The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

warthog1
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby warthog1 » Sat May 24, 2014 9:13 pm

Yep, from the ads as long as you comply with the speed limit you have achieved all the competencies required to be a safe driver. Of course you should drive at a safe appropriate speed, but there is a bit more required.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Percrime » Sat May 24, 2014 9:25 pm

Oh but its so much worse than that. If that motorcyclist is doing 65 in a 60 zone and you completely ignore him and pull out in front of him .. its completely his fault. Once you are a teeny bit speeding everyone can completely ignore you cos everything is your fault.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Mulger bill » Sat May 24, 2014 9:28 pm

A bit simplistic yes but the message has to be couched in terms so that even the smokeboxers who think their rego pays for the roads would understand...
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby bychosis » Sun May 25, 2014 8:18 am

Yesterday I drove along a road where the speed limit has changed, dropped by 10 on the 19/5. At the point where the signs were new and there was a big variable message sign stating 'new speed limit' I was in thick traffic and some muppet squeezed into a space that was too small. Got me annoyed. A little later when the traffic thinned out I got back up to the old speed limit and cruised along my merry way 10k above the 'limit'. When I returned later in the night I saw several signs from the other direction and realised how I had been driving 'unsafely' all the way out there earlier. Been driving the road for years at the old limit and all of a sudden it is 'unsafe' and I was in danger of a fine. As stated above a sign posted limit does not make it safe or unsafe it is all about the driver(or rider) and the conditions.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby ldrcycles » Sun May 25, 2014 8:45 am

To me the only issue with having a 3kmh leeway is the fact cars are only required to have speedos accurate to within 10kmh at 100! (correct me on that if i'm wrong). Of course it is the driver's responsibility to know where their speedo is at but it seems silly to have 2 different standards. I stopped buying Wheels magazine years ago because i was so sick of their endless bleating about how speed doesn't kill and cameras are just revenue raising. Well here's an idea genius, don't break the limit and you won't have to pay the fine :roll: . And of course no one is saying that if everyone sticks to exactly 100 in a 100 zone there will never be a crash, but speed can be a significant contributing factor, and it is a hell of a lot easier to enforce. Unless taxpayers want to quadruple the police force so there is a cop on every corner to be able to catch other infringements.

As said above, there needs to be a lot of education done to try and get through to people that the limit is just that, the maximum speed you are allowed to do, not the speed you must do at all times. Most of the time i don't go much above 80 anyway, it gets me up to 200kms more from a tank!
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby find_bruce » Sun May 25, 2014 9:16 am

ldrcycles wrote:To me the only issue with having a 3kmh leeway is the fact cars are only required to have speedos accurate to within 10kmh at 100! (correct me on that if i'm wrong).
Pretty close - the speedo must read within 10% above the actual speed - ie if the speedo is reading 100 km/h, the car must be travelling between 90 & 100 km/h.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby CXCommuter » Sun May 25, 2014 9:35 am

My whole issue with the speeding campaign is that I see it as a lazy item for Police to address. You are either speeding or not and they don't even need to be around with fixed cameras. With an emphasis on speeding all the other issues are just ignored, like inattentiveness, those who don't GAF, tailgating (my pet hate), aggressive driving etc. These have as much or more of an impact upon incidents and deaths than speeding alone.

Separately- I got fined for the first time in a decade in Swan Valley- 10km over the limit- missed the change in speed limit from 70 to 60 (inattentiveness leading to speeding :oops: because I was on the phone whilst tailgating a truck).
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby il padrone » Sun May 25, 2014 10:01 am

CXCommuter wrote:My whole issue with the speeding campaign is that I see it as a lazy item for Police to address. You are either speeding or not and they don't even need to be around with fixed cameras. With an emphasis on speeding all the other issues are just ignored
I think you will find that the police will tell you that the use of fixed speed cameras, mobile cameras manned by non-police, and red-light cameras, has enabled police to put greater man-hours into other more critical police work, whether that be traffic-related or other criminal invetigation. This is rather self-evident and runs counter to your premise.
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The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby herzog » Sun May 25, 2014 10:16 am

CycleGaz (of SillyCyclists fame) sticks it up the back of a 911 Turbo

http://youtu.be/hHQEnq_tHN0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To his credit, posting a mistake of his own.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby CXCommuter » Sun May 25, 2014 11:41 am

il padrone wrote:
CXCommuter wrote:My whole issue with the speeding campaign is that I see it as a lazy item for Police to address. You are either speeding or not and they don't even need to be around with fixed cameras. With an emphasis on speeding all the other issues are just ignored
I think you will find that the police will tell you that the use of fixed speed cameras, mobile cameras manned by non-police, and red-light cameras, has enabled police to put greater man-hours into other more critical police work, whether that be traffic-related or other criminal invetigation. This is rather self-evident and runs counter to your premise.
Complete opposite to what several police friends have advised me (NSW) off the record of course. Paperwork and ass covering is the name of the game mostly (like most jobs these days). If the use of cameras etc frees cops up to do other traffic related work but point out where the hell are they- I rarely if ever see them doing anything on roads other than speed cameras (especially on public holidays) and once or twice a year breath testing.

Your comment sounds like an advert/fixed response from the police to this question
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby queequeg » Sun May 25, 2014 12:13 pm

warthog1 wrote:Yep, from the ads as long as you comply with the speed limit you have achieved all the competencies required to be a safe driver. Of course you should drive at a safe appropriate speed, but there is a bit more required.
I tried to find out how many of the car accidents in NSW are caused by speeding, I discovered that conveniently, in nsw these stats are not recorded. instead, they attribute "speeding" to include both "exceeding the posted limit" and also "driving at a speed excessive for conditions". It essentially allows them to say that "speed" is a factor in pretty much every collision (as two stationary objects can't collide with other!)
Speed cameras can't detect someone "exceeding a safe speed for the conditions", and they are yet to invent a camera that detects stupidity.
I had to go out in the car yesterday to collect some supplies, and I was horrified by the standard of driving on display. Cars darting in and out of lanes without indicating, just to gain a one car advantage in the queue.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby jasonc » Mon May 26, 2014 8:04 am

woman with a pram (assuming a child in it) walking down the the wrong side of the roma street parklands shared path. I asked her to move. no response. she was heading inbound. maybe she took out a cyclist going around the blind corner down near parkland blvd.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby silentC » Mon May 26, 2014 9:25 am

I was riding on the shared path and came up behind a couple of women walking on the left. They were approaching a road entrance which is marked with a couple of poles central on the track. As they were on the left, I rang my bell and went to the right to go past them, thinking the centre barrier would provide good separation. As I was about to pass, one of the women hooked her arm around the end pole and swung around it like a pole dancer, straight into my path. I missed her by an inch.
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby TraceyG » Mon May 26, 2014 1:17 pm

This kid is seriously dumb and not likely to live too long if he keeps up with this sort of activity!
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/201 ... bike-stunt

This is scary to watch!

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Percrime » Mon May 26, 2014 1:45 pm

Hmmm.

Ok its stupid BUT......
Falling under the wheels would be an amazing act of skill. Really unlikely. Falling at 80 kph behind the bus is going to hurt a lot. BUT its not going to kill anyone with reasonable luck. Getting run over by the car behind.. Well.. a car should easily outbrake a sliding student using his face as a brake. Should. Given that the car driver has reasonable reflexes and is not trying too hard for that accusatory video.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby human909 » Mon May 26, 2014 2:12 pm

TraceyG wrote:This kid is seriously dumb and not likely to live too long if he keeps up with this sort of activity!
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/201 ... bike-stunt

This is scary to watch!
How is this anymore "scary" and "dumb" than descending a mountain at 80kph-100kph?

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby rdp_au » Mon May 26, 2014 2:23 pm

A couple of things. He's riding one handed. His view and capacity to manoeuvre is limited by his proximity to the bus.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby Percrime » Mon May 26, 2014 2:26 pm

rdp_au wrote:A couple of things. He's riding one handed. His view and capacity to manoeuvre is limited by his proximity to the bus.
By the same token not nearly as many people pull out in front of buses doing 80 as bicycles doing 80

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby biker jk » Mon May 26, 2014 2:29 pm

human909 wrote:
TraceyG wrote:This kid is seriously dumb and not likely to live too long if he keeps up with this sort of activity!
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/201 ... bike-stunt

This is scary to watch!
How is this anymore "scary" and "dumb" than descending a mountain at 80kph-100kph?
If you needed to ask that question then perhaps stop riding bicycles and walk.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby queequeg » Mon May 26, 2014 2:30 pm

rdp_au wrote:A couple of things. He's riding one handed. His view and capacity to manoeuvre is limited by his proximity to the bus.
And he stayed in the bike lane the whole time too!
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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby human909 » Mon May 26, 2014 2:51 pm

rdp_au wrote:A couple of things. He's riding one handed. His view and capacity to manoeuvre is limited by his proximity to the bus.
One handed riding? That is dangerous now? Since when? His view is perfectly fine as is his ability to maneuver. Mind you, I don't see why he need room to maneuver.
biker jk wrote:If you needed to ask that question then perhaps stop riding bicycles and walk.
That is a poor argument. Please explain how that is more dangerous descending mountain roads or single track?

I've held onto friend's vehicles before. It is not particularly hard or dangerous.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby WarbyD » Mon May 26, 2014 2:53 pm

human909 wrote:
rdp_au wrote:A couple of things. He's riding one handed. His view and capacity to manoeuvre is limited by his proximity to the bus.
One handed riding? That is dangerous now? Since when? His view is perfectly fine as is his ability to maneuver. Mind you, I don't see why he need room to maneuver.
One handed riding, at 80km/h, around motorists.. Yup. I'd say that's definitely dangerous, and has been for as long as it's been possible to do so. I have some dead horses to go and flog though, so i'll leave others to deal with headbutting this particular wall.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby biker jk » Mon May 26, 2014 2:55 pm

human909 wrote:
rdp_au wrote:A couple of things. He's riding one handed. His view and capacity to manoeuvre is limited by his proximity to the bus.
One handed riding? That is dangerous now? Since when? His view is perfectly fine as is his ability to maneuver. Mind you, I don't see why he need room to maneuver.
biker jk wrote:If you needed to ask that question then perhaps stop riding bicycles and walk.
That is a poor argument. Please explain how that is more dangerous descending mountain roads or single track?

I've held onto friend's vehicles before. It is not particularly hard or dangerous.
Oh, let me see now. What if the bus braked suddenly? What if he hit a pothole while riding one handed?

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby human909 » Mon May 26, 2014 3:00 pm

biker jk wrote:Oh, let me see now. What if the bus braked suddenly?
Nothing much. He would shoot past the bus on the left.
biker jk wrote:What if he hit a pothole while riding one handed?
Probably no different to what happens if he hits a pothole while drinking from his bidon. (Personally I don't find potholes are all worrisome riding one handed, but YMMV.)

You are quite correct that if you have difficulty controlling you bike one handed then you should not be riding like that. However many people don't have that difficulty.

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Re: The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

Postby rdp_au » Mon May 26, 2014 3:32 pm

Ok, you're not worried by riding one handed at 80kph, well, you're a better man than me :-) Likewise hitting a pothole at speed. One of the nastiest accidents I've witnessed was a rider hitting pothole while taking a drink, getting knocked off balance, swerving and falling heavily. Doubt the outcome would have been better if there'd been a bus alongside to swerve into.. For goodness sake, we complain at length about getting close-shaved by motorists, why would you voluntarily put yourself in an almost identical situation? I ride bikes, motorbikes, drive a car, fly a plane - all activities that have the potential to be deadly. Engaging in them requires sensible risk management. Holding on to a bus at 80kph does not fall into that category. But, as you say, YMMV :-)

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