CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

  1. custard
    Member

    @Bikeability Edinburgh

    I wopuld be reporting that!
    had I been there I may even have taken chase :o #hothead #blood boiling

    Posted 11 years ago #
  2. Taxi. On the cycle path in the Meadows... Saw her in the distance driving past the tennis courts. Only thing I can think is she had a pick-up for the cottages along the path and had missed them. Turned as if to go off about half way along, but there was a barrier in the road, so was (I think) about to do a three point turn and head off back down the path. Got it on video too.

    Plus, a number of RLJing cars this morning - one bad wee Ka that I'll likely stick on YouTube as well.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  3. Stickman
    Member

    As I walked across the junction of Causewayside/Grange Road/Salisbury Place all four ASLs were completely taken up by cars. I don't play poker so I don't know what it would be called - a full house?

    Posted 11 years ago #
  4. gdm
    Member

    As I've probably mentioned before, our office overlooks the QBC. I was making a phone call just there while standing at the windows in one of our meeting rooms and had the opportunity to watch a parking attendant ticketing one of the multitude of offending cars which he could have picked. While he was ticketing one, a dark green land rover pulled up behind him - clearly oblivious to the parking restrictions implied by a car getting a red ticket stuck to it by a guy in a luminous vest.

    The attendant went over and told the driver to move on which he did, despite not having put his seatbelt back on. He started twisting to get it on whilst getting up to speed when the car started to veer towards the pavement, and towards the mother and young child who were walking and skipping along the pavement, blissfully unaware that a tonne of off-road horribleness was heading their way.

    Fortunately, the driver either noticed and/or finished doing up his seatbelt just in time and swerved back out on to the road, avoiding mother, daughter, the other (illegally) parked car just ahead and another group of young women who would all have been 'inconvenienced' had he continued his earlier route.

    There's just so many times you see people taking absolutely ridiculous risks which, ok, nothing happened this time as it does on many other occasions, but is that really the standard by which we judge the safety of our roads and the quality of our drivers? Survival by the narrowest of margins? It says so much about how little we expect of ourselves and others as drivers that such a degree of risk is virtually accepted as a norm.

    Take the extra five seconds. Do up the seatbelt. THEN start your engine.

    Rant over.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  5. kaputnik
    Moderator

    that a tonne

    2.4 tonnes!

    Posted 11 years ago #
  6. Min
    Member

    Large penis extension piloted by a fat pathetic tosser, right hooking (ie.undertaking) a female cyclist coming out of a side street on the way home. This happens to me every so often and it really p's me off. She tried to remonstrate with him after he almost drove over her but he just sneered at her with all the self-righteousness of the poor beleaguered motorist who knows full well that might is right in the UK and that he pays his road tax. He probably spends all his sad life on the EEN website when he is not using his car as a weapon against young women on bicycles.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  7. minus six
    Member

    using his car as a weapon against young women on bicycles

    Given the amount of fronting up i feel obliged to do on the road to contend with moton bullies (of both sexes, but mainly male), i shudder to think how much harder the daily conflict must be to deal with, for girl cyclists.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  8. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Today's rubbish driving, between B&Q at Newcraighall and the access point for the Innocent into town, was off the charts this afternoon.

    Nil points indeed to the driver of the black Astra (SG13JOA) who managed not to notice I had a trailer attached to my bike. Given that I was stationary in a queue of cars and he was directly behind, I failed to be amused when I felt a substantial thud as his bumper tried to occupy a space that was already occupied. I actually dismounted to inspect the situation, glared at the driver, and held up the end of the trailer for him to get a good look at.

    On the same stretch of road, on my outward and return journeys, I was also subject to three counts of random abuse from overtaking motorists, two counts of being overtaken on zigzag markings, and one count of attempted overtake at a pedestrian crossing island, which I prevented by occupying all of the road.

    My expectations of the Nice Way Code campaign have dropped even more.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  9. Greenroofer
    Member

    @Arellcat - you're obviously better at this than me then. I was right in the middle of the lane yesterday (see video above) as I came to the pedestrian crossing island and the two cars that overtook me came past me nevertheless.

    My recollection of the purpose of taking primary position in the lane is to say 'I want to be visible and I don't want you to try to overtake me here'. Doesn't look like my message got through. What's your secret?

    Posted 11 years ago #
  10. davey2wheels
    Member

    @Greenroofer - the rule for passing at zig-zag lines apparently applies for motor vehicles, so cars may overtake bikes and vica versa.

    My routine for traffic islands is sholder check on approach and if not already, move to primary if safe to do so. If it looks like the driver is even thinking about passing, I'll move out further still before they make a start. Once through, I'll move back to allow overtaking. Cars that stayed back get the thumbs up, those that tooted get a wave. It works well though I've had a driver move to the opposite lane to overtake me on the wrong side of the island.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  11. paolobr
    Member

    Yesterday evening, silver Mercedes on Constitution St, with unrestrained dog in passenger seat. Accident waiting to happen.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  12. gibbo
    Member

    Today, midday, Holyrood Park.

    Came in via Holyrood Rd and was descending towards the Parliament/Palace etc.

    I was going "the speed limit" but was overtaken by a car (going 40mph+ I reckon) whose driver decided to shout abuse at me as he passed.

    So, to sum up...

    (1) over the speed limit by 33% or more
    (2) crossing the white line (so driving on the wrong side of the road)
    (3) Not looking at the road ahead
    (4) Shouting abuse at another road user

    Couldn't tell what he was shouting.

    Maybe he thought I should be tight to the left side of the road... which, of course, I don't need to be because I was going the speed limit and couldn't be legally overtaken.

    (And it's safer to be closer to the middle on such a turning road.)

    Posted 11 years ago #
  13. paolobr
    Member

    This afternoon, going east on Lower Granton Road to the Trinity Crescent junction (I really ought to stop going that way). The lights are green and I'm moving fast to catch the back of the queue (20-25 mph), moving right so that I can cross over to the cycle path up to Fiveways (I'm already in primary). Of course the driver behind me decides he also has to make the lights and overtakes me as I'm approaching them, just to turn across me to make his left turn. FFS.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  14. @custard I fully intended reporting it. Thus far Radio forth have not informed me which cab company sports their livery.

    Is their an edinburgh council/cab office direct contact for reporting such things?

    Posted 11 years ago #
  15. Tulyar
    Member

    @Bikeability I liked the Youtube theme of Nicewaycode for the taxi and red light clips and maybe we should embrace this term for any pictures or reports of those at the wheel behaving badly.

    Perhaps as with a certain biblical attempt at genocide where everyone's door got marked, the way to deal with Niceway code annoyance is to post examples of those with motor vehicles not being as nice as they could be..

    Nice mother in a car pulled out in front of me yesterday with happy 'free-range' children playing in the back of the car, and a nice van operated (as the signs tell me) by an eco-friendly home systems company which obviously hasn't heard of s.129 sections 5 and 2 (driving on and obstructing a footway - almost full width). Been there overnight in different places for past 2 nights.

    There is also a very specific clause 6 about motor vehicles obstructing a cycle track (but not from how it reads a cycle lanes)

    Posted 11 years ago #
  16. Roibeard
    Member

    @Bikeability

    The Taxi Licensing folk at the Council.

    Recent discussions...

    Robert

    Posted 11 years ago #
  17. I doubt Forth Radio will have any idea which cabs carry their livery. They'll pay a marketing company to design the livery, who will then speak to the promotions company that has the contract with the cab companies....

    Posted 11 years ago #
  18. @Roilbeard Ta, will make use of that.

    @ Wilmington's Cow You may be right but the show's facebook page is awash with publicity shots of 'their' taxis and IIRC even one of their drivers!

    Maybe they should spend their publicity budget more responsibly?

    Posted 11 years ago #
  19. tammytroot
    Member

    Ho-hum, passing through Magdalene this morning, heading for the innocent and the road ahead is completely blocked by a stationary Decoramix white van, cars parked either side meant no room even to filter past, so I got off the bike, went on to the pavement, and wheeled past. Mounted my bike in front of the van, gave a dissaproving look at driver and set off again. 30 secs later was subject to an extremely close punishment pass (approx 3 inches) by same van.
    Just a normal commute in Edinburgh!

    Posted 11 years ago #
  20. sg37409
    Member

    This is kind of the point I was trying (not too successfully) to make last week on this thread. People dont take kindly to disapproving looks/tuts/"obey the speed limits" rules etc. Its human reaction.

    So rather than provoke punishment passes, you could let it go. Obv, theres times when you shouldnt but a lot of cases should/can be.

    Personally this works a lot better for me, as I dont get as wound up about things.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  21. twq
    Member

    http://www.naden.de/blog/bbvideo-bbpress-video-plugin -->

    [+] Embed the video | Here's a classic clip from my cycle home yesterday - brilliant bit of overtaking at a zebra crossing, followed by a close pass from a van." target="_blank">Video DownloadGet the Video Widget

    Posted 11 years ago #
  22. Uberuce
    Member

    If it hadn't been for that skillful overtake the black van's driver would have denied him or herself a full 13 seconds of the view at Holyrood's picturesque Duke's Walk roundabout.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  23. tammytroot
    Member

    @sg "This is kind of the point I was trying (not too successfully) to make last week on this thread. People dont take kindly to disapproving looks/tuts/"obey the speed limits" rules etc. Its human reaction. "

    If the human reaction in response to a "funny look" is to drive 2+ tons of metal at them I must not be human.

    Posted 11 years ago #
  24. sg37409
    Member

    Tammy - Were you surprised at the reaction ?

    Posted 11 years ago #
  25. twq
    Member

    @Uberuce I don't know if you can see him trying to overtake another cyclists just before the roundabout, before realising there was a car 1m ahead of him. Madness.
    Not sure of the legality of the red car overtaking me on the zebra crossing, anyone know?

    Posted 11 years ago #
  26. Dangerous
    Member

    @twq

    A long time ago my friend was stopped by the Police for driving a commercial vehicle through Holyrood Park.

    This link shows restrictions are still active.
    http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/faqs-traffic-regs-holyrood.pdf

    Historic Scotland even think Road Tax exists as it is included in their FAQ doc.

    "I pay my road tax am I entitled to use this road ?"

    Posted 11 years ago #
  27. EddieD
    Member

    This was a dual post...sorry

    Posted 11 years ago #
  28. EddieD
    Member

    Left hooked on Dalry Road. I wasn't badly hurt (this time*) Left shifter crocked, jeans ripped, grazed/bleeding knee. Italian driver, very sorry, offered to pay for damage, so I didn't involve police, but I did give him a long, loud and patronising lecture in front of very supportive crowd, about mirrors and cyclists.

    Passersby stopped him leaving, customers and staff of a local pub offered to be witnesses.

    (*last time I ended up in hospital with a seriously displaced fracture of the wrist and two fractures of the radius which is still painful, and the folk drove off, so it's an improvement)

    Posted 11 years ago #
  29. custard
    Member

    ouch,sore one
    when you say the passer-bys stopped him,was he leaving?

    Posted 11 years ago #
  30. EddieD
    Member

    when I got up, the car had stopped, and there were folk standing in the road, and it took a while for the driver to leave the car

    Posted 11 years ago #

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