Another cyclist dies in London

[flecc]

Thanks for the reply SRS. The law is clear though, yes it is legal to pass on the left, but subject to the condition I stated. Since that condition is virtually impossible to meet, almost all such overtakes* are illegal.

As ever there is an official blind eye operating, expediency, but in the event of a collision between an undertaking vehicle and the one it is passing, the undertaking driver will be found at fault in the courts, since patently the driver being passed on the left had not seen and understood the undertakers intention as the law requires.

*The law speaks of overtaking on the left, undertaking isn't used since it's a term with a completely different meaning.
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[MikeyBikey]

Paraphrasing flecc, "trucks involved not 44 tons, not doing 30mph, rigid, something about no of wheels, etc, etc..". Ooh, picky, picky, but as we're being so *relevant*, let's hear more about 99?, 1930's Channel island Bike Tax Discs, that's so much more 2013 City of 10million! :-D

 

[flecc]

Not picky Mike, why concentrate on speed when speed is not involved so not relevant? It's a fair criticism.

The media is full of suggestions that are in no way relevant to the current death accident problem, so as cyclists surely we should not be adding to that useless verbiage.

And as for tax discs etc, that was a different discussion on ways of insuring bikes anywhere, not London specific, so your comment on London's size isn't relevant to that or the accident discussion.

Both my comments you quoted were entirely relevant to the particular discussion involved.
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[peerjay56]

The law speaks of overtaking on the left, undertaking isn't used since it's a term with a completely different meaning.
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And yet the result of the one can (and does, as we have sadly seen) lead to the other

 

[Clockwise]

I had an intresting discussion with my dad today as we drove around the elephant and castle in his car, he being a motorist didn't know that it has a cycle lane running around the outside roads that keeps cyclists out of the deadly mess. We also spotted around 15 cyclists ignoring the cycle route and putting themselves in danger without any need(that's just in the minute or so going around it by car at 8pm). My dad's reaction went from "this road is totally unsafe for you to cycle, tfl should do something about it..." to "so they have a safe route they just don't use it, idiots", he also went on to say more cycle paths should be on the pavements and pointed out some roads that "have huge pavements" as our last holiday we visited Cologne which has them in the middle of pavements and cycling is very safe, he said it might be dangerous for pedestrians but not as life threatening as a truck to a cyclist and people will just learn to listen for bike bells as he did in about 30min of walking in Cologne.

As for the speed discussion above lots of cycling safety-ish campaigners are using what has happened to get a boost on some agenda they had been pushing before. Most who want the speed of cars reduced to 10mph in areas are just people who hate cars and know it would force them off the road. It's easy to spot that it isn't a cycle safety drive when they want the speed on motorways(on which cycling is illegal) cut also.

I think the London cyclist evolution is much different to the other cyclist evolution. I'm with the point that cycling has always been a hobby or sport BUT the London cyclist is purely from money(or the lack of it) and it is all about saving money against the cost of the tube or buses or congestion charge or gym or whatever. Lots of cyclists after the first month or 2 enjoy it but lots don't and so ride about with the start point of "this pile of junk owes me £££ and I will ride it so I'm not paying the tube". The riding style then comes from a number of factors, those switching from a car to a bike will have picked up lots of London cyclist tips from observing the worst of cycling from jumping lights they had been sat at too taking gaps they can't, now they cycle them things won't matter, those switching from a bus will learn from other cyclists on the road as watching others go unchecked rubs off on you, those switching from the tube have never seen the surface so do whatever they want. Many will ask the staff in halfords or evans the important question "what do I need to be a safe cyclist?" and be told "we have high vis and helmets and lights, lots of cyclists buy these". That's just about it, £200-300 hybrid bike with £50 of safety gear and you can't be killed, you can't even have a car crash like they showed you in the driving lessons as you don't drive so win win.

 

[MikeyBikey]

Like debating with a Juggernaut. "juggernaut in colloquial English usage is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as mercilessly destructive and unstoppable. In British English, it is also used to mean a large heavy truck or articulated lorry. Originating ca. 1850, the term is a metaphorical reference to the Hindu Ratha Yatra temple car, which apocryphally was reputed to crush devotees under its wheels." from Wiki.
Never fear, they can be deflected with 3rd party insurance. ;-)