I know I know, I said it would be up yesterday but I had things to deal with, anyway, let's dive straight in shall we? To start off, here's my disclaimer, I do not in anyway intend this blog post to be provocative nor do I insinuate that everyone of one group are out to get the others or completely crap in how they use the road.
Over the years I have seen a lot of inconsideration from many people, be they cyclists, motorists or pedestrians, so out of fairness, let's look at some of the good things and bad things I've seen each group do, I shall go in no particular order:
CYCLIST NO NO's
I decided to look at the no no's of cyclists first to show to my motoring counterparts, that as a cyclist myself, I also get annoyed at things I've sometimes seen other cyclists do, I shall put a sub-heading for each item of concern with a shortish description of why I don't like and we kick it off with my most disliked which is...
NO LIGHTS AT NIGHT
Yes, I hate seeing people riding at night or in poor light/visibility without lights or without adequate lights, there is absolutely no excuse for it, you can pick up a set of bright(albeit of questionable quality) lights for as little as 99P from 99p stores, if you can't even come to spend that to be able to be seen, then quite frankly there is something extremely wrong with you and you really shouldn't be on the road with a bike because not only is it dangerous to you but it is also potentially dangerous for others, such as drivers who may just see you at the last moment, panic and swerve around you into oncoming traffic, pedestrians who might not see you, think the road is clear and BANG, you just knocked a granny over and broke her hip which is potentially lethal or a cycling parent with a child in a seat on the back who swerves at the last minute because they didn't see you, comes off and the force of the bike hitting the deck could give that child neck and/or brain injuries, could you live with yourself if you caused any of that? I doubt it but I know those are extreme cases that rarely happen BUT they indeed CAN happen, so guys please, light up for crying out loud.
JUMPING LIGHTS
Another one I hate is seeing cyclists jumping lights, it's not often I see it but it really gets on my nerves when I do, it's not safe, it's not smart and it's not legal, as with the no lights scenario, it is not only dangerous to you but it's also potentially dangerous to others, so DON'T do it.
BEING ABUSIVE
Though I haven't witnessed it personally I do know that it happens, more often towards pedestrians but also towards motorists and even towards other cyclists.
RIDING ON FOOTWAYS
It's illegal unless it's otherwise stated though there can be a little bit of leeway with this since it seems many local authorities often fail to mark the end of sections you're allowed to cycle along or even fail to mark them at all such as a shared use path near me, completely unmarked yet is recognised as part of the national cycle network.
NO SIGNAL
This one is quite bad as well, letting others know of your intentions means they know how to react, not signalling makes you unpredictable and could cause a collision.
INATTENTIVE RIDING
When you're riding it is important to be as aware as possible of things around you, even if you can't see them, hence many cyclists seem as if they have eyes in the back of their heads at times but another way you can be inattentive is by listening to music with the volume on full in both ears, sure, if you're going to listen to music then by all means do so but not on full volume or in both ears, also using a phone while riding, though it isn't illegal so to speak, it is still as bad if not worse than doing it while driving.
2 ON A NON TANDEM
Why ride with 2 people on a single person bike? Would you try putting 2 hands in one glove? No? Then don't put 2 or more people on a bike that wasn't made for it.
SALMONING
This is what I call it when a cyclist rides the wrong way, like a salmon swimming against the flow, no excuse and anyone who tries to make an excuse for it should hand their bike into the nearest bike shop to be sold.
CYCLIST'S DO'S
Something I've seen a lot is people saying all cyclists are bad, are we? Of course not, they see a handful of bad ones in a couple of months and then tar us all with the same brush but here are the good things I've done or have seen others do.
STOP AND CHECK
No, not check their bike but stop and check if a person they just witnessed have a fall or an accident is ok.
STOP AT REDS
The majority of cyclists around including myself do stop at reds, I've sat at the lights before and a further 3 or 4 cyclists pull up and wait with me, maybe it's because they were aware of the camera, I don't know but they did stop.
SIGNAL
Most cyclists do let others know when they're turning left or right.
BEING POLITE
Most cyclists are polite so please, don't think that just because a few are assholes that we all are.
HELP OTHERS
I have seen a lot of cyclists help others out, whether it's traffic droid in London feeding the homeless or a local turning off lights that have been left switched on.
Then there's the opposites to the bad stuff I said about above, such as riding with the flow, 1 person on a bike, good lights, highly attentive and not riding on footways.
PEDESTRIAN NO NO'S
Even pedestrians who have the most priority of all road users and the most right to use the road can get it wrong, here are some of the ways it's possible.
CROSSING WITHOUT LOOKING
This should be a no brainer really, if you don't stop, look and listen, you could end up dead, considering how many people I've personally witness crossing without looking or not waiting for the lights at pelican crossings to even change is unbelievable, personally I think they should start teaching the green cross code in schoos again, even in the work place with the amount of ADULTS that should know better.
"PLAYING CHICKEN"
Yes, it's something we've all done before but really it shouldn't be allowed to happen.
BEING ABUSIVE OR VIOLENT
Yes, even pedestrians can get road rage which again brings me back to the unmarked shared use facility near me where a local was cycling along legally, carefully approached the pedestrians while saying excuse me with their bell, the pedestrians took no notice so the cyclist went off the path onto the grass to go around safely at which point one of the pedestrians shouted that it wasn't a cycle path, the cyclist politely replied that it was, further along the road, the cyclist is now on the road in traffic and the guy who shouted at him began attacking before walking off, now I hadn't witnessed it myself but it was well covered by the local paper.
WALKING ALONG SEGREGATED CYCLE PATHS
Even though it's not illegal as such, I still wouldn't recommend it.
PEDESTRIAN DO'S
As I said, no single group is worse or better than another.
STOPPING TO LOOK AND LISTEN
As I said, it should be a no brainer and for some it is exactly that, hell, I've even seen dogs do it, so it must be easy.
I've of course mostly seen pedestrians be good so There is no point to continue on them.
MOTORISTS DO'S
Ah, caught you out there didn't I? No? Fine then, here we go with the last group.
DRIVING WITH CAUTION
Many motorists I see when I'm out and about DO give me plenty of space when overtaking, don't tail gate, abuse their horn or hurl abuse at me and for that I thank them, I also thank those who are considerate to pedestrians and other motorists.
OFFERING ASSISTANCE
Yes, just like cyclists I have seen and had motorists stop and offer assistance, a couple of years ago I was riding a bike with a dodgy skewer and it caused me to crash at 30mph+ when it came loose as I went down a dropped curb and a passing motorist who happened to be an off duty fireman pulled over and called an ambulance for me.
MOTORIST NO NO'S
A majority of motorists as I said are brilliant but not all of them.
DANGEROUS DRIVING
Now this could be anything from passing a cyclist far too close to speeding at 150 down a residential road, no matter who you do it to, pulling out without looking or cutting them up is dangerous driving and is an offence.
JUMPING REDS
But motorists don't do they? Yes, yes they do, I've witnessed it AND captured it on camera, so there is no escaping the truth.
BEING ABUSIVE
I myself have received abuse from motorists before, normally being told to get off the effing road or out of the effing way, sorry but I don't have and will not move over just because you tell me too, if I'm in the middle of the lane then there is good reason for it, not so I piss you off.
I think I've covered everything to show that no one minority are any better or worse than another, if you can think of anything I should add then let me know in the comments, as always, please leave comments, no trolling or abuse and I will see you on Sunday for our first round of awards.
Good bye and as always, RIDE SAFE.
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