Was me tonight - emerged from abbotsford crescent in front of a grey vw golf - didn't look, oops !
Managed to take evasive action and to be fair, driver was cool.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish cycling
(4520 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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Was me last night. It wasn't particularly rubbish, but I was on the Bridges in a stationary queue of traffic gawping at the crowds and not really concentrating. I noticed a Skoda Fabia in front and to the right of me indicating left to pull into my lane. When my queue of traffic moved off, I forgot about the Fabia and set off. It went to move left, then saw me and waited patiently while I put my brain back in gear and decided what to do about it. In the end I let it in front of me, but I should have been more awake and decisive.
The Fabia had an ERC sticker on the back saying something like 'Driven by cyclists', so I think it was more aware of my presence and forgiving of my inattention that would be normal.
Posted 11 years ago # -
...a sticker on the back saying something like 'Driven by cyclists'...
I like.
If I had a car, I'd get one!Posted 11 years ago # -
Deleted and copied to Bad driving thread. Oops!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Deleted and copied to Bad driving thread. Oops!
Posted 11 years ago # -
@focus Sounds like one heck of a nasty ride. Also wrong thread ;)
Posted 11 years ago # -
@ ARobComp
Too many tabs open. I'll post in the right thread! LOL
Posted 11 years ago # -
Forgive me, for I have (accidentally) sinned.
Riding up Morningside this evening around 21:15ish when it's starting to get dark. Waiting to turn right and just as I get a gap and start to move a car passes and the driver shouts 'get some lights!!'
Now, I thought this was interesting, as I have four lights. One on the bars, dipped down and most definitely on, plus one on the helmet also certainly on. The splash of the front light on the road ahead must be visible from behind even in twilight.
At the back I have one half watt on the saddlebag and one on the rear of the helmet. I had just put the one on the bag on a few minutes ago, while the helmet one was off as I knew the battery was low and I wanted to save it for the return trip when it would be darker.
So after turning I decide to check the saddlebag light. And it's off. I swear on everything I own it was on 2 or 3 minutes ago. I may have done the thing where you push the button and see it go on, then turn away while releasing the button which then turns it off. Or maybe it shook itself off. Whatever the cause, I could not deny my own eyes.
The helmet light went on at this point as well, and I spent the rest of the trip checking they were both on every few minutes.
Posted 11 years ago # -
A constant stream of cyclists on the WoL this morning, which is pleasing, but the stream was peppered with numptubes, which is displeasing. One looked as if he was going to steam straight off the steps down from Newhaven Road in front of me without looking, then looked and braked just in time. Another overtook a jogger who was simultaneously overtaking a standard pedestrian between Victoria and Chancelot, seemingly not caring that this would require the woman carrying a child coming in the other direction to have to slow fairly sharply. Between Five Ways and Roseburn there was almost coming-home-in-the-opposite-direction-in-the-evening levels of not-looking and chancey-overtaking.
Posted 11 years ago # -
No wonder you seem to have a permanent look of concern on your face when ever I pass you. :D Bright light btw, B&M?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Today's look of concern might have been more pronounced than usual due to having just collected a flying insect in a nostril. Front light is one of those Philips Saferides which someone posted a discount code for a while back.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Loon on a mountain bike along Melville Drive this morning. Clearly in the 'I must stay ahead of everyone' mould, in his very very obvious pumping legs and bobbing upper body. Pedestrian red light, sails through (I'm going to say he did clearly check it was clear before doing so, but hey, it's still a red light).
Karma is almost instant when coming up to the junction just after his RLJ he needs to skid to a stop (actually, needs is wrong, the skid kinda shows he wasn't really in control) when a car turns into the junction right in front of him. Driver should have been looking, must have seen the red of the crossing and figured no-one would come through.
Then before getting to Tollcross (where despite his efforts I'd caught him again) he signals a the very very very last minute (i.e. he'd started to turn then executed what looked more like a quickfire Hitler salute) to turn left into a side street that a couple of pedestrians have started to cross. Cue another skid, and he gives some verbal to the female pedestrian. Moron. I give him a stare and shake my head (that'll teach him) hoping that it's not misinterpreted as shaking my head at the pedestrian who did nothing wrong.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I wonder if that's the same mountain biker who crossed my path on the NEPN pedalling furiously but making no significant progress for all the effort that was going into it. It amused me to catch him and sit just behind and to the side for a while nonchalantly cruising while he tried harder and harder to get away.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Perhaps next time a pointedly loud "are you ok?" to the pedestrian might help convey your disdain for muppetish cycling in a typically British passive-aggressive way, leaving little room for misinterpretation?
I'm not really exposed to much of this kind of cycling because I travel around the outskirts of Edinburgh so notice it all the more when I have to make forays into/through the city centre. :o( Why behave like that?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Posted 11 years ago #
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Exactly SRD. The cyclist was so far up his own backside he'd reappeared inside his own head... Or something.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I rode up Broughton St this morning towards the red light at the top where the junction with York Place is. I dismounted and walked across the road to nip onto York Place heading west. A couple on sit up and beg type bikes, which I'd just over taken on the way up, just ploughed through the red light and on towards the roundabout at the top of Elm Row. I'm not going to cast any untrue aligations about european looking bikes, or the riders wrong assumption that all cyclists are immune from having to obay red lights. I'd never wish anyone to be T boned, no never.... But if someone were to screech to a halt in front of the riders, they might WAKE UP!!
Posted 11 years ago # -
I think my parents genuinely don't know about rule 170. They were always muttering about people starting to cross when they're driving towards a junction and we as children were always taught to stop and wait until turning cars had turned before we crossed. Consequently it isn't exactly hard-wired into my brain (i.e. I'm not very good at keeping to it, even on the bike.)
Posted 11 years ago # -
I was sitting at the red light today waiting to cross into Middle Meadow Walk when someone cycled past me crossing Melville Drive and almost got hit by a car as the traffic moved forward then shouted at the driver. I shouted that the cyclist had a red light. Probably the car did too but they were moving forward because the car in front of them had moved and they were way past the first red and the cycle path crosses the bit in between the lights.
Posted 11 years ago # -
People (drivers and peds) are broadly ignorant about rule 170. It would really benefit from a bit of publicity. However, I fear that won't happen as the relevant bodies won't want to do anything that might lead to increased risk of accidents.
The spirit of rule 170 is just not taken into account in any road design that I'm aware of. Instead, the approach is always cars have priority and peds should be protected from them, hence traffic islands that would not be required if the motoring public paid attention to peds.
The junction of Albany Street and Broughton Street is particularly bad for this at the moment. If you're a ped walking up or down B St and crossing A St, then you should have right of way. However, the constant stream of traffic coming down from the lights does not recognise that at all and instead will take the corner wihotu thinking of the need to slow down or stop. Peds can be stuck on that island for the full phase of the lights as a result.
I try to be a fairly militant pedestrian and cross roads when it is my right to do so, usually giving the driver a good stare as I go, but you have really got to be super-confident and admittedly a little foolhardy to do it.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I get to demonstrate adherence to Rule 170 fairly frequently as a regular user of the left turn from Lothian Road into Rutland Place, where you have the added bonus of sometimes being able to persuade more impatient vehicles behind you to observe the rule too. During morning commute-time peds generally dive across that one without looking so there's little interaction and you just have to wait for a gap to proceed. Conversely, many left-turns off any from Nicolson/Clerk/South Clerk Streets southbound often require waving through/rule-apprising pedestrians who have started crossing who don't know their rights or simply mistrust anything with wheels.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@ MeepMeep
"Perhaps next time a pointedly loud "are you ok?" to the pedestrian might help convey your disdain for muppetish cycling..."
If faced with a choice of that or indicating to the dangerous cyclist what you think of their actions (assuming you don't have a chance to do both), I'd go for interacting with the ped - your chances of making the rider change his/her behaviour is remote, but your chance of preventing the ped from assuming all cyclists are irresponsible is that much better if you empathise with them. We shouldn't have to make up for other's poor riding, but it helps if we can.
Posted 11 years ago # -
The very silly young woman cycling along the Western Approach Road from town at the start of rush hour!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Being a returnee to all things cycling and also a car driver I am being especially careful now to take even more time in looking out for cyclists. However on a car trip through Edinburgh last night around 21:30? I counted around 40 cyclists in total and what shocked me was that around 21 of them had no or totally inadequate lights. Some of the bikes with no lights at all were pretty expensive machines :-). I can't understand why anyone would risk their lives like this, it seems total madness especially when there are so many bright LED lights available,
Posted 11 years ago # -
Me, shortly after Spotting shuggiet of this parish at a roundabout on Spylaw Road, and instead of paying attention to the car approaching to my right, I was musing on whether I should shout after him for a blether.
Same roundabout as last time I was dozy there; the one that inspired/warned me to upgrade my front brake. This time I stopped in plenty of time to be safe even if the driver hadn't been Johnny on the Spot with his brakes, which he was.
Apologetic bowing of head in shame, and wave of apology ensued.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Ah.. Was that the roundabout that I didn't quite go all the way round properly?.. Only to be nice of course, and help the car that was coming down the road to not have to slow down us much...
Posted 11 years ago # -
I deeply dislike those roundabouts and wish they were just junctions, so you are forgiven for transgressing in the face of rubbish infra.
Posted 11 years ago # -
yep, me too.. Cars come into them too quickly, and you have to be super assertive to get round them.. Especially going up hill.
Posted 11 years ago # -
weebaldy, I think there's a couple of points during the year where this increases and I reckon we're at one now. It still feels like summer, but the nights are drawing in surprisingly quickly - more people may be getting caught out by this and only have backup lights on or none at all.
I actually just ordered another couple of rear lights having had to cycle home in half-light with the most pathetic single LED a couple of times recently.
Posted 11 years ago #
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