Cycling on the Road (2 Viewers)

[Kwayera]

Kwayera, you say you treat motorcyclists and cyclists as hazards (rightly so and props for even noticing them), do you treat cars the same? Just curious.

Sure do. I don't trust any driver on the road to do the right thing because most of them are selfish arseholes.

 

[iNerd]

u<12
cycle on foot path

u>12
cycle on the road

 

[akrinis]

u<12
cycle on foot path

u>12
cycle on the road

If you were a parent, would you honestly send your 12-13 year old onto the road knowing they're in danger, yet technically, it's against the law not to.

 

[Keepleft]

As a Cyclist who has raced nationals for both road and MTB, I understand the problems encounted by drivers on the road. as a cyclist, u can use motorways as long as u stay in the breakdown lane.

Like I mentioned above, the *only* reason why you may do so on some motorway/freeway class roads is for reasons of political correctness bought about by certain public servant employees who 'forget', where the restriction on cyclists, in this example, derives.

NSW will again prohibit the use of motorway shoulders to cyclists, horses, tractors and horse-drawn vehicles. I expect this sometimes around 2011. I will advocate to ensure the penalty exceeds $300.

If cyclists got some respect, the minority that break the rules would decrease in number, i noticed that on the weekend, most cars failed to indicate before changing lanes. an a particular stop sign near my house, almost no-one stops at, these cars are not obeying the rules either

Wrote this at another closed forum;-
PEOPLE do not indicate because they often don't care too, driving poorly/badly *IS* A NATIONAL PASTIME here in Australia, and the chances you'll be actioned by police is a limited probability, outside holiday 'blitz times'.

SPEED on the other hand is a different matter; automated speed enforcement means you have a higher chance of being actioned by 'the system', than say for deliberately switching on your front fog lights in clear weather (to annoy/distract other traffic), or going deliberately slower than other traffic in the middle-lane of a three lane freeway, - with the intent of causing rear-closing traffic to then congest around you - as it is forced to overtake on the left and right lanes. You name the poor driving probability and behaviour, and 90% of the time its all very deliberate.

Very very few people are actually 'bad' drivers per se, it might not seem this way, but actually is. In NSW 0.001% of the two tiered P plate license holders will die in a crash in their careers.

The question is 'why' the bad driving? I reckon, in part, is that it is peoples way of 'getting back at' a society for their own perceived societal ills, example; something about the state of affairs of the country/State annoys them, AND the person blames others for electing those they deem responsible. Add into that the fact that in many cases people really do not prefer to like each other 'out there', and can show it from the 'privacy' of their own vehicles.

I've had a road user (weekday F3 truck driver) delight in telling me "heh, I messed that one up" - having just cut-off someone closing-in the from the rear <faster>, so our example driver regularly pulls out in front of 'them', deliberately; to overtake 'slowly'!

The wickedness of human beings they say . . . .

Also the outcome of an engineered/structured dumbed-down society; bad driving is often another reaction to that.

It *can* be fixed. (We did not behave this way in NSW back prior to the 1980's when we still had derestriction outside cities and towns). (//).

 

[quik.]

Like I mentioned above, the *only* reason why you may do so on some motorway/freeway class roads is for reasons of political correctness bought about by certain public servant employees who 'forget', where the restriction on cyclists, in this example, derives.

NSW will again prohibit the use of motorway shoulders to cyclists, horses, tractors and horse-drawn vehicles. I expect this sometimes around 2011. I will advocate to ensure the penalty exceeds $300.

I don't see why you object to cyclists riding in emergency lanes. They don't obstruct traffic, like at all ever. The dangers are all taken on by the cyclists themselves: glass/debris in the breakdown lane, idiotic drivers who think passing 2inches from them is hilarious. Should an emergency vehicle need to get through or a driver need to get off the motorway, it's hardly difficult for a cyclist to maneuver themselves out of the way.

As for your quoted letter, poor drivers can be the result of many things. Lack of attention, selfishness, lack of actual training. In my opinion it is generally a combination of all 3, a lot of people can't even keep their car in their lane when a corner pops up, heaven forbid. Roundabouts are even worse. Lack of courtesy to other road users is fairly pronounced (at least in Sydney) but this is magnified when dealing with cyclists because they are the most vulnerable.

 

[Azamakumar]

....thats what he said hey

 

[bayside9]

Swear if a cyclist takes up a full lane, i will run them down. Its bad enough having to overtake a cyclist on the edge of the road, weaving onto oncoming traffic. what makes you think that a cyclist doing 30kmh should be allowed to take up a full lane on a 70kmh road.

 

[Keepleft]

I don't see why you object to cyclists riding in emergency lanes. They don't obstruct traffic, like at all ever. The dangers are all taken on by the cyclists themselves: glass/debris in the breakdown lane, idiotic drivers who think passing 2inches from them is hilarious. Should an emergency vehicle need to get through or a driver need to get off the motorway, it's hardly difficult for a cyclist to maneuver themselves out of the way.

1. BECAUSE it is a legally binding contract for all nations who sign the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic, have with each other in relation to this specific topic. MOST Australian road rules directly reflect those requirements.

We did so in regards motorways, on the basis of road safety. International drivers do not expect to be seeing cycles down the F3 in NSW, be they on the shoulders or within a traffic lane at any time.

2. "The danger" is NOT just taken by cyclists themselves, but by all other traffic, and if an event happens, as it does, then "the other traffic" - driver and passengers,- then have to live with the often tragic outcome of the event; it might be cyclist survives, but that other traffic might have veered and crashed into other traffic. A zillion ways for each event to play out.

3. It is NOT safe being in the wide (2.0-3.0m) left emergency shoulder; we get road workers killed when in them, heck - they are often in vehicles too.

We get stopped vehicles, including police, who are hit by other traffic when in them, and we don't need to deliberately add to all potential by allowing much slower forms of transport on what are purpose built, and expensive-by-the-kilometre, high-speed roads that generally carry speed limits of 110km/h, but may one day carry 130km/h, or even be derestricted for a length, and that carry BIG volumes of traffic by the hour.

We will continue building motorway class roads with separate, divided cycleways, a la M7 in NSW.

I again promise; NSW *WILL*, come hell or high water, - reinstall the signs at entry point ramps that prohibit cycles, tractors, pedestrians, and horse-drawn vehicles from using them.

This includes the M7 carriageway and shoulders, the F3, M2, the new F3 to Branxton freeway.

I invite you to organise cycle groups to campaign against this probability, by the next NSW election, 2010-2011.

 

[quik.]

Provided cycle pathways are provided, I have no objection to banning them (cyclists) from motorways.

However, I don't think they pose a risk riding in the emergency lane. If a driver cannot stay in their lane (assuming the absence of a problem) then it is their inability to blame, not the presence of a cyclist.

If a driver can't control their own vehicle, and in turn hits a cyclist, the driver walks away. The cyclist might not ever walk again, let alone be alive to try. So yes, the cyclist is taking the risk. Boohoo the driver will feel bad, he should have paid more attention, that cyclists' family might not see them again. Saying that there will be mental/emotional effects on the driver is a massive cop out.

Police getting collected whilst stopped is a horrible thing, I agree. But how many are collected by a cyclist? It isn't hard to see a police car up ahead (especially considering that the shoulder would be devoid of traffic) and slow down to pass safely. Again, problems caused by bad drivers shouldn't reflect poorly on cyclists. I pose the same questions for construction workers. If there is data out there that highlights a number of cyclists collecting police/construction workers, I will eat my words.

Just to underline this, I fully support seperate cycle pathways. But where they are not provided, I don't see banning cyclists from motorway emergency lanes as a valid solution. The option to take another route is there if the cyclist doesn't think the potential risks are worth the potential benefit (that being a more direct route, whatever).

 

[Azamakumar]

Cyclists would be pretty gay near onramps I imagine.


EDIT: I guess off ramps too, if they're not getting off.