Motorists, cyclists: time to grow up

[Spat]

Read this article and have been reading the posts below...

 

Sad to see the amount of people with a vendetta against cyclists, gonna be extra carful on my way home today, if that is the mindset of the guys in the cars.

 

http://www.news24.com/Columnists/DavidMoseley/Motorists-cyclists-time-to-grow-up-20110125

[AndreZA]

I just think cyclists are stupid, me excluded off course. Last Saturday it was really misty on the Westrand. I passed probably 100 cyclist on my way to a Randfontein and back. Out of all of them only about 10 had rear lights and only about 5 front lights and none had hi-viz vests or belts on. And they still rode 3-4 abreast.

[Tiny K]

I agree, that is tjop'ish Mampara! I always ride with my back and front lights on.... not hi-viz vest though, but then again my cycling tops are brightly coloured

[LeTurbo]

The Dutch guy is right: cars are supposed to give right of way to any non-motorised transport, and pedestrians. As for the "roads are for cars and (non-erxistent) cycle tracks are for bikes" ... well, bikes were around first.

[Danger Dassie]

You know what, everyone needs to grow the **** up.

Everyday I see motorists driving down sidewalks or the wrong side of the road, skipping stop streets, cutting in from the wrong lane etc ....

It's doesn't take a bicycle, motorcycle, car etc .. to make a person an asshole on the road.

 

Seriously, this is a pointless debate, because no-one has the common decency to concede to one another. We point fingers rather.

[Wannabe]

Because of time constraints in the afternoons (and also because the damn wind is howling most afternoons), I'm training in the mornings, going out at 05h00 (flashing red light at the back, flashing white light at front AND a Led Lenser Headlamp on my helmet). It just surprises me that I encounter more cyclist's in the dark and semi dusk conditions that DOES NOT HAVE ANY KIND OF LIGHT on the bike, than those that actually do have lights on. And in most cases these lights are so feeble/dim, they might as well have left them at home.

 

What gives guys, have you spent all your money on your bike and cannot afford the most basic kind of lights?

Edited January 25, 2011 by Wannabe

[leet22]

all that is need is a bit of common sense . A cyclist " can " by law ride in the middle of the road right. (not saying its the safe thing to do) So if you wanted to over take him you would do what?

wait?

Force your way past?

get irritated and knock him over?

the law states you may only overtake when it is safe todo so.

Same thing applies for 2 abreast while its not right its sometimes safer as its more easliy visable. same goes for riding in the yellow shoulder its against the law but when a cyclist does it no-one jumps up and down.

Untill we respect human life over anything else, no matter what we say or do will ever change this world.

We as cyclist should be more careful on the roads as 1 hit from a car could be the last.

[AndreZA]

Because of time constraints in the afternoons (and also because the damn wind is howling most afternoons), I'm training in the mornings, going out at 05h00 (flashing red light at the back, flashing white light at front AND a Led Lenser Headlamp on my helmet). It just surprises me to see that more cyclist I encounter in the dark and semi dusk conditions DOES NOT HAVE ANY KIND OF LIGHT, than those that actually do have lights on. And in most cases these lights are so feeble/dim, they might as well have left them at home.

 

What gives guys, have you spent all your money on your bike and cannot afford the most basic kind of lights?

 

proper lights are not pretty and it weighs a few grams. So there is no weigh ponces will put it on their R30 000+ bikes. So they rather put these little single LED silicone wrap around lights on that help bugger all.

[Eldron]

You know what, everyone needs to grow the **** up.

Everyday I see motorists driving down sidewalks or the wrong side of the road, skipping stop streets, cutting in from the wrong lane etc ....

It's doesn't take a bicycle, motorcycle, car etc .. to make a person an asshole on the road.

 

Seriously, this is a pointless debate, because no-one has the common decency to concede to one another. We point fingers rather.

 

Hear hear.

 

This is the only required reply to this thread. Anything else is just more finger pointing.

[splat]

The mature responses after the article show the public's general attitude.

It isn't going to change any time soon.

We have people wishing or thinking we are a first world country, but behave in a 3rd world way where rules, laws and common sense are in short supply.

 

It's up to us as cyclists to change the way we behave for our own preservation.

I dont know how many people there are on The Hub compared to cyclists in SA, but it seems the general cycling public are not in line with general sentiments here, so we seem to have a bit of a stalemate.

[Caerus]

Because of time constraints in the afternoons (and also because the damn wind is howling most afternoons), I'm training in the mornings, going out at 05h00 (flashing red light at the back, flashing white light at front AND a Led Lenser Headlamp on my helmet). It just surprises me to see that more cyclist I encounter in the dark and semi dusk conditions DOES NOT HAVE ANY KIND OF LIGHT, than those that actually do have lights on. And in most cases these lights are so feeble/dim, they might as well have left them at home.

 

What gives guys, have you spent all your money on your bike and cannot afford the most basic kind of lights?

 

Should be a rule thats enforced.

 

I was told the other day after complaining to my local Metro Police about the way the buses, taxi & cars speed along a stretch of road(I wanna commute along this route), that has a 60km/h limit. Buses drive at 100km/h and taxis faster, cars even faster. So I suggested that they set up speed camaras to curb the dangerous driving & speeding( they used to when I was a kid), I was told in no uncertain terms that the Metro Police do not, and will not set up speed traps or check on reckless driving in the suburbs. When I suggested that someone will be killed very soon, he almost laughed it off by saying whats the problem.

 

Fast forward to last week, what happens? My worst fears are realised, a young school girl gets killed by a speeding bus along this very stretch of road. I called the same Metro Cop(who happens to be a superintendent) He tells me, "so what must he do"

 

If we dont have the backing of the police in sorting out the reckless & speeding drivers in the suburbs where most guys are cycling. What hope do we have?

[CatGirl]

vanoggend oppad werk toe 'n p..p.ol oor die stopstraat en sien my nie eers nie, gelukkig kon ek uitswaai of dit was amper...

[1hill@aTime]

lol some funny comments afterwards

[umusneva]

Because of time constraints in the afternoons (and also because the damn wind is howling most afternoons), I'm training in the mornings, going out at 05h00 (flashing red light at the back, flashing white light at front AND a Led Lenser Headlamp on my helmet). It just surprises me that I encounter more cyclist's in the dark and semi dusk conditions that DOES NOT HAVE ANY KIND OF LIGHT on the bike, than those that actually do have lights on. And in most cases these lights are so feeble/dim, they might as well have left them at home.

 

What gives guys, have you spent all your money on your bike and cannot afford the most basic kind of lights?

Wow that's awesome!

[Musashi]

From the comments it is clear that the situation will only escalate. Each party, cyclists and motorists would rather defend their position and rights (as they perceive them to be) than sit down, compromise and make life easier for everybody (themselves included). Instead of slinging mud, we should rather compromise on both sides. Cyclists, don't ride next to each other on public roads and stick to the yellow lanes whenever possible. Motorists, be patient (even if it costs you 30 seconds on your way to your destination) and pass when it is safe. (Unfortunately there will always be that 1% that won't comply and ruin it for everybody.)

 

Unfortunately this is not the world we live in. The focus of individuals is on "self" and not their community and other people. As a result, there is no more respect left as each one fights for themselves, to the overall detriment of society as a whole. You see this in traffic as well where motorists would drive in the yellow line to push in in front of a queue of cars (do they do this in they local supermarket as well?). It is a problem with society, not motorists/cyclists.

 

So, I try to change things by setting an example. I will not jump the queue in traffic. I will ride behind my buddy in the yellow lane or on the sidewalk if possible. And I will be friendly to cyclists on the road, even if they ride next to each other. Maybe someday somewhere someone will notice and follow the example. Naive, I know...

[Bram_on_Madone]

You know what, everyone needs to grow the **** up.

Everyday I see motorists driving down sidewalks or the wrong side of the road, skipping stop streets, cutting in from the wrong lane etc ....

It's doesn't take a bicycle, motorcycle, car etc .. to make a person an asshole on the road.

 

Seriously, this is a pointless debate, because no-one has the common decency to concede to one another. We point fingers rather.

 

 

I completely agree. You will get twits everywhere and its not dependent on their mode of transport. Cyclists are, however, the weaker members of road traffic by virtue of the fact that in 99% of collisions they will come off worse than the driver of a motorised vehicle. It is the duty of society to protect its weaker members through regulation and enforcement even where these weaker members may be displaying idiotic behaviour. This is similar to a fraudster (say a Nigerian 419 scamster) that preys on people that do not have the intelligence or eduction to know that are being conned - the law still tries to protect these people by prosecuting the fraudsters and we don't have rafts of people blogging that its their fault for falling for the con in the first place.

 

A further (pretty strong) argument is that government at various levels should be doing as much as possible to encourage cycling - both as reacreation and a commuter vehicle. There are many obvious reasons for this including - reducing congestion on roads, mobilising the poor (with no access to private cars), encouraging healthy living (heart disease is still the single biggest cost to our society), etc.

 

The argument of who is at fault is completely irrelevant and so is whether motorists are irritated or not.