I haven't lived in Melbourne for 8 years now I couldn't stand the bloody things on the beach road then. I've thought about seeing how many of them i could bounce off the bullbar more than once. They think the own the road or the piece they are on anyway.
There is something seriously wrong with this country.
There is something seriously wrong with you too. Plainly.
How can it be right for 30 cyclists to ride through a stop sign 2 abreast and ignore 3 vehicles coming on their right, then, when they are told they must have a death wish they abuse the car driver.
If they are in a marshalled group, they can. If they are riding on their own, no, they cannot. Imagine also that it is a tall order for the lead cyclists to slam on the brakes when a peleton of 25 are behind them. It is one of the golden rules of group riding: DON'T DO IT!
But yes, this (hurtling through Stop signs or not giving way to traffic turning in front or approching from the right) happens a lot, I have seen it too, from both sides: as a road/criterium/MTB cyclist (since 1977) and driver. It is an entrenched negative culture among groups of cyclists (
peletons, to use the correct term). But don't assume car drivers are an angelic lot by comparison — that is dangerous territory. By and large, drivers are respectful of cyclists. Consider how much better things are in country regional areas compared to the cities like Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide where conflict among road users is common.
There are, however, specific rules that allow for 2-abreast (SF = single file/ 2AB = 2 abreast) riding, applying to a road with unbroken lines. Where cyclists are riding 2-abreast on a road with double lines, they must reduce to single file to allow cars behind them to pass and may not resume 2AB riding until allowing any and all following cars to pass. It is regrettable this rule is not widely adhered too, particularly as I see it behind the wheel on several roads where cyclist and motorist conflict is common because of a lack of courtesy AND a poor or no understanding of circumstantial rules.
Cyclists as well as scooter riders, skate board riders etc., will die as long as their attitude remains the same, and the motorist will be in the wrong.
The thinking there is wrong, unless there is clear evidence, from e.g. a Police point of view, of the fault. Cyclists can be in the wrong, but most commonly it has been proven that motorists have failed to see the rider, failed to give way or engaged in hit-run behaviour (which happened with a pedestrian this week!)
Other road users are more likely to die or be seriously injured as a result of inattention or disrespect shown by motor vehicle drivers — something that has been reflected several times in news incidents very recently. Scooters, bicycles etc. do not kill peolle (aka the road toll). I have a scooter too, and I am surprised how drivers think I should not be there
in the bike lane where I am legally entitled to be.
I am of the belief that bikes should be registered and cyclists have licences that contribute to the cost of maintaining and building roads, and to be fair, bike paths etc.
Why? And given this old bogey has been bandied about from the 1970s, HOW?
Licensing revenue is not exclusively directed at improving the motorists' lot, never was and never will be. The money ends up in State consolidated revenue, and can be used for anything from mowing acres of parks to installing security cameras and bollars in CBDs (as they have done in Victoria) — it goes everywhere, as does income from PINs (traffic fines, red light fines, camera fines etc.). Cyclists, as often the case are also car owners and drivers, in some cases owning more than one car. Nobody has yet been bright enough to explain how they should also be made to pay for roads they use a second time....
I don’t mind the idea of minimum passing clearance rules. I have no issue with keeping a safe distance between my car and a bicycle when passing. I would be very grateful if cyclists would also abide by the same clearance rules when passing cars in slow moving traffic.
You put your car in
that position, contributing to slow moving traffic
and congestion! It is
not the problem of cyclists passing you in your veritable 1km long car-park, as they are legally entitled to ('filtering' and also permitted to pass on the left EXCEPT if a car has its indicator on and is waiting to pass left, in which case the cyclist/s must give what to that car). A cyclist deliberately damaging a car e.g. a mirror, is altogether different; I know I would be riled and would go after him or her. I have heard of this happening where cyclists have come down and made contact and damaged the left hand mirror ... and ridden off as if nothing happened. Drrrft.
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