Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

Perhaps you can give me his contact details then?

Wow, I haven't seen such arse-hattery on the ol' Uxbridge Road for a long time.

Cunt wearing red Bellisol 'Live Your Ride' jersey, high-viz L-shaped tabbard stripe thing, grey Pinnacle, black headwear, black overshoes.

This fuckwit wasn't content to run every red along the road, including shit like Hanger Lane and Acton Lane by riding the wrong side of the road around peds and cars, he'd already almost taken me out swerving from the far left hand side of the lane over to the right as I was passing a car without looking. So yeah, I wanted to get the last word in. At least being fucking awesome as well as handsome and modest I could chase the cunt down and let the piece of shit know what I thought of his dumb fucking riding. Much satisfy. Very 'fuck you cunt'.

And relax.

Cunt!

high-viz L-shaped tabbard stripe thing,

Sam Brown.

Browne.

Stop!

Browne.

Heh. Learned a thing.

I'm pretty sure if people started taping 5mw lasers to their handlebars, Plod would have something to say about it. The more of those fucking Blaze things I see, the more dangerous I think they are. I should the Department of Transport, or whatever it's called, would be a good start.

Are they really dangerous tho or just a bit annoying? I remember when flashy rear lights first came out there were a lot of drivers suggesting they were a dangerous distraction, turned out they weren't.

#idonthaveablaze

Can I get a witness?

See what you think, especially when you've got two behind you. Confusing isn't the word.

Stop!

Before...

Stopped.

After...

Anything that causes an unexpected change in velocity is dangerous. Just about to pull out and you see something in your periphery is very off putting

Yeah, true, though a devil's advocate might interpret what you say as the light fulfilling its intended purpose of making other road users notice it.

His point is that they are not noticing anything useful because it does not share the context of the bicycle on which the light is mounted. It may even be a distraction which makes a collision more likely.

Not saying he's right, but it's an interesting point worth investigating. Bet the inventors aren't doing that.

The difference between a Blaze and regular flashing lights is that with regular lights, the source is obvious. As stated above, when a Blaze symbol creeps up from behind, it's pure supposition as to where behind the rider is, and if there are more than one, it's very confusing, and if it's confusing for a cyclist who understands the context, imagine the reaction of an uninitiated driver (assuming they've noticed it in the first place).

It's only a problem if people choose not to look behind regularly.

But even if looking behind regularly, without keeping a continuous eye on the Blazer, the nature of the symbol flashing all over the road means it's difficult to know which side they're approaching from. Bad idea.

I always look behind Ed. I am 100% aware of what is behind me in terms of predictable solid objects. What I don't expect is a source of light coming from something that is not occupying that position in space at that moment. Say it takes 1 second to travel the distance between bike and projection and you are basing your movements on that, 1 second is a long time on a bike and it fucks your whole timing up.

This is my initial thought after having only come across 2 and my instincts tell me they are dangerous. And I am also struggling to see who the light is aimed at. Not cars because what driver is looking 4 feet ahead of them at the road? Pedestrians are the only people I can see benefiting from this and the fuckers should just look up from their phones before they cross the road

And I am also struggling to see who the light is aimed at.

This has been my thought since they were launched. There was a massive amount of TV coverage about them locally, as they are / were based in Bath, but I have always wondered about their effectiveness.

As a motorcyclist, horse rider and cyclists, I have had so many occasions when drivers have not seen me when I am right in front of them, and let's face it a six foot bloke sat on a six foot tall horse is not easily missed, so if a driver is so inattentive they do not spot another road user, what are the chances of spotting a small green bicycle shape dancing around on the road.

All of that said, I don't commute or live in a city, so I might be talking complete bollox.

let's face it a six foot bloke sat on a six foot tall horse is not easily missed

Frankly, the rider is a lot easier to miss than the horse. :)

I always look behind Ed.

Why? What's so interesting behind Ed?

While I do find those laser things a distraction it is only in the "there's something you don't see everyday" way (like seeing a six foot guy on a six footed horse) but that is just a fleeting moment before I just get on with riding my bike and looking out for other road users. I just don't see any point in having one. I can't picture a situation where they give the rider an advantage, in fact the only thing I do see is them giving the rider the same false sense of security as they squeeze up the inside of a line of traffic as the ASL feeder lanes give. I just imagine a gaggle of nodders happily sitting next to a left indicating tipper truck as their little green logos merrily dance away bang in it's blind spot.

Why? What's so interesting behind Ed?

He just wants to see what's commaing up.

To be fair, in the middle of nowhere they're probably a bit pointless in any case.