After finally (and rather reluctantly) putting his Christmas tree up at the weekend, road.cc’s resident Grinch Ryan is back enjoying his own version of some proper festive fun: droning on about cycling on the Monday live blog
Hot take! And so should a cyclist test, the amount of cyclists I’ve seen recently not using either rear or front lights and wearing all black is insane. Either take responsibility or gtfo off the road. You want me to take a test? so should you to show that we’re all responsible for our lives and the lives of others . Let the downvotes commence from the irresponsible ones.
hmm… a cyclist test for bikes that have motors or can go very fast, like e-bikes, sure. but I disagree that a license is neccessary for a bike that only has petals.
theres not much damage someone can do to another person while riding a bike when compared to cars. the amount of damage one can do on a bike that only has pedals goes way down compared to a car.
I tried looking up how many bike accidents happen that dont involve a vehicle. the number is (probably) so low, I couldn’t find any solid numbers lol
The damage of a bike hitting a person is much lower, but that isn’t the only factor. I think there is a disconnect between whether a person on a pedal bike is a pedestrian or a road vehicle. I’ve seen people ride through crosswalks like a pedestrian even though they are technically supposed to dismount here if you’re on the sidewalk. It’s harder for a driver to anticipate a bike since they are generally going much faster than a pedestrian (not a great excuse for hitting one though). You can absolutely break the speed limit in a school zone on a bike and I’ve heard of people getting ticketed for it. On the other hand, I’ve seen people ride on bike lanes on the road act like idiots. I’ve quite a few people riding against the flow of traffic even though there is a clear arrow indicating which direction to ride. It wouldn’t hurt to have more people aware of the laws regarding commuting on bikes. On the other hand, a license could make it more difficult for the people that would normally rely on a bicycle as a form of transportation. Maybe it’s mainly a US thing?
Yeah, they should have lights, but drivers have no right to dictate people’s clothes while people are still driving around in black cars, especially when some of those have the wrong number of lights or sometimes don’t put the lights on at all.
As for responsibility, let’s be proportionate. A rubbish cyclist might kill themselves, but rubbish drivers can kill everyone and probably damage buildings and other infrastructure too, so it’s probably justified if drivers have to pass stricter tests.
People suck at driving cars. They are entitled shitheads that should be kicked in the head repeatedly. But they are sooooo much better at driving than most people on bikes. Dear Deity!
Not in my town. Cyclists wouldn’t last long if they were as bad as the drivers here. It’s been a long time since I rode into town and saw no driver on their phone or jump a red light (turn through red is illegal here).
Don’t think I’ve ever seen an actual red-light-jump. Different driving culture, I guess. People on bikes here doesn’t seem to understand that there isn’t a rule that says “bikes always go first” and they seem to be clueless about the consequences of being hit. Sure, I’ll feel bad, but not physically. They might be dead or broken.
We have them all: amber gamblers, crossing creepers, jumping the gun, the cautious nighttime non-stoppers, the good old blast through…
There is a rule in the UK that bikes get priority over cars unless markings show otherwise, and another that walkers get priority over both. Some drivers are still in denial and seem to think they won’t get tickets (or education classes if lucky) if they ignore new rules they dislike for long enough!
Hot take! And so should a cyclist test, the amount of cyclists I’ve seen recently not using either rear or front lights and wearing all black is insane. Either take responsibility or gtfo off the road. You want me to take a test? so should you to show that we’re all responsible for our lives and the lives of others . Let the downvotes commence from the irresponsible ones.
hmm… a cyclist test for bikes that have motors or can go very fast, like e-bikes, sure. but I disagree that a license is neccessary for a bike that only has petals.
theres not much damage someone can do to another person while riding a bike when compared to cars. the amount of damage one can do on a bike that only has pedals goes way down compared to a car.
I tried looking up how many bike accidents happen that dont involve a vehicle. the number is (probably) so low, I couldn’t find any solid numbers lol
The damage of a bike hitting a person is much lower, but that isn’t the only factor. I think there is a disconnect between whether a person on a pedal bike is a pedestrian or a road vehicle. I’ve seen people ride through crosswalks like a pedestrian even though they are technically supposed to dismount here if you’re on the sidewalk. It’s harder for a driver to anticipate a bike since they are generally going much faster than a pedestrian (not a great excuse for hitting one though). You can absolutely break the speed limit in a school zone on a bike and I’ve heard of people getting ticketed for it. On the other hand, I’ve seen people ride on bike lanes on the road act like idiots. I’ve quite a few people riding against the flow of traffic even though there is a clear arrow indicating which direction to ride. It wouldn’t hurt to have more people aware of the laws regarding commuting on bikes. On the other hand, a license could make it more difficult for the people that would normally rely on a bicycle as a form of transportation. Maybe it’s mainly a US thing?
Yeah, they should have lights, but drivers have no right to dictate people’s clothes while people are still driving around in black cars, especially when some of those have the wrong number of lights or sometimes don’t put the lights on at all.
As for responsibility, let’s be proportionate. A rubbish cyclist might kill themselves, but rubbish drivers can kill everyone and probably damage buildings and other infrastructure too, so it’s probably justified if drivers have to pass stricter tests.
People suck at driving cars. They are entitled shitheads that should be kicked in the head repeatedly. But they are sooooo much better at driving than most people on bikes. Dear Deity!
Not in my town. Cyclists wouldn’t last long if they were as bad as the drivers here. It’s been a long time since I rode into town and saw no driver on their phone or jump a red light (turn through red is illegal here).
Don’t think I’ve ever seen an actual red-light-jump. Different driving culture, I guess. People on bikes here doesn’t seem to understand that there isn’t a rule that says “bikes always go first” and they seem to be clueless about the consequences of being hit. Sure, I’ll feel bad, but not physically. They might be dead or broken.
We have them all: amber gamblers, crossing creepers, jumping the gun, the cautious nighttime non-stoppers, the good old blast through…
There is a rule in the UK that bikes get priority over cars unless markings show otherwise, and another that walkers get priority over both. Some drivers are still in denial and seem to think they won’t get tickets (or education classes if lucky) if they ignore new rules they dislike for long enough!