Best way to travel 5 miles to a train station?

Is that a typo for "one in 2", or do you live somewhere cars behave very
differently from round here (Cambridge)? I see _far_ more cars go through
red lights than bikes.

 

He might be on to something there! ;-)

Jon

 

Alan Braggins says...

Strange that. Whenever I'm in Cambridge I find it a bit of a shock when
I see any pedal-cyclist taking any notice of any traffic signs, be they
lights, no entry signs, lane markings or anything like that. Bedford is
a bit better. Apparently you don't have to take notice of these things
if you ride on the pavement, so everyone does.

 

I pay my VED as a Buddhist.
I pay my VED as a vegetarian.
I pay my VED as a management accountant.
I pay my VED as a father of two children.
I pay my VED as MP for Lichfield.
I pay my VED as a metal detector enthusiast.
I pay my VED as a member of the British Medical Association.
I pay my VED as a cyclist.

I /like/ this game.

d.

 

I guess that you see a different bit of Cambridge than I do.
I see some car drivers "squeeze through" on amber/reds, but
I don't see any car drivers do what cyclists do, which is
to either ignore the red completely and don't stop (often overtaking
other cyclists waiting), or - and this irritates me more - stop at a red,
decide that they think it's safe, and cross whilst light is still red.

 

"Squeeze through", "pushing the amber", what quaint euphemisms for going
through a light illegally with the potential of causing someone else harm.
As a cyclist I stop at lights when they're red, I wish all cyclists would
if only to shut you whingers up but they don't, and when they don't they
risk their own lives not someone else's.

Colin

 

You're obviously new to this game ;-)

Tony

 

Is the helicopter already in the air when the monkey is put in charge?


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, COSOC#9, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

Actually, now you come to mention it, I do.

Well, when I was about 19 I had a row with a wanker on a horse who
complained that my bike (which was not particularly noisy) had spooked
his horse. I was stopped at the side of the ride, checking the map
(with the engine running), and just about to do a U-turn, when he had
a go at me. It's coloured my perception of horse riders ever since.

Which, of course, is what this thread is all about. Find a few
examples of bad behaviour, associate them with a mode of transport,
and then assume everyone is like that. It saves an awful lot of
thinking.

 

That's a very high horse you're on; I hope you don't fall. It'll hurt.

You misunderstand; I am a cyclist too. I cycle to work most days,
and if I'm not on my pushbike I'm on my motorbike. I get pissed off when
other cyclists give me a bad name by jumping reds; but it does give
a target for someone to overtake about 60 seconds after the lights have
changed.

 

Good question. I'll let you choose.

d.

 

So a veggie, Buddhist, metal-detecting account eh?

Wow, that is _so_ much better than my stereotype. I take my hat off to you
sir.

PS If you're an MP can you kick David Blunkett in the nuts for me, please?
He'll never know you did it.


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, COSOC#9, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

The statistics are a bit misleading. As soon as one car stops at the
lights, all the rest are usually given no option but to stop behind it.
Therefore red light jumping becomes self limiting irrespective of the
wishes of the drivers. Because it is much easier for cyclists to pass
each other and the cars, more of the population that want to cross the
red light achieve it. This is not to say I condone either group
crossing a light at red.

Tony

 

And then you met Snowy!

 

If it's in the air then I think the monkey one wins, but my crayfish in 747
in a holding pattern over London trumps it.


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, COSOC#9, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

I see no horse.

I don't. You talk of cyclists going through red lights but you talk of
motorists "squeezing through on amber/red". Why the double standards. They
are *all* breaking the law.

Colin

 

You are Michael Fabricant and ICMFP

Tony

 

I thought it was about laughing at people on bicycles, damn.

We could always x-post this to uk.rec.cars.misc and say something nasty
about HGV drivers ... that always goes down well.


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, COSOC#9, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

I nearly wrote "I pay my VED as Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield" but
I thought no-one would take me seriously.

d.

 

Q. What do you call an HGV driver on the M1?
A. Anything you like - he can't hear you because he's asleep at the wheel.

d.