Is it finally time to tax our Lycra clad cyclists ?

[take_yer_points]

Part of the driving test should be to do 50 hrs on a bike over a month or so. Get some perspective on how much of an asshole some people behind a wheel actually are.
Cycling clubs are perfectly entitled to ride 2 a breast and how often does their peleton actually become bigger than say an articulated truck. Are we clamouring for trucks to be removed from the road ?

I thought it was single file on busy roads??

[keeperlit]

....however I would be in favour it being compulsory for all cyclists (say over the age of 16 to avoid kiddies on stabilisers) to have adequate insurance.  Cycling Ireland do offer insurance through their membership.  Most club cyclists will be but there is a huge amount of leisure cyclists out there who aren't.  I'd even consider compulsory membership of CI for all bike users and give CI more responsibility for ensuring cyclists are aware of their responsibilities on the road.

OK fess up time, as you may have guessed, I do a bit of cycling but I'm just making the point that the "all cyclists are pricks and cnuts" attitude can be challenged.

What would the point of Insurance be- whenever they do cause accidents or thump the side/roof of your car causing damage on narrow country roads they just ride on and there is no way of identifying them.
One incident I was involved in was were after pulling out of the lane of my own house on a narrow country road and sitting  behind a cyclist for about 1/2 mile. During this 1/2 mile the fellow had about 4 places that he could have pulled into and allowed me pass. I politely beeped as I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he did not hear me. He then preceded to give me and my father a tirade of abuse and sat bang in the middle of the road for about 1 & 1/2 miles. I eventually  passed him and jumped out of the car (calmly) to ask him what the problem was. The first thing that came out of his mouth was ' I'll have your house, your car the whole lot if you come near me' as he ride on. I had no intention of touching him but just wanted to find out what his problem was. Brave fella. Protected by his an anonymity but knew were I lived and would have had a number plate, etc.

And this is not one isolated incident with just this lad been a t@sser. Another brave lycra head followed my mother up into the yard and thumped and banged at the car roof. Called the police couldn't do a thing as there is no way of identifying these cowards and by the time police would react they are long gone. And then have the cheek to come crying victim when something happens. Several other incidents like this on our road.

In my opinion, there is a large majority of the lycra brigade who treat other road users like this, as woe betide you would affect their time trials.   All about the stats you know.

The could have pulled in and allowed you to pass ? I'm baffled. Why should he ? What was your rush?

I think you are conveniently missing my point here.
What my rush was is completely irrelevant.

My point in reply to AQMP was what would be the point in making Insurance mandatory for cyclists. They do what they like and ride on, and it is virtually impossible to identify them.  For insurance to work they would have to have some sort of way of making these boys identifiable. At least when a car is involved in an accident you have the starting point of a number plate.

These pricks ride about with no absolutely no respect for other road users and whenever they are challenged about their aggressive behaviour,  their first defense is 'I'm gonna sue you'.

When we were brought up and were going about the roads on our bikes we were always taught that if you see a tractor/car/lorry coming towards you, you ditched the bike and waited for the vehicle to pass. But then we were brought up to have manners.

[square_ball]

Part of the driving test should be to do 50 hrs on a bike over a month or so. Get some perspective on how much of an asshole some people behind a wheel actually are.
Cycling clubs are perfectly entitled to ride 2 a breast and how often does their peleton actually become bigger than say an articulated truck. Are we clamouring for trucks to be removed from the road ?

Do trucks travel at 15-20mph??

No therefore the cyclists at 15-20mph must be easier and quicker to overtake

So you think you should just overtake whenever you like because the cyclists are going slow??

[Tony Baloney]

Part of the driving test should be to do 50 hrs on a bike over a month or so. Get some perspective on how much of an asshole some people behind a wheel actually are.
Cycling clubs are perfectly entitled to ride 2 a breast and how often does their peleton actually become bigger than say an articulated truck. Are we clamouring for trucks to be removed from the road ?

I thought it was single file on busy roads??

It is.

[JimStynes]

What's the answer to this then? Ban bikes from the road? Because that's not a realistic answer! I think a good step would be that no more than 16 in a group - 8 rows of cyclists two abreast. Anymore than that then it is too long a line for cars to overtake. Cycling clubs need to be more sensible about picking their route. The club I am in goes on a very busy stretch of road at the start of their club run on a Saturday morning, I stopped cycling on the Sat morning run because it was that dangerous.

Belgium, France,  Spain's culture is some much more accepting of cycling and they give a lot more respect to cyclists on the road. When I started cycling I couldn't believe how bad some drivers were and how aggressive they are on the road. It has become extremely dangerous to be on the roads. People saying about riding two abreast - it is much safer to ride two abreast. If you are riding single file cars will squeeze past you and leave you very little room.  Also, there are a lot of bad cyclists as well and I have witnessed cyclists breaking red lights and taking stupid risks on a Saturday club run. Cycling is a great sport and it does more good than harm in the country.

[Hardy]

....however I would be in favour it being compulsory for all cyclists (say over the age of 16 to avoid kiddies on stabilisers) to have adequate insurance.  Cycling Ireland do offer insurance through their membership.  Most club cyclists will be but there is a huge amount of leisure cyclists out there who aren't.  I'd even consider compulsory membership of CI for all bike users and give CI more responsibility for ensuring cyclists are aware of their responsibilities on the road.

OK fess up time, as you may have guessed, I do a bit of cycling but I'm just making the point that the "all cyclists are pricks and cnuts" attitude can be challenged.

What would the point of Insurance be- whenever they do cause accidents or thump the side/roof of your car causing damage on narrow country roads they just ride on and there is no way of identifying them.
One incident I was involved in was were after pulling out of the lane of my own house on a narrow country road and sitting  behind a cyclist for about 1/2 mile. During this 1/2 mile the fellow had about 4 places that he could have pulled into and allowed me pass. I politely beeped as I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he did not hear me. He then preceded to give me and my father a tirade of abuse and sat bang in the middle of the road for about 1 & 1/2 miles. I eventually  passed him and jumped out of the car (calmly) to ask him what the problem was. The first thing that came out of his mouth was ' I'll have your house, your car the whole lot if you come near me' as he ride on. I had no intention of touching him but just wanted to find out what his problem was. Brave fella. Protected by his an anonymity but knew were I lived and would have had a number plate, etc.

And this is not one isolated incident with just this lad been a t@sser. Another brave lycra head followed my mother up into the yard and thumped and banged at the car roof. Called the police couldn't do a thing as there is no way of identifying these cowards and by the time police would react they are long gone. And then have the cheek to come crying victim when something happens. Several other incidents like this on our road.

In my opinion, there is a large majority of the lycra brigade who treat other road users like this, as woe betide you would affect their time trials.   All about the stats you know.

The could have pulled in and allowed you to pass ? I'm baffled. Why should he ? What was your rush?

You're right of course..why should he let them pass.
Like why would I let the old man behind me in the queue ahead of me when I have a full trolly of shopping and he only has a loaf of bread..Or why would you hold the door open for someone..Or let someone out of a junction in slow moving traffic..
Its called manners..
So yeah you may ask why should he pull over..I'll ask you why wouldn't he pull over? Where is the harm in not being a p***k?

Because quite simply within a minute or so he would be able to pass. Drivers think they have the right to pass cyclists with close passes left right and centre yet the same 4x4 driving t**ts will slow to a crawl for someone on a horse. Whats the difference ?

Obvious. Nobody would want to hurt a horse.

[Leonardo]

Working in London this week and just in from a run. The cyclists in this city are mental. No stopping at red lights for some, onto footpaths for others to avoid red light, and when some do actually stop at red lights they all make their way to front of the queue by weaving through the cars. Absolute madness. Almost got knocked over by 2 cyclists that are clearly making their way home from the Tour de France given the speed they doing. Straight through the red light and had cheek to roar something along the lines of you faaaaaaaackiinnnng caaaaaant

[Eamonnca1]

Part of the driving test should be to do 50 hrs on a bike over a month or so. Get some perspective on how much of an asshole some people behind a wheel actually are.
Cycling clubs are perfectly entitled to ride 2 a breast and how often does their peleton actually become bigger than say an articulated truck. Are we clamouring for trucks to be removed from the road ?

I thought it was single file on busy roads??

It is.

No it isn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NGdQDEkWCE

[Taylor]

Part of the driving test should be to do 50 hrs on a bike over a month or so. Get some perspective on how much of an asshole some people behind a wheel actually are.
Cycling clubs are perfectly entitled to ride 2 a breast and how often does their peleton actually become bigger than say an articulated truck. Are we clamouring for trucks to be removed from the road ?

I thought it was single file on busy roads??

It is.

It is but they clearly ignore this and are never pulled up on it.
Need a deterrent for the idiots to obey the law

[Eamonnca1]

From the RSA:

"In the company of one or more cyclists, you must have due regard to other users of the road, and you must take full account of prevailing road conditions. On occasion, it may be safe to cycle two abreast, but you must not cycle in a manner likely to create an obstruction for other road users."

This is wide open to interpretation. Riding single file can cause a bigger obstruction than riding two abreast. Nowhere does it say you must always ride single file on busy roads. Stop quoting non-existent rules.

[Tony Baloney]

From the RSA:

"In the company of one or more cyclists, you must have due regard to other users of the road, and you must take full account of prevailing road conditions. On occasion, it may be safe to cycle two abreast, but you must not cycle in a manner likely to create an obstruction for other road users."

This is wide open to interpretation. Riding single file can cause a bigger obstruction than riding two abreast. Nowhere does it say you must always ride single file on busy roads. Stop quoting non-existent rules.

How about you check Rule 66 in the Highway Code. Make sure to come back and apologise. Check 68 when you are there which requires cyclists to be considerate.

[Tony Baloney]

To save any bother.

Rule 66
You should

keep both hands on the handlebars except when signalling or changing gear
keep both feet on the pedals
never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends
not ride close behind another vehicle
not carry anything which will affect your balance or may get tangled up with your wheels or chain
be considerate of other road users, particularly blind and partially sighted pedestrians. Let them know you are there when necessary, for example, by ringing your bell if you have one. It is recommended that a bell be fitted.

Rule 68
You MUST NOT

carry a passenger unless your cycle has been built or adapted to carry one
hold onto a moving vehicle or trailer
ride in a dangerous, careless or inconsiderate manner
ride when under the influence of drink or drugs, including medicine.

[punt kick]

He was CYCLING behind the guy who had an accident and killed the motorist who caused the accident - it was a direct answer to a direct question.

I think I can help.

Lambeth then mounted his bike and cycled away

This implies that when he punched the victim he was not mounted on his bike. Therefore, he wasn't a cyclist when he committed the killing. Therefore this was not a case of a cyclist killing a car driver. Doubly so, as the "car driver" was presumably stopped when he was attacked and therefore not a driver.

Your semantics are amusing, on this occasion they make you look like a bit of a dick.  Is a taxi driver parked up waiting for his next fare not a taxi driver, an ambulance driver helping take a patient into the hospital not an ambulance driver!

[punt kick]

Part of the driving test should be to do 50 hrs on a bike over a month or so. Get some perspective on how much of an asshole some people behind a wheel actually are.
Cycling clubs are perfectly entitled to ride 2 a breast and how often does their peleton actually become bigger than say an articulated truck. Are we clamouring for trucks to be removed from the road ?

Do trucks travel at 15-20mph??

No therefore the cyclists at 15-20mph must be easier and quicker to overtake

3 abreast and 20 of them strung out!

[punt kick]

To save any bother.

Rule 66
You should

keep both hands on the handlebars except when signalling or changing gear
keep both feet on the pedals
never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends
not ride close behind another vehicle
not carry anything which will affect your balance or may get tangled up with your wheels or chain
be considerate of other road users, particularly blind and partially sighted pedestrians. Let them know you are there when necessary, for example, by ringing your bell if you have one. It is recommended that a bell be fitted.

Rule 68
You MUST NOT

carry a passenger unless your cycle has been built or adapted to carry one
hold onto a moving vehicle or trailer
ride in a dangerous, careless or inconsiderate manner
ride when under the influence of drink or drugs, including medicine.

And if they infringe their summer / spring / winter bike should be took off them and scrapped should they not pay a fine, arseholes.