2009-01-30 - Rider Down, Old Kent Road

Skully yes you're right about decent drivers allowing a gap in the queue to let people out. However I think the Highway Code is specific that yes it's good to leave the gap, but don't direct people / flash lights etc because it can be misinterpreted by them or other road users.

I had an argument at 20mph with a white van driver on this very subject - he hadn't just left a gap, but was doing all sorts of 'get on with it' type gesticulating and I pointed out to him that he hadn't looked to see that I was using the road too. Strangely he wasn't very sympathetic and gave me a brief ill-informed lecture on cycle lanes.

Line of traffic on your right + side street = slow, be wary, be ready to do an emergency turn (the one where you turn with the path of the car crossing your path).

Once you've had this happen 20 or so times.. you'll get quite good at it :)

OKR is madness. One of the most dangerous roads I've cycled. I used to cycle it everyday.

The drivers are ALL shit. The surface is terrible. The bus drivers tailgate cyclists.

That said, I find it a very fast road to cycle on, lights are easy to break and generally if you're moving as quick as the traffic and know the surface its ok.

Sorry to hear you had an accident and thank god you had a helmet on!

As for directing traffic. Its the law, only police officers are allowed to direct traffic, so driver's 'give and take' can fuck off (I am a driver too, with an advanced driving qualification so its not just hate on them). The whole point about the rules of the road is that they standardise behaviour, good or bad, nice or rude, all drivers should behave the same way and therefore we have some predictability to what is happening on the road. Far and away the most regular cause of near misses for me is people waving drivers across traffic. Its super dooper dangerous and illegal.

Peace

OKR is madness. One of the most dangerous roads I've cycled. I used to cycle it everyday.

The drivers are ALL shit. The surface is terrible. The bus drivers tailgate cyclists.

+1
I live just off it and have had many, many near misses.

Line of traffic on your right + side street = slow, be wary, be ready to do an emergency turn (the one where you turn with the path of the car crossing your path).

Once you've had this happen 20 or so times.. you'll get quite good at it :)

+1

Wheel chair or not the guy is still a cnut.

The drivers are ALL shit. The surface is terrible. The bus drivers tailgate cyclists.

not just on OKR though - the roadworks on Bishopsgate at the moment are such that buses are driving stupidly tight up everyone's arse to make sure they get through the lights - having a twenty ton bus six inches from my back wheel for three hundred yards last night on the ride home from work was no fun - especially when you know for a fact that they wouldn't be able to react if you slowed suddenly.

the OKR has its charms. near misses keep you sharp. shitty roads improve your handling skills. traffic clusters doing what the frick they like make you feel a bit groovy as you slalom through. I rode up and down it twice a day for six months and thoroughly enjoyed it. Where's Corny with his "I hate hate" song? Nuff hatin' on the OKR...!

Wheel chair or not the guy is still a cnut.

shit happens, shit drivers exist, its just the way things are.

Hi all, I'm new but I specifically searched Old Kent Road for this kind of thread. My commute is from Peckham Hill Street to Farringdon and I can't find a fast route that doesn't involve OKR. I've only been doing it since January but I can't help but think the straight shot is safer than a load of intersections and side road traffic weaving. The flyover at Bricklayer's Arms is enough reason to do it on the way home.

Any OKR commuters know a safer route?

Sammy was it a young 30 ish bloke with dark hair in a silver convertible?

If not watch out for him as well, the guy broke his back in a car accident [his fault] and still drives like an absolute loon with hand controlled 3 series.