# 'Be Polite'



## HLaB (1 Nov 2007)

Whilst looking for other local news, I came across the `Bike Polite' campaign being run by SPOKES.


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## Brock (1 Nov 2007)

Seems like a nice idea. Good for the image of cycling to be seen to be addressing common complaints about us.


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## Arch (2 Nov 2007)

"The Bike Polite trouser bands can be worn around ankles or wrists."

Who wears their trousers on their arms?

Sorry. Maybe they should also have some Polite hi-vis waistcoats, like the ones Padbeat got made up...


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## Brock (2 Nov 2007)

The 'Met' helmet seems somehow appropriate with that polite vest. Nice cycle path btw.


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## Arch (2 Nov 2007)

Brock said:


> The 'Met' helmet seems somehow appropriate with that polite vest. Nice cycle path btw.



Yeah, shame I changed it for a Giro when it wore out...

The path is next to the racecourse, hence the rail and turf the other side. I've never tried to go along it when the racing is on. Don't suppose I could beat a racehorse anyway...

The downside of it is, where it crosses the course, and you have to cycle through an inch deep mix of sand and grass cuttings...


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## mickle (2 Nov 2007)

You _wore it out_? Wow you're hardcore.


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## Arch (5 Nov 2007)

mickle said:


> You _wore it out_? Wow you're hardcore.



Well, not wore out exactly then. It got knocked and chipped and the straps got so that they tended to work loose. I'd had it about 6 years... And I needed something that fitted the helmet cam mount better.

Oh, and I'm told you can ride along that path when the racing is on. So I'm up for a racehorses v bike sprint on helmet cam. Next race meeting is in May.

(Although I suspect there would be too many people along there to be able to sprint safely. Still, apparently the thundering as they go by is something to experience)


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## domtyler (5 Nov 2007)

Things like this make me fume!!!

!!!!


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## magnatom (5 Nov 2007)

domtyler said:


> Things like this make me fume!!!
> 
> !!!!



Why Dom? There are bad cyclists, as well as bad drivers. I come across enough of them myself. We have to campaign to get them to improve their behavior as well. We would be seen as hypocrites if we campaigning against bad driving whilst not trying and resolve poor cycling.


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## galaxy1 (14 Nov 2007)

I'm just waiting for the bumperstickers or armbands (you wouldn't be able to see it round the ankles see?) which say drive polite that are targeted at the many many horrendous drivers that I come across on a daily basis.Driving like that gives car drivers a bad name .....Oh ..actually it doesn't ..doesn't it? Bad names are just for cyclists.
Saying that ,there are a fair few idiot cyclists around as well


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## CotterPin (20 Nov 2007)

magnatom said:


> Why Dom? There are bad cyclists, as well as bad drivers. I come across enough of them myself. We have to campaign to get them to improve their behavior as well. We would be seen as hypocrites if we campaigning against bad driving whilst not trying and resolve poor cycling.



Bad driving is infinitely more dangerous than bad cycling. One or two people are killed by cyclists in a year compared to how many killed by motorists...

Quite frankly cyclists' groups appear to be spending more time campaigning against bad cyclists than they do about bad motoring.

If only the motoring organisations were the same. Regrettably they are, if anything, quite the opposite. They seem to spend more time whinging about their so-called right to drive being eroded than they do about curbing the dangerous excesses of some of their members.

Yes - we do need to recognise that there is bad cycling but I think the focus should be on where the danger really lies.


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## Nigel-YZ1 (20 Nov 2007)

Why have a discussion that always ends with 'we kill less than you'?.

In this country we have a 'sod you' attitude on the roads, and you don't have to be a car driver to be infected with it. There can't be anyone on these forums that has not witnessed stupid behaviour from drivers, cyclists, bus drivers, truck drivers, pedestrians etc...

The current figure for deaths caused by speeding according to the government is 7% or something, yet no-one seems bothered about discussing the other 93%.
The other 93% includes blocking, cutting up, 'road rage', tailgating, jaywalking, lack of observation, and anything else you've seen - and not a damn thing is done about it. The magic yellow boxes don't detect it, and the police have better things to do than sit at the side of the road and watch for it.

We need to educate everyone as though they should all feel responsible for the rot, then no single group can whine about persecution.


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## Danny (20 Nov 2007)

CotterPin said:


> Bad driving is infinitely more dangerous than bad cycling. One or two people are killed by cyclists in a year compared to how many killed by motorists...
> 
> Quite frankly cyclists' groups appear to be spending more time campaigning against bad cyclists than they do about bad motoring



Totally agree that bad driving is infinitely more dangerous, but I don't actually believe that most cyclists groups are "spending more time campaigning against bad cyclists than they do about bad motoring".

I am not sure what I really think about "Bike Polite", but I do think we have to realise that a lot of people are unhappy about the behaviour of a *minority * of cyclists. 

I think the problem is worse in London where *some* cyclists seem to think it is OK to cycle at speed through red lights even when pedestrians are crossing the road, or ride onto crowded pavements just to get round traffic jams or a one way system.

I am not arguing against RLJ or pavement riding per-se, but am pointing out that some cyclists do this in a way that is genuinely dangerous and distressing for pedestrians.

Cyclists should still try to put their own house in order even if motoring organisations continue to do little or nothing about bad driving.


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## Tetedelacourse (22 Nov 2007)

This campaign was posted on the BBC website on the day that a woman was knocked off her bike in Rosyth by a hit and run.

It also coincides with the SNP saying they acknowledge that scrapping the tolls on the Forth Road Bridge will result in increased volumes of traffic in the area, and that provisions must be made to give alternative methods of travel to motorists. Meanwhile, provision for cyclists using the commuting corridors into Edinburgh remain totally inadequate and unfit for purpose.

Where the Bike Polite campaign does have some value (as I acknowledge that some cyclists need a kick up the arse), it is so far removed from the real issues facing cyclists in this area that it does seem like SPOKES have little regard for the issues that matter.


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## Elmer Fudd (22 Nov 2007)

Arch said:


> "The Bike Polite trouser bands can be worn around ankles or wrists."
> 
> Who wears their trousers on their arms?
> 
> Sorry. Maybe they should also have some Polite hi-vis waistcoats, like the ones Padbeat got made up...



Is that a 'pvc' hi-viz or more of a running (mesh) bib Arch??


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