This morning's commute and other commuting stories

I doubt a courtesy stop when somebody else in front of you has already made a courtesy stop has ever killed anyone.

It killed me once.

Got better tho.

Did they bury you in a pet semetary?

then somebody on a bike who zooms up behind him and blithely continues on has either completely failed to read the road ahead or they're just a rude, selfish cunt.

Yup

Amazing victim blaming happening here.

@NurseHolliday spot on.

I'm not sure which victims you're talking about, though.

You seem to be conflating two separate situations, one where a driver turns across the path of a cyclist without paying any attention or giving a fuck, and one where a driver doesn't.

I see this as a matter of courtesy in many cases. If @doppelkorn has enough time to slow to allow an indicating, waiting driver to turn, then somebody on a bike who zooms up behind him and blithely continues on has either completely failed to read the road ahead or they're just a rude, selfish cunt.

This. So much this.
I've been the stopper and the zoomer, I think we all have at some point.

Victim blaming.
Oh yes. So much victim blaming.

I'd equate it to a car stopping and flashing their lights to let another car turn right across them. If the car behind went round them and barreled past the turning car you'd think that they were a bit of a knob.

On the other hand those cars that blindly turn across the bus lane because they can't see a bus and the car lane isn't moving are fuckers. Camden Road in the mornings is great for this.

It's not victim blaming, it's asshole blaming. Nursey got it right but that's not the situation that is being discussed. If you are waiting to pull out or cross a constant stream of traffic you rely on someone at some point taking pity on you and letting you pass. Cars do it, buses do it, so why shouldn't bikes do it too?

Even educated fleas do it.

My bad, I've read the conversation wrong.

If people are talking about letting people out then someone on a bike comes past, yeah, dick move. I'm a regular "letter outer", in the car and on the bike, and this happens all the time.

As much as I love being able to ride 2 or 3 abreast in a bus lane (easy overtaking) it encourages cunt behaviour from all walks of transport. Mopeds and motorcycles beeping at you to move over so they can overtake you in the bus lane can jog on. I know you're there, I'll let you past when I'm good and ready.

I'm not talking about cars randomly lurching across, I'm talking about a car ahead of you in the lane to the right, indicating left. It's slowing down to make the turn and you could barrel through, as the bus lane's clear.

However if you slow down, you can safely allow the left turn without the car having to stop and the traffic keeps flowing in the right-hand lane. We all go about our business.

If you carry on (even though you have priority) you block their turn, causing a stoppage. No real incident but if you push through when a cyclist has already slowed, allowing the turn it means the car has to break off its turn and fully stop, plus it pisses of the cyclist who's made the courtesy move.

Oh yeah, this is a dick move, I'm sometimes the "left turn allower", and you and the "left turner" end up mugged off by some thundercunt.

#justcommutingthings

#rep damo

officekeks

eh?

A guy stepped out into the road lookig the other way on my ride home yesterday. I hit him hard and hit the deck. We are both OK but the bike is pretty fucked. Or at least a bit fucked. Buckled wheel, bent handlebars etc.

They were very lovely about it all and tried to start a fight when I was slightly put out at the fact he is an idiot. I am not sure what i am meant to do in these situations. It was his fault, I am out of pocket but there were two of them and they made it clear they wanted to fight.

Makes me pretty angry but at least no one was hurt i guess

In law I'm afraid it's your fault - sorry. Whilst the pedestrian was careless in not looking, he has every right to cross where and when he likes. You have to be able to stop in enough time to allow him to do so.

That sounds like bollocks - you wouldn't blame a car driver if he stepped out in front of one.

Also bollocks: I got hit by something (maybe a stone?) right in the left testicle somehow whilst cycling through Greenwich on Tuesday evening. It still hurts now and wouldn't have happened if my progress along the cycle lane hadn't been blocked by some idiot cunting fuck weasel who tried to exit a side road into a stationary queue. I hope their car breaks down just inside the the minimum distance from home covered by their breakdown company.

Also consider the effect of strict liability (if it were introduced) on cyclists/pedestrian incidents. It won't just apply to motorist/cyclist incidents.

(I'm all for strict liability, I understand it's still my duty to avoid all idiots even if that means holding back the raw power a bit.)

That sounds like bollocks - you wouldn't blame a car driver if he stepped out in front of one.

Yes you would. A mate of mine knocked down a pedestrian who walked out in front of him in the dark, on a dual carriageway, away from a crossing. He got done for causing death by careless driving. The fact that it was a stupid thing for the pedestrian to do had no bearing on the case.

That's very unusual.

Indeed. His legal team were convinced that the charges would be dropped. The fact that the pedestrian was an ex copper might have had something to do with it.....

There's far too many unknowns to that little story to be useful.

I've copied and pasted this post from "peds" thread. I'm quoting myself from a while ago, it pains me to admit it but @Rhodrich is along the right lines here. Have a read:

"I was having a chat last night in le pub with my mate, she's a PE teacher and did a cycle course with the kids and also a green cross code thing to.

And errr.. It was explained to me that peds have absolutely no obligation to stay on the pavement when the red man light is on at a pedestrian crossing. She just teaches kids that you can't so they don't get run over..

Plus if a ped jumps out in front of you last second then basically tough shit and the only reason it scares the living shit out me so much is that in comparison to a 4 wheeled motorist a cyclist can and usually does come off a lot worse in a ped collision.

It also doesn't matter if it wasn't your fault, meaning it was proved that the motorist/cyclist was using the road with "due care" when the incident happened.

The only time when the ped would be considered as wrong is if they show "due negligence" aka they are pissed out of their face and that's about it.

Even then they wouldn't be liable for damages as peds aren't insured."

That should clear it up.