http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/blog/2008/08/why-do-cyclists-ride-on-the-road/ A mixture of articles on the wonderful world of cycling Wed, 7 Jan 2009 09:41:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/blog/2008/08/why-do-cyclists-ride-on-the-road/#comment-62 Mrs H Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:20:41 +0000 http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/blog/?p=181#comment-62 Most car drivers have horrendous overtaking skills (just overtake like sheep with no thought for anything coming the other way) and selfishly care little for anyone but themselves. It all comes down to care and consideration for others - sadly lacking these days. Until each council is forced to create a properly protected 'traffic free' route for cyclists linking each village and town the death and injury rates for cyclists will continue to rise. Parents will not let children/teenagers cycle for the obvious risk from other motorists/lorry drivers; no matter how many bike sheds they build. The cycle to work scheme will no doubt highlight the lack of consideration by the increase in broken bones and A&E visits. Bring it on. Most car drivers have horrendous overtaking skills (just overtake like sheep with no thought for anything coming the other way) and selfishly care little for anyone but themselves. It all comes down to care and consideration for others - sadly lacking these days. Until each council is forced to create a properly protected ‘traffic free’ route for cyclists linking each village and town the death and injury rates for cyclists will continue to rise. Parents will not let children/teenagers cycle for the obvious risk from other motorists/lorry drivers; no matter how many bike sheds they build. The cycle to work scheme will no doubt highlight the lack of consideration by the increase in broken bones and A&E visits. Bring it on.

]]> http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/blog/2008/08/why-do-cyclists-ride-on-the-road/#comment-58 magnatom Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:01:28 +0000 http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/blog/?p=181#comment-58 I think another common problem is cycle lanes is that they can actually lull drivers into a false sense of security. Some drivers see the cyclist in the lane and think, 'oh he is happy in his lane, so I don't need to pull over any further.' Thus it can actually encourage drivers to pass closer to the cyclist than they would if the lane was not there, because the driver assumes that the lane itself is an indicator of how much space a cyclist needs. I think another common problem is cycle lanes is that they can actually lull drivers into a false sense of security. Some drivers see the cyclist in the lane and think, ‘oh he is happy in his lane, so I don’t need to pull over any further.’ Thus it can actually encourage drivers to pass closer to the cyclist than they would if the lane was not there, because the driver assumes that the lane itself is an indicator of how much space a cyclist needs.

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