Quote from: Zakalwe on June 06, 2014, 08:28:20 PM

i liked the dude who berated cyclists for cycling in the middle of the road and 2 abreast, according to the highway code little wrong with that,

i ride towards the middle of the carriageway i am in.....

Too many forget that the first rule of the road in this country is KEEP LEFT, and not just left of the white line; most cyclists don't seem to give a toss that even if they think they're in the 'right', they'll be just as dead!

Quote from: petercharlesfagg on June 06, 2014, 08:32:32 PM
Not wanting to hijack this thread I just keep wondering just how many of the cyclists today have actually attended the "Cycling Proficiency" classes and test that was compulsory when I was a boy, if you wished to cycle to school, you took the test?

If you failed, you walked the 3 miles each day, or your parents forked out for the bus fare!  (3 miles being the minimum distance for allowing cycle usage)

Sometimes, I look back and sigh, wishing that some of those "good old days" still existed!

Apologies to Dock Shunter.

Regards, Peter.

I don't think that many of today's cyclists have even read the Highway Code! (Especially the part that says that it is illegal to cycle on the pavement... )  When I got my first adult bicycle it came with a free copy of the Highway Code - I read it from cover to cover numerous times  It may sound rather nerdy, but it stood me well when I took my motorcycle and car tests later in life!

But there are times that I am not too sure how many of today's drivers have read the Highway Code either...

was that the red covered highway code?  I did the same

Quote from: oscar on June 06, 2014, 08:47:33 PM

Too many forget that the first rule of the road in this country is KEEP LEFT, and not just left of the white line; most cyclists don't seem to give a toss that even if they think they're in the 'right', they'll be just as dead!

oooooooooooo get you

it's keep left, not so far let you have nowhere to go because you are not worthy to be on the road and in the way of the much more important car driven by the driver who believes they are right.

see, i can generalise inappropriately too.

I drive a car and I ride a bike.

When I am riding my bike the behaviour of car drivers is much, much more scary than the behaviour of cyclists when I am driving my car.

Idiot cyclists are annoying idiots
Idiot car (van and lorry) drivers are killer idiots

Cheers  Jon   

Quote from: Zakalwe on June 06, 2014, 08:56:41 PM
oooooooooooo get you

Put your knickers back on straight!

Read my first line properly up to the ;.

Did I mention cyclists in it?

"not worthy to be on the road "

Your words, not mine! 

Come on, guys.
There's no need to turn an interesting debate into personal attacks

there are bad cyclists ...

there are bad drivers ....

there are idiot cyclists ....

there are idiot drivers .....

what there do not seem to be these days are any police out there to enforce the traffic laws, and give advice where needed.

they all seem to be in the nick on faceache or twattfeatures until it's time for the blues and twos to respond to an incident.

never seem to see them actually on patrol, unless of course there is a TV crew in the car.

then it's different.

so the idiot and bad cyclists and drivers get away with their actions, until there is an accident sorry collision, and then plod turns up mob handed, looking mostly like Darth Vader, and with enough fire power to re-enact D - Day.

perhaps a bit more policing MIGHT lead to a better standard of cycling and driving 

naaaaahh

I'm a bus driver (tin hat ready...) and I also drive the infamos ex london bendy buses. And boy, have I got a boat load of stories to tell.... But I'm not going to - There are good drivers/riders and there are many bad ones too. Although I have had much professional training and have 15 years experience, but it doesn't make me perfect !

I make mistakes, and i'll always put my hand up if I'm to blame - but my point is that in my experience if people were just a little bit more aware of whats going on around them, and when it goes wrong not to be so quick to blame others when it's clearly their fault (ie being accountable for your own actions), things would move along much better and maybe the road rage incidents would decrease.

In the OP's post, the bus driver is clearly to blame - quite simply no matter how stupid the guy in front is, the bus driver is a professional and in my opinion his actions are inexcuseable. What he should of done is pull over and wait for the nutter to go away, I would be furious at the guy - but the health and safety of your passengers comes first and believe it or not you are responsable for the health and safety of the nutter too !

Anyway, I find that these discusions tend to split people like religions - bikers blame the cars, cars blame the cyclists, cyclists blame everyone, everyone hates buses !!!

How about a nice game of chess ?

I too am a bus driver, in Manchester, i find the biggest issue is that most cyclists and pedestrians don't think that the Highway Code applies to them!!
Cycle lanes are pointless, most cyclists don't realise that they are there for their safety and seem to believe they are cycling in a protective bubble. Worst of all Lemmings, sorry, pedestrians are oblivious to everything in the city centre, i used to sing out of my cab window "suicide is painless!" Every time someone stepped out on me. What a frustration, the mentality is "I MUST BE IN FRONT OF THE BUS!", i would assume artic drivers have the same issue!
We are driving large vehicles that take a lot longer to stop, why oh why go in front of the large vehicle? ......and the gap in front of us is our braking distance, why would you go into that gap?

Rant over, sorry!

Steven

Quote from: Zakalwe on June 06, 2014, 08:28:20 PM
i liked the dude who berated cyclists for cycling in the middle of the road and 2 abreast, according to the highway code little wrong with that,

Didn't berate and know highway code (read the thing online before going on holiday).  Please don't misquote or falsely interpret.
My complaint was the lack of consideration, cooperation and blatant "I have a right" mentality of some cyclists encountered in my 6 weeks.  Strangely the ones who exhibit such behaviour were the lycra clad ones.  And before you get your knickers in a knot I said some cyclists.  Some MAMIL and all of the touring or "Sunday" riders encountered would move to the side when safe to do so and I would pass when safe to do so, otherwise I just cruised slowly behind.  I will admit I do not always give a full lane clearance when passing cycles but at least a 3/4 car width in case they wiggle a bit.

Spent 15 years riding pushies in town and country so have some idea of the problems on an exposed bike.  One thing I would never do on a bike is travel in the middle of a lane where traffic can move fast, sense of survival is too great to be overridden by stupidity.

The ones who readily come to mind were 4 MAMILs travelling up Cheddar Gorge (lovely place).  Plenty of room in most areas to move to the side and allow cars to pass but seemed to revel in their ability to control traffic flow.  Some car drivers took unnecessary risks to get past.  As I said its all about consideration and cooperation not your "rights".  Followed two other cyclists down the gorge, they were travelling so fast (single file) I had little reason to use the brake to stay behind them.

BTW; 4x2, not everyone hates all bus drivers.

CFJ

I have a friend who lost his leg and nearly his life because a professional hgv driver pulled out onto a roundabout and did not see him .If it had not been for a police car that had been behind him and the a surgeon from a near by hospital in the car behind that he would not be here today. You get idiots in every field of life so please do not target any particular group

Quote from: class37025 on June 06, 2014, 10:39:49 PM

. . . perhaps a bit more policing MIGHT lead to a better standard of cycling and driving 

naaaaahh

My Grandmother got a ticking off from a policeman for not stopping at a Stop sign whilst riding her bicycle in her village. She was aged 91  at the time and argued that there were no cars around. She nearly got into more trouble by insulting the policeman. This was in the days when there were more police on the beat, many, many moons ago.

I am still trying to find a copy of the New Forest & East Dorset Highway Code. The rules of the road in this area are completely different to those in the Highway Code for the rest of the country! And used by pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

Dodger

Quote from: bees on June 07, 2014, 02:40:30 AM
I too am a bus driver, in Manchester, i find the biggest issue is that most cyclists and pedestrians don't think that the Highway Code applies to them!!
Cycle lanes are pointless, most cyclists don't realise that they are there for their safety and seem to believe they are cycling in a protective bubble. Worst of all Lemmings, sorry, pedestrians are oblivious to everything in the city centre, i used to sing out of my cab window "suicide is painless!" Every time someone stepped out on me. What a frustration, the mentality is "I MUST BE IN FRONT OF THE BUS!", i would assume artic drivers have the same issue!
We are driving large vehicles that take a lot longer to stop, why oh why go in front of the large vehicle? ......and the gap in front of us is our braking distance, why would you go into that gap?

Rant over, sorr

Steven

I usually shout 'quick, run in front of the bus !' and the usual reply is unprintable....

Ps rant justified !