SPEED, does it effect safety in a city

[glenn forger]

I don't feel the need to keep up with cars if they're travelling faster than me, why should I?
GC

It's slowing down to keep up in rush hour. It's safer if you slow down to match traffic speed.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

It's slowing down to keep up in rush hour. It's safer if you slow down to match traffic speed.

I don't follow what you're getting at. (If it helps, my post appeared moments after yours and wasn't in answer to it, it was a general observation.)

GC

 

[subaqua]

Is this rider down or just the place to slag off riders involved in collisions you know next to nothing about?

when a cycle courier laughs at you for riding like a dick, then its a fair bet they are a nobber.
Must be something about Finsbury circus/square as there were a few nobbers on bikes yesterday especially the full roadie who tried to undertake a bus and the suited city clown who thought at the end of Beech street tunnel that it would be great to try and go up the inside of a moving bus which was indicating left to turn into Aldersgate street heading south.

 

[Ganymede]

You have got to at least try keep up with the traffic.

With respect Ian, I don't. I can't ride at 30 mph and I don't want to. Very happy for you to do so but we are not all made the same and if drivers can lay my lack of speed on me as well as all the other cr@p they like to blame me for as a cyclist, it would be most unhealthy.

 

[Racing roadkill]

when a cycle courier laughs at you for riding like a dick, then its a fair bet they are a nobber.
Must be something about Finsbury circus/square as there were a few nobbers on bikes yesterday especially the full roadie who tried to undertake a bus and the suited city clown who thought at the end of Beech street tunnel that it would be great to try and go up the inside of a moving bus which was indicating left to turn into Aldersgate street heading south.

That's exactly where this one got hit.

 

[ianrauk]

With respect Ian, I don't. I can't ride at 30 mph and I don't want to. Very happy for you to do so but we are not all made the same and if drivers can lay my lack of speed on me as well as all the other cr@p they like to blame me for as a cyclist, it would be most unhealthy.

I can't ride at 30mph either. But remember, I am cycling in some of SE London's finest and busiest roads...the motorised traffic hardly ever gets above 30mph either.

 

[glenn forger]

Rush hour traffic is eleven mph on average. It's safer to slow down to that speed or lower, behave like a car, take the space and maintain the speed to remove the risky overtakes. I don't mind an idiot driver in front or behind, I don't want them doing dumbass overtakes, so it's not that a rider's speed of eleven mph is a safer speed intrinsically, it's simply that you're then in a nice safe convoy of traffic all doing the same speed.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Ok, got it now. Ta.


GC

 

[Ganymede]

I can't ride at 30mph either. But remember, I am cycling in some of SE London's finest and busiest roads...the motorised traffic hardly ever gets above 30mph either.

Ha! yes, I know SE London well, though don't often cycle there. However, I mostly cycle on roads where the limit is 40+. And what I'm saying is - cycling as a means of transport is not about cycling fast, it's about using a mode of transport at a pace which is comfortable for the rider, whether fast or slow. I average 10-12 mph and most traffic is way faster than me, even in London, and I still have the right to be safe. (I dream...)

 

[ianrauk]

Ha! yes, I know SE London well, though don't often cycle there. However, I mostly cycle on roads where the limit is 40+. And what I'm saying is - cycling as a means of transport is not about cycling fast, it's about using a mode of transport at a pace which is comfortable for the rider, whether fast or slow. I average 10-12 mph and most traffic is way faster than me, even in London, and I still have the right to be safe. (I dream...)

And of course you have the right to be safe, as we all do. I'm not saying cycling is about just being fast rather then being confident, (I am far from fast looking at the MCL site) but as we are mixing it with motorised traffic then we should at least try and cycle as if we are one of them to maximise our space and safety. Not to let or give moton nobbers the chance to take advantage because they will. The old adage give them an inch etc.

 

[Ganymede]

And of course you have the right to be safe, as we all do. I'm not saying cycling is about just being fast rather then being confident, (I am far from fast looking at the MCL site) but as we are mixing it with motorised traffic then we should at least try and cycle as if we are one of them to maximise our space and safety. Not to let or give moton nobbers the chance to take advantage because they will. The old adage give them an inch etc.

Completely agree. I have increased my confidence a lot and it is very much needed on our winding lanes where certain drivers just love those blind bends... Riding a recumbent helps, I feel much more visible (and even slower uphill).

 

[ianrauk]

Completely agree. I have increased my confidence a lot and it is very much needed on our winding lanes where certain drivers just love those blind bends... Riding a recumbent helps, I feel much more visible (and even slower uphill).

Yup, when I was a Recumberator, I was amazed at how much more space I was given than if I was on a DF bike.

 

[Ganymede]

Yup, when I was a Recumberator, I was amazed at how much more space I was given than if I was on a DF bike.

Being also a woman with long blonde hair I get a pretty good "wide pass" rate! Didn't know you'd been on the dark side, what did you ride?

 

[MichaelW2]

Rush hour traffic is eleven mph on average. .

But car traffic tends to be start-stop which is inefficient for cyclists, and for cars.
How many times have you been overtaken by a driver, desperate to get to the red light and stopped line of cars, before you.

 

[glenn forger]

yeah, that happens.