Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

Anyway, I was undertaken this morning on Kingsway by a cyclist who was immersed in a raging argument with another cyclist who was overtaking me. Stereo ranting.

:')

I simply don't understand the attitude of "I am in a car. I have priority because I am in a car. You are on foot and so you must wait.

It's more the attitude of "I'm currently bigger than you thus you should get the fuck out of my way".

Anyway, I was undertaken this morning on Kingsway by a cyclist who was immersed in a raging argument with another cyclist who was overtaking me. Stereo ranting.

Ha, what was it about?

^No way? Hahaha, the karma llama strikes again

Sadly the RLJ Gods have been absent of late

The RLJ Gods Are Watching! - YouTube

Always give way, slow down, stop for pedestrians. They are lower down in the street pecking order. And yeah, they cross where they like, just like cyclists are not bound to use the cycle lane, whether through safety fears or whimsy. Look out for them when filtering. No intimidation, no punishment.

^^I'm converted :')

In my opinion priority should always go to the more vulnerable, so pedestrians need to look out for their own safety, cyclists must as a priority look after themselves and pedestrians. Motorcyclists must watch out for themselves, cyclists and pedestrians and so on. All the way up to lorry drivers who need to be really bloody careful with all road users. If everyone stuck to this the vulnerable would be better protected by those higher in the food chain, It makes sense to me that the more dangerous your vehicle the more responsibility and care you must take.

And I would also use this argument to say its okay for a pedestrian to cross a road where and when they like (within reason) and that other road users should make allowances for this. In the same way I well occasionally jump a red light if I feel it has no other implications other than giving me a head start on a pack of aggressive and impatient cab drivers. I think this is acceptable where as an articulated truck should never break basic road laws. Because there is just to much risk.

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ha yeah to summarize, what hoefla said. ^^

Ha, what was it about?

It seemed to be about getting too close. Maybe it was a domestic that spilled over onto their commute.

I'm all for peds being able to cross wherever they like, given common sense, but...

If you are walking down the side of a (fairly busy) street and you suddenly step out in front of me when I'm 10ft away without so much as a casual glance, you deserve every bit of the volley of abuse you're getting as I jam on my brakes and try not to flip my bike. You're a young, able-bodied businessman - you should know to look for traffic. Don't look so fucking surprised.

One from today. He looked terrified. I didn't feel bad.

I emergancy braked for a woman i could just /tell/ was going to step out without looking as the road i was going along was pretty deserted her and her husband were by the edge of the pavement looking as if they were arguing on direction,

was a good hunch because as i came to a halt a foot or so away from, where she did step out without looking, she then looked at me and tutted disgustingly

stupid cow.

Still a fair amount of people who step onto Zebra crossings and then look.

Don't Step Out When You're Close to the Edge - YouTube

On my ridiculously short commute there is a left turn at the end of Shoreditch High Street onto Redchurch street where peds never bother to look to see if a vehicle is turning in before crossing.

Yesterday morning I was following a van who was also taking the same turn. I was indicating to turn left (as was the van) and there was a family approaching the kerb. The van happilly went through while the family waited at the side of the road. Then they decided to start crossing the road infront of me with the father pushing the buggy out in front of him and the mother dragging a toddler behind her across the road. I could clearly see them all the way through this enconunter, they can't claim not to have seen me.

I shouted "WAIT!" as I was mid turn already and they just carried on. I had to divert right and nearly onto the pavement they had started crossing from to miss them. The dad looked at me and told me to watch where I was going. I nearly flipped at the cunt and was going to go on a four letter word tirade, but decided it wasn't worth it as natural selection would sort him out sooner or later.

hmm, mixed feelings about that roboto. yes, they should probably have held back to let you pass (much sfaer, and I do hate the business of babies in buggies being pushed out like sacrificial victims) but if, in essence, they were walking along the road and you wanted to turn into a side road, why does the fact that they are on the pavement mean that you have priority over them? If they were in a "pedestrian lane" and you left-hooked them, they'd be justifiably aggrieved. Not having a go, it's just that this situation seems to illustrate the issue that's been bugging me about priorities.

They stopped and waited on the kerb for the van in front of me to pass. I wasn't too far behind this van (in view of them, also indicating my intentions to turn left). They stepped out to cross the road after the van had passed leaving me in a predicament as there wasn't a lot of stopping distance.

They shouldn't be crossing the road if it isn't clear to do so and they definitely should be more careful with their children.

I'm pretty sure pedestrians crossing/waiting to cross side roads have priority over those turning in.

Fair enough, sounds like a daft thing to do, especially with kids in tow. But do you see what I mean about pavements not having as much protection against left-hooking as cycle lanes?

I was really interested when I first saw the plans for Exhibition Road, where the boundaries between road and pavement are deliberately blurred. I'd quite like to see that sort of thing extended, so that pedestrians are no longer constantly subjugated to the demands of "traffic" on the roads.

Hammer, not sure they do - that may be the case in parts of the US though.

I'm pretty sure pedestrians crossing/waiting to cross side roads have priority over those turning in.

try telling that to 99% of drivers

Yeah, I'm always cautious when I take that turn anyway as people walking south towards Bishopsgate down that stretch of pavement never look over their shoulder before dawdling across. It was more annoying that these guys were heading north and were able to see me without having to turn their heads.

I shouted "WAIT!" as I was mid turn already and they just carried on. I had to divert right and nearly onto the pavement they had started crossing from to miss them.

I feel that in this situation you should've waited instead of shouting at them/swerving around them.

Are you saying it was completely impossible to stop and wait for them to cross?

At a junction. When crossing the road, look out for traffic turning into the road, especially from behind you. If you have started crossing and traffic wants to turn into the road, you have priority and they should give way (see Rule 170)

Not saying it's law blah blah

Thin old line rule 170. If they were as vigilant as they should have been, they would have seen roboto and held back. If he came along moments later, as they were crossing, then they would have had priority.

I once had a cracking argument with a Navaro driver about rule 170 after he had almost wiped out me and my girlfriend (of the time) as we crossed a junction. He went into that total batshit state that drivers get themselves into. He even parked up and followed us up the road on foot to remonstrate quite physically. Was a bit scary.

We can be fairly certain they did the usual thing that all non-cyclist-sympathetic people do, which is let a car go and then completely filter the cyclist from their vision, or belligerently walk in front of the cyclist expecting them to stop or crash to avoid them.

With knowledge of this cultural status quo, it would seem most prudent to slow down in anticipation.

Words of wisedom, serve the system

Typically, there is a whole thread on the matter

http://www.lfgss.com/thread11847.html