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Its a speed limit, not a minimum speed. I would recommend getting a bike and trying it out. It makes you a better driver, because being considerate of other r

Its a speed limit, not a minimum speed. I would recommend getting a bike and trying it out. It makes you a better driver, because being considerate of other road users is its own reward.

charcircuit 5y ago
>Its a speed limit, not a minimum speed. Technically and legally yes, but in practice it's the minimum you are expected to drive. >I would recommend getting a bike I do have a bike and I always get off the road to let cars pass when there is one nearby.
- bitcharmer 5y ago
  > I do have a bike and I always get off the road to let cars pass when there is one nearby. I'll take "things that never happened" for two hundred, Alex
  - charcircuit 5y ago
    But it does happen. The probability of me encountering even one car during a bike ride is like considerably lower that you are expecting.
- maccard 5y ago
  > but in practice it's the minimum you are expected to drive. No, it's not. Far from it. A speed limit of 70mph on a motorway is not the minimum, just because you, or other vehicles want to exceed it. A speed limit of 20/30mph in a city center is not a minimum; it's actively dangerous to exceed it, and if you regularly exceed these you are a danger on the road. A limit of 60mph on a national road is often granted based on road classification rather than the actual road; There are numerous A roads in Scotland that are _not_ safe to travel at 60mph for large stretches of due to poor road camber, poor visibility, narrow lanes, etc. > I do have a bike and I always get off the road to let cars pass when there is one nearby. This is a dangerous and unpredictable way to cycle, and can lead to cars overtaking you when it's dangerous to do so/they're not confident to do so, in the same way that an unconfident driver travelling at 40mph on a motorway is dangerous, or a car driving in a hard shoulder to allow overtaking is dangerous.
  - charcircuit 5y ago
    >and if you regularly exceed these you are a danger on the road. 98% of my driving is not in city centers >A roads in Scotland that are _not_ safe to travel at 60mph for large stretches of due to poor road camber, poor visibility, narrow lanes, etc. Slowing down for safety is different than going slow just because you feel like it. >This is a dangerous and unpredictable way to cycle It's not more dangerous that being a pedestrian. I'm already off the road before they even get close. I can trust that drivers can stay on the road.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  "I do have a bike and I always get off the road to let cars pass when there is one nearby." So if you were in London you would never get to the destination?
  - charcircuit 5y ago
    >So if you were in London you would never get to the destination? I don't live in London, but if I were to do what I do where I live I would just push my bike around assuming there are always cars driving near me.
- gwillz 5y ago
  Oh bless the almighty car. We cannot question it's authority and we are all the better for serving it. What's your point here? Are you advocating that drivers have no responsibility when it comes to road safety? For context, everyone else's point is that both drivers and cyclists are struggling to maintain a safe environment because good infrastructure is lacking. But I just can't see your angle here.
baud147258 5y ago
I'm pretty sure the years where I cycled to school and work without any regard to the traffic code didn't make me a better driver; I just learned to expect the worst possible behavior from cyclists and to expect them to appear from unexpected directions (from the sidewalks, from one-way streets, running red lights...)
- smackeyacky 5y ago
  On Australian roads, Mustang and HSV Commodore drivers always seem to be on the verge of doing something incredibly stupid and endangering others. In reality its probably just confirmation bias but if I'm driving or cycling they always get a wide berth. A cyclist doing something stupid is unlikely to live long and is mostly a danger to themselves.
  - baud147258 5y ago
    > A cyclist doing something stupid is unlikely to live long and is mostly a danger to themselves. well, I survived a few years of daily stupidity on two wheels.
jeauxlb 5y ago
Not just this, but you will learn to read and anticipate traffic in a far deeper way, through the human survival instinct: a slight swerve foreshadowing a lane change before an indicator is pressed; an aggressive posture and edging forward indicating unreasonable eagerness to enter an intersection. These are the kinds of things you'll particularly notice as a commuting cyclist, and which I have found to be of great value as a driver too.

Its a speed limit, not a minimum speed. I would recommend getting a bike and trying it out. It makes you a better driver, because being considerate of other road users is its own reward.

charcircuit 5y ago

>Its a speed limit, not a minimum speed. Technically and legally yes, but in practice it's the minimum you are expected to drive. >I would recommend getting a bike I do have a bike and I always get off the road to let cars pass when there is one nearby.

bitcharmer 5y ago
> I do have a bike and I always get off the road to let cars pass when there is one nearby. I'll take "things that never happened" for two hundred, Alex
- charcircuit 5y ago
  But it does happen. The probability of me encountering even one car during a bike ride is like considerably lower that you are expecting.
maccard 5y ago
> but in practice it's the minimum you are expected to drive. No, it's not. Far from it. A speed limit of 70mph on a motorway is not the minimum, just because you, or other vehicles want to exceed it. A speed limit of 20/30mph in a city center is not a minimum; it's actively dangerous to exceed it, and if you regularly exceed these you are a danger on the road. A limit of 60mph on a national road is often granted based on road classification rather than the actual road; There are numerous A roads in Scotland that are _not_ safe to travel at 60mph for large stretches of due to poor road camber, poor visibility, narrow lanes, etc. > I do have a bike and I always get off the road to let cars pass when there is one nearby. This is a dangerous and unpredictable way to cycle, and can lead to cars overtaking you when it's dangerous to do so/they're not confident to do so, in the same way that an unconfident driver travelling at 40mph on a motorway is dangerous, or a car driving in a hard shoulder to allow overtaking is dangerous.
- charcircuit 5y ago
  >and if you regularly exceed these you are a danger on the road. 98% of my driving is not in city centers >A roads in Scotland that are _not_ safe to travel at 60mph for large stretches of due to poor road camber, poor visibility, narrow lanes, etc. Slowing down for safety is different than going slow just because you feel like it. >This is a dangerous and unpredictable way to cycle It's not more dangerous that being a pedestrian. I'm already off the road before they even get close. I can trust that drivers can stay on the road.
ClumsyPilot 5y ago
"I do have a bike and I always get off the road to let cars pass when there is one nearby." So if you were in London you would never get to the destination?
- charcircuit 5y ago
  >So if you were in London you would never get to the destination? I don't live in London, but if I were to do what I do where I live I would just push my bike around assuming there are always cars driving near me.
gwillz 5y ago
Oh bless the almighty car. We cannot question it's authority and we are all the better for serving it. What's your point here? Are you advocating that drivers have no responsibility when it comes to road safety? For context, everyone else's point is that both drivers and cyclists are struggling to maintain a safe environment because good infrastructure is lacking. But I just can't see your angle here.

baud147258 5y ago

I'm pretty sure the years where I cycled to school and work without any regard to the traffic code didn't make me a better driver; I just learned to expect the worst possible behavior from cyclists and to expect them to appear from unexpected directions (from the sidewalks, from one-way streets, running red lights...)

smackeyacky 5y ago
On Australian roads, Mustang and HSV Commodore drivers always seem to be on the verge of doing something incredibly stupid and endangering others. In reality its probably just confirmation bias but if I'm driving or cycling they always get a wide berth. A cyclist doing something stupid is unlikely to live long and is mostly a danger to themselves.
- baud147258 5y ago
  > A cyclist doing something stupid is unlikely to live long and is mostly a danger to themselves. well, I survived a few years of daily stupidity on two wheels.

jeauxlb 5y ago

Not just this, but you will learn to read and anticipate traffic in a far deeper way, through the human survival instinct: a slight swerve foreshadowing a lane change before an indicator is pressed; an aggressive posture and edging forward indicating unreasonable eagerness to enter an intersection. These are the kinds of things you'll particularly notice as a commuting cyclist, and which I have found to be of great value as a driver too.