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• #2
I was thinking of posting that... but then I read the comments and got so pissed off that I forgot.
I'm very grateful for Seldom Killer's statistics on the sources of funding for road building/maintenance. Will keep them handy for the next time some idiot with a gas-guzzling, CO2-farting vehicle tries to tell me that cyclists have no right to be on the road because we don't pay road tax.
The paper version of the article also contains a nice little graphic with some eye-catching statistics:
136 cyclists that died on Britain's roads last year
16195 cyclists were injured last year (2428 of whom were seriously injured)
90% of casualties occur in urban areas
80% of casualties occur in daylight
80% of casualties are male -
• #3
"I'm surprised that the Police do not take advantage of the opportunity to stop and search pavement cyclists. it is perfectly obvious that a significant proportion of these delinquents would be found to be in posession of some combination of weapons, narcotics and stolen goods.
Robert leQuesne, Leicester, UK"
Yup, that's me, bang to rights. Now where do I hide this Nazi gold now?
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• #4
Who / where are all these cyclists on pavements? I just don't see them & I cycle across town every day.
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• #5
I'm very grateful for Seldom Killer's statistics on the sources of funding for road building/maintenance. Will keep them handy for the next time some idiot with a gas-guzzling, CO2-farting vehicle tries to tell me that cyclists have no right to be on the road because we don't pay road tax.
Hey, you probably fart CO2 as well, have you thought about that?!??
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• #6
Yeah the cyclists on pavements argument is total rubbish. I think estate kids riding on the pavement on £50 mountain bikes are it basically.
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• #7
Yeah the cyclists on pavements argument is total rubbish. I think estate kids riding on the pavement on £50 mountain bikes are it basically.
+1
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• #8
just put the congestion charge up to £100 a day job done loads of money going into public transport and lot of money in to cycling sounds good to me
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• #9
Hey, you probably fart CO2 as well, have you thought about that?!??
True. But I also fart oxygen as well, according to Wikipedia, so at least I'm doing my part to release breathable air back into the atmosphere. Those fancy-pants green plants needn't think they're the only ones!
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• #10
heh that's good to know!
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• #11
It is all very well discouraging people from riding bikes by making them carry insurance and fitting visable lisence plates but the thing is within cities cycling represents the future whereas car use as we understand it today represents the past so I honestly cannot see the powers that be doing anything that might reduce the number of cyclists on the road as to pedestrian well they are going to have to get used to the idea of near silent electric cars and if you walk out infront of those without looking its is going to hurt a damn sight more than being hit with a bicycle as to cyclists I ought to put my hand up and say oh yeah I am most definately above the law and ride like an absolute terrorist something that I occasionally try not to do which usually lasts up until the first motorist runs me off the road at which put I usually take the attitude well bugger that for a game of soldiers at which point I go back to weaving all over the road
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• #12
It is all very well discouraging people from riding bikes by making them carry insurance and fitting visable lisence plates but the thing is within cities cycling represents the future whereas car use as we understand it today represents the past so I honestly cannot see the powers that be doing anything that might reduce the number of cyclists on the road as to pedestrian well they are going to have to get used to the idea of near silent electric cars and if you walk out infront of those without looking its is going to hurt a damn sight more than being hit with a bicycle as to cyclists I ought to put my hand up and say oh yeah I am most definately above the law and ride like an absolute terrorist something that I occasionally try not to do which usually lasts up until the first motorist runs me off the road at which put I usually take the attitude well bugger that for a game of soldiers at which point I go back to weaving all over the road
woah....take a breath
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• #13
Not so smiley or buddha-esque now eh??
Average article, Wet pedestrian view points and the "view from the cab" was written by a pen pushing "former cab driver".
I am more angry i spent 70p on this arse rag.
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• #14
BLIMEY my lack of punctuation was due to being on the blower whilst simultaneously writing with my left hand any suggestion of a Ben Eltonesque style rant is a figment your collective imagination my serenity as usual remains intact
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• #15
Who / where are all these cyclists on pavements? I just don't see them & I cycle across town every day.
Agree, i can't remember the last cyclist that passed me on the pavement. its all myth, like the chicken burger cyst.
The only decent thing out of the arse-rag (besides the fact it can be recycled) was the note in the sports page about O'Neil asking for 17m + Steve Finnan. the man is a blessing to the football world. I hope he goes and underachieves with the rest of the scousers. Sidwell is a good player that can step up. but i will feel for you when Young moves to Arsenal....
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• #17
sorry can we get back to talking abut farts?
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• #18
They are a rule unto themselves, to put it bluntly
I agree.
when "They" = motorists
because 100% of the motorists I see every day break the law in one way or another.
why have speed limits and traffic laws and road markings if it's accepted that nobody heeds them?
a bit like accepting cyclists breaking reds and riding on pavements, except they don't get away with that, as we know from the countless "stings" set up all over London.
You can't have double standards, we all have a duty of care on the road, and those more likely to kill should be held responsible first and foremost.
It's ridiculous, like turning a blind eye to rape and murder whilst going balls-out to prosecute a shoplifter.
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• #19
You can't have double standards, we all have a duty of care on the road, and those more likely to kill should be held responsible first and foremost.
That is what it's like in Sweden if I remember correctly. The bigger vehicle is the guilty party until proven otherwise.
Also, that former taxi driver seems to be the aggressive one claiming he would have killed the cyclists had he not been stuck in traffic.
first post, I like it here.
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• #20
Should the driving rules favor cars or bikers?
Riding a bike is dangerous no matter how considerate the drivers, at least in the car-intensive cities of the United States (maybe not in Amsterdam). Furthermore accidents and potential accidents impose costs on both parties and more generally Coasian externalities are symmetric. The first best equilibrium involves less mutual contact and the cheapest way to bring that about is probably to discourage biking. (After all, they're the ones who can be scared off with risk of death and dismemberment.) That means road rules which discriminate against the interests of bikers.
If a bike has to stop and wait ten seconds for a car, that biker loses ten seconds of travel time. If a car has to stop and wait ten seconds for a bike, the driver loses ten seconds of travel time. The expected loss in distance traveled is much greater for the car, especially in areas where cars are going fast (i.e., the disputed areas when safety is a concern). *Furthermore the cars are more likely inhabited by people with a higher value for their time, at least on average if not for every biking blogger.
*
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/07/should-the-driv.html
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• #21
i've been thinking of carrying my camera with me and taking a photo of every car i see slide up into the advance stop line box next to me - do you reckon it'd be worth my while?
+motorcycles aren't allowed in/past the box are they?
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• #22
i really need to learn not to read these things, they just make me upset. every time i think 'oh, this might be good'. and i've been wrong every time.
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• #23
It's ridiculous, like turning a blind eye to rape and murder whilst going balls-out to prosecute a shoplifter.
yeah well we know how justice treats rape victims, don't we...
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• #24
i've been thinking of carrying my camera with me and taking a photo of every car i see slide up into the advance stop line box next to me - do you reckon it'd be worth my while?
+motorcycles aren't allowed in/past the box are they?
You'd need a big SD card for that and a dedicated proflikr account.
i really need to learn not to read these things, they just make me upset. every time i think 'oh, this might be good'. and i've been wrong every time.
With you on that one 100%, just makes me want to rant instead of ride.
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• #25
i've been thinking of carrying my camera with me and taking a photo of every car i see slide up into the advance stop line box next to me - do you reckon it'd be worth my while?
+motorcycles aren't allowed in/past the box are they?
The thing is they can if the light changed as they were on it or approaching it. I was thinking myself of just filming for say 20 mn what happens at some traffic lights and showing the number of cars going through red, cyclists, and peds just to show what real life is about.
Following on from yesterday's court ruling but a pretty balanced piece - more than can be said for the comments!
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article4304006.ece