[magatsu1]

Hear about the EU directive which basically states motorists are always liable for a shunt involving a cyclist.
So, if you are sat at home, with a legally parked car, and some git on two wheels goes into you P & J, it's you're fault !

Nothin' worse than a cyclist sat in the middle of the lane with a bus and a load of cars stuck behind 'em.
is pulling over so the bus can pass too much to ask ?





Yay ! Hate the cyclist thread starts here!

[kasperl]

i did one time hit a car, a parked car none the less, parked on the bycycle lane right after a right junction giving a lot of traffic. i never heard anything about the driver, i left a note with my name and phone number on it under the, uhm, thingy that wipes the front window, but i didn;t even scratch the paint. my bike was kinda fubared, and my lip looked terrible for weeks, and it nearly costed me a tooth.

now, it may be partially my mistake, for not expecting someone to park on a bycycle lane, right after a junction. but really, if youy have bycycle lanes, there isn;t much reason to be annoyed as a car driver. and don;t get me started on the economical and enviromental issues.

[J3Vr6]

Heh, last month I was behind a car that was going to make a right turn onto a major road here.  We're both stopped.  This guy is riding a bike on the major roads sidewalk (on our side) and is about to cross the intersection we're at.  I'm farther back so I can see farther down the sidewalk and see the guy coming.  There's a bush right at the end of the sidewalk so anyone right at the corner wouldn't be able to see if someone's barrelling down.  

Anyway, the cyclist doesn't even slow down and jumps the little curb.  At the same time the guy infront of me now has an opening and starts to make his right.  BAM, the bicyles front tire is now under the guys car, the rider grabs for the guy's roof so he doesn't eat it.  The driver yells at the rider, the rider yells at the driver.  Both end up taking off.  But I could tell the guys bicycle tire was now shaped like a trapezoid.

[Odyssey]

[color=cc9900]karajorma, cars are inherently dangerous in that they're carrying a large quantity of highly flammable liquid, they're very heavy, and they're moving very fast. Car taxes and tests are there for a reason. A guy on a bicycle is just a slightly faster pedestrian - if you want people to incur a charge for walking places...
Anyway, your basic argument seems to be that us cyclists get a better deal than you car drivers. Guess why we ride bicycles?[/color]

[StratComm]

Originally posted by kasperl
the dutch have bycycle lanes for a reason.

and most smart bycyclists stay oon the extreme right of a road, so traffic can pass without too much trouble. if there wouldn't be enough space, it would either be a back road taken to the extreme, or there would be a bycycle lane.

For a small, almost completely urbanized (or suburbanized, whatever) nation this is pretty true.  When you get to countries like the United States, where you've got hundreds of thousands of miles of roads out of any town's jurisdiction, and a car:drivers ratio greater than one (don't get me started on that insanity, but it happens to be the case here at the moment) then bicycle lanes just don't get a very high priority.  Add to that the fact that here, bikers usually travel in groups, and like to ride beside each other and thus take up more than just the extreme right side of the road, and you have a problem.  And besides, it's not the guy riding to school or whatnot on a bike that's bad, it's the darned tour cyclists.  Those guys think that they are more deserving of the road than drivers are.

If the bikers stick to their bike lanes and cars to the road, then you don't have the problem.  Where I come from there isn't such thing as a bike lane, so bikers just ride on the road as if it was their own private pavement.  That's what bothers me, is a complete disregard for the fact that a bike IS NOT A CAR.

[kasperl]

ok, there are always idiots, but here, cyclists arent allowed on thee sidewalk, and they are bound to about the same rules as motorists. and if a cop sees you going past a red light, they might ignore you, or give you a fine, but they'd do the exact same to any car they saw doing it.

[kasperl]

Originally posted by StratComm

snip
 

i agree on most points, indeed, i saw the roads in Montana, Illinois, and Dakota, and indeedm, it would be hard, very hard indeed, to ride a byccyle there. and here, if you ride next to eachother, you never go with 3 next to eachother, 2 max, and if a car comes, you go single file. even soccer moms understand that, cause over here, some of those go by bike too.

[Flaser]

You know traffic law is there for a reason.

It's just that no one gives a damn wheter they are in use.....

Actually the law does tell you where to ride your bike on a road: on the far right lane's pavement, the cycle lane - or just the said lane if neither are possible.

All that has to be done is make cyclist who don't adide these laws fined by the country just as with a driver - beside the same goes for any idiot who dirves like they own the goddamn road.

I'm both a driver and a cyclist (tour cyclist too) and I never had a problem when I was the one to blame - you can go anywhere as long as you realise that you aren't the only one to do so.

Anyway back to cyclist: beside a fine you coul confiscate their bike - that's ought to give them some measure.

But long as no sherif/police gives a damn.....

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Odyssey
[color=cc9900]karajorma, cars are inherently dangerous in that they're carrying a large quantity of highly flammable liquid, they're very heavy, and they're moving very fast. Car taxes and tests are there for a reason. A guy on a bicycle is just a slightly faster pedestrian - if you want people to incur a charge for walking places...
Anyway, your basic argument seems to be that us cyclists get a better deal than you car drivers. Guess why we ride bicycles?[/color]

Our people learned long ago that those who do not drive cars can still die under the wheels of them...

If you don't know how to ride a bike in traffic you really don't have any business being out there. Just because the bike you're riding isn't an inherently dangerous object doesn't mean that you can't cause accidents from people who are driving one.

What pisses me off is that cyclists always say that cars cause them all kinds of problems from people not looking where they are going. Guess what. Cyclists are just as bad. In fact since you dont have to take a test you're actually worse!

[vyper]

Originally posted by Odyssey
[color=cc9900]karajorma, cars are inherently dangerous in that they're carrying a large quantity of highly flammable liquid, they're very heavy, and they're moving very fast. Car taxes and tests are there for a reason. A guy on a bicycle is just a slightly faster pedestrian - if you want people to incur a charge for walking places...
Anyway, your basic argument seems to be that us cyclists get a better deal than you car drivers. Guess why we ride bicycles?[/color]

I'd feel safer being protected by steel frames, air bags, SIPS, and faster taking off speed than sitting on a single metal frame with myself bared to the dangers of the road and weather.

We have the better deal.

[Knight Templar]

You all know you don't like the cyclists simply because you are fearful of spandex.

[adwight]

Dang, I get my lisence in four months, is this what I get to look forward to???

[Stealth]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
Yeah, the ones who speed up to prevent passing are the worst. Generally, those sorts are why it's always good policy to have tomatoes or other throwables on hand when using a highway- especially as a pedestrian. Nothing so solid as to break a window or cause a real hazard, just something that explodes nicely and wakes them up. Snowballs are nice.

i find a paintball gun works a lot better.  I have a friend (he's a neighbor) who always keeps a loaded and filled paintball gun behind his seat... and i've been in the car when he's used it.  it won't break the glass or dent the car (if you set the FPS low enough LOL ) but it's a pain in the ass to clean off!

anyway, excessive road rage is by far the worst thing on roads these days i think... i mean, i'm guilty of road rage, but EXCESSIVE road rage.  like the one time there were two cars full of 'ricers' (asians)... and there were two guys on suzukis (motorcycles) in front of one of them, and someone ahead of the motorcyclists stopped suddenly, so both motorcycles slam on their brakes.  of course the one asian car that was behind the one motorcycle couldn't stop in time, so he hits the bike (not too hard, but enough to send the rider and bike flying)... the rider immediately got up, he was OK, and his bike seemed OK too, but the asian's bumper had a big dent in it (of course, those newer imports may as well be made of plastic...) so both asian cars pull to a stop, and like six asians get out and start whipping the bikers' asses... i mean, it wasn't even the bikers fault... it was the asian who didn't stop in time!  So it's like six on two, and the two guys are getting their asses kicked... i was about two cars behind when this happened, so me and my friend get out of the car, and another guy gets out of a truck next to us, and we went to help them.  at least the odds were a little evened...

now THAT is excessive road rage... by that i mean particularly people that whenever they get in a wreck (no matter how big or small) get out of the car and go start a fight.  that's stupid, and it's even more stupid if it's your fault.  those asians got their asses kicked... pity the cops didn't arrive till it was all over, because most cops hate ricer asians... they've all (every one i've met) got a bad attitude.

[adwight]

Not to saying this to offend anyone...

Damn japs, always have to travel in groups don't they???

[StratComm]

especially with their cameras

Not to stereotype further, but I will asume that this Asian crowd was the type that get their kicks by street racing souped-up imports (or pretending that they do)?  You know, driving aroud in their Hondas and Accuras that are modded to the point you can't tell what kind of car it is without close inspection?  Because that sounds like a bunch of guys who live (or pose) the life of "The Fast and the Furious".  In which case they deserved to get their asses kicked.

[Stealth]

yeah, when they "cruise" they always go in groups

it's part of their religion or something i guess.

although i have to admit, some of the nicer ricer cars are really pretty tight.  the ones with the customized and molded interior


EDIT:  Strattcom: yeah, it was the worst kind of ricer... the kind with a civic, a body-kit, and a 8" exhaust that sounds like a weed-eater