More cyclist scum

[Maz]

Could a mod change it to "Most cyclists are scum" then?

[Timbo]

Originally posted by Te Pouakai
When I was a kid, there was something called the Cycling Proficiency Test. The police used to send someone round to schools with mock road signs etc.. You then had the best part of a day's briefing and practice before being given a mini-theory and practical test in order to gain your certificate. We weren't allowed to cycle to school unless we had the certificate (and the nice triangular metal lapel badge to signify this "qualification"). I guess it all became too expensive to run or was considered to be "uncool" as attitudes changed, which is a pity because the system worked in terms of improving road safety. Trouble is, look at how many cars there are on UK roads now compared with the late 1950's and early 1960's which is when I'm talking about.

Wasn't there a Tufty badge or something?
Tufty was some sort of rabbit or squirrel

[Maz]

Tufty was Road Safety.

Before the Green Cross Code man.

[Timbo]

Yes you're right Maz, I've just googled. Here's a BBC link with a little video

To view the link you have to Register or Login

[norwood_girl]

Originally posted by Maz

I Tufty

[El Aguila]

Originally posted by Maz
Could a mod change it to "Most cyclists are scum" then?

Only with the caveat that nearly all motorcyclists are murderous shits.

[brighton_eagle]

Originally posted by norwood_girl
I Tufty

[firesign]

Originally posted by Te Pouakai
When I was a kid, there was something called the Cycling Proficiency Test. The police used to send someone round to schools with mock road signs etc.. You then had the best part of a day's briefing and practice before being given a mini-theory and practical test in order to gain your certificate. We weren't allowed to cycle to school unless we had the certificate (and the nice triangular metal lapel badge to signify this "qualification"). I guess it all became too expensive to run or was considered to be "uncool" as attitudes changed, which is a pity because the system worked in terms of improving road safety. Trouble is, look at how many cars there are on UK roads now compared with the late 1950's and early 1960's which is when I'm talking about.

They still do the cycling proficient test for kids where I live. My son took his a few weeks before the end of term and I think it certainly helped him.

[as216]

Originally posted by norwood_girl
Cyclists =

Why do they think they are above the law? Disobeying traffic signals, riding on the pavement, harassing pedestrians. Where I live the local council has decided in their wisdom to make some of the pavements into cycle lanes, the pedestrians have to walk in the road!

And I pulled an injured cyclist out of a ditch last week (he had been there for a while) thankless •••••• hasn't even been in touch to say thanks.

I'm pretty sure I have once before quoted your post about cyclists and replaced the word cyclists with the word drivers and listed all their bad habits as an attempt to show that you can't tar everyone with the same brush.

I'd do it again but you obviously wouldn't get the message.

[eagle mart]

Spooky, I've been thinking about cyclists this week. The red lightjumping, thoughtless ••••••s in their ill fitting cylcing shorts.

Cyclists are the first to moan if they get cut up by a car, but give little or no thought for pedestrians. The type I hate the most are the ones that don't stop at Zebra crossings. It seems it is too much effort to pull the brake and start pedalling again. So they just check thir pedaling so they just miss you or they swerve round you, all whilst you're trying to second guess which one they do.

I now play a little game, I check my step and shimmy. That really fecks them up.

Don't get me started on the couriers, the smelly, long haired dog on a string squatters. They have their own rules.

[as216]

These threads always go round in circles - the anti-cyclists who have their pre-conceived notions of what most of us get up to and those of us who do ride could just as easily respond in kind with our rants about white van man and chavs in souped-up Saxos and no-one on either side ever seems to be able to come up with a solution (and I'm not suggesting I can).

Maybe we should all just learn to direct our fury in a more targeted way to those who specifically deserve it - as a cyclist nothing winds me up more than having to defend myself over things I have NEVER done. But I will admit I find it difficult when I see fellow riders (and this extends to those I ride with sometimes) flout the highway code.

[cpfc greenhithe]

I feel a war coming on. Come on you cyclists!

[Nork1]

Originally posted by as216
These threads always go round in circles - the anti-cyclists who have their pre-conceived notions of what most of us get up to and those of us who do ride could just as easily respond in kind with our rants about white van man and chavs in souped-up Saxos and no-one on either side ever seems to be able to come up with a solution (and I'm not suggesting I can).

Maybe we should all just learn to direct our fury in a more targeted way to those who specifically deserve it - as a cyclist nothing winds me up more than having to defend myself over things I have NEVER done. But I will admit I find it difficult when I see fellow riders (and this extends to those I ride with sometimes) flout the highway code.

OK, a more balanced view. I dont own a car. I don't own a bike. You're all •••••... now •••• off the lot of you and stop trying to run me over on crossings.

[cpfc greenhithe]

As a cyclist for many years this is what I believe has changed cyclists.

Several years ago most cyclists were aware of and obeyed the law of the road. Cycling is now 'trendy' and healthy. Thanks to various parties badly promoting cycling as an alternative to driving, along with the lack of decent public transport and for central London the events of 7/7 have meant this type of behaviour has been transfered from the car to the bike. The bike is much more dangerous in the hands of these new types of riders we see today. Most simply don't know what they are doing.

[New_Malden_Eagle]

I was going to type a long reply to this thread, but I can't be arsed to flight the Clarkson lobby.... suffice to say Welshneil and KennyB get it right (above). In Holland bicycle lanes are like roads (not small green painted sections of pavement or wonky lines painted along busy A-roads) and cars, bikes, pedestrians and trams manage to co-exist peacefully. Probably because road users do not have the same pathetic defensive mentality that they do in this country (eg drivers saying "what right does that cyclist have to get ahead of me at the lights," when the answer is "because he's on a bike and he can weave through traffic and past red lights if it's safe to do so and therefore should and you can't because you're in a car you twat").
I hope that makes sense, if not I can produce a much-extended rant.
By the way I drive to work every day but cycle for pleasure. Drivers and pedestrians look out for me about 99% of the time when I am in my car, and about 50% of the time when I am on my bike. I'd say that explains a lot of cyclists' frustration.

[brokenstar]

Originally posted by west country boy
Gas them like badgers.

Thanks the water I was drinking just came out my nose...note to self don't laugh whist drinking

[Te Pouakai]

Originally posted by New_Malden_Eagle
In Holland bicycle lanes are like roads (not small green painted sections of pavement or wonky lines painted along busy A-roads) and cars, bikes, pedestrians and trams manage to co-exist peacefully.

Here in New Zealand, we have decent cycle lanes too. Trouble is, road cyclists are like motorists - there are good and bad. Generally, the cyclists are OK, the main exception being when a group of them starts riding two and three abreast, causing them to stray into the motorist's lane. Heaven help any motorist who subsequently "nudges" a cyclist with his wing mirror because the police usually treat the motorist as being the guilty party in most instances, which I think is wrong, especially when groups of cyclists are often seen talking to each other and not necessarily paying attention to the road and thus not aware of what is happening or approaching them from behind when they are out of lane. That is why personally, I prefer cycling on rural roads or up on hill and mountain tracks for recreational exercise (you get better views and scenery anyway and you're not riding in the wake of someone's car exhaust). It also involves more riding skill and can be exhilarating fun on some tracks.

The enigma I find here is that whilst NZ motorists usually respect and exercise reasonable caution when there are cyclists around, NZ motorists seem to revert to "untamed morons" when it comes to other general road manners and driving habits. I have found driving standards here to be noticeably inferior to those in the UK, not helped by the fact that the minumum age for driving here is only 15, an age when kids (which is what they are) don't have the maturity to act responsibly and with good anticipation or judgement of potential risks and dangers. Fifteen year-olds behind the wheel of a car drive with the mentality that they are having a buzz as if on a fairground ride rather than realising that they are at the controls of a potentially lethal machine which can kill either them or other innocent parties. Worse still, by far and away, the greatest proportion of drink or drugs influenced driving offences committed in NZ is by 15 to 19 year-olds. Without an extensive public transport system as an alternative, teaching kids to develop the right attitude for safe driving is a major problem here.

A bit of a digression from the original subject I know, but the common link is that the issue is all about attitude towards respecting the road code without exception and how to behave whether a motorist or a cyclist when sharing our ever increasingly congested roads.

[New_Malden_Eagle]

Te Pouakai... I know from my visit to NZ 3 years ago that road deaths in your country are proportionately particularly high, but I had no idea that driving was allowed from age 15. AFAIK aren't these rates high because of a large number of drink driving accidents, which is easily explainable by the hugely disparate population (esp. in the South)?

Anyhow, I think as a cyclist I'd rather take my chances on NZ's roads than London's (except maybe Auckland's)...

[Te Pouakai]

Originally posted by New_Malden_Eagle
Te Pouakai... I know from my visit to NZ 3 years ago that road deaths in your country are proportionately particularly high, but I had no idea that driving was allowed from age 15. AFAIK aren't these rates high because of a large number of drink driving accidents, which is easily explainable by the hugely disparate population (esp. in the South)?

Anyhow, I think as a cyclist I'd rather take my chances on NZ's roads than London's (except maybe Auckland's)...

Typical scenario - Friday night, totally tanked-up, five 15-16 year-olds jump in a beaten-up 10 plus year-old imported Jap second-hand car which they've modified (lowered suspension, fat exhaust). They go cruising around town, challenging similar morons to a quick burn-off at the lights on Moorhouse Ave in Christchurch before heading to the suburbs to assemble with 50 or more other "hoons" to perform burn-out "doughnuts" or wose still drag-runs. If they are lucky, they stay alive somehow. In many instances, they discover that cars do actually wrap around trees quite easily at speed and blood is spilt. The police, who are known for their penchant at issuing all motorists speeding tickets as a ready source of revenue generation, seem powerless to intervene, as these morons organise themselves using text messages to switch locations they congregate at around town. It's all a game for them. And what if they're caught? A fine and suspension of their licence for a measly 28 days after which they are back on the roads to repeat-offend. Now, here's the real killer. Motor insurance is not a legal requirement in NZ !!!! That means, whereas in the UK getting inurance after a driving conviction either costs an arm and a leg if not impossible to obtain (acting as a deterrent in its own right), here it is legal to drive without any insurance whatsoever. What I'd do is convict these morons, ban them for a year and force them to watch their "pride and joy" vehicle being crushed to the size of a fridge. Decommissioning vehicles used as weapons from our roads would be no different than removing guns from streets as a measure towards reducing these different forms of crime, especially as the offenders would still be faced with having to pay off their car loans before replacing their vehicle once their driving ban has ended. Now there's an even greater disincentive to misbehaving on the roads because it hits them where it hurts them most - in their pockets. But sadly, our politicians would never have the balls to fight fire with fire that way, no doubt hiding behind political correctness or shying away from those that would say the offenders were being denied their human rights, which, if they are law-breakers, they forego because those with genuine rights are the victims of such crime and antisocial nuisance in our society IMHO. Bringing back mandatory motor insurance (with all the problems of obtaining cover after a driving conviction) would also be a big step forward.

Incidentally, the bare statistics are, I believe, that in the UK there is one accident per 19,000 drivers out of a population of 60 million. Here in NZ, that statistic is one per 10,000 out of a population of only 4 million. That says everything about comparable driving standards, especially as NZ roads are bigger, wider and far less congested than those in the UK with rush-hour traffic jams adding maybe 5 minutes to your journey, unless you happen to live in Auckland that is which is gridlocked at the best of times.

[grey ghost]

Originally posted by Maz
Tufty was Road Safety.

Before the Green Cross Code man.

i used to be in the tufty club , jeez makes me feel old