Bad Name

[youngoldbloke]

Not useful to assume, it's hard to know what was going on there.

Route checking etc who knows?

I still feel a few mins here or there is not a problem

Whether using a device to check a route, send a text or make a call is irrelevant, It is dangerous to do any of these things whilst on the move because one's attention is distracted from the road. It is instructive that Gaz links to Don't Phone and Drive at the bottom of his posts - brief quote - The main problems are distraction, be it from a conversation or by looking away from the road. It’s clear that looking down at your phone to read a text or push some buttons takes your eyes off the road and that is dangerous. But what is often overlooked as how having a conversation with someone on the phone affects you.
Exactly the same applies to using such a device on a bike - perhaps more so given the inherent instability of two wheels only. It wasn't illegal to use a hand held mobile phone in a car until relatively recently - perhaps it should be illegal to use one on a bike too.

 

[ttcycle]

Whether using a device to check a route, send a text or make a call is irrelevant, It is dangerous to do any of these things whilst on the move because one's attention is distracted from the road. It is instructive that Gaz links to Don't Phone and Drive at the bottom of his posts - brief quote - The main problems are distraction, be it from a conversation or by looking away from the road. It’s clear that looking down at your phone to read a text or push some buttons takes your eyes off the road and that is dangerous. But what is often overlooked as how having a conversation with someone on the phone affects you.
It wasn't be illegal to use a mobile in a car until relatively recently - perhaps it should be illegal to use one on a bike too.

It's not me that quoted it as legal/illegal.

I personally wouldn't do it as I'd pull to the side to check stuff or leave it to ring if it was a call. However, I wasn't there, wasn't that cyclist and therefore am not inclined to finger wag on a forum without knowing what was going on at that point.

 

[apollo179]

Not useful to assume, it's hard to know what was going on there.

Route checking etc who knows?

I still feel a few mins here or there is not a problem

No not usefull to assume but i was accepting twobikers overview as i still do.
I would suggest that you are in a minority. A phsycology of speadfreakery exists on our roads and although very creditable for you or anyone to say "a few mins here or there is not a problem" it is imho not the mainstream view.
So whereas you would be happy to be stuck behind some cyclists nattering on his mobile phone the majority of motorist would be heartedly annoyed and it might negatively affect there generally feelings towards cyclists in general , not good.

 

[apollo179]

But one is breaking the law and one is not.

Is it legal for a cyclist to use his mobile while cycling on the road then ?

 

[ttcycle]

What I'm asking though is if you exchange the word 'cyclist' in the sentence to motorist or driver - it changes the meaning.

What I am saying is why are motorists less threatened by cars holding them up and even motorists using mobiles holding them up but when it's a cyclist it keys into the negative, anti cyclist feeling.

Yes, I don't doubt there are irresponsible people in all walks of life.
Those feelings to me are there beforehand regardless of whether someone is on a phone or not - you don't need to be using a phone and you still get the dangerously close passes.

That is the issue. Attitude in generalised terms.

 

[apollo179]

What I'm asking though is if you exchange the word 'cyclist' in the sentence to motorist or driver - it changes the meaning.

What I am saying is why are motorists less threatened by cars holding them up and even motorists using mobiles holding them up but when it's a cyclist it keys into the negative, anti cyclist feeling.

Yes, I don't doubt there are irresponsible people in all walks of life.
Those feelings to me are there beforehand regardless of whether someone is on a phone or not - you don't need to be using a phone and you still get the dangerously close passes.

That is the issue. Attitude in generalised terms.

Obviously naturally motorists affiliations and sympathies gravitate towards there own. Beyond that the main factor is that where hold up occurs cyclists are just slower so the inconvenmience will be worse felt than say where a slow car holds up a fast car. Drivers are similarly scathing about tractors and caravans.
Personally i can understand why a driver would be antagonised by being gratuitously held up by a much slower moving object and within bounds of safety i try and not impede the flow of traffic as much as i can. By the same token i am not impressed where slow moving lines of cars hold me up by being alternately too left or right . Let everyone just get to where they want to get to asap and asafelyap.

 

[apollo179]

It is not specifically illegal as for a car driver. It could be covered by something non-specific though.

Incidentally, drivers on mobiles. I see so many instances of drivers doing this giving ordinary decent drivers a bad name that I find myself ashamed to own up to having a licence.

All you can do is prosecute offenders i guess, but so long as it is spareingly enforced it will not regarded as a serious offence - like with rljing, and people will continue to do it with gay abandone.

 

[Noodley]

I have allready indicated that i am guided by twobiker and that the cyclist is in the wrong.
What trap ?

The trap I expertly set, in a Scooby-Doo stylee, where I knew you would make an assumption...

 

[apollo179]

The trap I expertly set, in a Scooby-Doo stylee, where I knew you would make an assumption...

Well i for one am exteremely impressed , mostly with the fact that you are that committed to the debate that you are thinking strategically about traps and whatnot. Most commendable.
You caught me bang to rights , guilty of assumption.

 

[twobiker]

My concern is that a driver held up by a cyclist , in this case using a phone, would be tempted to overtake at the next opportunity , possibly not the safest opportunity, and so would the other drivers, and then the next time they come upon a cyclist we would all be tarred with the same brush. Hence giving us all a bad name.

 

[danger mouse]

This seems to be about cyclist behaving as good road users.
Much like they want other users to act towards them.

I knocked a cyclist off his bike this morning.
He was crossing a pedestrian crossing while on red and cycled into my path.
It was in rush hour with a lot of traffic around.
It could have been very different if I had been going quicker.

He picked himself up, glared at me and quickly cycled off.
By the time I got over the shock he had gone.

Only later did I find the dent in my wing. Many thanks
I suppose some people will think I was in the wrong. Due care and attention?

The guy appeared to be riding a decent bike and was geared up for commuting.

It really made me think differently about some of the threads on here.
I definitely have an alternate view on RLJ.

No one is perfect and some folk need to check their perfection in the mirror.

 

[apollo179]

[QUOTE 1565798"]
yep
[/quote]

People are allways droning on about how cyclists are just as equally traffic as other road users and should get no special treatment (re - rlj topic) so how can using a mobile phone be illegal for car drivers but legal for cyclists.
maybe the cycling intelligentsia should lobby for equality - cyclists are traffic - it should be just as illegal for a cyclist to use a mobile phone as it is for anyone else.

 

[apollo179]

Are you talking about cyclists using phones? If so I didn't make myself clear. There has to be an offence to prosecute such as cycling carelessly. Using the mobile would not of itself necessarily be enough to demonstrate that offence.

No i was talking about motorists. Motorists being distracted is a life threatening issue and imho deserves higher priority in law enforcement than a silly cyclist using his mobile . It should surely still be illegal for cyclists.

 

[gaz]

People are allways droning on about how cyclists are just as equally traffic as other road users and should get no special treatment (re - rlj topic) so how can using a mobile phone be illegal for car drivers but legal for cyclists.
maybe the cycling intelligentsia should lobby for equality - cyclists are traffic - it should be just as illegal for a cyclist to use a mobile phone as it is for anyone else.

You know it's not against the law for a cyclist to go faster than the speed limit on a public road !

 

[danger mouse]

Pedestrian crossing light was on red (shared route) my light was green.
Dual carriagewayand he was chancing his arm trying to make quick crossing.

I guess with all road users nobodies perfect but it seems that some people want greater perfection from vehicle drivers.
Understandable as they cause a lot more damage than cyclists.

But sometimes we need a balance of opinion.