Why is there so much animosity towards cyclists in Sheffield?

[smilersarah 10]

a little off topic but i cant believe what i have just seen a cyclist with not one!! not 2 but three kids under 5 on a bike on busy abbeydale road, one kid on the back in a seat, one on some sort of crossbar contraption and the other on a seat in front of the handlebars:loopy: bloody mad if you ask me and so no wonder cyclists get animosity, poor kids it doesnt bear thinking about

[monkey69 10]

Maybe its not such a surprise that cyclists are seen as scum on the roads of South Yorkshire. Even the Police are getting in on the act, Today i was cycling past the law courts at Snig hill. There are roadworks taking place at the moment so the four lanes are reduced to two, with cones denoting the opposing lanes.

Never the less two Police vans coming up behind me blasted their horns for me to move out of their way. I am sorry but i had nowhere to go, except getting off my bike and mounting the pavement on the opposite side of the road!.

After all the road works only go on for maybe four / five hundred yards, they might have been on a emergency call, but there were no sirens / blue lights flashing. so I was I supposed to know, or anyone else for that matter?.

They did tear off up towards the old co-op, so its a possibility.

But it was dangerous coming up behind a cyclists and blowing their horns when they where two yards behind my ear!!!

[truman 10]

Maybe its not such a surprise that cyclists are seen as scum on the roads of South Yorkshire. Even the Police are getting in on the act, Today i was cycling past the law courts at Snig hill. There are roadworks taking place at the moment so the four lanes are reduced to two, with cones denoting the opposing lanes.

Never the less two Police vans coming up behind me blasted their horns for me to move out of their way. I am sorry but i had nowhere to go, except getting off my bike and mounting the pavement on the opposite side of the road!.

After all the road works only go on for maybe four / five hundred yards, they might have been on a emergency call, but there were no sirens / blue lights flashing. so I was I supposed to know, or anyone else for that matter?.

They did tear off up towards the old co-op, so its a possibility.

But it was dangerous coming up behind a cyclists and blowing their horns when they where two yards behind my ear!!!

 

Didn't you see them approaching in your mirror?

[Flexo 10]

they might have been on a emergency call, but there were no sirens / blue lights flashing. so I was I supposed to know, or anyone else for that matter?

 

Many police vehicles are not fitted with sirens and blue lights so they have to rely on frantically blasting the horn on the occasions they get involved in an emergency call.

 

If the thing didn't have blue lights on top of it then give them the benefit of the doubt.

[monkey69 10]

No I dont have any on the road bicycle. I have my obligatory thumb bell, to make pedestrians aware that I am approaching them on the shared cycle ways.

I have my led lights as well, along with my fluorescent tabard, along with matching cycle clips...Is there anything else i can do to make myself more visible??.

After all the motorist of this city need all the help they can get to see cyclist!!!!

 

---------- Post added 02-07-2015 at 14:26 ----------

 

Many police vehicles are not fitted with sirens and blue lights so they have to rely on frantically blasting the horn on the occasions they get involved in an emergency call.

 

If the thing didn't have blue lights on top of it then give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

They had Lights fitted along with sirens, I heard them when they went through the lights at the bottom of co-op. it was just a quick blast as they went through.

But why not put them on if they had an emergency??. especially if they broke the speed limit, which i probably think they did when they got the chance.

was there an important trail going on at the courts today?.

Maybe they had an important visitor / or the judge might be having forty winks and didn't want to be disturbed!!

[tzijlstra 11]

a little off topic but i cant believe what i have just seen a cyclist with not one!! not 2 but three kids under 5 on a bike on busy abbeydale road, one kid on the back in a seat, one on some sort of crossbar contraption and the other on a seat in front of the handlebars:loopy: bloody mad if you ask me and so no wonder cyclists get animosity, poor kids it doesnt bear thinking about

 

Perhaps you need to broaden your idea of what is possible and have a look across the sea.

 

A few images to illustrate:

 

Imagine the crate replaced with a childseat: there is a seat on the back already, that is three kids on the bike with no hassle what so ever.

 

Usually it looks like this though, with two kids, most common form.

 

Bike specifically designed to transport three kids and shopping, rare.

[truman 10]

No I dont have any on the road bicycle. I have my obligatory thumb bell, to make pedestrians aware that I am approaching them on the shared cycle ways.

I have my led lights as well, along with my fluorescent tabard, along with matching cycle clips...Is there anything else i can do to make myself more visible??.

After all the motorist of this city need all the help they can get to see cyclist!!!!

 

---------- Post added 02-07-2015 at 14:26 ----------

 

 

They had Lights fitted along with sirens, I heard them when they went through the lights at the bottom of co-op. it was just a quick blast as they went through.

But why not put them on if they had an emergency??. especially if they broke the speed limit, which i probably think they did when they got the chance.

was there an important trail going on at the courts today?.

Maybe they had an important visitor / or the judge might be having forty winks and didn't want to be disturbed!!

 

You wouldn't have seen the lights even if they'd used them... #justsaying..

[mattleonard 10]

You wouldn't have seen the lights even if they'd used them... #justsaying..

 

Does Monkey have some sort of neck injury that the rest of us don't know about?

[hicksy3 10]

Quote:

 

Originally Posted by onewheeldave

 

No, it's not OK- he/she is a motorist.

 

Having said that, a bonnetless artic is clearly going to be able to observe far more than an equivalent car driver- for the same reasons that a cyclist can see much more than an equivalent car driver.

 

Why is it safe an OK for a cyclist to go through red lights but not an artic if both rider and driver can see it's clear?

 

Mainly as the cyclist is about 1/2000 gvw of the article, and 1/20 the vehicle length....

It would be very wrong indeed for a pedal powered vehicle of 20t plus and 10m long to go through a red light.

 

 

Posted from Sheffieldforum.co.uk App for Android

[Eater Sundae 12]

Yep, and even stopping behind the HGV not in the cycle lane. That way you don't get left-hooked by the HGV behind either.

 

In these sorts of conditions I'd look to be in the primary position directly behind the HGV, and not in the cycle lane behind him but to the left. He wont be able to see me, but it doesn't matter because I'm not going to be at risk from him.

 

I don't want to be on the left of any traffic as we set off, because of any other left turners behind me.

 

If I cannot guarantee getting to the front of the queue and into the ASL box before the lights change to green, I'd generally sooner make sure I'm in the middle of the "car" lane, in a primary position than be in the cycle lane to the left. Edit - although it can depend on the width of the cycle lane and the carriageway.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Eater Sundae

[truman 10]

Mainly as the cyclist is about 1/2000 gvw of the article, and 1/20 the vehicle length....

It would be very wrong indeed for a pedal powered vehicle of 20t plus and 10m long to go through a red light.

 

 

Posted from Sheffieldforum.co.uk App for Android

 

But both rider and driver can see it's clear to proceed...are you proposing different rules at traffic lights for cyclists? eg go through on red if you reckon you can make it..?

[mattleonard 10]

But both rider and driver can see it's clear to proceed...are you proposing different rules at traffic lights for cyclists? eg go through on red if you reckon you can make it..?

 

I suspect not, the rules are perfectly good as they are. But the suggestion that the situations are identical is not true, particularly who it is who is most likely to get hurt and how badly if either of these road users gets the assessment wrong.

 

---------- Post added 02-07-2015 at 15:48 ----------

 

In these sorts of conditions I'd look to be in the primary position directly behind the HGV, and not in the cycle lane behind him but to the left. He wont be able to see me, but it doesn't matter because I'm not going to be at risk from him.

 

I don't want to be on the left of any traffic as we set off, because of any other left turners behind me.

 

If I cannot guarantee getting to the front of the queue and into the ASL box before the lights change to green, I'd generally sooner make sure I'm in the middle of the "car" lane, in a primary position than be in the cycle lane to the left. Edit - although it can depend on the width of the cycle lane and the carriageway.

 

Yeah, this is what I tend to do. And whilst I recognise that not everyone does this, I do find the suggestion made earlier - that it's not an obvious option - slightly strange.