pah

[ajva]

This really pisses me off. I am already of the opinion that people who rely on cars in cities deserve a good talking to, but the following is the daftest yet:

The move prompted a furious response last night from motoring and insurance organisations, which claimed it would encourage 'bicycle guerrillas' who do not obey the Highway Code and frequently shoot red lights.

Now, whether you agree with the policy or not, it is surely disingenuous to the point of gobsmacking dunderheidness for drivers to argue that cyclists will run red lights because suddenly somebody else will pay for the damage if they get run over. They obviously think cyclists have the same attitude to accidents that they do i.e. it is an annoyance, particularly with the insurance; they "forget" that cyclists have bigger things to worry about in even a minor accident. A dent in your bonnet = a dent in cyclist's head.

My opinion on the proposed law, by the way, is that it is a blatant prejudice against car drivers, and as such should be utterly encouraged.

Comments

[lovingboth]

Yey!

It would make a huge difference - ever tried cycling in the Netherlands? - and as you say, the idea that it'd lead to even more light jumping than currently happens is wrong. Who wants to be dead, even rich and dead? Particularly when the number of drivers who don't have insurance is meant to be over 10% in London.

Mind you, I'd also have on the spot fines for cyclists at night who wear black clothes and don't have any lights.

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure the wearing black clothes thing is so much of a problem if you have lights. Unless you're covering your face and deliberately disguising your silhouette, I don't think a driver has any excuse for not recognising the shape of a cyclist with a good set of bike lights.

[wechsler.livejournal.com]

Certainly, the only excuse they'll have for not seeing me is that I've burnt out their retinas. And possibly their eardrums, if I'm riding the bike with the horn.

Should I rephrase that? ;)

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

hey, if you have the horn on your bike, that's no business of ours ;->

Motorbikes...?

[ukfetish.livejournal.com]

I'm intrigued... does this mean that in a car/motorbike accident that the car should always be considered at fault, for similar reasons i.e. rider vulnerability?

Suits me :)

Speaking as a car driver (as well) I think the proposed legislation is mildly unfair but not so much that I'd bother complaining about it, as I happen to look where I'm bloody going and don't intend to hit any cyclists, even if they are going the wrong way through a red light!

It so happens that when I learnt to ride a motorbike, I was taught to check all the entrances into a traffic light controlled junction before I entered it, as trusting the lights to stop other traffic might one day lead to me being injured by someone else ignoring the lights... it's this sort of thing that makes motorcyclists much safer car drivers.

Regards,
Denny

[lovingboth]

Note the word 'and'! :)

No lights at night is an option (albeit not a very sensible one) if you're wearing reflective clothing, but the vast majority of unlit cyclists I see in London are wearing dark clothing. Some can only be seen when they occlude someone else's light. Ghod knows what the ones I don't see are wearing - invisibility cloaks, probably.

There's more on the story at http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,2763,769369,00.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,2763,769373,00.html and http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,2763,769411,00.html

Re: Motorbikes...?

[lovingboth]

One of the things 95% of drivers seem to have forgotten is that a green light does not mean 'go', just as an amber light does not mean 'speed up'...

[jhg.livejournal.com]

I do so agree with every word you've typed.


J

Re: Motorbikes...?

[jhg.livejournal.com]

...and as a former car driver, I am a much safer cyclist than before I learnt to drive.

And a safer driver having cycled...


J

[envoy.livejournal.com]

I had the same argument almost verbatim with the City of Minneapolis about 5 years ago when they were proposing banning bikes from Nicolette mall (which would have left the mall only for buses) they were saying how horrible it was the the buses may hit a biker, and all the bikers were arguing that it was the single safest place to bike in downtown, and that's why they all used it. I made the same points about saftey, and the differences in perspective of a car driver vs. a person on a bicycle. Good luck!