5 ms·

Agreed, but the funny thing about London is that cyclists tend to be more of a menace than cars. There is a noticeable minority who just don't want to stop for

by pyb 10y ago

Agreed, but the funny thing about London is that cyclists tend to be more of a menace than cars. There is a noticeable minority who just don't want to stop for pedestrians.

MagnumOpus 10y ago
Cycle couriers/deliveroos are the cycle equivalent of the white van man and the black cabbie - they drive for a living and time is money, so they try to kill you if you so much stand in their way. Luckily even if they crash into you, they are as likely to kill themselves a you - something that cannot be said of white van men...
- pyb 10y ago
  Ok, but it's really lycra clad commuters I've had bad experiences with... some of them are just oblivious I don't find black cabs threatening. It's the Ubers who are usually really dangerous. Not sure if it's because they're new to their jobs (a high turnover occupation?), or half asleep.
  - NoGravitas 10y ago
    If they're in lycra, they're very unlikely to be a commuter. They'll be a sports cyclist, not a utility cyclist. Utility cyclists wear normal clothes.
    - pyb 10y ago
      In London, it's quite common to see cycle commuters with sports clothing. They take a shower and change clothes at the office
  - sonthonax 10y ago
    > lycra clad commuters I've had bad experiences with... some of them are just oblivious Or perhaps it's because they're often faster than you, come out of nowhere with no audible warning, cut you off based on their expectation of your predictability, and then shake their asses at you.
m0nty 10y ago
> cyclists tend to be more of a menace than cars That must be why bikes injure 60,000 people per annum in the UK, and kill ~2,000. Then there's the ~40,000 deaths from pollution. Oh wait, that's the cars. Maybe you need to rethink what you mean by "menace"? Annoying and inconvenient (even threatening) is not the same as deadly.
- oarsinsync 10y ago
  > That must be why bikes injure 60,000 people per annum in the UK, and kill ~2,000. Then there's the ~40,000 deaths from pollution. Oh wait, that's the cars. 40k deaths from impact from car, or 40k deaths from pollution? The two are not the same. Cars produce a lot of pollution. So do offices. So do busses. So does the underground tube network. Impact from car I'm sure is cause for a lot of injuries and deaths, use the real numbers to make your point if you want it to be taken more seriously. Here's an anecdote, since this already isn't an argument based on numbers and facts. I've never been hit by a car in London. In the space of a year, I've been hit by two cyclists and lost my takeaway dinner on account of a third. Cyclists need to learn red lights apply to them to. Skipping through red lights, or worse, jumping onto the pavements at red lights to be able to bypass 'legally', all the while ringing their bells, is incredibly antisocial and does nothing to help build any sympathy to the many cyclists who get hurt and/or killed by drivers every week.
  - m0nty 10y ago
    > Cyclists need to learn red lights apply to them to. As do motorists. Cars go through red lights all the time but we don't seem to notice, for some reason. If you'd been hit by cars this year, you would have suffered far more serious injuries and possibly death. That hardly ever happens with bikes. My figures for KSI are possibly a little out of date, there are actually 180,000 of them each year in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great_Britain#Annual_summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great... > 40k deaths from impact from car, or 40k deaths from pollution? I think it's clear I was talking about pollution there. http://www.nhs.uk/news/2016/02February/Pages/Air-pollution-kills-40000-a-year-in-the-UK-says-report.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/news/2016/02February/Pages/Air-pollution-k... > 'There had previously been a focus on pollution from solid fuel burning, such as coal – which, as a result, fell dramatically. However, this has been replaced by concerns about exposure to pollutants from transport sources, especially cars. Even the "cleanest" of engines can produce nitrogen oxides, ozone and particulates – small specks of matter, such as soot. All three may have a potentially harmful effect on health.'

by pyb 10y ago

Agreed, but the funny thing about London is that cyclists tend to be more of a menace than cars. There is a noticeable minority who just don't want to stop for pedestrians.

MagnumOpus 10y ago

Cycle couriers/deliveroos are the cycle equivalent of the white van man and the black cabbie - they drive for a living and time is money, so they try to kill you if you so much stand in their way. Luckily even if they crash into you, they are as likely to kill themselves a you - something that cannot be said of white van men...

pyb 10y ago
Ok, but it's really lycra clad commuters I've had bad experiences with... some of them are just oblivious I don't find black cabs threatening. It's the Ubers who are usually really dangerous. Not sure if it's because they're new to their jobs (a high turnover occupation?), or half asleep.
- NoGravitas 10y ago
  If they're in lycra, they're very unlikely to be a commuter. They'll be a sports cyclist, not a utility cyclist. Utility cyclists wear normal clothes.
  - pyb 10y ago
    In London, it's quite common to see cycle commuters with sports clothing. They take a shower and change clothes at the office
- sonthonax 10y ago
  > lycra clad commuters I've had bad experiences with... some of them are just oblivious Or perhaps it's because they're often faster than you, come out of nowhere with no audible warning, cut you off based on their expectation of your predictability, and then shake their asses at you.

m0nty 10y ago

> cyclists tend to be more of a menace than cars That must be why bikes injure 60,000 people per annum in the UK, and kill ~2,000. Then there's the ~40,000 deaths from pollution. Oh wait, that's the cars. Maybe you need to rethink what you mean by "menace"? Annoying and inconvenient (even threatening) is not the same as deadly.

oarsinsync 10y ago
> That must be why bikes injure 60,000 people per annum in the UK, and kill ~2,000. Then there's the ~40,000 deaths from pollution. Oh wait, that's the cars. 40k deaths from impact from car, or 40k deaths from pollution? The two are not the same. Cars produce a lot of pollution. So do offices. So do busses. So does the underground tube network. Impact from car I'm sure is cause for a lot of injuries and deaths, use the real numbers to make your point if you want it to be taken more seriously. Here's an anecdote, since this already isn't an argument based on numbers and facts. I've never been hit by a car in London. In the space of a year, I've been hit by two cyclists and lost my takeaway dinner on account of a third. Cyclists need to learn red lights apply to them to. Skipping through red lights, or worse, jumping onto the pavements at red lights to be able to bypass 'legally', all the while ringing their bells, is incredibly antisocial and does nothing to help build any sympathy to the many cyclists who get hurt and/or killed by drivers every week.
- m0nty 10y ago
  > Cyclists need to learn red lights apply to them to. As do motorists. Cars go through red lights all the time but we don't seem to notice, for some reason. If you'd been hit by cars this year, you would have suffered far more serious injuries and possibly death. That hardly ever happens with bikes. My figures for KSI are possibly a little out of date, there are actually 180,000 of them each year in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great_Britain#Annual_summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great... > 40k deaths from impact from car, or 40k deaths from pollution? I think it's clear I was talking about pollution there. http://www.nhs.uk/news/2016/02February/Pages/Air-pollution-kills-40000-a-year-in-the-UK-says-report.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/news/2016/02February/Pages/Air-pollution-k... > 'There had previously been a focus on pollution from solid fuel burning, such as coal – which, as a result, fell dramatically. However, this has been replaced by concerns about exposure to pollutants from transport sources, especially cars. Even the "cleanest" of engines can produce nitrogen oxides, ozone and particulates – small specks of matter, such as soot. All three may have a potentially harmful effect on health.'