Cyclists
Well guess what cyclists, when you don't ride 2 or more abreast, when you don't go through red lights, when you stop refusing to ride on the shoulder on a 100km/h motorway, when you don't hit my car because, evidently, you're too close to it on Lambton Quay (long story), you can have my respect.
Until then get of the roads our registrations pay for, and if you want cycle lanes, make a bike registration system to pay for it. Why should driver's have drive at your speed?Michael2009-09-28 18:48:15
They've got as much right to be there as anyone, although I think the speed limit thing is stupid.
I actually thought Wellington was becoming a more bike friendly place.
I am now very much a lazy car-driving, bus-riding slob taking delight in such boorish Clarkson-isms:
http://www.pureclarkson.com/clarkson-on-cyclists/
http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-190329.html
One day I will pump up the tyres on my Specialized M2, put on my faded lycra, tune up the gears and replace the break pads and hit the tracks again.
And then promptly fall off and do myself an injury.
"Until then get of the roads our registrations pay for, and if you want cycle lanes, make a bike registration system to pay for it. Why should driver's have drive at your speed?"
On your bike ... too much self-righteousness.
more like anger actually.
but i'll pedal off into the sunset...Car vs bike - no contest.
But I do get annoyed with people telling me what I should or shouldn't do and what I have and haven't paid for. Often it's people with the least skin in the game that like to impose their values on me (not directed at you since I don't know how much skin you have in the game...so to speak).
That's why i like Clarkson's take on this.
I would think it's less about imposing values on someone and more about sticking up for basic rights.
Whose forcing you to inhale them?
I thought they were fumes.
This ... changes ... everything.
I think the main reason there is so much animosity against cyclists is because they don't respect the rights of other road users. They constantly bleat and moan about how drivers treat them badly, but that's only the case because they are constantly breaking rules and risking the lives of themselves and others.
Don't get me started on buses either... with the drivers pulling out in front of you with 1/4 of a seconds notice when you're going 50km/h and are only a few metres from them.
When I did try biking in Wgtn whenever I got to the Karori Tunnel I would go right into the middle of the lane. That way the cars couldn't overtake or squeeze me over to the side. (once out of the tunnel I was hard to the left)
I get extremely annoyed with sneaky cyclists coming up on the left when the cars are still and then getting indignant when the cars start to move and they run out of space.
Fair point about the parked car/door thing, but how far does a door open? Usually a metre at most. You'll need a bit more than that to justifying cyclists who go far further out than that.
Another point, why should it be the driver who "wait(s) patiently until you can pass"? Surely there's just as valid an argument, then, that the cyclist should stop, wait for the cars to go past and then ride in the middle of the lane past the parked cars.
Personally I enjoy a bit of mountain biking and will bike somewhere (very close by) if need be. I just hate the inconsiderate cyclists and when cyclists jump up and down about the 'injustices'.
Also have been a cyclist for a few years myself, so I know the dangers of the road. Most of the time people were considerate and moved a good couple of metres to get around me. Sometimes though people would come up speeding right beside me.
Since becoming a driver too, I've noticed how cyclists can be bloody annoying too.
I think that cyclists need to stop thinking they own the road, and for motorists to be a bit more aware of them.HarryPeters2009-09-29 00:39:00
The two or more cyclists abreast thing makes me laugh, as if it's the most heinous of crimes, what because it delays you for a minute or two? (if that), when you occasionally have to pass a couple of road cyclists. Yet on a daily basis I see motorists speeding, texting on mobile phones, throwing crap out of the windows (when did you last see a cyclist throw Macdonalds crap all over the road?), drunk, high, angry to the point of foaming at the mouth, putting themselves and everyone else in danger. Yet these morally irresponsible drivers are still somehow more acceptable than a guy on a bike? How many cyclists have killed other road users this year?
I don't break traffic rules and have not run a red in many years thats despite sometimes not being able to trip a light due to being on a bike. I'm polite and courteous, will wave and give a thumbs up if I meet a courteous driver. I always stop and offer assistance to other cyclists if I think they need a hand and have done so for other people too.
In return I have been run over when a guy pulled out in front of me although I had the right of way. I have had threats and beer bottles chucked at me, I have been forced to ride in the gutter as at least 50% will not give me the meter of space you are supposed to so have to ride in through glass and all sorts of crap, (amazing for a country with such mythical ball handling skills you lot sure drop a lot of beer bottles). I will not ride in the door zone though, and I am amazed at how a hell of a lot of car drivers don't even know how to safely open a door.
You'd think car-drivers would be pleased about cyclists. One less car park space taken, one less person to have to wait for at the petrol station, one less person to be stuck behind in a traffic jam, one less person using up petrol. But no you have to have some irrational hatred because some people choose to ride a bike to work ffs it's pathetic.
Why do I do it though? Well when you see the faces of collegues in the morning who have just managed to roll out of bed and scratch their arses, half dead and pasty-faced, that's why I ride a bike because it's about being alive. My commute is an adventure everyday and each journey is a unique experience. I often ask collegues what did they remember about the car-ride in and they mostly can't remember anything, because it's the same ol' same ol'l everyday.
In a couple of hundred years the world will look back at the way we drive cars and think of us as insane.
ForteanTimes2009-09-29 15:37:19
And yes, I drive too.
The attitide that Kiwi drivers seem to have towards cyclists never ceases to amaze me either. When I lived in London I used to ride to work every day, through rush hour traffic, never had any real problems and loved it. When I lived in Wellington I used to ride from home in Upper Hutt to Lower Hutt and copped more sh*t and aggression there than I ever did in London. Strange, eh?
Personally, before lobbing grenades at cyclists, it might be be more useful if Kiwi drivers managed to get their heads round things such as:RULES FOR CYCLISTS
Wear your helmet.
Do not ride more than two abreast.
Use a clear arm signal if you intend to turn, reduce your speed or stop.
At intersections follow the same rules as drivers, otherwise walk across.
Stick to the cycle path where there is one. Where there is no cycle path, use the road, staying as far left as possible.
Only ride on the footpath if delivering newspapers, mail or leaflets.
You may use a bus lane to cycle in as long as there is no sign prohibiting this.
There are bogon petrol heads and immature cyclists who think they are bullet proof, impatient drivers and self-righteous flat-earthers on two wheels.
The rest of us just get on with getting from A to B as efficiently and safely as possible.
However cyclists will always be at a disadvantage in terms of visibility (lack of) and vulnerability (lots of) to cars so they should expect that more often than not they will be on the receiving end of things.
RULES FOR CYCLISTS
Wear your helmet.
Do not ride more than two abreast.
Use a clear arm signal if you intend to turn, reduce your speed or stop.
At intersections follow the same rules as drivers, otherwise walk across.
Stick to the cycle path where there is one. Where there is no cycle path, use the road, staying as far left as possible.
Only ride on the footpath if delivering newspapers, mail or leaflets.
You may use a bus lane to cycle in as long as there is no sign prohibiting this.
Sorry but as a New Zealand Cycling trainer one of these rules is wrong and the others poorly thought out. I suggest you don't go instructing people in safe cycling techniques unless you been on a trainers course recognized by the NZ transport agency.
ForteanTimes2009-09-29 15:31:50