Damn you tossers on the road and recycling bins

[yoyogirl]

One thing I can’t stand about cycling at times are the peanuts on the road (drivers) who do not indicate, they are there for reason It should be second nature.
And also people are who leave huge recycling bins in the middle tiny pavements, just say I cycled into one and ended up with a bike that needed to two breaks and sore knee. I wanted to boot its ass to the other end of the globe.
It seems that people seem to forget that cyclists pedestrians are more vulnerable as we are on two feet.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Thank you for that very enlightening post.

 

[winjim]

Bins on pavements shouldn't really be a problem for cyclists, surely? As for indicators, they are useful at times but certainly have their limitations. I became more relaxed about them when I realised that indicating is a 'should' rather than a 'must' so my brain no longer has an expectation that drivers will use them at all.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Drivers should use indicators, but I was taught that if you see an indicator, all it means for certain is that the lamp works.

 

[annedonnelly]

The bins on pavements are much more of an issue for the visually impaired or people who want to use the pavement with a wheelchair or pushing a pram or pushchair.

I really should've taken a photo the other day of the driving school car parked completely on the shared cycle/footpath, blocking the lowered kerb area for a crossing. I gave them the benefit of the doubt thinking that maybe they had broken down & were simply putting the car off the road. On second thoughts I suspect not. If I see it again I will take a picture & report it. Surely driving instructors shouldn't be setting that sort of example.

 

[Drago]

One thing I can’t stand about cycling at times are the peanuts on the road (drivers) who do not indicate, they are there for reason It should be second nature.

No, it must never be second nature. It must only be done with thought and care, and only after correct observation drills.

The majority of drivers who indicate do so as second nature, which means they simply click the indicator on with no real attempt, if any, of proper obs before doing so. That makes it largely meaningless, and gives no assutance at all that they have seen you and will react accordingly. ClicheGuevara puts it beautifully - it means only that the bulb works.

As road users, indicators are bottom on the list of things we should be watching for as an indicator(!) of a drivers intent. Their speed, positioning, direction in which they are looking, angle of their front wheels, etc, all give far more timely and accurate notice of their intentions than a blinking light which had probably simpky failed to cancel following a turn they made 2 miles back.

Indicators on their own make drivers lazy, and your average driver is just that. They also serve to make unskilled observers over reliant upon them and lazy, but that's something we can remedy with training and repetition, although few bother. That's simple human nature. They are only a useful tool when used with awareness and dilligence by both the driver and observer.

 

[Punkawallah]

One thing I can’t stand about cycling at times are the peanuts on the road (drivers) who do not indicate, they are there for reason It should be second nature.
And also people are who leave huge recycling bins in the middle tiny pavements, just say I cycled into one and ended up with a bike that needed to two breaks and sore knee. I wanted to boot its ass to the other end of the globe.
It seems that people seem to forget that cyclists pedestrians are more vulnerable as we are on two feet.

Driver not indicating, cyclists not indicating, it must be a peanut thing :-)

As for cycling on pavements, I tend to take the view that they are there for the pedestrians, and cut my speed down to theirs? Even stopping if it looks to be getting a bit crowded. Nothing worse than running out of space and hitting a solid object :-)

Hope the knee/brakes are better soon!

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Too many drivers seem to think that an indicator gives them some sort of right to turn. 'didn't you see my indicator' they yell, with seemingly no understanding that at best it's a signal of intent, that should only be used when it's safe to make the manoeuvre.

 

[Milkfloat]

The bins on pavements are much more of an issue for the visually impaired or people who want to use the pavement with a wheelchair or pushing a pram or pushchair.

I really should've taken a photo the other day of the driving school car parked completely on the shared cycle/footpath, blocking the lowered kerb area for a crossing. I gave them the benefit of the doubt thinking that maybe they had broken down & were simply putting the car off the road. On second thoughts I suspect not. If I see it again I will take a picture & report it. Surely driving instructors shouldn't be setting that sort of example.

You are very generous, I (and the law) are of the opinion that even if they are broken down they should not move the car off the road to block the footpath/cycleway.

 

[annedonnelly]

You are very generous, I (and the law) are of the opinion that even if they are broken down they should not move the car off the road to block the footpath/cycleway.

I know, if I pass that way again at a similar time & find that it's a regular thing I will take a pic & report it.

 

[Oldhippy]

People parked on shared pathways always accidentally get their mirrors clipped when I cycle by.

 

[Lozz360]

Interesting first post. Welcome to CC.

 

[winjim]

People parked on shared pathways always accidentally get their mirrors clipped when I cycle by.

I accidentally rammed my kid's pushchair into a massive 4x4 parked on the pavement by the children's playground. The owner was inside and came out absolutely hopping mad, it was funny as fark. He was accusing me of doing it deliberately and everything. Thing is, I had meant to get close to his car and yield as little of the pavement as possible, I just misjudged it a little. Does he really think I would purposely use my one year old child as a battering ram?

I hope it scratched the shoot out of his car, modern pushchairs are pretty solid things.

 

[mjr]

As for cycling on pavements, I tend to take the view that they are there for the pedestrians, and cut my speed down to theirs? Even stopping if it looks to be getting a bit crowded. Nothing worse than running out of space and hitting a solid object :-)

Never underestimate the chance of misjudging where your extremities are and hitting obstacles placed in the highway. We know this. That is why lampposts are being moved back to the edge of the highway land, for example, but for some reason cyclists are expected to be more skilful and able to avoid all sorts of obstructions, including signposts, lampposts, CCTV masts, traffic light control cabinets, phone cabinets, telegraph poles, ... or maybe it is just that they get removed from carriageways because motorists often destroy what they hit but cyclists rarely do.

Also, from the use of "ass", I wonder if the OP is from "over the pond" and so pavement is any tarmac, whether carriageway, cycleway or footway.

 

[fossyant]

Wait till you are riding to work on a wet stormy morning, and an industrial wheely bin (4 caster ones) comes flying into the road - that did wake me up.