Everybody missed, what's the problem? Would have been easy to hit the bikes but everybody managed to restrain themselves.
seadubya,
Sep 4, 11:23pm
Cycle safety needs to be addressed in NZ. If this video of cycle safety enthusiasts is any indication of where the problem lies, then cyclists themselves have a lot of behaviour modification to achieve, alongside the reports of road raging drivers. Most kiwis left alone won't take to each other with weapons, and yet they get out on the road and are demanding the right to put their and others lives at risk with very effective weapons.
brapbrap8,
Sep 4, 11:30pm
Speaking as an ex cyclist here. If it were me I would have been further to the left, can't see anything wrong with the road edge there.
In saying that trucks do have a responsibility to always overtake safely, and in NZ I think that most truckies are actually quite good at respecting cyclists when they have to ride in the lane when there is nowhere to ride to the left of the fog line.
I am a professional driver myself now, driving big oversized tractors on the roads and find that trucks still overtake me quite easily even though often I am in such big rigs I can't physically pull over to let them past. I think truckies are actually better at sharing the road than people give them credit for.
By the way, you should see how hard it is to overtake even a single cyclist in a tractor, they might be doing 30km/h and my top speed is only 40-50km/h.
tintop,
Sep 4, 11:32pm
Dont put too much weight on that - More motorists than cyclists in NZ ?
lovelurking,
Sep 4, 11:34pm
Thank god.
henderson_guy,
Sep 4, 11:47pm
There is a vast difference between a 20 ton truck and a 44, 50, or 55 ton, especially when it comes to climbing even a moderate hill. Once your momentum is gone, it's gone, and stalling on a hill is a very real problem and a situation that no truckie wants to be in.
muzz67,
Sep 4, 11:54pm
LTNZ should stop making the white line so smooth and lovely for the cyclists to ride along. Its their fault!
lovelurking,
Sep 4, 11:58pm
I reckon cyclists should be the same as pedestrians and have to bike into the oncoming traffic. That way they can see us coming and take evasive action if they need to. I have had all the reasons why that wouldn't work pointed out to me but it makes a lot of sense when on the 100k roads to me.
richardmayes,
Sep 5, 1:35am
tamarillo wrote:
And at end of day truck is paying heavily to use road and is on a tight schedule.
[/quote]
So what? payment of road user charges does not buy any special privileges over other road users. I pay petrol tax too. The road isn't the trucking companies' premises.
I actually agree with you, a lot of cyclists ought to try actually think about defensive riding, rather than waiting for something to (almost) go wrong and then jumping up and down about it.
But this lazy attitude that they are not JUST as entitled to be on the road as anyone else, is wrong.
Disclosure: Haven't ridden a bike for about ten years.
chas10,
Sep 5, 3:08am
Perhaps you should hop on a bike and try out your idea?
floscey,
Sep 5, 3:16am
going by the majority of cyclists i see in Howick .I would say his mate was straddled on the locating dowel,facing back (reverse spoon) taking the camera footage over the riders shoulder.
Personally, as a cyclist (and driver) I'd be scared to ride on that bit of road, and if I did I'd be soooo close to the left edge I'd be mowing grass with my left pedal. It does help to have glass proof tyres, an investment I made a few years back, best thing since sliced bread
quickbuck,
Sep 5, 3:32am
In that case, as a cyclist, I would gladly let you pass. and then draft you for a bit.
tamarillo,
Sep 5, 4:09am
I've actually riden on that same stretch on a pushbike, doing a vineyard tour. It was bloody terrifying and I stayed way over left! As a motorcyclist I learn to assume everything wants to hit me and no one can see me, and so ride defensively as possible. Bikes have every right to be on road, but they need to take the same defensive approach IMO. Vast majority of truckers I meet round here are as curteous and helpful as they can, within reason, be. They pull over for motorbikes or faster cars at every decent spot (I don't expect them to have to stop to do so, and don't pester them in middle of windy parts where they can't pull over). But expecting them to slow to a push bikes speed and wait until they can pass is just unrealistic and cyclists who refuse to ride safely are just seeming arrogant. And, I'm sorry, but if cyclist expect expensive wide special cycle lanes on open highways like this they need to join in and help pay towards it.
trogedon,
Sep 5, 8:51am
I just got a Fly6 a week ago. I'm just waiting on the my 32 micro SD card so I can attach and use it.
glendikoorey,
Sep 5, 9:06am
These two videos from the UK are quite useful in explaining how to overtake bikes safely (https://vimeo.com/135884468) and why riding two abreast is not necessarily a bad idea (https://vimeo.com/136215353).- The UK road rules are not too dissimilar to NZ, and certainly the general ideas here are equally applicable.
brapbrap8,
Sep 6, 10:37am
Yep when I was a hardcore roadie there was a big contracting outfit near where I lived at the time and I used to draft their tractors when I got tired/lazy. Ironically now I have gone back to work for that outfit driving the tractors so the roles will probably be reversed this summer.
Tractors are tame to draft though, when I was real nuts in the head I would tuck in behind a caravan or SUV going down the east side of the Kopu-Hikuai road which is the steep side, and build up speed and end up overtaking vehicles at 100km/h+ (my speedo cut out at 99.9kph, but I was spinning out 53x12 @ 200rpm. ) can't believe how stupid that was now that I am a little more mature, must have scared some motorists, and my chances of survival if anything went wrong at that velocity would have been quite slim. Used to keep up with the guys on motorbikes down Pumpkin hill, north of Tairua too, had some sweet races against guys on Fireblades and R1s.
andrewcg53,
Sep 6, 10:44am
Cyclists need to learn to keep to the left
cheviot,
Sep 7, 10:16am
They can't tell red from green so they probably won't know left from right.
trogedon,
Sep 8, 7:58am
andrewcg53 needs to write appropriate posts.
trogedon,
Sep 8, 8:28am
All with a contact patch the size of two thumb prints!
rif_raf13,
Sep 8, 9:35am
As a professional driver I'm calling BS on your post. Trucks don't have any choice? Can you hear a far cough? I don't have a cold. What do you think we do when its a slow moving tractor on the road? I'm wondering if you should be on the road as my biggest complaint whilst driving isn't cyclists but ignorant car drivers who don't know the road code and whose stupid arrogance shows in the way they drive
rif_raf13,
Sep 8, 9:36am
It is if you've no patience and try passing where its not safe. If you know its their right to be on the road, then theres no excuse for making it dangerous for them
rif_raf13,
Jul 18, 10:29am
I'm calling BS on your post. Few drivers are owner operators these days. The drivers are not paying to use the road, the company is. Tight schedule as an excuse for endangering other road users? What planet are you on?
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