Traffic controllers

[ldrcycles]

I'm in QLD and I was directed in exactly the same manner a while ago.
I pulled up to the stop sign guy and he said " Mate, use the footpath". I questioned why, starting to get defensive.
He replied" Well, you could sit here and wait for more than 5 minutes or you could go around the roadworks right now, by using the footpath"

I rode off to work silently scolding myself for being a w*nker. He was just trying to help me out.

Just in case you weren't aware, it's actually legal to ride on the footpath in Queensland. IMO that should be nationwide.

+1 to il padrone re being directed to the wrong side of the road.

[human909]

Personally I'd just do as directed; you'll be left without a leg to stand on if you come a cropper after ignoring the TC.

Because clearly a TC knows more about staying safe on a bike than you do. The faith that some people have in "Authority" in a fluro vest amazes me!

Probably not - but I bet that TC knows a damned sight more than you do about staying safe around road construction and other civil works - in particular around the particular bit of work that he's been directly involved with for however many hours/days/weeks prior to you cycling up to that point.

It costs money to put traffic control in place - it isn't done just for laughs.

Yep, but putting blind faith in another authority is just personally irresponsible.

The faith that some people have in their own "authority" amazes me!

I find it quite sad that you are amazed by the ability of people to good decisions that they can have faith will keep them safe.

Yes. I put absolute faith in my own "authority". I regularly make decision where one mistake will result in my death. Be that on the bicycle, at home dealing with dangerous tools or electricity, or on the cliff.

[DentedHead]

Yes. I put absolute faith in my own "authority".

+ 7 ga-jillion.

As do I.
I hold that everyone is ultimately responsible for their own safety. While others can bear some responsibility as well, that doesn't relieve an individual of their own responsibility. If I was instructed by an "authority" (TC, Cop, employer etc) to do something I believed to be unsafe, yet I did it anyway, and got hurt, I believe it would be as much my own fault as the "authority" that instructed me.

I realize this may seem at odds with commonly held belief, as well as some laws (OHS for instance). I'm simply stating my own belief, not attempting to start a flame war.
(Can you tell that expressing this belief has started heated arguments in the past?)


Dent.

[uppo75]

I'm in QLD and I was directed in exactly the same manner a while ago.
I pulled up to the stop sign guy and he said " Mate, use the footpath". I questioned why, starting to get defensive.
He replied" Well, you could sit here and wait for more than 5 minutes or you could go around the roadworks right now, by using the footpath"

I rode off to work silently scolding myself for being a w*nker. He was just trying to help me out.

Just in case you weren't aware, it's actually legal to ride on the footpath in Queensland. IMO that should be nationwide.

+1 to il padrone re being directed to the wrong side of the road.

I am totally aware that we are allowed to ride on the footpath in QLD. Which is why my story differs from the Red Riders.
Perhaps I should have added this point in.
I am so used to getting defensive with motorists and workmates telling cyclists what they should do, that I didn't think logically about his suggestion.

Unfortunately for me, I will be calling Newcastle home from next week and it will be illegal to ride the footpath.
I do agree, that legal footpath riding, should be allowed nationwide as well.

[g-boaf]

People still ride on footpaths here in NSW - it's often not enforced. They aren't going to book the 75+ year old riding his bike on the footpath, it'd cause an outrage. The law needs to be removed, as much as some cyclists would hate that.

On the original topic, following traffic controllers is the right thing to do but only as long as it isn't going to put me in danger.