Quote:
Originally Posted by martyh
Bows roundabout is not cycle friendly ,it definitely needs a bit of work.I have no problem at all with cyclists in london, think of the congestion if all those cyclists decided to drive cars but the time is approaching where they must be required to pass a test .Also it may be an idea to scrap cycle lanes
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Around here we have some cycle-ways on the footpaths and they're hardly ever used by cyclists for some reason. My wife uses a couple of them regularly but hardly ever sees anyone else doing so.
There are so many more cyclists now that there are bound to be more accidents. As slower 'amateur' cyclists increasingly come into conflict with the courier variety and the lycra clad Tour de France wannabes, they are also put at risk by speed merchants darting in/out at speed from all angles in their quest to get where they're going as quickly as possible. This too can cause accidents.
I agree that drivers need to be more aware but being surrounded by people on bikes all trying to do their own thing, many of them ignoring the highway code and none of them indicating what their next move is going to be, life can become very difficult. Yes training is important but just as important is changing the mindset of that proportion of cyclists who act as though the rules are for everyone else and believe that accidents are never their fault. How we're going to do that is another matter. I guess prosecution is the only way to tackle the hard core but judging from the indignant attitude to criticism of many serious cyclists I can see it taking a very long time to make them see that they too need to behave responsibly on our roads. It's far easier to blame the motorist, the taxi driver, the bus driver the lorry driver and anyone else for that matter.
Yesterday we saw what I imagine is a common problem and the cause of many serious accidents. We were stuck at a junction with 2 buses in front of us wanting to turn left and indicating accordingly. A cyclist came up on the inside of us and tried to squeeze past the buses on the inside even though there was hardly any room to do so and his presence would either prevent the drivers from turning left until he was out of the way or quite possibly result in him being crushed under their wheels. There was plenty of room next to our car and he'd have been perfectly safe waiting there for the lights to turn green and the buses move off but for some reason that wasn't his choice and he found himself wedged between the bus and the railings. Did he see their indicators? Did he care? Did he realise what danger he was placing himself in? It's hard to imagine why he did such a stupid thing but IMHO it's stupidly like that which leads to a great many accidents involving cyclists.