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Edinburgh anti-cycling videos

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  1. algo
    Member

    Following an incredibly infuriating discussion with an anti-cycling work colleague, I was directed to a number of videos on youtube where drivers appear to have gone out of their way to capture bad cycling - one of the users is called "Transport for Edinburgh" - which is a particularly irritating hijack.

    Not important perhaps, but my argument of reinforced prejudice influencing certain people to *only* see RLJ cyclists was dismissed, and these presented to me as evidence.... which is doubly irritating.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. cycletrain
    Member

    It's a fair cop. I've seen lots of poor cycling in Edinburgh, but I've also seen a lot of poor driving.

    Most of the driver abuse seems to come from those who would never consider cycling so dismiss it with the old "Why should they get" arguments.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. ARobComp
    Member

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    This one shows a man going through and stopping in front of the traffic because there is no ASZ and he wants to turn right. Not technically within the rules but I'd suggest that I'd do the same at that junction...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. ARobComp
    Member

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    This one shows a cyclist YES in the wrong place but doesn't show whether or not the rider had just remounted there or not. No context.

    The music on these is genius by the way!

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. Colonies_Chris
    Member

    A few minutes spent at any major junction (Queen St / Hanover St is a particularly bad case) will provide many examples of cars RLJing. Why do drivers seem to imagine that it's only cyclists who ever do this? Perhaps a few videos of cars RLJing would redress the balance.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. ARobComp
    Member

    The others show effectively nothing being too far away or just not showing context.

    Pretty hilarious stuff really. Honestly the music has me chuckling away!

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. wingpig
    Member

    "...because there is no ASZ..."

    Well, there was, until someone parked their car atop it. Wonder if the driver kept the video showing his approach to that point, and whether he was 'caught' in the ASZ or encroached thereupon.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. algo
    Member

    @Colonies_Chris - this was another argument I tried to make, but prejudice is very hard to expel unfortunately. There are a proliferation of these videos in fact, all of which seem to me to be attempting to respond to the cycle-cam videos you see which shame bad driving (and often praise good driving) - I get the impression they feel they are redressing the balance.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. allebong
    Member

    'Perhaps a few videos of cars RLJing would redress the balance.'

    'I get the impression they feel they are redressing the balance'

    Pretty much this. If it's acceptable to film bad driving and post it up for all to see/mock/discuss you can't reasonably justify the same not applying to cycling. Any arguments about making the majority of law abiding cyclists look bad also apply to drivers all the same - so do any discussions about how many drivers are law abiding. I do poke around motoring forums now and again (know your 'enemy' etc) and it's inevitable that someone will post a dashcam video of a cyclist RLJing, which for some folk is going to be just one more bit of evidence about the feckless lawless scum we are, but for the majority it's just another video of one particular persons bad cycling and shouldn't be made to mean anything more. Of course I've seen a fair few videos purporting to show dangerous cycling that come down to a cyclist being very naughty by riding in the primary, being assertive, not wearing a h***** or hiviz etc, but the type of person who gets outraged by that probably isn't liable to being easily talked out of that mindset anyway.

    If you spend some time looking around for these videos you see everything. Dashcams showing good driving, bad driving, good cycling, bad cycling, helmetcams (both bike and motorbike) showing good driving, bad driving, good cycling, bad cycling, etc. Doubtless there's a few desperate to maintain the WAR ON THE ROADS!!! stance but they really are not the majority.

    Myself, I have no qualms about being filmed, as I believe I ride safely and would not be seen doing otherwise.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. Dave
    Member

    It's a free world and I can't see any problem with people trying to film bad cycling. Either they will ultimately make themselves look a bit silly by posting trivia or they will find entertaining and genuinely bad cycling which we should welcome.

    Think about it. Something like 85% of drivers admit to ignoring the law when it suits them. Those exact same people are the ones leaving their cars at home and cycling in, so you'd have to show more than an 85% offending rate by cyclists before you'd have a credible argument that they are worse.

    (A cyclist got to an ASL which was illegally occupied and moved in front! They eat babies too!)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  11. fimm
    Member

    If you have a look on YouTube for "Silly Cyclists" you'll find a series of videos by a (London) cyclist of other cyclists doing bad or silly things...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  12. crowriver
    Member

    The two videos you posted show nothing at all worthy of comment. The first cyclist gets in front of traffic, presumably to be seen and thus safer. They do not set off while the light is red. The second cyclist is stationary, waiting to turn right by the looks of it. They are not riding down a one way street, but positioned at the corner. We do not know how they got there, it may not have involved the one way street at all. Even if it did, the street was pretty quiet so the manoevre would have been fairly safe.

    If this is the best the Contras can come up with then they have no case.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  13. gibbo
    Member

    This one shows a man going through and stopping in front of the traffic because there is no ASZ

    Google Streetview begs to differ.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  14. algo
    Member

    The thing I object to here is the fact that the channel is called "Transport for Edinburgh", and appears to suggest there is a fleet of vehicles capturing such incidents, although I suspect that is a grandiose delusion. London has "Transport for London" whose channel is dedicated to information films, some of which are for cyclists. This hijack of the name, and its clear anti-cyclist agenda is what irks me... some of the others than appear to exist are not only anti-cyclist but also charmingly misogynistic

    Posted 11 years ago #

  15. gkgk
    Member

    Videos of cyclists acting like humans? Best response in workplace is some version of "so what?", with or without humour.

    By the way, the righteous videoing driver in video No.1 (Lothian Rd) is in completely the wrong lane before he bolts across towards Costa corner. There's 30m of filter lane that he didn't use. Probably parked up on the double red while nipping in for a fly pint or two in Anderson's.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  16. Rob
    Member

    These are a good laugh. The one above in the one way street appears to be pushing the bike but you can't see his legs due to some really strange letterboxing.

    https://youtu.be/z7nBunA4YGU - Cuts out just as the cyclist is going to lean on the barrier.
    https://youtu.be/YQUuW8EwDHE - Looks pretty bad but you can't see if the lights in the other direction are set back
    https://youtu.be/V6bUl7tyN-U - This just shows bus drivers being dangerous (undertaking) at a nightmare junction (pinch point + tram lines crossing path)

    There are enough people who are actually bad cyclists without having to edit things to look worse than they are.

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Video Widget

    Any thoughts on this one? This light stays red after the pedestrian crossing has gone red (notice the "Wait" is lit) while the tram slowly turns. If you run the light you get a completely clear lane to the mound. Wait at the light and you get there with buses and taxi drivers who're annoyed at having to wait for the tram.

    Interesting that someone who clearly has an anti-cycling agenda doesn't have a single video of a cyclist endangering someone else's life (either by accident or intent). If they're trying to counter all the "MGIF/close pass" videos, they've missed the mark by some margin.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  17. Nelly
    Member

    "Any thoughts on this one? This light stays red after the pedestrian crossing has gone red (notice the "Wait" is lit)"

    Depends on your viewpoint -

    If you are of the opinion that we cant berate daft car behaviour unless we are squeaky clean - then the cyclists shouldnt have done it (and, tbf thats the law too).

    If, however, you are of the opinion that cyclists should get a 'start' at lights, left turns on red etc etc, well thats a different story............

    Posted 9 years ago #

  18. crowriver
    Member

    That vid: illegal maybe. Idiot? No. Quite sensible and safe given the context. It's the road and junction layout that is idiotic. Also if cyclists were legally allowed to turn left here, for example, that might account for some of the rljing. Eve if they're not turning left, it's far safer to avoid the drag racing traffic which will bear down upon the cyclists otherwise by nipping off while the junction is quiet.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  19. Klaxon
    Member

    I'm very much of the opinion that the law should be changed allowing cycles to treat red lights as give way provided they're not crossing another emerging stream on green.

    That is, turning left at crossroads, travelling across the continuous edge of a T-junction, and giving way at a pedestrian crossing.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  20. chdot
    Admin

    "I'm very much of the opinion that the law should be changed"

    Of course the official line is that 'people in the UK aren't like those continentals, and wouldn't behave'...

    Posted 9 years ago #

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