CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
Apologies if I've missed someone posting this already, and apologies for linking to a car site! http://www.carbuzz.co.uk/blog/Drivers-more-cyclist-aware
More of this kind of thing in places that motorized users actually see would be fantastic. The article about the myth of 'road tax' on the same site is also interesting.
All things considered a pleasantly balanced read! Somewhat odd choice of photos mind...
@Bhachgen
Don't think it's been mentioned here before, but it has been noticed -
"and apologies for linking to a car site"
One of this interesting things about this forum is that a high proportion own/use cars.
Which shows up the lie that 'people only cycle because they can't afford to drive and are jealous'.
It's all about what's appropriate and thinking about what's best to encourage the people who say they want to cycle.
Think everyone on here is of the view that people in charge of a ton of metal have a responsibility to other road users - especially pedestrians and cyclists.
And following up from an insurance comparison company:
| [+] Embed the video | Video Download | Get the Flash Video |
Robert
I like it:
"A cyclist may sneak up, perfectly legally, beside you while you’re waiting impatiently at a red light"
Sneak up. Legally. Sneak? I don't sneak. I am there. Choose to look for me.
"Turning left is how most accidents occur."
Yup, that is what caused my last spill
"Helmets don’t equal guaranteed safety"
No Spit Sherlock!
"Of course they’re definitely worth wearing"
OOOOOH! You had to say it! Pull out! Pull OUT! Mayday MAYDAY!!!
Yes, I liked that bit too, before getting on his bike, cyclists do irritate us a lot of the time and the annoying things that cyclists do are: the amount (sic) of cyclists I see not wearing helmets (why is this annoying? They are not a legal requirement), just not looking (they may have done, but you haven't seen them, they are also much higher up than you in your car and therefore can see further ahead), yes he also said it...RLJ'ing. Basically beating you into work every day is the annoying thing, and not being stuck in traffic (you cannot bear it). I wonder if after his week he ever went back to cycling daily, I doubt it...I think he decided it was too dangerous with random pedestrians etc, getting in the way and ignoring you as a cyclist...welcome to our world pal. I find car drivers irritating because.... Lets see a video from confused.com from the other side the cyclists perspective, and I mean a real cyclists not one who does it for one week in a lifetime of commuting.
I thought that was a great video. The comments at the start were clearly him being 'typical driver' - this is what bugs us about cyclists (and he had to make up the helmet one) so that he could undergo his big eye-opening experience of drivers too close, cutting him up, parking in cycle lanes. Brilliant. What's not to like?
@Instography - I have a problem with the perpetuation of several myths in this video. There is an ever increasing number of people out there who believe that wearing a helmet is mandatory - it is not, this is not addressed. As a cyclist, now higher in the food chain than pedestrians, they are perceived as the problem mostly, whereas when he was a car driver it was the cyclists. How about the appalling driving by the driver of the red vehicle that overtook him only to turn left in front of him.
I am most sceptical of confused.com reasons for bringing out such videos, I don't think they are trying to sell bike insurance. The film highlights and probably intensifies the beliefs of most people who do not ride, and is not really encouraging people to go out a ride a bike. Here is another link on this site where confused.com perpetuate a very popular myth and do nothing to rescind the view...
I assumed that confused.com had the most base corporate motivation - to save money. I imagine someone has been reviewing insurance companies' outgoings and perhaps noticed an increase in the amount being paid out because of collisions with cyclists. They identify a need to try to influence drivers' awareness of what it is like to cycle so that drivers drive better around cyclists and reduce the number of claims.
I don't think they're interested in busting any myths and I'm not really interested in whether they bust myths or create some new ones. If this (and the similar messages being directed at drivers) persuades them to stay another two feet back and to the side I'm happy enough.
Well made video. It's Bristol which is "Britain's first Cycling City" which will explain some of the infrastructure.
There's this too -
"We interviewed Malcolm Shepherd, Chief Executive of Sustrans, and asked him what's being done to make life on the road easier for both drivers and cyclists."
| [+] Embed the video | Video Download | Get the Flash Video |
.
Neither video has had 'lots' of view - though they have only been online for a week.
How about the appalling driving by the driver of the red vehicle that overtook him only to turn left in front of him.
Oh, that happens literally every day. I've given up getting angry about this particular manoeuvre because I'd just knacker myself out with shouting and shaking my fist at the miscreant drivers.
Just assume all the drivers are maniacs out to kill you and then appreciate the occasional surprise when a driver shows some courtesy and common sense.
"Confused.com, a car insurance comparison site, has issued a press release using inflammatory language against cyclists, yet produces an excellent video showing a motorist swapping four wheels for two who finds out what it's really like for cyclists on Britain's roads."
http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/confused-com-stirs-up-cyclist-hate-debate/012239
"31 percent of motorists said "a cyclist caused me to swerve (use the brakes?) in my car."
Watched the video and thought it was overall very positive for its target market.
Of course one clip showed him approaching a give way to main road with pedestrians crossing which you should give way to (although many cars ignore this legal requirement).
It's also not a legal requirement to run over pedestrians just because they cross on a red light. You should be able to judge that they are not looking and avoid them.
He also seemed too close to parked cars but survived.
Headgear was mentioned but you'd expect that.
Confused.com won't worry about the debate - all good publicity
I love the fact that 25% of motorists wanting us to pay road tax [sic] is reason for us to have to pay it.
One quarter. What kind of democratic movement is that then? And I can guarantee that more than 25% of cyclists don't want to pay road tax!
"
Insurance comparison firm Confused.com has provoked a storm of criticism from both cyclists and drivers alike with a ham-fisted and error-strewn press release aimed at promoting an equally confused road safety campaign and ostensibly highlighting the problem of road rage on Britain’s roads which has instead managed to alienate – not to mention confuse – almost everyone at whom it was aimed.
"
http://road.cc/content/news/48078-confusedcom-confused-dotcom-pr-campaign-goes-spectacularly-wrong
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts