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Cycling in London
I note with interest the comments regarding cycling in London. As one of the hated truck drivers i would like to make some comments. If you see a truck my advice is stay away, keep back and under no circumstances, whether its indicating or not DO NOT go up the inside of it. Secondly if you wear headphones whilst riding so you can't hear whats going on around you, well your a moron.
The roads of London are not designed for the volume of traffic that uses them and while trucks and cycles continue to use the same space accidents are going to happen. And remember we as truck drivers don'twant to come into London we are supplying the needs of 8million people, food,water,coffee all is delivered by truck.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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Latest Comments
- Hirsute 1 hour 51 min ago
Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
- lonpfrb 2 hours 11 min ago
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
- lonpfrb 2 hours 37 min ago
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
- TheBillder 3 hours 24 min ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
- don simon fbpe 3 hours 52 min ago
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
- chrisonabike 4 hours 33 min ago
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
- ktache 5 hours 12 min ago
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
- Veganpotter 6 hours 9 min ago
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
- chrisonabike 7 hours 25 min ago
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
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54 comments
And I own a headphone business...the advice from Music To Your Ears is not to wear headphones whilst cycling. Ever.
And to treat all other road users with respect, and funnily enough that's what you get back 99% of the time.
[quote=Argos74
To those suggesting cyclists drive a lorry for a day, remind me again how many lorry drivers have been killed in collisions with cyclists.[/quote]
I think the point would be to understand the limitations of manoeuvring large vehilcles on small and busy roads and how significant the blind spots are.
I think the point would be to understand the limitations of manoeuvring large vehilcles on small and busy roads and how significant the blind spots are.[/quote]
Which would seem to make quite nicely the point that these vehicles are not fit for the purposes for which they are being used, and should be replaced.
Replaced with what exactly?
Long vehicles will always have blind spots.
Answer is a compulsory test for all drivers every 5 years with enhanced test items on inside observation.
Last time I checked, observing the near side mirror before moving off isn't even a test item, it's an advanced driving technique, or at least it used to be.
If we want the ' modern world' we need long vehicles, I don't need it, but most seem to.
Well i expected to get shot down in flames, but apart from a couple in the main the response has been positive.
Can i make ir clear, in my comments about headphones i was not, and would not point the finger at deaf people or the hard of hearing.
I would wholeheartedly support a ban on HGV 's say between 7 and 9am and 4 and 7pm it can only be a good idea.
I am pleased i do not drive either a skip lorry or tipper truck. And in the comment about me riding a bike in London, not on your life. That is until like Milton Keynes, London has a series of red routes for cycles only. It's far too dangerous too many motor vehicles and lorries.
And remember the more mirrors you fit on a truck the more blind spots you create.
Then one should ask why they are on those small and busy roads.
I'm not arguing for a blanket ban, but time-and-again I (often as a pedestrian) see them slowly and painfully trying to negotiate roads that are clearly entirely unsuitable for them.
Why can they not be routed to avoid those small roads, and maybe the 'busy' roads could be made less busy by getting some of the other traffic off of them?
Are you blind? Take your rant and any future words you wish to post here and fuck off.
Thank you for sticking around and reading the responses, Chris. And not only the positive ones either. I'm aware that my response will have seemed hostile to you, but the general tone of your opening post and some of the points you made did get my blood boiling a bit. In case you simply phrased them in an unfortunate way and I misunderstood, I apologise.
I'm glad you agree about the rush hour ban, in my mind this is one of the things that would greatly improve the situation in a lot of cities.
Good point about more mirrors creating new blind spots, though. Goes to show that a new approach to this problem must be found instead.
"your a moron" - says it all really.
If I see a truck, I will approach and overtake it on the outside. I won't "stay away" or "keep back", because there's really no need, unless the driver's not looking in his mirrors when I perform a safe overtake.
Personally, I don't wear headphones as I like to hear what's going on, but deaf people also cycle and you can't hear the environment in a car or truck with the radio on.
The roads of London are indeed too narrow, congested and potholed to safely cope with the amount of traffic on them. If you look closely though, you'll see that a bike takes up much less room than a truck or even a car, so that's not the fault of cyclists.
I wonder what sort of reaction I'd get if I logged onto a trucker's website and tried to give them some tips on safe driving.
Who'd have thought it, on a cycling forum too. Devious subversive bastards.
How about a "drivers mate" - the Army has been using them forever, a passenger to assist the driver in observation, loading and unloading etc.
We've enough unemployed in this country, hell you don't need to be fit, qualified or a people person, you just need to be able to look out a passenger window and have enough of a command of the English language to say "clear" or "wait..........clear now" probably helpful if you like Yorkie bars too.
Things the roads of London are DEFINITELY not designed for: four axle tipper trucks
Would you give your kids the same advice?
There is nothing wrong with overtaking safely but you're the sort of person who is a member of a cycling forum. For general safety purposes "stay clear" is better advice.
That sounds like a good idea and a great way to create jobs, especially for folks who've been struggling! Although I suppose it'd be down to the profit of the company who employs them, it might be quite a large overhead in the long run for smaller freight or construction firms.
Unless it was like a part time or even a return-to-work scheme type thing.
If I had kids, I wouldn't allow them to mix it with traffic in central London's rush hour full stop. I'm not advising newbies to overtake every truck they see (although I'd rather they did that than undertake); I simply stated that I overtake when I think it's safe to do so.
I strongly dislike all the "CYCLISTS - GET BACK" stickers that have appeared on buses and lorries over the last few months. They solve nothing and merely serve to reinforce the general opinion that bikes do not belong on roads and should not mix with traffic.
It seems to me that our roads especially in London are not designed for their current users - mostly they were designed in the days of horses or very small motors of the early 20th century. The post by Chris82 was just one of someone trying to make their daily way around an inadequate system. To make the bad system work we all need to exercise a bit of common sense. What I have noticed is that when I am commuting on my bicycle that I tend not to want to stop because of the extra effort and hassle so the temptation to take a risk is there - I mostly manage to ignore the temptation but we all are prone to poor judgement on occasions.
I commute past the Tower of London on my east to west London journey and there are times when lorries seem to outnumber all other road users on that stretch so I would be in favour of a Paris type ban it would ease things a bit.
Just another failure to try and resolve themselves of their responsibility, they have no justification for using them, no legal meaning either.
They are so laughable I've even seen them on private motor vehicles.
The junction around Tower Bridge/Tower of London is awful. Had to navigate it every day for a three month contract going south-east to north-east and back again each day. When it's busy, it's terrifying due to the sheer volume of heavy traffic, and if you leave work a little late and it's quieter, there's always a driver or two using it as a racetrack.
It's horrible on a bicycle, in a car or on a motorbike. I've done all three often enough. I try and go a different route if I can.
Not really much alternative for me if I'm working in East London. I could go over London Bridge, but that's hardly a better or safer alternative.
Totally agree. I actually wrote to the Mayor's office about it once after a particularly scary ride through that junction one morning and whilst I did get a response (from Andrew Gilligan) it was a template "look at all the stuff we're doing for cycling in London" email, none of which included making changes to that junction. It's pretty grim, whichever way you're tackling it, so that includes when coming off CS3 then onto the bridge. A big part of the problem is when you travel south to north you're in single lane traffic over the bridge which then fans out into 3 different lanes for then taking 4/5 different exits at the junction, so everyone's all over the place. It's not always safe to filter up to the ASL and if you do get there there's often a BMW and a van taking up a chunk of it. Nightmare.
Yup, or a bus, or a lorry, or a coach. Even once had a driver deliberately push across me. That was nice. Best advice is to cross the bridge at the same speed as the motor traffic, then take it very easy whilst filtering into the ASL if possible.
Really? lol.
The most obvious thing to do is to close it to all motor vehicle traffic...but that'd take guts and we all know tfl have none.
Oh, and the road surface is crap as well, due to the tourist buses using the route most likely. On a bicycle or a motorbike particularly, that increases the danger. If you can go another way, do.
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