JavaScriptDonkey wrote: You wouldn't believe how many middle aged men round these parts suddenly think they are Wiggins.
Yeah I read about that on the Beeb news...the Police were having to warn everybody about it, especially on the actual roads on which the event had taken place!
Perhaps the York Cyclist is simply a better class...there are loads of them for a start, and they're of a wider range of ages and physiques than I imagine you find in most other places (bar Cambs I suppose). I've only ever once seen anyone here do anything daft on a bike, and I've lived here for 12 years. The number of daft motorist mistakes I've seen, though, including ones nearly fatal to me (e.g. shooting a red light) is ludicrous.
You raise an interesting point though - perhaps an increased density of road users has an adverse affect on average tolerance.
I'd imagine in York not too many journeys involve sitting in tailbacks behind cyclists whereas down South I count myself lucky if I don't encounter 2 or 3 on every journey.
They should pull over to let traffic pass but none ever do. Perhaps they are too concerned with their lap times.
JavaScriptDonkey wrote:You raise an interesting point though - perhaps an increased density of road users has an adverse affect on average tolerance.
I'd imagine in York not too many journeys involve sitting in tailbacks behind cyclists whereas down South I count myself lucky if I don't encounter 2 or 3 on every journey.
They should pull over to let traffic pass but none ever do. Perhaps they are too concerned with their lap times.
York is one giant tailback, trust me. That's why so many people use bikes. They're faster.
JavaScriptDonkey wrote: Perhaps they are too concerned with their lap times.
Sometimes you get a bus stuck behind a bike, with a q behind the bus, but generally not for long, as the bike doesn't have to stop and pick up a posse of little olde ladies every 400 yards. There are some seriously congested bits of York, but in those cases the cars are generally stuck behind other cars, and the bikes weave through them.
What I really hate are those cycle-lanes with parking places alongside: you can so easily get "doored"...so in those cases I go right out into the middle of the road, til it's safe to pull in again.
JavaScriptDonkey wrote:You raise an interesting point though - perhaps an increased density of road users has an adverse affect on average tolerance.
I'd imagine in York not too many journeys involve sitting in tailbacks behind cyclists whereas down South I count myself lucky if I don't encounter 2 or 3 on every journey.
They should pull over to let traffic pass but none ever do. Perhaps they are too concerned with their lap times.
Should they? As far as I'm aware the onus is on the faster traffic to wait for a safe opportunity to overtake the cyclist. I'd guess on some roads, if a cyclist was forced to pull over they'd never actually get anywhere! On the A16 between Grimsby and Louth I do tend to pull over on the narrower bits if there's an HGV right behind me and there's a safe place at the side of the road to do so.
If it's necessary, I let trucks overtake every time. But not cars, never cars. Trucks trump cars, but only just. Cycles trump cars big time. It's something you will just have to get used to.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
bigjim wrote:
Should they? As far as I'm aware the onus is on the faster traffic to wait for a safe opportunity to overtake the cyclist. I'd guess on some roads, if a cyclist was forced to pull over they'd never actually get anywhere! On the A16 between Grimsby and Louth I do tend to pull over on the narrower bits if there's an HGV right behind me and there's a safe place at the side of the road to do so.
Any road user causing delay to other road users should pull over occasionally to let them pass.
169
Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.
You must show reasonable consideration at all times and I take that to include pulling over if you are causing a delay.
bigjim wrote:
Should they? As far as I'm aware the onus is on the faster traffic to wait for a safe opportunity to overtake the cyclist. I'd guess on some roads, if a cyclist was forced to pull over they'd never actually get anywhere! On the A16 between Grimsby and Louth I do tend to pull over on the narrower bits if there's an HGV right behind me and there's a safe place at the side of the road to do so.
Any road user causing delay to other road users should pull over occasionally to let them pass.
169
Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.
You must show reasonable consideration at all times and I take that to include pulling over if you are causing a delay.
All other things being equal I would definitely agree with that JSD. However, one caveat I would add is that sometimes, for a bike, pulling over can be particularly hazardous because, once pulled over, they are most unlikely to receive reciprocal courtesy from other motor vehicle drivers when they need to pull out again. In fact, quite the opposite can be the case where they can become effectively trapped against the kerb with motor vehicles now rushing past with an barely an inch to spare.
Last edited by Little John on 15 Aug 2012, 00:51, edited 1 time in total.
That para from the Highway Code is obviously meant for objects that are larger, or at least on a par with, other road users. Bikes, on the other hand, are fairly straightforward to overtake once there's a suitable opportunity. And most of us aren't that much slower than typical urban traffic.
RenewableCandy wrote:That para from the Highway Code is obviously meant for objects that are larger, or at least on a par with, other road users. Bikes, on the other hand, are fairly straightforward to overtake once there's a suitable opportunity. And most of us aren't that much slower than typical urban traffic.
I can certainty vouch for that in York. In fact, in the centre, bikes are faster. A lot faster.
stevecook172001 wrote:I can certainty vouch for that in York. In fact, in the centre, bikes are faster. A lot faster.
So the slow moving cars should pull over for the bikes. I bet they won't do that.
You are correct John.
Yup. And the number of times I get overtaken by a car driver approaching a junction - I hear them behind me, getting their foot down to overtake me and they have to brake hard in front of me, to turn left! This is why I move out into the middle of the lane when I approach junctions, to deliberately block this behaviour. It also means I hardly have to use my brakes.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
JohnB wrote:
So the slow moving cars should pull over for the bikes. I bet they won't do that.
You are correct John.
Yup. And the number of times I get overtaken by a car driver approaching a junction - I hear them behind me, getting their foot down to overtake me and they have to brake hard in front of me, to turn left! This is why I move out into the middle of the lane when I approach junctions, to deliberately block this behaviour. It also means I hardly have to use my brakes.
This is why I move out into the middle of the lane when I approach junctions, to deliberately block this behaviour. It also means I hardly have to use my brakes.