're cycling almost as fast as the cars.
I ride a motorbike into work into a so called cycling city, that has loads of cars, predictable gridlock, and loads of bicycles. And every day I see nothing happen at all other than a load of people get to where they're going.
There really isn't a problem. Anecdotes != data.
But one zen little thing I bear in mind on the motor-sickle is: you're not actually competing with other road users, you're just trying to get somewhere. If someone you passed passes you back or a pass you wanted to make doesn't happen, well, that's 1 pass in 500 that didn't pan out. A lot of the numberplate shouting vids show someone who could've simply eased off the pedals for a second get angry for "losing" a space that cost more effort to defend than yield.
I like to think you're right that we could do something, but tbh, similar anti-prejudice campaigns that have seen success (sexual and racial equality spring to mind) haven't come about from the 'victims' changing their behaviour.
AFAIK the change has come from a multi-faceted and sustained approach - from government legislating, enforcing the legislation and general pressure on changing cultural and societal norms. It's taken decades too...
I'm like Bails - I ride 100% legally but still get harrassed and close to being hospitalised. I get harrassed when I drive too - there's nothing rational we can tackle here, it's hatred and anger based on a selfish sense of entitlement and jealousy because driving these days is such a frustrating experience.
Even if every person on a bike was a paragon of virtue with regard to cycling legally, with helmet, high vis and lights, we'd still be on the receiving end of vitriol...
If the anti-cyclist brigade were rational, you wouldn't get silly little girls boasting to the whole wide world that they'd come close to killing someone... this has got to be one of the biggest social media facepalms for a long time 😯
Stay off the roads.......