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

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I've only lived in Brisbane and Hamilton, but of the two, Hamilton is 100 times worse in terms of bad driving than Brisbane. Of course, Brisie could be the perfect city and Hamilton is just normal, but I doubt that somehow!

I think uncharted is a bit of a wus

And seriously if he's too much of a wus that he won't ride on the road, he should give up cycling. Pavements are for pedestrians. It's not just a question of hitting someone it's also the way they make you jump when you suddenly see and hear them, especially from behind. I find it annoying but I know if I was an old person it would really freak me!

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But can you put your hand on your heart and say that you were fully aware of your surroundings? If you were I doubt you'd have had as many accidents.>



There is something that you are taught when you do any sort of Advanced Driving course and that is called 'Defensive Driving'. This is anticipating what other road-users and pedestrians *may* do and altering ones driving to avoid what *may* happen. It is also called 360 Degree awareness.

Now, I have avoided numerous potential prangs and one potential car right off because I have anticipated that other road users are going to drive badly or inconsiderately. Had I not been so aware and had the accident I could rightly say 'it was not my fault'. However, one could just as easily say it would be my fault as well as I could have anticipated what was going to happen and taken avoiding action.

Hence, I have to agree fully with Mr Dreadful here that you are not riding to the road conditions or being aware of your surroundings or indeed what other road users could do.

For cyclists who jump red lights so they do not get taken out by someone turning left(in the UK)who has not seen you etc I would suggest altering your riding style to ensure that a driver potentially turning left knows you are there and are carrying straight on. Possibly, easier said than done however a good car driver alters their driving style to avoid accidents so there is no reason why cyclists cannot either.

Havig said that I would probably cycle to work if there weren't so many nutters driving cars so I take the safer option and drive to work - if I did cycle I would be darn careful in making sure a driver knew I was there.

And one last general comment to some cyclists: you are allowed to indicate that you are turning left in the UK - that REALLY annoys me when a cyclist veers off down a side street without any indication.

I'm a she for starters.

It's not about being a wuss. I am seriously afraid for my life on some of the roads in this town. In Brisbane I rode on some of the busiest and most dangerous roads in my area (including a roundabout that was judged the most dangerous in Brisbane). And Hamilton has only 100 000 people compared to Brisie's 1 000 000. The hills in Brisbane leave Hamilton for shame as well. If you actually saw me ride you wouldn't call me a wuss.

On the footpath, I will stop and wait for pedestrians to see me, or I will go onto the road to avoid them. When I am a pedestrian I step onto the grass when I hear a bike behind me. I don't try to scare or inconvenience any pedestrians, but I would rather they were startled than I was killed to avoid scaring them

Maybe this is cos in Oz it is not against the law to ride on the footpath, and I therefore consider the law to be ridiculous.

Apologies for getting your sex wrong; I'm also a she and I know it's a bit annoying to be referred to as he.

Of course if it is not illegal in Autralia then you are within your rights to ride on the pavement. I visited Australia last year, including Brisbane and compared to London it's a ghost town on the roads. But then I have said the cyclists in London have to startk stare raving mad to ride on London roads, so maybe that's why I often find them agressive and inconsiderate to pedestrians.

I can't really argue against you if it is not against the law in Australia. But I can against cyclists here, and it still pi*ses me off.

Okay, when I say accident I mean I came off the bike involuntarily and *suffered* a bump or a bruise. When I'm in Manchester, the roads are to dangerous not to pay full attention, and I am aware of pretty much everything that goes on around me, I don't like surprises.

Most of the time it was having some stupid pedestrian step out from between two buses, so I've got no way of knowing about them. Reesult is I stop suddenly (my brakes are top notch and can stop me dead) my body goes forward, causing parts of me to hit the bike and I slump off. Cars it tends to be some idiot speeding around corners and coming into my lane.

I did think about it, and there are a couple of incidents that may have been partially my fault, perhaps I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been, but it can't be more than a couple. The majority have still been the fault of others. The only serious injury I've ever suffered was entirely my fault, no other sentient creature was involved, I was just riding like an idiot through sand dunes.

When I'm making a left hand turn, how obvious should I be? I already move over to the left and I make the hand gestures to move left a good way before the junction. What more can I do? Some motorists simply act as though they cannot see cyclists and I'm not going to risk getting knocked down by one of those idiots.

Iago

PS The derailleur unfortunately found itself between my diving gear and the pull of gravity. Oh well.

Ah, but you do not need to know that a pedestrian IS going to step out between two buses you just need to be aware that some idiot could walk out in front of you without looking. Knowing this you reduce your speed so that you can stop in a a more controlled manner and not hit the pedestrian and not get various soft body parts hitting hard bike parts.

Also, if save to do so one would move away from the buses to give you more space between you and the gap this would allow you to see anyone sooner due to the more perpendicular angle between you and the gap. The pedestrian may also see you sooner and you are also further away and hence a collision may be avoided without you breaking.

This is the mind set that an advanced car driver would have.

>>Also, if save to do so one would move away from the buses to give you more space between you and the gap this would allow you to see anyone sooner due to the more perpendicular angle between you and the gap. The pedestrian may also see you sooner and you are also further away and hence a collision may be avoided without you breaking<<

You've clearly never driven down Oxford Road in Manchester. There is simply no way of avoiding the buses and no room to go around them. I can go slowly, sometimes slower than walking speed, but that doesn't help me if someone walks out *right in front* of the bike or right into the bike, or someone tires to open the car door right as I'm cycling past with no time no move the bike out of the way, as is often the case. And if I need to stop the bike in a couple of centimetres, as is the case sometimes, my body will still come off the saddle and I'll just hit the crossbar instead of the handlebars.

"Maybe you didn't notice their white sticks?"

So that's what was tangled round my spokes

even when im the only vechicle on the road i still indicate when ever im turning.

i stick my arm out and hope people see it.

many drivers just cant see it though

You would actually fail a driving test for that.

Nah you wouldn't, if there are no people to see it then you'd get a minor fault for impropper use of signals, but so long as there are pedestrians and what have you, or if it's a high speed road, or if the corner of the junction is blind you'd be ok

What, for signalling and then turning even if there is noone to see the signal? You wouldn't fail a driving test for that in the UK for that.

i signal out of habit without checking first if there is people around!

that'll be useful when you hit one of them! Best to check for other road users/pedestrians then signal. Mirror Signal Manouver is how I think it is supposed to go...

Personally I'm still surprised that car drivers aren't taught to do a shoulder check (or lifesaver) by actually looking over their shoulder when manouvering. Means you can check your blind spot.

Interesting point there. I would counter a driving examiner giving a minor fault for improper use of a signal by asking whether one can assume there are no pedestrians or cars etc coming out of drive ways that could potentially see you but you cannot see them. Making an assumption that just because you cannot see someone that no one is there adds a level of risk to your driving i.e. you have not reduced the risk involved in your manouvre down to just the residual risk that cannot be controlled.

By always indicating you are reducing that risk. That is why guarding is put on machinery to reduce the risk of cuts and trapping of limbs. The same machine could have been used for years without an accident happening but that does not mean the guarding is not required. At some point some one may be careless and get injured. The guarding is there to stop that person even getting into the situation where they could get trapped. Use of indication even when, potentially, not neccesary, reduces the risk to yourself and other road users.

And if the person not indicating was driving a company van or a self-employed person was driving their company van you could actually say that by not indicating during all manouvres that person is not going against the Health and Safety at Work act by not reducing the risks involved to a minimum where members of the public could be injured while carrying out their job. There is a section in the regulations that states an obligation to protect memebers of the public.

Gosh, I am being sad today.

When turning into another road in the UK driving test, you must indicate. This is partly to benefit drivers already in that road who may be emerging. It also follows that you should still be indicating as you turn the corner. You are also expected to check, even on a bicycle, that this will not cause problems for other road users.

Personally i'm a biker, in both ways, and i've seen some awful behaviour. last night, i overtook some stationary traffic and stopped between two cars which were too close together, so i was only just on the correct side of the white line. the car driver behind me then moved off close behind the car in front, and i was lucky he didn't hit my left leg, as i was still stationary. i was within 6 inches of him when he was moving, and he couldn't see where i was. I assume he didn't care.

and always check behind you on a bike, like about every 20 seconds. you have no mirrors, but must still check behind you. Your life is at risk: do not assume you will be seen.

i only look behind me if i can hear something or im about to turn or about to move out in order to overtake still cars or slow cyclists.

i always got told to keep my eyes on the road and remember you have more senses than sight

I *was* taught to check over my shoulder before manouevering (sp?) - isn't everyone? Or at least everyone that has 'official' driving lessons anyway.