h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

An honest cyclist with a sense of humour! That's reasurring!

I've always felt it would be useful if part of the driving test involved spending a week or two using a bicycle as your main mode of transport, so to get a view on what's actually involved and what it's like cycling in heavy traffic. I also feel the same about motorbikes, most drivers just aren't aware of the difficulties, dangers and challenges they face on the roads.
Just my

There are two proposals by parts of the DoT that may make cyclers nervous. One that people need to pass a test before being allowed to cycle on the public highways and the second being that new laws be introduced to reduce the number of serious injuries/deaths on the road to as close to 0 as possible. This will, of course, make bikes ilegal as you can never make them 100% safe.

it will also probably make pedestrians illegal! Or ban us from ever crossing the road.

Yes. We should all stay at home and not go outside. I's too dangerous! Mind you, more accidents happen in in the home...

Maybe we should all just stand in the doorway.

RF

Or maybe we should all just buy helicopters?

"I've always felt it would be useful if part of the driving test involved spending a week or two using a bicycle as your main mode of transport"

I spent 11 years with the bicycle as my main form of transport before I finally passed my test. Ok, so 6 of those years I was at school and didn't go very many place, but I still used my bike to get to places!

Where there are cycle lanes available, be they sharing the road or the pavement, they should be respected by other road users and pedestrians. Where there are no cycle lanes, cyclists should stick firmly to the road.

Oooh, it's all so depressing I just sold my bike! I had it for 5 years, but I am leaving the country in December and it would have been too expensive to take it with me. So there was this guy willing to buy it now and I know that was the best decision, because I wouldn't have been able to find many people willing to buy a bike in December in Stockholm, but ...
Still! I love my bike and it breaks my heart to leave it in the hands of a guy who says "Oh, thanks for the bike. Let's see. I always manage to break everything!"
I miss my bike! I want my bike back!!!

"Maybe it's to do with the fact that they are the only road users not to pay vehicle tax? "

When was the last time you saw a horse with a tax disc?

There's also the sworn testimony of a leading neuroscientist who's compiled the outcomes of cyclists admitted to casualty with head injuries related to the severity of their accident and whether or not they were wearing a helmet.

Perhaps surprisingly, he came to the conclusion that there was "no evidence" to suggest that cyclists are always better-off wearing a helmet than not.

Perusing the test standards for cycle helmets reveals that this may not be quite so surprising after all. Helmets are tested by dropping them with a 5kg weight inside to simulate the weight of the head. I'd be more convinced this was relevant if there were some simulation of the fact that my 5kg head is quite firmly attached to a 100kg body...

Overall, as Mina says, the health benefits of increased fitness through cycling outweigh the relatively small chance of sustaining a serious head injury. In Australia the introduction of compulsory helmet-wearing resulted in a 30% drop in participation in cycling.

Oh silly me for forgetting horses!

I also forgot skateboarders

and those annoying go-ped things that the odd (very odd) 'trendy' suit uses to get round.

this is all interesting. I have some questions. in europe or england or wherever. Does "pavement" mean "sidewalk"? And do cyclists actually ride in the same lane as cars? ever? That sounds odd. isn't there some some kind of bike lane? here there is often a seperate narrow bike lane. or they ride on the shoulder. And I cant imagine running a red on a bike. it would be like running a red in a car. also in Arizona there is a law that motorists must leave at least two feet while passing a cyclist. Though I always drive so I don't notice whan they ride on the sidewalk. And is cycling that common? like would you see a cyclist on every outing? just curious. Anyway I think riding in the road would be a lot more dangerous than on the sidewalk. but the bike lane works fine.

In the UK:

Yes, pavement = sidewalk

Yes, cyclists bike in the same line as cars, frequently.

Yes, sometimes there are bike lanes.

Only big English roads have hard shoulders, most do not.

Yes, one would almost certainly see a bike every time you went out anywhere. Probably a lot more then one.

Riding in the road may be more dangrous than riding on the pavement, but bikes aren't allowed on the pavement. Pavements are for pedestrians and wheelchair users.

As a cyclist, I feel a duty to defend cyclists everywhere from these spurious accusations that we flout the law. But they're true, so I can't.

All I can say is, why do cars never notice cyclists?! Honestly, it's like as if we don't exist. The other day I was cycling into town (on the side of the road), and this car on my right pulls in and tries to park by the side of the road THAT I'M CYCLING DOWN!!! If it wasn't for me pulling onto the pavement in time, I would have been hit.

You mean you weren't? Right I want my money back

Actually when I used to drive I used to avoid cyclists as much as possible. Mostly because I learned that they're strange eratic creatures who do not seem to follow any rules other than the ones they make in their own little minds

Just because my mind is little doesn't mean that... I've forgotten what I was going to say.

Anyway, the simplist, and best, solution to this porblem is to built cycle-paths everywhere so that cyclists don't go on the road or pavement. Sure, it'll cost hundreds of millions, and buildings will have to be destroyed to make room, and city centres will come to a standstill to facilitate all the work, but it'll be worth it.

That's actually a good reason for riding on pavements and through red lights as often as possible: those being the only times that motorists will see you

There are cycle lanes, but a lot of them are apparently designed by drivers and therefore utterly useless: the idea that people may wish to turn right (or in some cases merely go straight ahead) doesn't appear to have crossed the mind of anyone behind them.

Actually, they did build a new cycle-lane near where I live recently. They're building a big shopping centre across the street, and while doing it they put a nice red cycle-lane between a pavement and an embankment. The problem is that it's the stupidest cycle lane ever built. To get on it you have to cycle on the pavement, and a few hundred metres later it ends and joins onto... the pavement. And since it's right next to the pavement, pedestrians use it as such. It's only purpose is to make the shopping centre have a nicer view of the opposite side of the street.