How do you feel about cycle lanes?

[Orang Utan]

that's what you're supposed to do, dumbass.

 

[Upchuck]

Say what you like. I think outside filtering and positioning by cyclists is dangerous.

 

[gentlegreen]

Filtering on the outside is not what's expected and is dangerous and I imagine quite a few are knocked off.

So you're better at seeing things on your left ?

 

[dirtyfruit]

Say what you like. I think outside filtering and positioning by cyclists is dangerous.

There are times when it is essential and the art of good cycling is judging when to do so safely and for the benefit of all road users.

Try cycling yourself one day. It's the only way to understand.

 

[Crispy]

'expecting' things to be in places causes accidents. 'looking' for things in all places helps avoid them.

 

[Upchuck]

When I am wating at the lights and they turn to green I check my mirrors and move of. When a cyclists appears from nowhere and comes screaming down my outside it is not what I expect and bloody dangerous. Kentish town lights heading south are a magnet for this.

 

[gentlegreen]

When I am wating at the lights and they turn to green I check my mirrors and move of. When a cyclists appears from nowhere and comes screaming down my outside it is not what I expect and bloody dangerous. Kentish town lights heading south are a magnet for this.

gawd, you're really slow then.

 

[Upchuck]

No you dick, I'm already moving and I get some nutter on a bike cut down the outside and across the path. Suicide.

 

[Crispy]

When I am wating at the lights and they turn to green I check my mirrors and move of. When a cyclists appears from nowhere and comes screaming down my outside it is not what I expect and bloody dangerous. Kentish town lights heading south are a magnet for this.

Ok, I see what you mean now. You're right, overtaking and pulling in front as the lights change is a reckless thing to do, regardless of vehicle. Nearly got hit by a motorbike doing the same thing at the Bank intersection once.

 

[gentlegreen]

So you were a cager before you got your scooter ?

Fair dos though, there are plenty of idiot cyclists who "learned" on skateboards and the like ...

 

[quimcunx]

Cycle lanes are good but ffs cyclists ride in them, not on the outside next to me on my scooter. You get in the fucking way!

The correct position for a cyclist to take in the cycle lane is right at the white line. Cycling right next to the pavement in the drains and potholes is not only not best practice but just plain dangerous. If you ride your scooter along a position that is respectful of this, then cyclists cycling in the correct position will not trouble you so much.


If that was a scooter lane not a cycle lane then the correct position for you to take would also be at the white line.

 

[snowy_again]

Tbf they should make up their minds. Ride in the cycle lane, ride in the traffic, or ride on the outside. You can't have everything.

Hahaha, are you a Cobbles alter ego?

Why not? Car drivers seem to have that luxury. You drive / ride where its safest according to the road and traffice around you.

 

[Sweaty Betty]

Hahaha, are you a Cobbles alter ego?

Why not? Car drivers seem to have that luxury. You drive / ride where its safest according to the road and traffice around you.

Yeah but pedestrians dont share roads with cars as a rule except for the odd doddery pensioner or the hard boys that saunter in roads trying to be hard!!

 

[dodgepot]

some cycle lanes are alright, most are shit. especially the ones that are a couple of metres long and then suddenly stop and you find yourself having to filter into the traffic that the cycle lane was supposed to be keeping you clear of in the first place.

 

[mauvais]

When I am wating at the lights and they turn to green I check my mirrors and move of. When a cyclists appears from nowhere and comes screaming down my outside it is not what I expect and bloody dangerous. Kentish town lights heading south are a magnet for this.

As Crispy said, this complaint is fair enough.

That's not what you seem to be saying in general though. Basically bicycles should be ridden almost exactly like motorcycles. You wouldn't dream of overtaking on the left when on a scooter, and neither should we do it on a pushbike. I assume you know about defensive riding and taking up the room of a car, how to safely filter, and how to fit into and around the flow of bigger traffic. It's exactly the same for us but slightly slower. Anyone on two wheels shares most of the same benefits and most of the same vulnerabilities.

If you genuinely can't see how these things are relevant to and appropriate for cyclists, I suspect you're not very safe on whatever you ride. If so, then completely disconnected from this argument, I seriously recommend you spend some time thinking about all of it when you're next in traffic.

 

[dirtyfruit]

As Crispy said, this complaint is fair enough.

That's not what you seem to be saying in general though. Basically bicycles should be ridden almost exactly like motorcycles. You wouldn't dream of overtaking on the left when on a scooter, and neither should we do it on a pushbike. I assume you know about defensive riding and taking up the room of a car, how to safely filter, and how to fit into and around the flow of bigger traffic. It's exactly the same for us but slightly slower. Anyone on two wheels shares most of the same benefits and most of the same vulnerabilities.

If you genuinely can't see how these things are relevant to and appropriate for cyclists, I suspect you're not very safe on whatever you ride. If so, then completely disconnected from this argument, I seriously recommend you spend some time thinking about all of it when you're next in traffic.

 

[mauvais]

Seriously though, I've done about 14,000 miles by bike in the last three years, most of that in traffic. The only reason I'm still alive & with reasonable prospects of staying that way is that I spend most of my time thinking about what's safe and what (or who ) is stupid and liable to kill me. Half of that is driven by reading boring threads like this, wondering whether I've actually understood everything properly, and then subtly changing what decisions I make based on it.

(the other half is getting things hideously wrong and having to apologetically peel myself off the back of some old codger's Kia)

 

[Crispy]

PS: I do plenty of left-hand side overtaking in stationary traffic.

 

[dirtyfruit]

PS: I do plenty of left-hand side overtaking in stationary traffic.

I'm quite bad for this whether stationary or otherwise

 

[stupid dogbot]

Seriously though, I've done about 14,000 miles by bike in the last three years, most of that in traffic. The only reason I'm still alive & with reasonable prospects of staying that way is that I spend most of my time thinking about what's safe and what (or who ) is stupid and liable to kill me. Half of that is driven by reading boring threads like this, wondering whether I've actually understood everything properly, and then subtly changing what decisions I make based on it.

No different from me on the motorbike.

To be honest, I just generally try to be aware and anticipate what's going on as best as I can, and treat all other road users with a bit of respect whenever possible. Cyclists are especially vulnerable and so I try to take extra care around them.

I filter on the left sometimes, too. Slowly. I know I shouldn't, but hey. And between two (stationary) lanes at the lights. I'll be in trouble if a passenger should decide to get out...

I came home via Bristol town centre tonight, and easily the worst things I saw came from a pair of motorcyclists. One doing an emergency stop as a light he was practically through changed, causing the chap behind him - also on a motorbike to have to swerve to avoid hitting him. No checks, just slammed on the brakes in heavy traffic.

The other was the guy on a slightly older version of my bike, weaving through motorway traffic at 90 mph, apparently to prove he was faster than me. Needless to say, I let him go.

This idea some people seem to harbour that any one group on the roads is worse than any other is wrong, imo. An idiot is an idiot, on rollerskates, in a Bus or on a Fireblade.

 

[cybertect]

This idea some people seem to harbour that any one group on the roads is worse than any other is wrong, imo. An idiot is an idiot, on rollerskates

On that point, I was witness to a group of four roller-bladers making their way up Piccadilly a few years back, on the road. Traffic far from stationary and moving at quite a lick.

[ponders the legal status of rollerskating on the carriageway...]