London cyclists: How many more have to die

[gentlegreen]

It should be done at school. Lose one term of football or whatever and do cycling proficiency....

Hear ! Hear !

That, and some Ray Mears-type activities - all tied in with other subjects.
I hate organised sport with a vengeance - all that macho shite really held me back - I didn't get really fit until my mid-30s ...

Doubtless the Daily Mail crowd would call it "PC-gone mad Green propaganda"

 

[kyser_soze]

It should be done at school. Lose one term of football or whatever and do cycling proficiency....

When I was 8 and did mine it took 3 mornings and one local plod, then a week of actual riding around using what we'd learned, then the test.

Apart from the more obscure stuff (when to give way on roundabouts etc), I think most cyclists do have a good working knowledge of the highway code. I'd more be in favour of leafletting cycles with information related to the most common causes of cycle accident (undertaking lorries etc)

Yes, because learning that you give way to the traffic from the right on a roundabout is so obscure, isn't it? I'd also disagree - someone who's never done the CPT and never driven a car won't have picked up a copy of the highway code (unless they're a smart, prepared cookie).

 

[baldrick]

*polishes smart, prepared, cookie badge*

 

[kyser_soze]

Good work Balders! Unfortunately i doubt you're typical tho...

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I failed mine!!
Massive fail in fact!!
Never met another person who fail this..

Meet me.

And my mate Geoff.

Epic failures both.

 

[Wolveryeti]

Yes, because learning that you give way to the traffic from the right on a roundabout is so obscure, isn't it? I'd also disagree - someone who's never done the CPT and never driven a car won't have picked up a copy of the highway code (unless they're a smart, prepared cookie).

*shrug*

I've never done a CPT, driven a car, picked up a copy of the highway code, but I've been in enough cars and cycled enough to intuit how inner city traffic works. The roundabout thing took me some time, but it's hardly the most important thing in the world either.

 

[rutabowa]

The roundabout thing took me some time, but it's hardly the most important thing in the world either.

you must be joking?

 

[kyser_soze]

*shrug*

I've never done a CPT, driven a car, picked up a copy of the highway code, but I've been in enough cars and cycled enough to intuit how inner city traffic works. The roundabout thing took me some time, but it's hardly the most important thing in the world either.

It would be quite interesting to see how much you've been able to 'intuit' for sure.

Roundabouts not important? No, cos there aren't many of them in London and the UK are there...

 

[Wolveryeti]

you must be joking?

Not really. There's only one golden rule to cycling. When in doubt, give way to the large pieces of metal moving at speed. Works for me.

 

[Lemon Eddy]

Not really. There's only one golden rule to cycling. When in doubt, give way to the large pieces of metal moving at speed. Works for me.

So frankly, you're likely to be cycling in a way that may well be random/unpredictable to road users who expect you to follow the highway code, so you're likely to be a danger to them and to others.

For instance, by cycling on the right hand side of the road.

I mean, tell me if I've got something wrong here, but this is how you describe yourself.

 

[Wolveryeti]

So frankly, you're likely to be cycling in a way that may well be random/unpredictable to road users who expect you to follow the highway code, so you're likely to be a danger to them and to others.

Don't know where you got that from. All I'm saying is that if I'm eg. not confident doing a lane switch, I won't do it. More generally, I assume all car drivers are out to kill me and I try as much as possible to keep my distance. Hence by following this rule I was usually following the roundabouts rule anyway.

For instance, by cycling on the right hand side of the road.

There's nothing wrong with doing this apart from the fact that you're likely to piss off motorbike users who like using the right hand side. In theory I guess it is better because you're supposed to overtake from the right, so drivers will be more aware.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

There's nothing wrong with doing this apart from the fact that you're likely to piss off motorbike users who like using the right hand side. In theory I guess it is better because you're supposed to overtake from the right, so drivers will be more aware.

Hang on a minute - are you saying that you just cycle down the middle of the road as a matter of course? I thought from your post earlier that you cycled on the right when parked cars forced you to or when you're e.g. about to turn right

 

[Wolveryeti]

What is it with people misreading what I write? When I say 'right', I mean 'right'. Not middle.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

What is it with people misreading what I write? When I say 'right', I mean 'right'. Not middle.

I understand the right hand side of the carriageway as the middle of the road i.e. along the white line. That is painted down the middle of the road on a normal 2-way street. Is that where you ride?

 

[Wolveryeti]

No - I meant in the bit between oncoming traffic (or the pavement) and the cars travelling in the same direction as you.

I don't do it often though, mainly for the motorcycles reason, but also because I dismount on my left foot, and I'd rather there be pavement to my left than cars when I have to do it in an emergency.

 

[baldrick]

i'm really confused.

 

[Lemon Eddy]

There's nothing wrong with doing this apart from the fact that you're likely to piss off motorbike users who like using the right hand side. In theory I guess it is better because you're supposed to overtake from the right, so drivers will be more aware.

Clarify please - are you talking about riding on the right hand side of the road (i.e. the side reserved for traffic coming the other way) or are you talking about using the right hand side of the lane that you're meant to be in.

 

[mauvais]

Unless I've missed something, it doesn't matter which bit of the road he means, it matters about what context it's in.

Overtaking slow traffic by using the right hand side of the road is perfectly legal as long as you don't obstruct anyone else (alright, except in various obvious cases like segregated dual carriageways, solid white line, passing a keep left sign, etc)

Edit: http://www.mcnninjas.co.uk/docs/Filtering

 

[Wolveryeti]

 

[kabbes]

Heh. You're made of yellow.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Yeah - down the middle of the road!

That position's fine if the traffic to your left is moving slower than you i.e. you are overtaking - but not fine if you traffic to your left is moving faster than you - unless you're turning right of course. I guess that's when you do it though....

 

[Wolveryeti]

Yeah - down the middle of the road!

Not if it's one way dual or single lane, which is where the confusion entered, I think.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Not if it's one way dual or single lane, which is where the confusion entered, I think.

If you're going to split hairs, your diagram is not a dual or single lane road

But anyway - I get it now so we're all OK

 

[Bungle73]

You really are a monumental tool

It's not me that's the tool, it's you. You said you ride down the right-hand side of the road, if you meant the right-hand lane on the left side of the road that's what you should have said.

 

[kyser_soze]

That position's fine if the traffic to your left is moving slower than you i.e. you are overtaking - but not fine if you traffic to your left is moving faster than you - unless you're turning right of course. I guess that's when you do it though....

If I know there's a right turn I need to make and a gap appears along the white line, even if I'm still 1/2m away I'll ride into the centre (e.g from the top of Kensington Park Road riding up to the RHT at Notting Hill Station).

 

[gentlegreen]

No - I meant in the bit between oncoming traffic (or the pavement) and the cars travelling in the same direction as you.

I don't do it often though, mainly for the motorcycles reason, but also because I dismount on my left foot, and I'd rather there be pavement to my left than cars when I have to do it in an emergency.

??

 

[Mrs Miggins]

If I know there's a right turn I need to make and a gap appears along the white line, even if I'm still 1/2m away I'll ride into the centre (e.g from the top of Kensington Park Road riding up to the RHT at Notting Hill Station).

Yes - that's what I meant by "unless you're turning right of course"

You know the road you ride on and I agree, it can be a good idea to get on the outside of the traffic long before your actual turn.

 

[kyser_soze]

Yes - that's what I meant by "unless you're turning right of course"

You know the road you ride on and I agree, it can be a good idea to get on the outside of the traffic long before your actual turn.

TBH while I stick to the HC as much as possible (insofar as my riding is largely predicatable to other road users), I have been known when the traffic conditions are right to weave between cars etc...I mean what's the point of having a bike if you're going to stand behind cars in traffic?

Put it this way, I do ride irresponsibly sometimes, but generally any 'iffy' stuff I do will be done taking the full context of what's happening around me into account - for example, I will ride through a red if there are no peds, turning left on a wide corner etc...

 

[Badgers]

How many more have to die

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