Questions you'd like answering, regardless of how trivial they may seem

[grldtnr]

Honestly ,I wouldn't trust a chimp with a butter knife ,let alone a cut throat razor.

 

[Fastpedaller]

I think I might've asked this before, so if I have my apologies. My question is about rain water and that fake grass many seem to buy now to avoid lawn maintenance. When it rains does the fake grass allow water to drain through it, or does the rain water remain on the fake grass till it dries/evaporates naturally? 🤔

Dunno about water pooling, but weeds can grow through it, so maybe a waste of money?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Dunno about water pooling, but weeds can grow through it, so maybe a waste of money?

That confuses me
Clearly the fake grass (AKA plastic) will trap flying dust and grit and stuff
and also seeds and leaves and all that
which will become - basically - soil - after a year or so
and then more seeds and stuff will comes and grow in it

Therefore either you need to clear out all the stuff every few months -- which seems like more trouble than mowing a lawn
or put weedkiller on it every year - or several times a year
which is even more environmental damage on top of the plastic
and they don;t last forever and cost a lot

I saw an article about them once and I reckoned that over a 10 year period it might work out cheaper to have a proper lawn and have a person coming round to mow it once every few weeks!
never got round to doing the calculations though

 

[lazybloke]

It's outdoor carpet and looks awful.

On the other hand, my real lawns don't look great either.

 

[grldtnr]

One thing ,amongst many that rankles with me is Drivers turning right,
They invariably turn into the wrong side of the road , I. e. The left side from where they in turn ought to be turning right themselves.
I really do not understand how can drivers possibly see what is emerging, they just swing in , or out as the case maybe, not even managing to be on the left side turning out, often at speed.
When I was taught to drive , it was drummed into me ,road positioning, have your shoulder in line with the centre line of the junction ,then you will always make the turn correctly.
This fad off cutting corners is a sure sign of imminent collisions
Cyclist are especially vulnerable if attempting to turn right, right In the collision line.
So , the question is ,why ? The hardest question to answer.

 

[Fastpedaller]

One thing ,amongst many that rankles with me is Drivers turning right,
They invariably turn into the wrong side of the road , I. e. The left side from where they in turn ought to be turning right themselves.
I really do not understand how can drivers possibly see what is emerging, they just swing in , or out as the case maybe, not even managing to be on the left side turning out, often at speed.
When I was taught to drive , it was drummed into me ,road positioning, have your shoulder in line with the centre line of the junction ,then you will always make the turn correctly.
This fad off cutting corners is a sure sign of imminent collisions
Cyclist are especially vulnerable if attempting to turn right, right In the collision line.
So , the question is ,why ? The hardest question to answer.

Laziness and impatience - driving too fast, so it's easier to cut the corner and less steering effort!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

One thing ,amongst many that rankles with me is Drivers turning right,
They invariably turn into the wrong side of the road , I. e. The left side from where they in turn ought to be turning right themselves.
I really do not understand how can drivers possibly see what is emerging, they just swing in , or out as the case maybe, not even managing to be on the left side turning out, often at speed.
When I was taught to drive , it was drummed into me ,road positioning, have your shoulder in line with the centre line of the junction ,then you will always make the turn correctly.
This fad off cutting corners is a sure sign of imminent collisions
Cyclist are especially vulnerable if attempting to turn right, right In the collision line.
So , the question is ,why ? The hardest question to answer.

It is easier - requires less effort

i.e. lazy

I do it myself - but only if I can actually see down the road I am turning into and KNOW there is nothing coming

turning out of our road it is not in the least uncommon to get to the T-junction and have to stop well short due to a car turning in and going right over to my side of the road
Thsi is basically because there are always cars parked along the cross road - all the way along - so the car coming from my left is already on the wrong side of the road to pass the parked car
This does make it more difficult for them to turn right properly
and it would be quite an effort in a big old car without power steering

but with a modern car it is not that hard - but it still happens a lot

 

[Chris S]

One thing ,amongst many that rankles with me is Drivers turning right,
They invariably turn into the wrong side of the road , I. e. The left side from where they in turn ought to be turning right themselves.
I really do not understand how can drivers possibly see what is emerging, they just swing in , or out as the case maybe, not even managing to be on the left side turning out, often at speed.
When I was taught to drive , it was drummed into me ,road positioning, have your shoulder in line with the centre line of the junction ,then you will always make the turn correctly.
This fad off cutting corners is a sure sign of imminent collisions
Cyclist are especially vulnerable if attempting to turn right, right In the collision line.
So , the question is ,why ? The hardest question to answer.

That happened to me tonight. The car nearly swung straight into me. I was about to dive on to his bonnet (to break my fall) when he stopped.

 

[Jenkins]

If turning right out of a side road on a bike, I've now got into the habit of being within foot or so of the centre line of the road - almost always a driver wanting to turn right into the side road will wave/flash you out first so they can short cut the corner and not have to take it properly.

 

[grldtnr]

It is primarily laziness, , I mean how hard can it be twirling a steering wheel that is power assisted , brakes that control your speed very well ,and a responsive motor that powers you along effortlessly
Worst of all drivers will lean with the speed of the turn to do what exactly ? Not make the car turn.......surely not, on a bicycle leaning is a function of steering, something that you physically have to balance and control to make progress, exactly why you should have priority over cars with all home comforts.
I do drive , but not very often, I do as I described , actually drive taking great care in road positioning, so I can turn into , out of roads with precision , if I can see the road is densely parked , I will often stop short of the junction to get my view, then progress safely , I have always done that. And yet not had a collision with others in all my 50 yrs of driving
It can be done, so why not.?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

It is primarily laziness, , I mean how hard can it be twirling a steering wheel that is power assisted , brakes that control your speed very well ,and a responsive motor that powers you along effortlessly
Worst of all drivers will lean with the speed of the turn to do what exactly ? Not make the car turn.......surely not, on a bicycle leaning is a function of steering, something that you physically have to balance and control to make progress, exactly why you should have priority over cars with all home comforts.
I do drive , but not very often, I do as I described , actually drive taking great care in road positioning, so I can turn into , out of roads with precision , if I can see the road is densely parked , I will often stop short of the junction to get my view, then progress safely , I have always done that. And yet not had a collision with others in all my 50 yrs of driving
It can be done, so why not.?

When I started driving my instructor, at the end of my first lesson, asked me if I rode a bike

He said that he always asked but was pretty much always right in what he was already thinking
because people who had riden bikes around the roads for some time alreayd knew the road signs and marking and all that

but also had a good sense of how to turn, when to slow down and how vehicles move around

In my opinion that carries on throughout life - it would be interesting to see stats on accidents with cars where the drivers do or don;t ride bikes
although analysing while removing things like wealth, attitude, type of bike ridden etc etc etc would be a right pain in the whatsit

 

[grldtnr]

When I started driving my instructor, at the end of my first lesson, asked me if I rode a bike

He said that he always asked but was pretty much always right in what he was already thinking
because people who had riden bikes around the roads for some time alreayd knew the road signs and marking and all that

but also had a good sense of how to turn, when to slow down and how vehicles move around

In my opinion that carries on throughout life - it would be interesting to see stats on accidents with cars where the drivers do or don;t ride bikes
although analysing while removing things like wealth, attitude, type of bike ridden etc etc etc would be a right pain in the whatsit

There could be a grain of truth in that I've ridden on roads shortly after learning to ride a bike, and ever since I got my red & green RoSPA badge very proud of that at the time, so at a very early age 10 or so.
Always done so, so very familiar with Road traffic.
It's perhaps something that ought to be reintroduced, the RoSPA scheme, it might educate the young at an impressionable age.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

There could be a grain of truth in that I've ridden on roads shortly after learning to ride a bike, and ever since I got my red & green RoSPA badge very proud of that at the time, so at a very early age 10 or so.
Always done so, so very familiar with Road traffic.
It's perhaps something that ought to be reintroduced, the RoSPA scheme, it might educate the young at an impressionable age.

There is a BikeABility scheme that some school do
not sure what the syllabus is - but they do take them out on the road at the end

 

[matticus]

If turning right out of a side road on a bike, I've now got into the habit of being within foot or so of the centre line of the road - almost always a driver wanting to turn right into the side road will wave/flash you out first so they can short cut the corner and not have to take it properly.

I was gobsmacked in Cornwall on a recent trip. Somewhere betwixt Goonhilly and the Lizzard.

As I waited to turn right out of minor road (nr the centre line), a driver turned into my road entirely on the wrong side i.e. on my left, cutting the corner on the racing line!

Driving something like an opn-top Merc, big grin on his face.

He gave me plenty of room, wasn't going crazy fast, and sight lines were good, so I didn't feel in any danger: but I was still astonished!

 

[grldtnr]

There is a BikeABility scheme that some school do
not sure what the syllabus is - but they do take them out on the road at the end

Not a patch on the RoSPA ,yes they do ride on the road,, but it is very sanitizer.
But it isn't the child that needs training , it the adult drivers...