Had to slam on all available anchors to avoid a Stuart Nicol Transport articulated lorry pulling out of Buccleuch Place into my path.
Polite e-mail to their transport manager, Mr Stuart Nicol.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish driving...
(11337 posts)- Started 13 years ago by Stepdoh
- Latest reply from chdot
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Posted 7 years ago #
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Going up the Pleasance on electric bike, big lorries taking firings away, parked next to traffic island making bad pinch point, heading for a gap I could here a vehicle bearing down, shoulder checked and pulled in behind lorry giving exaggerated wave to let the recycling truck through. The passenger seemed incensed by my good road skills?
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
The daily issues we have mainly involve motorists who are in a rush to get to work. They get too close, become abusive, aggressive, even drive their cars onto the pavement to get by. There is an instance of this nature every day.
"
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/day-life-birmingham-refuse-collector/
Posted 7 years ago # -
"I'm waiting for a fare"
How is this an acceptable excuse for sitting on double red lines, junctions, pavements etc? In what world do taxi drivers not get dropped on like a ton of bricks for this nonsense?
Posted 7 years ago # -
Taxi drivers are special.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Was brought to me by Vauxhall DP16 NTA at the start of Braid Hills Road, plenty of space to pass but felt they had to pass within a foot of me.
Posted 7 years ago # -
More of a lurker than a poster but perpelxed by this one and as the driver was 'a cyclist too' 'over 300 miles a week''cyclists like you give cyclist like me a bad name' perhaps he resides here so can tell me what I did wrong.
Cycling up Northfield Road with my daughter on the Hamax Seat, cars all parked along the left side, 20 mph limit and speed humps. I am taking primary to get over the humps in a straight line, hear lots of revving behind me - think I'll move over in the next gap 100 yards ahead but before I get the chance the nose of a Fiat 500 appears next to - right next to me - so I wave them back and stop - he stops, winds down the window and that's when I get all of the cyclist chat and as I say I was about to move over he angrily shouts 'I don't give a poop' (but more sweary) and roars off. Daughter crying, me livid and would have thought a 300 mile a week cyclist would have more understanding - but perhaps it was me...
Posted 7 years ago # -
@lapislazuli Some drivers are liars as well as maniacs.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"I'm a cyclist as well..."
Classic.
You can be sure the only cycling he's done was a few laps round CenterParcs about 40 years ago.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Was he driving in Lycra?
Posted 7 years ago # -
Thats really crappy @lapislazuli I've tended to find my bike seat (with child or without) has worked as a bit of a forcefield around me although I'm mostly riding in Midlothian these days rather than Edinburgh.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Taxi drivers are special.
I've been unreliably informed over the years by several people that members of the taxi-driving community act as the informal ears and eyes of the police in return for exemption from most of the road traffic acts.
I'm also reliably informed that many private hire cabs are owned directly or indirectly by career scofflaws.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I didn't quite get to see what he was wearing. I was just in baggy pants and t-shirt though - maybe that was the disgrace to cycling he was talking about (and the fact that I was on a solid, but utility hybrid to ferry the kids about with)
@Lezzles - I know the forcefield effect and even in Edinburgh it usually works - I've never felt too strongly about some idiotic dirving but this one shocked me and why I posted this on here in the (slightly vain) hope that a 300 mile a week cyclist could tell me what I was doing wrong (I only rack up 100 miles a week so obviously have 1/3rd of his experience)
Adrenaline now back to normal and I can at least laugh at the sight of this apoplectic person screaming at us, just wish I'd remembered the reg number. I guess everyone just needs to look out for a Beige Fiat 500 being driven by a good cyclist!
Posted 7 years ago # -
300 miles a week is a LOT if you're not commuting miles and miles. Even if you're pretty pacey you'd need to be hitting a minimum of 15 hours on the bike averaging 20mph (32 km/ph. Most very fit riders I know wouldn't hit that with their thrice weekly training rides plus commuting, and even most Audaxers I know wouldn't hit that most weeks. I suspect some hefty BS as already inferred.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@lapislazuli - that is rubbish and really infuriating I sympathise. When you have a child everything is worse because you are even more incensed that when alone, but yet you have to temper you behaviour. I'd also be amazed if this was really a cyclist.
Posted 7 years ago # -
White PHV angrily beeping whilst blatantly RLJ'ing at the King's Theatre junction turning right into Gilmore Place.
Posted 7 years ago # -
'a cyclist too' = 'I have a rusting BSO in the garden that has done 3 miles, ever, and will never be touched again'
Hope your wean wasn't upset for long.
On the wider point though, it's noticeable how many drivers say this. Personally I would never say 'I'm a cyclist' in conversation, I would tend to say 'I cycle too'.
Drivers unconsciously defining the 'other' group?
But if the hive mind would say 'I'm a cyclist too' then I'll get back in my box / on my bike...
Posted 7 years ago # -
Really scary incident this afternoon. I was driving on a country road when the driver of a white VW van came speeding straight towards me in my lane and didn't look like he was going to stop. I was preparing to drive off the road to avoid him but he pulled in at the last second. At first I thought it might have been a tourist forgetting to drive on the left but he had been overtaking on a blind bend and as he went past I saw he had a phone pressed to his ear.
I had to pull in as I was so shaken by it.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"But if the hive mind would say 'I'm a cyclist too' then I'll get back in my box / on my bike..."
Well...
Even if anyone on here says that, I would HOPE/assume no-one would do something like that, and certainly not try to blame the person on the bike (with or without a child)!
Even IF lapislazuli was doing anything wrong - WHICH SHE WASN'T.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Completely agree - I'd stopped referring to lapislazuli's situation there and was musing on a common turn of phrase used by drivists to justify a particular piece of lunacy.
I think it's a form of an appeal to accomplishment?
@Stickman You've reminded me that the camera is going back on the bike...
Posted 7 years ago # -
Snowy, I tried to take that kind of musing off into it's own thread but no one has followed me
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18098#post-259228
Posted 7 years ago # -
"Snowy, I tried to take that kind of musing off into it's own thread but no one has followed me"
Sorry, but I failed to make sense of the first sentence.
Posted 7 years ago # -
1. On this thread this morning was a drivist who excused their actions by saying "I'm a cyclist too"
2. I then set up another thread to debate what it is about cycling that makes people value the opinion of "cyclists" when just about anyone can claim to be one.
3. No one engaged with the new thread.
4. Snowy just said his previous post wasn't referring to the exact incidenr but was "musing on a common turn of phrase used by drivists to justify a particular piece of lunacy."
5. I try to steer snowy's and others musing onto the new thread.
Clearer?
Posted 7 years ago # -
@ HC I meant first sentence in other thread (which now has a new life).
Posted 7 years ago # -
I totally missed the other thread, apologies. It appears we are having the same thoughts.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@chdot - yeah a bit of a befuddled sentence.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Ok, not just me then!
Posted 7 years ago # -
Well no sign this morning (not that I was stalking at the same time) so all is well. It has made me decide to definitely invest in a camera though without wishing to derail the thread if anyone has suggestions please PM me.
@chdot - Whilst I did think he was talking BS I genuinely wanted to know if I had done something wrong so I could learn from it. Oh and I am a He - not that is matters but it did make the sight of a small man in a small car shouting at a large burly man!
Despite the rain, much better ride today.
Posted 7 years ago # -
i have one of these:
http://www.replayxd.com/product/1080-mini/
it looks conveniently like a light - pretty good I think (I can send you links to the output if you like), but battery life isn't great.
From your description you absolutely did nothing wrong, and in any case nothing justifies the driver's behaviour. Maintaining primary in such situations is not only sensible and correct, but it is universally recommended, which is what makes his claims somewhat unbelievable.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"Oh and I am a He"
Oops, sorry, confused you with another user(name).
(You still didn't do anything wrong!)
Assuming driver really does cycle often, it reinforces the truth that not all riders of bikes are good road users - and undermines notions that 'drivers would be better if they were made to cycle'!
Posted 7 years ago #
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