Cyclists Should Pay Registration!

NOt where I live, here "we" are kings of the roads!

 

Viv, I just cannot be arsed to read your ever lengthening posts ojn the matter.

Cycling is not dangerous, to think so is simply ignorant. I've ridden MTBs straight over the Alps, no worries. I've driven all over Europe, no worries.

You have no frame of reference here and simply cannot admit your own irrationality.

 

You mean, you're beat.

It is dangerous. I'm going to see my friend on Tuesday night to spend another evening helping her try to pick up the pieces for the sake of her children. You think on.

 

Leave your personal life out of political debates Viv... you won't win anything by saying "my friend lost a husband, ergo the activitiy is dangerous". I'm sorry for your friend but that is the way it is....

 

Yeah right, overlooking that this is the off topic forum, not political debate. Low tactic there as usual.

You won't win anything by sticking your head in the sand, ignoring the reality that what you are doing is life threatening and trying to avoid the fact that you use the road and should pay for that and be regulated, safety trained and insured if you are a threat to others on the road.

 

Were you the idiot on the bike hanging on to one of the dock steps of my truck as I went up a hill a couple months ago?

 

Depending on the state you live in- a cycle is either subject to the rules of the road or they aren't

If they are subject to the rules of the road, then they have every right to use the road as any car, and in certain circumstances the safe thing for any cyclist to do is ride right down the middle until the road is wide enough for cars to pass safely.

Its wrong to simultaniously complain that cyclist aren't following the law, and then tell them they shouldn't be on the road.

 

...

I live in the Benelux -- the most economically advanced region on Earth...

Sorry, but we've got actual bike paths and so-called "bike-o-strades" that go from the suburbs right into our city centres...





Working on a new "bike-o-strade" around the corner of where I live... (on your right you see the railroadline Antwerp-Brussels).



Cyclist gone crazy:...



(BTW -- "highway" in Italian is "autostrada",...)

 

Yeah, I totally agree. I could (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) for hours about this, they are so annoying. I actually grew up with bike paths and was horrified when I found out what a bike lane was, or when we have gotten stuck behind an avid bike rider when we really had to get some place in a hurry and we just had to respect their arrogance.

 

Guys, we also shouldn't forget our politicians and policymakers as well...

Following picture is one of the "high streets" of the city centre of the town where I live...

Hello? Where on Earth was the City Planning Commission?



Cars refusing to stop, despite good infrastructure... maybe Viv is one of those cars?



Sure, but what if you need turn right towards the city centre, hmmmmmm?!



Welcome in my street, it has meadows at either end of the street and it is pretty wide, a big-sized tank can run through it -- hence, a lot of cars come chasing through. No traffic lights whatsoever either. We need more speed-bumps!

 

Poor you...

Maybe you should have left, well -- you know -- on time?

 

Keep on riding those SUV's...

Sh!theads!

 

In theory, they are bound by the rules of the road. In reality, they ignore them with impunity.

 

Well bikes also have the legal right to the road. We use it when there's something in the way, like a branch or a dead animal. And there's not a lot of room even then.

 

You don't need a bicycle to be a jerk. People walk out into automobile traffic on a regular basis. The concept of insurance is basically to protect people around the driver because of the danger associated with running a car into a person or another car. The concept of registration is a bit more complex. It is sort of a tax for logistics and partially to offset road costs. Bicycles do little or no damage to roads and serious accidents involving a pedestrian and a bicycle are rare. That would have to be the drum to beat for me to change my opinion and support a bicycle tax.

 

Right, I mean I just got a call that a friend was hurt and in the hospital, I mean how terrible of me to not be considerate of the bike rider who should be off the road? Roads were made for cars, I believe, but hey whatever. The snobbery that follows this hobby is quite apparant!

 

You know, bikers also have the legal right to use the road?

 

As someone who only got his driver's licence a year and a half ago, I have depended upon riding my bike for transport all my life (and still do when I can't afford petrol for my car), I think part of the answer to the problem lies in dedicated bicycle pathways. These are cheap (relative to multi-laned roads) to construct, and may be made where roads are impossible.

The narrow bike lanes on some highways are actually very dangerous - they are often constructed on the edge of the tarred section, and consequently crumble easily, and anyone falling off his bike, does so in the path of the much faster motorised traffic.

As for the criticisms of bike riders (rolling through stop signs, using pedestrian crossings at red lights, etc.) These are valid criticisms, but people who are not cyclists need to appreciate the energy required to start off from rest, especially in hilly country. You really need that momentum to get up some hills. I am always careful not to block cyclists in my car when the traffic is travelling slowly, for that reason.

In societies where the bicycle is a common form of personal transport - such as the Netherlands, and Belgium, there appear to be few problems between motorised and non-motorised traffic. Greater problems arise in societies wherein cycling has become merely a sport, and weekend cyclists get about in a swarm.

Part of the social problem comes about because these particular cyclists consider themselves superior, insofar as they are indulging in physical activity, and that they are entitled to inconvenience others because of that superiority. Neither I, nor any of my friends, have ever considered ourselves virtuous because we have used a bicycle as a means of transportation. But the majority of hobby cyclists appear to do so, and it is reflected in the behaviour of some.

My solution to the problem comes in three parts.

1. Dedicated cycle-ways, well away from multi-lane roads.

2. An appreciation of the physical effort required of cyclists, especially in hilly terrain, and the making of greater allowance by motorists. Be much more aware of the presence of cyclists, and do not block them in heavy traffic. You might be slowed a bit by their presence, but if the cyclist is sensible and considerate, it will not be for long. Try and put yourself in their shoes.

3. The employment of consideration for the convenience of other road users by cyclists. Do not ride in a swarm. Do not ride two and three abreast on public roads, do not run red lights or stop signs, do not filter through the traffic at a set of lights, only to hold up the motorised traffic for the next ten kilometres. I have seen this behaviour on a regular basis, both as a cyclist and as a motorist, so it is not a tiny minority of cyclists who do this.

And the possible fourth solution would be public flogging, followed by a day in the stocks, for any male caught wearing lycra.

 

If a cyclist is riding in the ROAD and NOT on the BIKE lane, they are in MY space and they should give ME priority. I will never give way to a cyclist. I hate the lot of them. Selfish, arrogant and rude, they are.

If there is a big bike race on, the roads (highways) come to a standstill because they are all over the road. Cars have to take an alternate route home because of these menaces.

They can be on the road, in their bike lanes. Which they are not.

 

And bicycles were not built for roads?

 

Well obviously if there are bike lanes, bikes should be in them. But the opposite is also true, if there are bike lanes, CARS should not be in them. I've had stand up arguments with car drivers who've parked in cycle lanes. Cyclists are not the only ones at blame here, car drivers can be utter (*)(*)(*)(*)s. But then, I'm not painting all car drivers in the same way that you are painting all cyclists.

Herein lies the problem.

Oh didums. You know that the current TdF champion is an Aussie? Do you know how many Aussie pro-cyclists there are? You should have some national pride about this, but no no, every now and again you are slightly inconvenienced and this is simply not acceptable.

They [cars] can be on the road, in their car lanes. Which they are not.

 

I have never seen a car park in the bike lanes, but I have seen hundreds of bikes use the road.

I don't give a rats about Cadel Evens. He should take up a proper sport, like tennis, instead of riding around in lycra.

99% of them are.

 

That is what bike lanes are for. Why should taxpayers pay to install these lanes when the bike riders refuse to use them? Can us car drivers use the bike lanes?

 

Bottom line: we are here to stay and governments are encouraging us to grow in numbers - get used to us Mak; I would say we're not going anywhere, but we are - one two wheels, at 30-40kph

 

Car drivers DO use bike lanes, they park in them, they drive in them. This is a two way street and you seem to have the typical arrogant car drivers mentality that you are the only road users, you are not. We are in that space too and you have to deal with it.