Good News!

Not Responding said:

Was this in The News?

No it was on the telly.

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"¤¤¤ Abo ¤¤¤" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That cyclists like to criticise everyone else and view themselves as the angels of the road,
whereas the truth is often somewhat different.

They are the angels of the pavement?

A cheap umbrella inserted by a legitimate pavement user into a bikes spokes promptly stops
pavement cyclists

In article <[email hidden]>,

W K said:

Quoted message said:

If I drove my car around at night with no lights on while pulling out of junctions without
looking

Do you see that one often? I'd have thought the penalties for doing that were a lot higher in
practice for people on bikes.

Which makes it all the more curious how keen some cyclists are on doing it. I got a fright at about
7pm on Friday (pitch dark, road with very little lighting) when I was suddenly confronted by three
bikes riding towards me without lights down the centre of the road. The consequences had I not
stopped pretty sharpish have been very nasty for them, and required a can of touchup paint for me.

I realise not everyone is going to lay out for the very wonderful Lumicycle HID lamp I would be
using under such circumstances, but I'm curious to know why some people value their lives so
cheaply. Having ridden motorbikes in the past and now riding a bike I'm reasonably attuned to
looking for cyclists, but I can quite understand why the typical motorist would say ``if they don't
believe their life is worth the price of a ten quid lamp, why should I?''

This isn't, before someone leaps in, a comment about selective enforcement, about relative dangers
to others or any other ``it wasn't me, look at him over there'' issue. It's a simple point that
riding a bike at night is MORE DANGEROUS TO THE RIDER than driving a car at night is TO THE DRIVER,
and yet I think I've seen a completely unlit car on the road at night once or twice in around a
quarter of a million miles of driving, and heavy flashing has rapidly got them to turn their lights
on. Bikes not even fitted with lights are a weekly, if not daily, sight.

ian

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What's the UK's child pedestrian mileage? Car crashes are the no. 1 cause of death in school-age
children.

Becuase parents cannot control their children properly?

In article <[email hidden]>,

Just zis Guy said:

Quoted message said:

Which makes it all the more curious how keen some cyclists are on doing it.

Beats me. Maybe they're not really cyclists, but drivers out on their bikes ;-)

It's an observable fact that if it's raining at 8am on a Monday out on the M42, everyone has their
headlights on, while at 9am on a Saturday in the same location under the same conditions there'll be
20% unlit and 20% on side-lights. [[ Parenthetically, either Edwina Currie or Linda Chalker in their
days at Transport attempted to mandate ``dim dip'', such that it was impossible to engage sidelights
while moving and the minimum you'd get would be something like 40% of dipped headlights. Whatever
happened to that? ]] It's worse comparing core commuting hours with random times of day in urban
areas, and it appears that knowledge of the location of the light switch diminishes with the number
of children in the car, the age of the driver and the age of the car.

So if they are drivers, they're not hardcore. And in this case, it was kids. Without helmets,
too (ducks).

ian

"¤¤¤ Abo ¤¤¤" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just zis Guy, you know? raved thus:

:: I think you'll find that cyclists aren't the ones bleating about enforcement of traffic laws.

Because no one seems bothered about enforcing them for cyclists.

Exactly how is that the fault of cyclists? If you have a problem with the police not enforcing these
laws, contact your local police road safety manager and ask why more isn't done.

The police have abnegated their responsibilities towards unpowered vehicles for a long time,
something which is of concern to all road users. As a result of this, certain sections of the
community that use cycles have started to push the boundaries of the law, something which the
majority of posters on the cycling newsgroups criticise at every available opportunity.

You will notice from the responses that the regular posters on URC have been agreeing with the OP -
no comments about police heavy handedness, no whinging about infringement of liberties, and in some
cases regretting that the offenders weren't punished.

Trolling about the police enforcing the laws for unpowered vehicles is seldom likely to generate the
response that the poster wishes, because the majority of cyclists would welcome more enforcement of
these laws.

E

"Michael Rodgers" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What's the UK's child pedestrian mileage? Car crashes are the no. 1

cause

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of death in school-age children.

Quoted message said:

Becuase parents cannot control their children properly?

In fatal crashes involving child pedestrians and cars, the child pedestrian took evasive action in
four times more cases than the car driver.

Once upon a time it was considered safe to walk to school. I wonder what changed? School's in the
same place, houses are in the same place.

It's really quite remarkable the extent to which we blame children for behaving like children. Maybe
this is one reason our child road fatality rate is considerably worse (numerically and in comparison
with other countries) than our overall road fatality rate.

Hmmm. I was overtaken on the way onto work this morning. I was doing 25mph past a country primary
school at dropping off time with kids all over the place, doors opening and so on. No pavements.
Slippery road, too, with trees overhanging. The guy who went past made it look like I was
standing still.

--
Guy
===

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"Ian G Batten" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If I drove my car around at night with no lights on while pulling out of

junctions

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

without looking

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Do you see that one often? I'd have thought the penalties for doing that were a lot higher in
practice for people on bikes.

Quoted message said:

Which makes it all the more curious how keen some cyclists are on doing it.

Beats me. Maybe they're not really cyclists, but drivers out on their bikes ;-)

--
Guy
===

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chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

Michael Rodgers said:

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What's the UK's child pedestrian mileage? Car crashes are the no. 1 cause of death in school-age
children.

Becuase parents cannot control their children properly?

Because drivers cannot control their vehicles properly.

James

"Ian G Batten" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article said:

Quoted message said:

If I drove my car around at night with no lights on while pulling out of

junctions

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

without looking

Do you see that one often? I'd have thought the penalties for doing that were a lot higher in
practice for people on bikes.

Which makes it all the more curious how keen some cyclists are on doing it. I got a fright at
about 7pm on Friday

Actually, I was on about the bit about pulling out of junctions.

On a bike I look out at every junction, and do not assume that a car at a give way will give way.

W K said:

I think we're suffering from more bogey-cyclists that live in people's imaginations again.

160 of them in Portsmouth.

And none of them imaginary.

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"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't be silly, Helen! People only cycle becuase they can't afford cars.

I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

read it in the D++ly M++l, so it /must/ be true.

The Merc sitting in my driveway is obviously a figment of my imagination

then

Quoted message said:

;-)

Is that the one with no wheels, jacked up on paving slabs?

Not Responding said:

(Steve Firth) said:

At last, police are being more even handed in their treatment of road users.

During a clampdown on cyclists in Portsmouth, over 160 individuals were stopped and cautioned
over cycling on pavements and cycling without lights in a 10 hour period.

Was this in The News? If so, please scan and put on web.

news.bbc.co.uk3408857.stmOpen ↗

Colin
--

elyob said:

Is that the one with no wheels, jacked up on paving slabs?

Tsk, elyob, Helen is in Norfolk, not L+v+rp++l...

[FX: runs away very very fast]

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"Steve Firth" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe they'll start clamping down on cars on the pavement next

Quoted message said:

When was the last time you saw a car driven on the pavement in order to make progress?

8:30 this morning. A 4x4, two wheels on the pavement, wobbling around trying to avoid the bollards,
driving up the left hand side of a queue of traffic at the lights on Prospect Street, Caversham.
Closely followed by some nameless Vectroid object in similar fashion. Ever wondered why some
streets have bollards at the edge of the pavement? Hint: they are too far apart to stop cyclists
or pedestrians doing anything.

--
Guy
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Just zis Guy said:

Ever wondered why some streets have bollards at the edge of the pavement?

Yes, it's to prevent vehicles mounting the pavement when turning.

So that's one is it? Quite a bit fewer than 160 is one.

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"Steve Firth" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I think we're suffering from more bogey-cyclists that live in people's imaginations again.

160 of them in Portsmouth. And none of them imaginary.

For comparitive purposes, how many cars were ticketed for speeding, running red lights, obstruction,
illegal parking or other offences in Pompey in the last crackdown on them?

--
Guy
===

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Ian G Batten said:

but I can quite understand why the typical motorist would say ``if they don't believe their life
is worth the price of a ten quid lamp, why should I?''

I don't think a typical motorist does say that. I think a typical

cyclist riding a bike with no lights, no relectors, and dark clothing in the middle of the road is
never, ever, ever at fault.

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"Steve Firth" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

W K said:

I think we're suffering from more bogey-cyclists that live in people's imaginations again.

160 of them in Portsmouth.

And none of them imaginary.

you snip out of context.

distort and troll if you must.

Clearly, though as uk.tosspot, ur.rec.driving and similar packs ofdrivelmonkeys are forever souting
on about the number of unlit cyclists they "see", it can't really be /that/ difficult to spot them.
Unless Mr. Firth's contention can, without fear of contradiction, be filed under "Clearly Bollocks".

No change there, then.