CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Today's rubbish driving...

(11330 posts)
  • Started 13 years ago by Stepdoh
  • Latest reply from fergus
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  1. Focus
    Member

    ASL abuse is one of the most common transgressions I see every day. Most of it is bloody-mindedness of the driver in my opinion but I also think a large number of motorists are ignorant of the rules (as are a few cyclists no doubt, not realising vehicles can go into the cycle box if the lights genuinely changed too late).

    I get the impression some think it's ok to drive into the box if it's not occupied by a bike (though common sense should tell them a bike could easily appear before the lights change again). It seems to me that when someone gets their driving licence renewed, they should get a clear mention of this with their new paperwork, as well as any rules that have changed since their last renewal. If somebody tells me this is already the case (I don't drive), I despair even more :-(

    The other day, I pulled up at some lights to see a car on my left (two lanes, I was turning right), sail into the box long after the lights were red. I muttered something and heard the passenger in the car beside me (behind the ASL) say something: "She's done that at all the lights!" I was shocked to hear someone in a car sympathise, especially as if I'd stereotyped them by their age, appearance and car type, I'd have expected them to be on the other driver's side. I just said that not all of us cyclist run red lights or ride the pavements (might as well get that in when you can!) and we had a friendly bit of banter till the lights changed. Hopefully that was one bit of good PR for those of us who obey the rules :-)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. Focus
    Member

    As for stopping behind lines, I'd love to get to the bottom of another of life's great mysteries, especially to a non-driver:

    Why is it so many drivers stop their vehicles such that the white line they should be behind is actually level with their steering wheel? Are most drivers genuinely that bad at judging their vehicle's length (in which case the driving test is failing) or do those people simply not give a damn about stopping in the right place? I can forgive a few centimetres as even on a bike you can roll a fraction over a line now and again, but 1.5 metres is unforgivable when the lights have changed with plenty time to react.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. wee folding bike
    Member

    Being a wee bit forward of the line means you get further forward when the light changes. Are there two lanes of cars?

    Could they be too lazy to apply the handbrake but not good at clutch control?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. Focus
    Member

    @ wee folding bike

    "Being a wee bit forward of the line means you get further forward when the light changes."

    I kind of took that one for granted as an "excuse" ;-)

    I see it whether regardless of the number of lanes though.

    "Could they be too lazy to apply the handbrake but not good at clutch control? "

    Maybe in a handful of cases but this is not just the creeping cars I'm talking about, it's also the ones who happily coast over the line and stop without further movement.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. Focus
    Member

    I should point out, in the spirit of being even-handed, that I disagree with cyclists deliberately stopping ahead of the line too, even though it's often claimed as a "safety measure" on their behalf. I make an exception for anyone doing it when the ASL rule has been broken (as opposed to a driver not being able to safely stop before the ASL). I shouldn't, because 2 wrongs don't make a right, but sometimes you just have to show the driver that their actions won't give them the quick getaway they thought they were about to achieve.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. fimm
    Member

    Some drivers seem to stop with their wheels at the line instead of the front of the bonnet.
    I once saw a Lothian buses driver do this, with the result that the whole of the ASL was full of the front of the bus...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. Greenroofer
    Member

    Yesterday's, actually. Cool Care Services SK10 UNS in too much of a hurry to wait until after the blind corner to overtake, and making sure that they stay safe from the oncoming traffic they can't see by not crossing the white line too much as they over take me. They've obviously not seen the NWC adverts about leaving room for bikes or horses or whatever it says.
    http://www.naden.de/blog/bbvideo-bbpress-video-plugin -->

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    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. HankChief
    Member

    @greenroofer - Gogar Station Road at it's best...

    The video also shows (towards the end of the segment) the patching work the Council has been doing on GSR... Looks good doesn't it.

    Unfortunately, on the corner at the start you can also the bits that they have missed (in the areas they finished!)

    They have started at the North end and were heading South, but we only got 2 days into the promised 2 weeks work before they were called off to do 'trunk routes'. Hopefully they will be back as the worse bit by the chicken farm is still to be done.

    Back on the subject of bad driving - I'm becoming pretty intolerant to cars blocking pedestrian/toucan crossings. Just because you are wasting time stuck in traffic doesn't mean you should waste my time by blocking me... A loaded tandem isn't that manoeuvrable to go round a blocked vehicle without scratching their paintwork.

    I've started heading half way across and requesting that they reverse out of the space so I can get by. Some do - which is nice - some just shrug their shoulders - which isn't.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. Greenroofer
    Member

    @HankChief. Indeed, Gogar Station Road at its best. The patching that has been done is great, although after four years of dodging the same potholes every day I still find myself instinctively moving out to avoid what is now smooth tarmac.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. rust
    Member

    Is there any way to embed google maps? The code markup didn't work for me and I'm terrible at describing locations.

    Anyway, coming up Dudingston Low Road this morning, just before the last turn coming up the steep hill (here) and a person in a black hatchback honks as I'm not leaving him enough room to overtake me up a hill on a blind corner...

    Might have used the gesture that the nicewaycode reckons I shouldn't - he used it too though.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  11. wangi
    Member

    My most frequent spot for being cut up by "rubbish driving" has to be the right turn from Easter Rd on to Gordon St. I just love being undertaken by motorists who then turn right.

    All part of the Easter Rd - Gordon St - Manderston St - Jane St "rat run" to avoid Duke St and Gt Junction St.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  12. Dangerous
    Member

    Couple of incidents near Bedlam theatre.

    1) Taxi turning right illegally from George IV Bridge into Candlemaker Row.

    2) White Van Man driving the wrong way!!! on Teviot Place followed by a left turn into Brighton Place.

    Both incidents around 7pm when there were lots of pedestrians around

    Posted 11 years ago #

  13. crowriver
    Member

    I was waiting to cross London Road this afternoon with my daughter (on foot) when a B&Q Home Delivery lorry, SK10 6GY (I think, not sure about the last three) accelerated through the red light on, at a junction where not only is there a pedestrian crossing, but also a traffic island pinch point. Why? Oh the driver just *had" to overtake a female cyclist who was already past the lights as they turned red.

    Not only was there a dangerous attempted close pass at the traffic island which led to brakes being slammed on, but also another two of the same next to two parked cars!

    For a so-called 'professional' driver this is sheer irresponsible, and downright dangerous driving. Just slow down and don't be so impatient! Particularly when in charge of an HGV!

    Posted 11 years ago #

  14. chdot
    Admin

    "

    Harriet Merrill (@swfcgirl) tweeted at 5:14pm - 20 Aug 13:

    Hmmm @BandQ are rubbish at replying to emails, not happy!

    "

    "
    @swfcgirl is there anything we can assist with? Please email ffb@b-and-q.co.uk if so :-) Joni

    "

    Posted 11 years ago #

  15. Uberuce
    Member

    Waved hello to a taxi driver who had got the mirror-signal-maneuvre order a little muddled, and almost pulled out onto me. From the shocked expression on his face and exaggerated space I got at the lights, I think he knew he'd almost SMIDSY'd, that only my cougar-grade reflexes had saved me and he didn't think it was my fault.

    I got bitten on the bottom by karma minutes later, as reported in the Rubbish Cycling thread. Ho hum.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  16. wangi
    Member

    I've taken to directing two fingers followed by an "o" behind me to the drivers flying past me down the Mountcastle Dr 20mph... as I do 24mph...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  17. Focus
    Member

    More bad parking rather than driving.

    Yesterday, heading up the A90 path northwards from Cramond Brig, I approached the top of the hill to see an Abbott's Travel coach parked not only by the side of the road but half onto the pavement/cycle path as well! For a start it was one of those typical cases where someone seems to think parking means they have to go onto the pavement even when they are on a two lane road (and both in the same direction in this case!) even though doing so doesn't help anyone passing them on the road.

    So I stopped and caught the driver's eye. He put his newspaper down and opened the door. I politely let him know there's a nice big layby immediately round the corner (20 metres away?) but he tells me it's the darned tachograph that's to blame! It won't let him go any further. Now, I'm no driver, but surely the tacho doesn't actually lock the engine, does it? And if he'd literally driven right up to his legal limit such that 20 metres would have taken him over it I'd have been very surprised.

    I smiled and suggested he could coast down to it but that got no reaction. He reiterated that he could do nothing and I said I understood but that it was more about blocking the pavement (I didn't even mention the damage however many tonnes of coach were causing to it by his parking). And that was the end of that because he showed no interest in righting his wrong or taking my helpful advice which would have given him a slightly more pleasant (not to mention more sensible) place to wait. He was never rude, to give him his due, but I was disappointed by his attitude.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  18. sg37409
    Member

    I've taken to directing two fingers followed by an "o" behind me to the drivers flying past me down the Mountcastle Dr 20mph... as I do 24mph...

    I'm assuming this is a joke.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  19. Stickman
    Member

    Witnessed by my wife, not me: two dirtbikes racing up and down the foreshore at Cramond this afternoon.

    Lots of kids on bikes/trikes and dog walkers around as usual.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  20. wee folding bike
    Member

    Uber… cougar has more than one meaning.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  21. Focus
    Member

    @ Stickman

    There was a dirtbike there on the 16th too. The registration was FN P68 (no idea where that's from)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  22. cb
    Member

    I noticed the other day that the Google Streetview car had been up and down the foreshore at Cramond. Did they get permission or does this count as bad driving.

    I don't suppose it was one of their camera bikes.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  23. Uberuce
    Member

    @wee folding bike: Shh.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  24. Kenny
    Member

    Mercedes driver who pulled out from his parking space, right in front of me this evening. Note my pathetic bell ring.

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    Posted 11 years ago #

  25. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    WFB: "Could they be too lazy to apply the handbrake...?"

    Not applying the handbrake is the norm. Means every car in the queue gets involved if there's a shunt at the back.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  26. wangi
    Member

    "I've taken to directing two fingers followed by an "o" behind me to the drivers flying past me down the Mountcastle Dr 20mph... as I do 24mph...

    I'm assuming this is a joke."

    I'm coasting above the 20 limit; being overtaken by drivers doing well in excess of 30. I'm not the one joking. (by two fingers I don't mean swearing - just trying to communicate to the drivers it is a 20 zone; they must have missed the big signs)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  27. wangi
    Member

    Or to put it slightly better re me breaking the 20mph - when i go 24mph I’m not being overtaken by those who are at least cognisant of the 20 limit - they stay behind.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  28. barnton-to-town
    Member

    There is no "slightly better" way of putting it; you're breaking the speed limit, in the same way as other road users who travel faster than the set limit are doing.

    And you're not in any way a "limit enforcer", especially given you admit to travelling OVER the limit.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  29. wee folding bike
    Member

    I don't think speed limits apply to bikes.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  30. cb
    Member

    @mkns the pathetic bell ring is hilarious!

    Posted 11 years ago #

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