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

>>Again, why are you sneaking up the side of the road<<

Because that's where the cycle path is. Simple really. I'm pretty sure that any motorist who enters a cycle path for any reason is flouting the law. If pedestrians get a surprise or wing mirrors get kicked off (when going at 30kph I have a heck of a lot of momentum) then so be it.

First of all airscotia. Brilliantly written and very funny story! You're a born comediac writer! Cheered me up no end after the day I've had!

Genoa!

Heck! So I've had a pig of a day and a couple of glasses of wine. Your post has almost inspired me to take my chances and jump in my car right now and hunt down a few cyclists! Just to tickle their rear wheels as it were and give them a halloween thrill!

But something's stopping me? Respect for the lives and well being of all other road users apart from cyclists!

PS I'm sure there MUST be some reasonable and competent cyclists somewhere! Mustn't there?

Me, me, pick me! I am reasonable and sensible as a cyclist! I guess.

Genoa,
Your being able to go at 30km/h does not necessarily make it okay for you to actually go that speed. As a car driver, you can be stopped by the police for driving within the speed limit *if the conditions require you to drive slower*, for example due to weather conditions or such factors as cows on the road. As a car driver, you then cannot point to the books and say "I am allowed to go at XYZ km/h". The basic principle is caution and considerateness - and that applies to you as a cyclist, as well!

Even if you feel entitled to going 30 km/h on the cycling path, the possibility of pedestrians swerving onto the path *requires* you to accomodate to the conditions, i.e. to slow up.

Y.

Don't know if this has come up in this thread, but I have a question.

I've read a few posts about cyclists going across a pedestrian crossing and not stopping for pedestrians. But what about when I'm in my car, and a cyclist goes from the pavement, across the crossing to the other side without getting off their bike?

I've been in this situation several times. As we know, a bicycle is a road vehical and should not be on the pedestrian crossing. So technically I don't have to stop, because there are no pedestrians crossing. But who would be at fault if I just ran the git over?

Technically, no, you're perfectly within your rights to mow the cyclist down, kill him for inappropriate use of a pedestrian crossing.

Not a court in the land that would convict you for that.

RF

Is there actually such a thing as a car driver with more emotional maturity than the average seven-year-old?

Oooh!!

I'm a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists I'll have you know.

Have you passed such a a test on your bicycle?

dont think so

Does Knight of the Road (RoSPA) count? As far as I am aware that is the highest level obtainable for a cyclist via the Cycling Proficiency Test, which is a 100% pass. When I took it it involved a theory and a practical.

The most practicable advice is given by the LCC (London Cycle Campaign) at:- http://www.lcc.org.uk/documents/cycle_sense.pdf?DocID=9

but most is common sense.

<> (Hooloovoo)

I'm not sure, but I think if you 'scooter' your bike across a pedestrian crossing (pushing it along with one foot at a pedestrian pace rather than actually getting off the bike to walk it) is considered to be the same as walking your bike across.

az

I'm not sure. There's a post earlier in this thread that says you're not even allowed to get off and push your bike across a pedestrian crossing..... the only totally legal way is to pick it up and carry it across.

No idea what the law is TBO.

<>

Well, that sounds totally stupid to me, as I'm sure it would do to anybody (even non-cyclists).


az

As I understood it (albeit 30 years ago when I took my cycling Proficiency) the highway code translated that a bicycle is a vehicle. A Zebra or Pelican Crossing is a pedestrian crossing, so therefore if a bike is wheeled or scooted across a pedestrian crossing, then the law is being broken as it is a vehicle being used. This was also the advice of the LCC when I was a member in 1986/1990.

However it appears the code has been amended as below, so I apologise and stand corrected:

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/03.htm

Rule 64-66.

Can I just report that this weekend, on saturday I think it was, I was driving through town in my car and approached a set of lights that had just gone red. Just in front of me was a cyclist. And they stopped. And waited. And only went when the lights went green.

So they do exist!

(p.s. the Highway code (in england anyway) is neither exhaustive nor authoritative. It leaves a lot of road act stuff out, and puts in a lot of opinion, which serves to confuse everyone. Don't get me wrong, all road users should know it, but it shouldn;t be taken as the be all and end all, and neither should its recommendations be taken without evidence.)

Zebra, Pelican, Puffin, Toucan crossings........

What was the bureaucrat on who came up with those names?

I'm pretty sure I know what a zebra crossing is, but the subtle differences between all the others eludes me, until I read that I'd never even heard of puffin and toucan crossings. to buy copy of latest highway code!

ive never read the highway code.

i always stop at red lights

Red, this article will explain the menagerie of crossings in the UK...

http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/transport/traffic/pedestrian_crossings/types_of_pedestrian_crossings.htm

Zebra crossing. White lines across (usually) black tarmac.

Makes sense to me.


az

Has anyone ever seen a pegasus crossing?

RF

yes, but only whilst on illegal substances

Pelicon crossing: PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled ,
Pufin: Pedestrian User-Friendly Interface
toucan: two can cross — both pedestrian and cycle
and one that didn't work so well:

panda crossings
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/2/newsid_2840000/2840919.stm