In the most thoroughly predictable news of the day, Facebook’s ever-balanced patrons have reacted angrily to this image of a new pedestrian crossing on a cycle lane in Cardiff, with a wide-ranging game of anti-cycling bingo:

Here are just a few of the most head-in-hands comments:

In my opinion if they are hell bent on cycle lanes and traffic lights then it should be compulsory for them to take a test and be licensed and insured as they are now road users because the amount of cyclists that cause accidents then moan because they got hit is incredible maybe they need to spend less time riding two abreast chatting and concentrate on the road

Bravo – a full house in one breathless sentence is some feat…

It only works as a safe crossing when the cyclist actually stops at the crossing. Many don’t believe they need to stop. Same with traffic lights. Cyclist ignore them to (sic)

Unless there’s some realistic, enforceable sanction against cyclists ignoring the red light, it’s probably not a good value for money installation, and without some way of identifying riders in the same way that red light cameras can identify drivers, that won’t happen. That means licence plates and registration for bicycles and I can’t see that happening, so as pedestrians we will probably just have to get used to being more responsible for our own safety, expect idiots on bicycles riding at considerably about the 20mph limit and ignoring red lights. I know from cycling (responsibly!) that about 50 percent of pedestrians don’t hear a bell because they’ve got ear buds in and have little or no awareness of what’s going on around them. As a motorcyclist, I’ve learnt that you have to expect people to do stupid things and the only way to deal with that, is to expect it and take measures to look after yourself, rather than rely on others to do the right thing.

Another full house, impressive stuff.

I’d take a day off work and just wait for cyclists to approach and push the button. What fun.

When are they going to insist that cycles have insurance to be legally on the road. How many more people are going to be injured by cyclist with them now being in close proximity. Why don't the councils fix all the potholes instead of wasting taxpayers money on these cycle paths.

Best of luck getting them to stop and observe the rules of the road we tax paying motorists have too

And before you say anything, yes, these are all real comments (depressingly so).

However, my favourite response – if the favourite is the right word – comes courtesy of Facebook user Colin, who rather strangely claimed that 16,000 pedestrians were injured and 141 killed in collisions with cyclists in 2020… before sharing a screenshot of the Department for Transport’s figures (link is external) for – you guessed it – cyclist injuries and fatalities on the road.

In Colin’s defence, Google’s ropey ‘People also ask’ section led him astray there. But, come on man, click the link at least once!

Anyway, you’ll be glad to learn that it wasn’t all road tax, registration plates, insurance, red lights, cycling tests, two abreast, earphones, and dodgy statistics – one or two Facebook users actually welcomed the new crossing.

“Good on Cardiff for becoming more inclusive of cyclists,” wrote Clive, angering auntie Karen in the process. “Many new cycle lanes in place, but still lots more can be done.”

Jane concurred: “I love how everyone is complaining. This is normal in Denmark, they're a few decades ahead of us. I for one love this and think its about time we caught up!”

Don’t tell Colin about Denmark…

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-9-february-2023-299181#live-blog-item-42967

QUOTE …as pedestrians we will probably just have to get used to being more
responsible for our own safety, expect idiots on bicycles riding at
considerably about the 20mph limit and ignoring red lights. ENDQUOTE

Would that cyclists follow that advice, and take responsibility for their
own safety instead of demanding that the rest of the world do so for them.

But it seems that pedestrians are merely fair game for cyclists, a
disgraceful state of affairs. But unsurprising,

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> In the most thoroughly predictable news of the day, Facebook’s
> ever-balanced patrons have reacted angrily to this image of a new
> pedestrian crossing on a cycle lane in Cardiff, with a wide-ranging game
> of anti-cycling bingo:
>
> Here are just a few of the most head-in-hands comments:
>
> In my opinion if they are hell bent on cycle lanes and traffic lights
> then it should be compulsory for them to take a test and be licensed and
> insured as they are now road users because the amount of cyclists that
> cause accidents then moan because they got hit is incredible maybe they
> need to spend less time riding two abreast chatting and concentrate on the road
>
> Bravo – a full house in one breathless sentence is some feat…
>
> It only works as a safe crossing when the cyclist actually stops at
> the crossing. Many don’t believe they need to stop. Same with traffic
> lights. Cyclist ignore them to (sic)
>
> Unless there’s some realistic, enforceable sanction against cyclists
> ignoring the red light, it’s probably not a good value for money
> installation, and without some way of identifying riders in the same way
> that red light cameras can identify drivers, that won’t happen. That
> means licence plates and registration for bicycles and I can’t see that
> happening, so as pedestrians we will probably just have to get used to
> being more responsible for our own safety, expect idiots on bicycles
> riding at considerably about the 20mph limit and ignoring red lights. I
> know from cycling (responsibly!) that about 50 percent of pedestrians
> don’t hear a bell because they’ve got ear buds in and have little or no
> awareness of what’s going on around them. As a motorcyclist, I’ve learnt
> that you have to expect people to do stupid things and the only way to
> deal with that, is to expect it and take measures to look after yourself,
> rather than rely on others to do the right thing.
>
> Another full house, impressive stuff.
>
> I’d take a day off work and just wait for cyclists to approach and
> push the button. What fun.
>
> When are they going to insist that cycles have insurance to be
> legally on the road. How many more people are going to be injured by
> cyclist with them now being in close proximity. Why don't the councils
> fix all the potholes instead of wasting taxpayers money on these cycle paths.
>
> Best of luck getting them to stop and observe the rules of the road
> we tax paying motorists have too
>
> And before you say anything, yes, these are all real comments (depressingly so).
>
> However, my favourite response – if the favourite is the right word –
> comes courtesy of Facebook user Colin, who rather strangely claimed that
> 16,000 pedestrians were injured and 141 killed in collisions with
> cyclists in 2020… before sharing a screenshot of the Department for
> Transport’s figures (link is external) for – you guessed it – cyclist
> injuries and fatalities on the road.
>
> In Colin’s defence, Google’s ropey ‘People also ask’ section led him
> astray there. But, come on man, click the link at least once!
>
> Anyway, you’ll be glad to learn that it wasn’t all road tax, registration
> plates, insurance, red lights, cycling tests, two abreast, earphones, and
> dodgy statistics – one or two Facebook users actually welcomed the new crossing.
>
> “Good on Cardiff for becoming more inclusive of cyclists,” wrote Clive,
> angering auntie Karen in the process. “Many new cycle lanes in place, but
> still lots more can be done.”
>
> Jane concurred: “I love how everyone is complaining. This is normal in
> Denmark, they're a few decades ahead of us. I for one love this and think
> its about time we caught up!”
>
> Don’t tell Colin about Denmark…
>
> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-9-february-2023-299181#live-blog-item-42967
>

--
Spike

On 09/02/2023 10:25 pm, Spike wrote:

> QUOTE …as pedestrians we will probably just have to get used to being more
> responsible for our own safety, expect idiots on bicycles riding at
> considerably about the 20mph limit and ignoring red lights. ENDQUOTE
>
> Would that cyclists follow that advice, and take responsibility for their
> own safety instead of demanding that the rest of the world do so for them.
>
> But it seems that pedestrians are merely fair game for cyclists, a
> disgraceful state of affairs. But unsurprising,

Well put.

They (fairy-cyclists) really don't care about anyone but themselves.

> swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
>> In the most thoroughly predictable news of the day, Facebook’s
>> ever-balanced patrons have reacted angrily to this image of a new
>> pedestrian crossing on a cycle lane in Cardiff, with a wide-ranging game
>> of anti-cycling bingo:
>>
>> Here are just a few of the most head-in-hands comments:
>>
>> In my opinion if they are hell bent on cycle lanes and traffic lights
>> then it should be compulsory for them to take a test and be licensed and
>> insured as they are now road users because the amount of cyclists that
>> cause accidents then moan because they got hit is incredible maybe they
>> need to spend less time riding two abreast chatting and concentrate on the road
>>
>> Bravo – a full house in one breathless sentence is some feat…
>>
>> It only works as a safe crossing when the cyclist actually stops at
>> the crossing. Many don’t believe they need to stop. Same with traffic
>> lights. Cyclist ignore them to (sic)
>>
>> Unless there’s some realistic, enforceable sanction against cyclists
>> ignoring the red light, it’s probably not a good value for money
>> installation, and without some way of identifying riders in the same way
>> that red light cameras can identify drivers, that won’t happen. That
>> means licence plates and registration for bicycles and I can’t see that
>> happening, so as pedestrians we will probably just have to get used to
>> being more responsible for our own safety, expect idiots on bicycles
>> riding at considerably about the 20mph limit and ignoring red lights. I
>> know from cycling (responsibly!) that about 50 percent of pedestrians
>> don’t hear a bell because they’ve got ear buds in and have little or no
>> awareness of what’s going on around them. As a motorcyclist, I’ve learnt
>> that you have to expect people to do stupid things and the only way to
>> deal with that, is to expect it and take measures to look after yourself,
>> rather than rely on others to do the right thing.
>>
>> Another full house, impressive stuff.
>>
>> I’d take a day off work and just wait for cyclists to approach and
>> push the button. What fun.
>>
>> When are they going to insist that cycles have insurance to be
>> legally on the road. How many more people are going to be injured by
>> cyclist with them now being in close proximity. Why don't the councils
>> fix all the potholes instead of wasting taxpayers money on these cycle paths.
>>
>> Best of luck getting them to stop and observe the rules of the road
>> we tax paying motorists have too
>>
>> And before you say anything, yes, these are all real comments (depressingly so).
>>
>> However, my favourite response – if the favourite is the right word –
>> comes courtesy of Facebook user Colin, who rather strangely claimed that
>> 16,000 pedestrians were injured and 141 killed in collisions with
>> cyclists in 2020… before sharing a screenshot of the Department for
>> Transport’s figures (link is external) for – you guessed it – cyclist
>> injuries and fatalities on the road.
>>
>> In Colin’s defence, Google’s ropey ‘People also ask’ section led him
>> astray there. But, come on man, click the link at least once!
>>
>> Anyway, you’ll be glad to learn that it wasn’t all road tax, registration
>> plates, insurance, red lights, cycling tests, two abreast, earphones, and
>> dodgy statistics – one or two Facebook users actually welcomed the new crossing.
>>
>> “Good on Cardiff for becoming more inclusive of cyclists,” wrote Clive,
>> angering auntie Karen in the process. “Many new cycle lanes in place, but
>> still lots more can be done.”
>>
>> Jane concurred: “I love how everyone is complaining. This is normal in
>> Denmark, they're a few decades ahead of us. I for one love this and think
>> its about time we caught up!”
>>
>> Don’t tell Colin about Denmark…
>>
>> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-9-february-2023-299181#live-blog-item-42967
>>
>
>
>

brooksby | 11130 posts | 19 hours ago
10 likes

My commute was one of those days, this morning.

Practically stationary cars being queued to cross the bridge. Tiny painted cycle lane, which is safe (ish) to use when the cars are not moving. Car head of me drifts into said cycle lane, just enough so I can't pass. It suddenly moves right, and I slip past. Looking back, I can see the driver bent over to do something on her phone (which is mounted in the centre of the dashboard). She was just about using peripheral vision to avoid running into the car in front but everything else was clearly fair game.

Five minutes later, approaching a wide bend where there's a zebra crossing and a junction on the right. Car waiting to come out of the junction was so desperate to get out in front of me, clearly keeping a very careful eye on me so he could get out turning to his right (so he'd be travelling in the same direction as me, so he just had to get out in front), that he utterly failed to look to his right and nearly got t-boned as he came out. "Nearly" in the sense that the driver of the oncoming white car he'd not looked for had to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting him, and hit their horn rather harshly.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> brooksby | 11130 posts | 19 hours ago
> 10 likes
>
>
> My commute was one of those days, this morning.
>
> Practically stationary cars being queued to cross the bridge. Tiny
> painted cycle lane, which is safe (ish) to use when the cars are not
> moving. Car head of me drifts into said cycle lane, just enough so I
> can't pass. It suddenly moves right, and I slip past. Looking back, I
> can see the driver bent over to do something on her phone (which is
> mounted in the centre of the dashboard). She was just about using
> peripheral vision to avoid running into the car in front but everything
> else was clearly fair game.
>
> Five minutes later, approaching a wide bend where there's a zebra
> crossing and a junction on the right. Car waiting to come out of the
> junction was so desperate to get out in front of me, clearly keeping a
> very careful eye on me so he could get out turning to his right (so he'd
> be travelling in the same direction as me, so he just had to get out in
> front), that he utterly failed to look to his right and nearly got
> t-boned as he came out. "Nearly" in the sense that the driver of the
> oncoming white car he'd not looked for had to slam on their brakes to
> avoid hitting him, and hit their horn rather harshly.

Have you tried walking to work, and seeing for yourself how badly cyclists
behave? Or are you too afraid of pavement cyclists?

--
Spike

I got followed for a short while this morning. Biking up to a part of my street where cars were parked either side, I moved out to get through the middle only for the car coming up behind to decide he could get there quicker by close passing. Gave him a complimentary thumbs up afterwards and thought nothing more of it...he had stopped and was waiting at the next t junction, no indicators on but he was in a position as if he was turning right. As I pulled up alongside him to turn left I thought it a bit strange him waiting as there wasn't any thing coming either way, and sure enough when I glanced over my shoulder a few hundred metres down the road he was slowly driving right behind me...I assumed he turned off not long after that. Bit of a none story, just found it a bit creepy.