T
The Older Gentleman
Guest
Trevor A Panther <[email protected]> wrote:
> I cycle daily and manage about 4-5000 miles a year and I see an awful lot ( a
> hell of a lot!) of POB's ( pratts on bicycles) ignoring traffic lights and
> cycling on pavements causing chaos in their wake.
Oh yes.
>
> I even see a lot of, what I consider to be, cyclists also ignoring traffic
> lights and putting themselves at risk. And of course the gutter huggers
> sidling up the inside of vehicles at the same traffic lights instead of
> waiting in line in the prime position.
>
> I cannot take the "holier than thou attitude" expressed by many cyclists which
> automatically assumes that the cyclist is always the innocent party.
It seems to stem from the 'environmental' thing. "Look at me! I'm being
ecological!".
>
> And don't dare make a comment to any of these miscreants because you will
> generally get the same mouthful a verbal abuse hurled at you as you do from
> anyone else on the road! Sadly we live in a society that is almost totally
> self centred.
Agree here. It's not just cyclists.
>
> All that being said I do find, on a daily basis, that I experience "incidents"
> "near misses" while cycling on road. There are vehicle drivers who just
> "chance it" a lot, there are a few ( very few, but too many) who deliberately
> will close a cyclist down. And dare I say it there are a huge amount of
> traffic light jumpers -- it seems to be becoming the standard thing to do --
> never mind going through on amber I have watched several vehicles at a time
> driving fast through reds. I live about 100 metres from a busy crossroads and
> see it every time I stand and watch. The "chance it brigade"!
And agree here, too. Nowadays, when the lights turn green, I *always*
give a quick check both ways before starting off, because all too often
there's some prat (not just a cyclist, but car and van drivers too)
prepared to jump the red.
Oddly, I might just have got caught by a red light camera myself today,
on my little 1974 125. Honking up to the lights, which started to
change, applied brakes, and realised that 1974 single leading shoe drums
weren't going to stop me in time, so I whacked open the throttle
instead. I went across the line *just* as the lights turned red: might
have been a millisecond before, might have been a millisecond after, We
shall see whether a buff envelope drops through the letterbox.
Memo to self: remember to ride within limits of SOB brakes.
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F & SL125
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5 The bells, the bells.....
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
> I cycle daily and manage about 4-5000 miles a year and I see an awful lot ( a
> hell of a lot!) of POB's ( pratts on bicycles) ignoring traffic lights and
> cycling on pavements causing chaos in their wake.
Oh yes.
>
> I even see a lot of, what I consider to be, cyclists also ignoring traffic
> lights and putting themselves at risk. And of course the gutter huggers
> sidling up the inside of vehicles at the same traffic lights instead of
> waiting in line in the prime position.
>
> I cannot take the "holier than thou attitude" expressed by many cyclists which
> automatically assumes that the cyclist is always the innocent party.
It seems to stem from the 'environmental' thing. "Look at me! I'm being
ecological!".
>
> And don't dare make a comment to any of these miscreants because you will
> generally get the same mouthful a verbal abuse hurled at you as you do from
> anyone else on the road! Sadly we live in a society that is almost totally
> self centred.
Agree here. It's not just cyclists.
>
> All that being said I do find, on a daily basis, that I experience "incidents"
> "near misses" while cycling on road. There are vehicle drivers who just
> "chance it" a lot, there are a few ( very few, but too many) who deliberately
> will close a cyclist down. And dare I say it there are a huge amount of
> traffic light jumpers -- it seems to be becoming the standard thing to do --
> never mind going through on amber I have watched several vehicles at a time
> driving fast through reds. I live about 100 metres from a busy crossroads and
> see it every time I stand and watch. The "chance it brigade"!
And agree here, too. Nowadays, when the lights turn green, I *always*
give a quick check both ways before starting off, because all too often
there's some prat (not just a cyclist, but car and van drivers too)
prepared to jump the red.
Oddly, I might just have got caught by a red light camera myself today,
on my little 1974 125. Honking up to the lights, which started to
change, applied brakes, and realised that 1974 single leading shoe drums
weren't going to stop me in time, so I whacked open the throttle
instead. I went across the line *just* as the lights turned red: might
have been a millisecond before, might have been a millisecond after, We
shall see whether a buff envelope drops through the letterbox.
Memo to self: remember to ride within limits of SOB brakes.
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F & SL125
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5 The bells, the bells.....
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
