"Is dangerous cycling a problem" BBC

Good old scaremongering in the commercial interest. Plus ça change ...

As Tom says, third-party insurance for cyclists is cheap and it's a good reason to join a cycling organisation.

Cyclist should also get a flu jab - available now from Lloyd Pharmacy near you. All that cycling in the rain... And compulsory life assurance.

Or in case you suddenly find yourself competing in the Tour of Poland by accident.

Cyclists 'urged to get insurance'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15892074

fuck that. i urge cyclists to get armed.

that report basically amounts to 'National Toilet Paper Manufacturers Association Urge Population to Shit More'. I don't know why I even read any of the comments but morbid curiousity prevailed and they really are bleak... 'I pay money so I should be able to run other road users over' style rantings. Cock off.

Journalism = copy/paste press releases

I actually cannot remember the last newspaper I bought.

Don't even bother skim reading them in the shops anymore. I used to be under the vein impression that there was a better side to them, but so far I've not come upon it.

a while back there was a thread regarding what roads are most scary,
been having several conversations with adults/ people learning to drive,
aparently there are very few instructors who teach changing down through gears anymore, hence the reason theres so many people approaching give way junctions at 30 and dropping the clutch banging on brake, scaring the shit out of anyone on the main road and especially bikes,
you have to be going speed limit so as when you reach the next queue of nodders like yourself in a car youve at least got to the queue,

daft? aka---dept for transport---, you fucking bet, right to the top

Indeed. It's as if the give way lines never existed.

So you want to humiliate me even further. Like it's not enough I own a 7 seater. Ice cream seller's bicycle?

posterity, innit

aparently there are very few instructors who teach changing down through gears anymore, hence the reason theres so many people approaching give way junctions at 30 and dropping the clutch banging on brake, scaring the shit out of anyone on the main road and especially bikes,

Offical advice (Dept Transport, Police, Advance Motorists etc) has been to give visible warning of slowing down (ie brake lights) for as many years as I can remember.

Im talkin about whats happening on the road brother

a while back there was a thread regarding what roads are most scary,
been having several conversations with adults/ people learning to drive,
aparently there are very few instructors who teach changing down through gears anymore, hence the reason theres so many people approaching give way junctions at 30 and dropping the clutch banging on brake, scaring the shit out of anyone on the main road and especially bikes,
you have to be going speed limit so as when you reach the next queue of nodders like yourself in a car youve at least got to the queue,

daft? aka---dept for transport---, you fucking bet, right to the top

My dad taught me to double de-clutch through the box as you slowed.

My driving instructor on the other hand was dead set against that- slow with the brakes then choose the gear appropriate to the road speed and conditions when you come off the brakes was his position.

The issue with my dads advice I suppose being that it is perfectly possible to slow considerably by going down through the box- without showing brake lights as you are not using them.

You are, in effect, braking using engine compression rather than the braking system of the vehicle.

However- none of this explains shitty driving where people fail to slow down and/or stop at a junction.

Aside from the lack of brake lights, slowing through the box puts additional strain on the gear train (I seem to recall the Advanced Motorists cite this as a reason not to do it) and it causes unnecessary wear on the clutch plates - brake pads and disc/ drums are relatively speaking very cheap and easy to replace.

Agreed that it still has nothing to do with shit driving.

I double-declutch down through the gears through force of habit, having learnt to drive in a Morris Minor (no, I'm not really old). People don't need to do it in modern cars, so they just don't bother - drive along in fourth, drop the clutch, brake down to stop/walking pace, into first, go.

One thing to remember is that engine braking doesn't really exist in diesel engines (as there is no differential in the air pressures of the intake and exhaust).

Aside from the lack of brake lights, slowing through the box puts additional strain on the gear train (I seem to recall the Advanced Motorists cite this as a reason not to do it) and it causes unnecessary wear on the clutch plates - brake pads and disc/ drums are relatively speaking very cheap and easy to replace.

Agreed that it still has nothing to do with shit driving.

This is true if you rely on the syncromesh to do it, not so if you use the throttle to match the speeds in the gear train as you go down.

If you get it right you don't need to use the clutch at all- into neutral, blip the throttle, into gear.

I don't do this with my car, but hire cars are fair game.

One thing to remember is that engine braking doesn't really exist in diesel engines (as there is no differential in the air pressures of the intake and exhaust).

So when I am not on the accelerator why do I slow down and why is the deceleration grater the lower the gear I am in?

This is true if you rely on the syncromesh to do it, not so if you use the throttle to match the speeds in the gear train as you go down.

If you get it right you don't need to use the clutch at all- into neutral, blip the throttle, into gear.

I don't do this with my car, but hire cars are fair game.

I went Clutchless before anyone else did it. It's so much more 'zen' like and encourages you to look further ahead and 'read' the road, it's better in heavy traffic allowing you to 'flow', it's cheaper, has less parts to wear out and it makes you look cool.

This is true if you rely on the syncromesh to do it, not so if you use the throttle to match the speeds in the gear train as you go down.

If you get it right you don't need to use the clutch at all- into neutral, blip the throttle, into gear.

This is great if you can do it. I don't have the motor control to get it right, and yes I do own a car that doesn't have syncromesh on most of the gears. I doubt if most drivers have the skill to do it either, at least well enough to make it worthwhile in terms of cost.

I had a summer job whilst at Uni with a hire car company- job involved 20% of the day spent washing and hoovering cars and 80% driving them.

If you wanted to teach yourself how to do this sort of thing without potentially mincing your own machinary this job was ideal.

So when I am not on the accelerator why do I slow down and why is the deceleration grater the lower the gear I am in?

If it's a turbodiesel, then the turbo itself provides some backpressure. The bigger the turbo, the bigger the effect.

Take a non-turbo diesel and point it down a hill, and it'll roll faster and faster until you chicken out and use the brakes for fear of ruining your engine.

I went Clutchless before anyone else did it. It's so much more 'zen' like and encourages you to look further ahead and 'read' the road, it's better in heavy traffic allowing you to 'flow', it's cheaper, has less parts to wear out and it makes you look cool.

Cool. Gonna get a clutchless with my insurance cash.Cayman probably.

I was going to add to this but it's already been explained. People tearing up to junctions at 30 then slamming on is just idiocy, rather than the method used to slow down.

I added to it anyway. Brake lights and brakes are cheaper to replace than clutches, brakes also work a lot better than they used to. Best way to do it is with the handbrake, bare skidz.

Sorry was there a reason this year old thread had to suddenly and inexplicably be revived?

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to RPM again."

Every time this thread pops up on the index I read the title as "Is cycling a dangerous problem".