I invite you all to a constructive thread on improving cycling safety. Lets keep the house in order and no flaming fingerpointing please.
I am myself both a motorist and cyclist so I can see both sides of the coin. The trick is that you place the coin about 10 cm from your eyes, lol :-)
So my advice would be to have patience and if you are a driver keep a 1.5 meter distance from cyclists when overtaking. As a cyclist knowing this you should let the drvers pass and keep on eye and listen the traffic behind you. A mirror is a good idea.
sw20,
Jun 12, 6:50am
If you are cycling. Keep off Dyers Pass Road.
r15,
Jun 12, 6:52am
i edited this quote, i think it looks much better now
zephyrheaven,
Jun 12, 6:55am
All motorists should indicate that they are overtaking a cyclist when on the open road, the dipshit in a Prado in front of me yesterday gave me no warning when he veered toward the centreline (I couldnt see the bike from my position) so almost took out the bike & the car.
I guess this thread will be another beat up - that much is clear - but having commuted a bit myself since the quake (I havent yet figured out why anyone would do it for 'fun' in town the smog & car fumes are abysmal yet I see bunches of very overtly dressed gents every weekend clogging the traffic lights! My lungs can put up with a bit in my trade but inhaling the straight CoX from a hundred cars on my way to work got old real quick) I think being visible is the best defense
mugenb20b,
Jun 12, 6:57am
Year right. If you are a cyclist, please keep to the left as much as possible (for the safety of everyone), white line preferably. Don't ride in the centre of the left lane as I don't want any bull bar or bonnet ornaments.
v8_mopar,
Jun 12, 7:11am
The young do well when on bikes. its the older ones that are arrogant!
I come around a bend at 100ks and there's 4 guys taking up the whole lane doing 40ks. Cars coming the other way so must stop some how. I get close to running them over cos I dont want a head on that will take them out to and all they can do is give the birdy and yell.
I think the young have a better under standing of matter. Skin matter - soft. Metal matter - hard.
guider1,
Jun 12, 7:15am
Yep. stay off the Ramarama-Ararimu Rd too! Multiple blind corners uphill that seems to attract them like rats to garbage. dangerous for the motorists & even more dangerous for them; but they're too thick to figure that one out, even school kids dont ride that road 'cos they have more brains! My uncle lives out that way & the residents have partitioned to the council to ban cyclists on that road for the good of everyone invovled. The times i've been out there & encountered them shows the pure arrogance of the cyclists.
berg,
Jun 12, 7:16am
Cyclists in Wtgn should start to obey red lights and stop signs. Yes drivers can be intolerant of cyclists but many of them bring on their own misfortune.
guider1,
Jun 12, 7:19am
I agree berg. they creep through red lights all the time in Papakura & with no form of registration or external indentification how is anyone supposed to report these idiots!!
gammelvind,
Jun 12, 7:20am
This will always be a no win subject. Not all motorists are inconsiderate and not all cyclists have a death wish, but there are enough of both to make it a no win situation. Here in Tauranga we have a wonderful cycleway built onto the bridge and yet we have plonkers on cycles riding in the traffic on the bridge itself. Cyclists should be able to enjoy their form of transport, but they have to remember that they are hard to see and are going to come off worst in a car/cycle contact. Sorry cyclists can posture as much as they like they are still the little weedy geek trying to demand his rights in a public bar.
buyme3,
Jun 12, 7:51am
as a motorcyclist i find it ridiculous that our rego's went thru the roof after acc figures came out and in those figures a large part of accidents and cost were cyclists and somehow i have to pay for their acc, register them all and fine or treat them like everyone else on the road. if you want to use the road as a right. PAY for it like everyone else. rant over
iman007,
Jun 12, 9:02am
to be fair g man, i had a plonker on a racing bike come flying past the inside of me as i was stopped waiting for traffic to move, he clipped my left mirror and bent it back, luckily it folded back straight away.If it hadnt would have cost me 400.the guy never battered an eyelid or turned around, just bolted up the road and down a sidestreet.I lost him.And i consider myself cycle and motor bike friendly! Give us an update on ya trip, im just watching that british guy doing his south island motor bike ride,good viewing.Ulysses feature well!
gadgetman,
Jun 12, 10:20am
I do but if there is not enough space or the road ahead has got glass means swerving to the right and to avoid cars I often stop and go around the glass patch before I swerve. On narrow bridges I keep on the middle of my lane to stop cars passing too close and squeezing me.
gadgetman,
Jun 12, 10:35am
v8_mopar wrote: The young do well when on bikes. its the older ones that are arrogant!
I come around a bend at 100ks and there's 4 guys taking up the whole lane doing 40ks. Cars coming the other way so must stop some how. I get close to running them over cos I dont want a head on that will take them out to and all they can do is give the birdy and yell. Quote"
You have to be able to stop on the visible part of the road so clearly 100 km/h is too fast
gadgetman,
Jun 12, 10:40am
So you want to tax the last possibility for poor people to have a cheap and healthy transport. What next! Tax on skateboards and kids push scooters. Hopefully no silly politician is not going to get any ideas!
gadgetman,
Jun 12, 10:47am
Go slow enough so you can stop on the visible part of the road. Bicycles do not slow you down much as long as the cyclist gives way when they can. Trucks and slow campervans makes passing harder so they take more of your precious seconds.
wrong2,
Jun 12, 10:58am
this sort of attitude should be evidence for a driving ban to be honest
car drivers do not have their life under threat from push bikes
every push bike road user has his life under threat from cars
push bikes deserve more respect than they get - & they dont deserve to ride 2 abrest outside of competition either
wrong2,
Jun 12, 10:59am
car drivers do not have their life under threat from push bikes
every push bike road user has his life under threat from cars
the point isnt getting thru to drivers
stevel_knievel,
Jun 12, 11:41am
Avoid lane splitting, especially when the traffics flowing. I seen this guy riding full tilt between two lanes of cars going at 40-50km/h the other day. He was like a machine. A suicide machine - one little slip up and he would have been dead.
clark20,
Jun 12, 12:19pm
I respect them when they behave, not like this morning on Tamaki drive a group of 15-20 riding 2 and 3 abreast, not good. If they rode single file no problem on a tight road.
vtecintegra,
Jun 12, 12:21pm
This is the crux of the matter - do not cycle on roads that are not suitable for cycling on.
This includes 'roads without enough space' (like SH2 between Melling and Belmont) and 'narrow bridges'
trogedon,
Jun 12, 1:53pm
Shall I take my shoes and socks off and wade in??
1trace,
Jun 12, 1:57pm
hell yea but bring a life jacket
wrong2,
Jun 12, 2:03pm
did he slip up !
did anyone get hurt !
were you jealous stuck in traffic !
my guess would be : no , no , yes
berg,
Jun 12, 2:20pm
Going down "The Gorge" a wee while back on my motorbike which I pay shitloads in ACC for the privilage to ride, sticking at 60kph in the traffic and behaving. Got passed by two "lane splitting" cyclists who don't have to pay anything for the privilage. Me in $700 helmet, $700 jacket, $300 pants, $150 gloves and $350 boots all custom designed and created to save my skin if it all goes wrong. Them, stackhat and lycra designed to be light and areodynamic. Please tell me who was at the most risk of injury between us remembering they were the ones lanesplitting and on skinny arse little rubber while I was cruising. My other issue is the "round Taupo" race where cyclists seem to think it is a "closed road" and they have the right to do as they wish.
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