Always wondered whether those BMW/Audi/Merc etc. drivers really are the worst? Some US researchers set out to find out whether this was true, and guess what they found:
They are.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
Are expensive car drivers the worst? Science!
(18 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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Science!
Pah...
Posted 5 years ago # -
Does this mean that cyclists on beat-up Apollo Slants with mis-matched tyres are the most polite?
Posted 5 years ago # -
IWRATS - ah, you mean more science. Excellent idea - obviously requiring a generous research grant so we can investigate this pressing issue.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Personalised number plates are a good thing though as car more identifiable? Bit like having a logo.
Alfa Romeo drivers are often careful - @twinspark?Posted 5 years ago # -
“obviously requiring a generous research grant”
Isn’t it time CCE set up consultancy to harness and benefit (financially) from the collective wisdom/expertise here??
Posted 5 years ago # -
IWRATS - ah, you mean more science.
That is basically the inside of my head. MOAR SCIENCING.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@LaidBack - I'd like to think so.... although I believe an Alfa~Romeo (a sentient being according to the media!) was caught doing 81mph in a 30 limit in Edinburgh - completely outrageous, hopefully a lengthy ban after being locked up for a while.
Equally I have been driven in my manager's Audi - They used the indicators, kept a 3 second gap on the motorway, let traffic in, understood how a box junction worked etc.... they also rode a motor bike which I think meant they had better hazard perception.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Back when Raging Bike was a website you could report near misses on I'm reasonably sure that Beemers and Audi were amongst the most popular reported makes of oafishly-driven car.
A former colleague who once had a BMW (albeit, he protested, second-hand from his brother) in between a Renault and some sort of big familywagon thing once gave me a lift to Glasgow and back and made me do the invisible brake pedal so hard that he swore at me.
Posted 5 years ago # -
You need to test the hypothesis to destruction by recording cars well driven of the makes in question. And also cars badly driven that are other makes. Always being on the look out for confirmation bias, stereotyping and radge Russian gangsters driving BMWs
Posted 5 years ago # -
Also, PHC pseudotaxis are rarely BMWs or Audis.
Posted 5 years ago # -
My closely observed scientific observation is that drivers of Porsches are total ***********. They tend to emerge at weekends and want to prove they are not the beaten down commuter. And by they, I mean "he".
Posted 5 years ago # -
Was just driven at by chap in Audi. He was coming out the east drive of the high school, he was not really bothered that I had right of way. All proceeded very slowly, including me taking primary and then pulling to side once through pinch point. All other cars including Mercedes driven correctly
Posted 5 years ago # -
“they also rode a motor bike which I think meant they had better hazard perception.”
So
Radical
No car licence without a motorbike licence??
Posted 5 years ago # -
Even more radical - My late father thought that unless you were physically unable to do so, it should be compulsory to ride a pedal cycle and pass a competency test on it before you were allowed to apply for a provisional driving licence
Posted 5 years ago # -
Not sure that’s more radical.
More people probably willing/able to pass a cycle test than a motor bike one.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I know dad's main focus on a pedal cycle as a pre-cursor to motorised transportation was that as you physically were making the progress within the confines of complying with traffic signals etc. you had a vested interest in looking ahead and "anticipation" otherwise the effort you expended was increased and for no benefit. You also had better hazard perception for example oil on the road, poor road surface etc. You also knew what was a safe pass and what was too close.
If you apply the same principles to driving a motorised vehicle then you save fuel and improve emissions, whether that be scooter, motorbike, car, bus or lorry.
He did apparently consider a motor bike, however I came along and it was not a practical reality!
Posted 5 years ago # -
Although riding a bike before driving a car might be helpful for new drivers I don't think it wouldn't make a noticeable difference to road safety. You can teach pretty much anyone to do anything. Currently you only have to be able to drive once for an hour on your 17th birthday (or any day after) and you are allowed to continue driving unchecked for the next 50+ years. What we need is some way of ensuring competency is maintained, either through regular retests, harsher (some would say any) penalty regime, etc.
I can't see passing a bike test as a teenager would make any difference to a middle aged bloke with spreading waste and anger management problems when it comes to over taking a cyclist.
Posted 5 years ago #
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