How many lives do you need out on the bike these days??!

[kaiser]

Unfortunately the author of the post you've quoted seems quite representative of a lot of car users these days, seems to be a typical British car is king + legislate everything + me me me type :? .Small world though, there is another Retrobike member posting in that thread!

 

[Miguello]

Sounds like a normal day in Houston, Texas. I once had a redneck in a pickup truck pass me without so much as moving over a foot, nearly hitting me with his oversized mirror, I made a hand gesture as if to say "what the hell", nothing obscene at all! Well, Mr. Redneck pulls into the next available parking lot after passing me, exits his vehicle, leaving the door open and staying close by the vehicle. Which here in TX means, "I have a gun but I am not going to pull it out until you get close enough". He was about 60-65 years old, huge beer gut, and about a 8-10 inch stained white beard. I continued on my way, with him screaming at me, and me screaming back about how I have the same rights as him (again, nothing obscene). Well, Mr. Redneck gets into his truck again, and passes me about 60mph even closer than the first time. slams on the brakes, and makes his right turn, disappearing for good thankfully. I had visions of what I should have done, knocking him out cold with my steel framed bike, and taking his clothes. If I ever run into him again, that is exactly what I will do. In "Merica" people act out there hatred of cyclists without fear of the law, and without a second thought.

My favorite though was the idiot in the Jeep Cherokee who went by and floored it. His poor transmission was so abused that the engine hit the rev limiter, and he got an embarrassing hiccup laden acceleration for his trouble. I was openly laughing at him, and I hope he saw me doing so.

 

[andymuza]

him.

Cowardly for a starter, but what bothers me most is what is the mentality of these people - what's the objective of such moronic driving - bad driving is one thing but deliberate & planned attempts to see a cyclist hit the deck is something that doesn't sit easy with me at all.

i think that the homicidal driver in his tin go kart thinks he wants to see a cyclist hit the deck a la disney cartoons/ x box etc!! the reality is a lot of broken bones, a lot of mush, one dead cyclist and one wannabe racing driver/ judge dredd dreamer who has just killed an innocent member of the public and who is about to lose his licence and go to jail.

how about this reply on a car forum i use to a similar post you have just read about my morning on the bike - here's how that furious, idiotic driver in the tin death trap thinks about us lot:

i wrote this part:
i was thinking about buying a new crash hat as the one i have has a crack in it - realistically, with those kind of antics from complete arsehole drivers, it's going to take a lot more than a polystyrene shell around my bonce to save me!!!


...and the reply?

When all you cyclists meet these conditions

1. Licence and compulsory training to prove that you're fit to be out on the public highway
2. Minimum third party insurance
3. Road tax to contribute like the rest of us who actually pay for the roads
4. Stop riding in and out of traffic like a bunch of suicidal tits
5. Clearly signal changes in direction
6. Have your bikes fitted with Functional side and brake lights
7. Registration plate for your bikes, and an annual safety check

At which point, maybe you might deserve some sympathy and consideration......

:x

Well point 3 shows how brainless this person is.

No one pays road Tax and they haven't done for a long time as Road Tax has not existed since the late 30's.

People who own vehicles pay Vehicle Excise Duty. This is now worked out on how much CO2 the vehicle emits so is actually a pollution tax.
As our bike don't give out any CO2 we don't pay tax just like people who have Band A cars. Zero emission = zero tax to pay.

Also what gets my goat is when a driver says, "get off the road you don't pay tax." they are usually lost for words when you tell them you do because you also own a car and a motorbike followed by a one finger salute to reinforce this.

On the standard of driving though, it is appalling but what are they doing to improve it??? Nothing.

 

[NeilM]

When all you cyclists meet these conditions

1. Licence and compulsory training to prove that you're fit to be out on the public highway
2. Minimum third party insurance
3. Road tax to contribute like the rest of us who actually pay for the roads
4. Stop riding in and out of traffic like a bunch of suicidal tits
5. Clearly signal changes in direction
6. Have your bikes fitted with Functional side and brake lights
7. Registration plate for your bikes, and an annual safety check

That says it pretty much.

I'm always puzzled by the licence thing; why do so many car drivers think cyclists only cycle and don't have car, motorcycle or ever HGV licences. Bizarre!

I have to say I have had all the brake testing, kerb crushing antics in the past, I even had an old boy deliberately try to crush me against the kerb last year as I had managed to pass him while he sat in a short traffic queue. This was on Christmas Day.... and good will to all men to you too mate.

Passing then slowing down, turning or stopping is my bugbear. I had one last night, when an old boy overtook me right on the top of a steep climb I had just struggled up. This would have been fine if he had not then proceeded to crawl down the other side, nearly collecting me up the back as he braked back so hard for a corner part way down the hill. At the next, 90 degree left I was able to ride around the outside (safely) he was going that slow. Once on a main road and after I had covered about half a mile, he overtook me again, and a little further on he was sitting in a lay-by eyeballing me in his mirror and as I passed. If he fancied getting out and giving me a mouthful, he was too slow, as I was tapping along by then.

I drive tens of thousands of business miles a year, and see countless examples of unbelievable driving, which is why I don't take any of this stuff personally, as I worked out a long time ago that Joe Public is a moron.

 

[BobToo]

I think anybody who wants to drive should serve their time on a bicycle, for two reasons. Firstly it would give them a good grounding in road sense, when I was 17 most learner drivers had a decade's worth of road use behind them, and secondly it would make them more aware of cyclists when they did get behind the wheel.

 

[FINNEY1973]

Whether in a car or on a bike, it comes down to space - and there are simply too many people on whatever mode of transport on our roads. The condition of the roads is truly dire - you have to ride in many cases a metre into the road due to the sheer size and frequency of potholes and partial drain collapses. Better to be a metre out than swerving in and out to avoid potholes is how I view it. The motorist does not.

What frustrates me the most is all these new roads though - A46 from Newark to Nottingham east and then onto the old A46 to Leicester - the new works totaled approx 14 miles plus junctions, link roads etc. Cost - 365 MILLION!! And you know what i'm going to say - a practical ZERO in provision for cyclists - there's a crappy cycle track that has gates to stop cars using it so you can go 300 yards and then it's gates or junctions etc etc...a token last minute afterthought squeezed into the planning. So this ludicrous planning means a missed opportunity to provide separated routes for cyclists & vehicles.

And guess what - another 150 MILLION for a 5.5 mile stretch from the M1 into Nottingham on the A453 widening and again no lane for cyclists. So whilst all these schemes sort out faster routes for vehicles, cyclists of this isle had better get used to more of what this thread was raised to discuss - just how bloody dangerous it is out there.

 

[Robbied196]

The basic problem is this country is full.

 

[NeilM]

The basic problem is this country is full.

Yes, but full of what? That's the issue.

 

[Robbied196]

The basic problem is this country is full.

Yes, but full of what?

I can't respond to that, I'll get banned

 

[rusty bodie]

i was out in the car yesterday and saw this guy on a nice road bike, all the gear, with tri bars etc and i honestly thought he had the knock, such was his appalling weaving from side to side all over the road! :shock:

i wonder if it's sights like this that set would be "red mist" drivers off about cyclists?? i would hate to think that anyone thought i rode a bike like that.....ever!!!