You are reading a single comment by @4idan and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@4idan
I'm glad you dared to stick your head above the parapet, if people didnt we wouldn't have a forum or any chance to learn from each other. I agreed with some of your points and not with others. So I hope you don't mind me adding my bit.
I'm sure there are plenty of cyclists who dont drive but did you know 87 percent of British Cycling members are car owners? (This might not be a representative sample of cyclists.) I'm not keen on looking for discreet groups of road users. Like Adroit says we are all better seen as people. Having said that, its clear that the world would be a better place if everyone considered their actions from others perspectives.
While your right to say bright clothing is more easily identifiable a more interesting question is wether bright clothing is necessary. An alternative would be that we all travelled at a speed where we could stop within the distance of road we can see clearly ahead. There are lots of reasons why cycling safety clothing is counterproductive which I won't go into here.
When cars are waiting to overtake I agree that cyclists arm waving is often more dangerous than helpful. However on your other points regarding overtaking I'm less convinced. The primary position, where cyclists ride out from the kerb is a great way to be safer, visible, away from potholes and to encourage drivers to overtake only when there is enough room. Again I think Adroit made a good point about overtaking a group of cyclists and comparing them to a traffic jam.
I don't see how you can simultaneously advocate cyclists wearing high visibility clothing and continue to drive a vehicle where you have such poor vision. Cyclists should be aware of blindspots and refrain from undertaking or other highway code violations which put them at risk but you need to consider wether your vehicle is part of the problem too.
I think your bang on with regard to the driving test. I don't know if there is a specific campaign to target these issues. Perhaps we could discuss how to tackle this problem in this thread?