Video: Frustrated London cyclist uses air horn to clear cycle lanes of pedestrians

brooksby wrote:

I was re-watching this, and wondered why Punchy Man in Black at the end hadn't just crossed the road to walk on a pavement at the other side, rather than walking in a mandatory cycle lane with his back to traffic?

(Mind you, don't contractors have some sort of obligation to put diversionary routes in place if they block a footpath?  Like the ones I saw yesterday who'd helpfully put a 'diversion' sign up whilst they took down a load of scaffolding.  That would be the diversion that immediately went up four steps and was therefore slightly less than wheelchair accessible...).

The punchy man in black is a bit of a twunt it seems.

Redvee wrote:

Dom Joly has already  been there.

 

https://youtu.be/nDTz0Bj5hJk?t=1m29s

And Portlandia did something similar:

https://youtu.be/V3nMnr8ZirI

srchar wrote:

Some of the most dangerous road users are  "delivery" types riding 125s on L-plates. Old blokes on 1000cc sportsbikes, not so much. Young guys on 1000cc sportsbikes... well judging by some of the riding I see, I only hope they don't take anyone with them when they donate their organs. And, is it me, or are there many more young riders tearing around on 15 grand's worth of superbike than there were a few years ago?

North Yorkshire stats told a different story a few years back. 9 out of 10 death or serious injuries were riders over 40. Coming back into biking and not bringing reflexes and skills to the new breed of bikes.

Years ago I was pretty quick, got banned, left of bikes for about 3 years and never got back to level I left at. I'd imagine if you gave it 15 years, old age and horsepower don't mix well.

Damn I miss my vfr400, stick on some bt90s and I could lean it over until the footpegs ground away.

srchar wrote:

Some of the most dangerous road users are  "delivery" types riding 125s on L-plates. Old blokes on 1000cc sportsbikes, not so much. Young guys on 1000cc sportsbikes... well judging by some of the riding I see, I only hope they don't take anyone with them when they donate their organs. And, is it me, or are there many more young riders tearing around on 15 grand's worth of superbike than there were a few years ago?

Yep, there are a lot more young guys on high performance sportsbikes now. They used to be bought just buy older riders. I was going home from work a few months back when I saw an ambulance and as I drew closer, a rider getting CPR. A car had pulled out from a side road and he'd been filtering, but from the distance between where he'd collided with the car and where him and his R1 had landed, it was easy to tell he'd been well in excess of the 40mph speed limit.

I saw in the local paper a couple of days later that he'd died. He was 34. Speed limits are there for a reason and if he'd stuck to them, chances are he'd have had a few brken bones at worst.

One of the guys in the estate, in his 20s, stacked his Gixxer not so long ago. He's off the crutches now. Another one of that crowd stacked his sportsbike (I forget what) and was less lucky.

You can buy a secondhand 600, 750 or 1,000 for a few grand. That doesn't mean you know how to ride it. The power to weight ratio of a modern sportsbike is truly astounding, making a performance car a like a Ferrari look a bit like a tractor.

joules1975 wrote:

but otherwise ride in a way that assumes anyone could make an inintential suicide bid at any moment, in the same way that I assume that any vehicle could suddenly try to intentionally/unintentially kill me at any moment.

But that only gives rise to going at 5mph or never going on the road.

KINGHORN wrote:

I get the the ones actually walking along, but you can't do that to folk ALREADY crossing, they actually have right of way!

Did you mean priority? Not sure what you mean by already crossing, is it only ok to alert them before they step off the kerb?

They've still willfully walked out in front of moving traffic (or done it without looking), can't see the problem of alerting them to the rider's presence.

If you were cycling and pulled out in front of moving motor vehicles, without looking, do you think that drivers might use their horns?

ChrisB200SX wrote:

KINGHORN wrote:

I get the the ones actually walking along, but you can't do that to folk ALREADY crossing, they actually have right of way!

Did you mean priority? Not sure what you mean by already crossing, is it only ok to alert them before they step off the kerb?

They've still willfully walked out in front of moving traffic (or done it without looking), can't see the problem of alerting them to the rider's presence.

If you were cycling and pulled out in front of moving motor vehicles, without looking, do you think that drivers might use their horns?

Pedestrians do have priority if they've already started to cross a road, but I don't think that applies if you are already indicating to enter that road before they cross.

Similarly, if you indicate to pull out in front of a motor vehicle, then they shouldn't use their horn unless your maneouvre forces them to slow-down/alter course.

So, if a pedestrian doesn't bother looking and forces you to slow-down/alter course then it's a matter of safety to signal (loudly) that they've just put themselves in danger.

hawkinspeter wrote:

Pedestrians do have priority if they've already started to cross a road, but I don't think that applies if you are already indicating to enter that road before they cross.

Don't think that applies to signal controlled crossings though?

21
At traffic lights. There may be special signals for pedestrians. You should only start to cross the road when the green figure shows.

Although I can't really tell if the lights were green for the pedestrians and the traffic given the contra lane !

hirsute wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Pedestrians do have priority if they've already started to cross a road, but I don't think that applies if you are already indicating to enter that road before they cross.

Don't think that applies to signal controlled crossings though?

21
At traffic lights. There may be special signals for pedestrians. You should only start to cross the road when the green figure shows.

 

Although I can't really tell if the lights were green for the pedestrians and the traffic given the contra lane !

I don't think the Highway Code is particularly clear on that matter. The instruction to pedestrians is a "should", so there's no legal obligation for pedestrians to follow that (e.g. unlike U.S. jaywalking).

I'd agree with you though, that the more specific crossing instructions should supercede the more general instructions.

hawkinspeter wrote:

hirsute wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Pedestrians do have priority if they've already started to cross a road, but I don't think that applies if you are already indicating to enter that road before they cross.

Don't think that applies to signal controlled crossings though?

21
At traffic lights. There may be special signals for pedestrians. You should only start to cross the road when the green figure shows.

 

Although I can't really tell if the lights were green for the pedestrians and the traffic given the contra lane !

I don't think the Highway Code is particularly clear on that matter. The instruction to pedestrians is a "should", so there's no legal obligation for pedestrians to follow that (e.g. unlike U.S. jaywalking).

I'd agree with you though, that the more specific crossing instructions should supercede the more general instructions.

The red signal at crossings means it may not be safe to cross. It doesn't mean you must not cross. Like any other section of road, it's fine to cross if it's clear to do so.

Crossing with the red man lit up is fine as long as you aren't walking into the path of moving vehicles!

ChrisB200SX wrote:

The red signal at crossings means it may not be safe to cross. It doesn't mean you must not cross. Like any other section of road, it's fine to cross if it's clear to do so.

Crossing with the red man lit up is fine as long as you aren't walking into the path of moving vehicles!

It's just whether rule 170 applies if it is a controlled crossing and the lights are red.

I don't think it does and wish pedestrians would check when crossing on a red !

ChrisB200SX wrote:

KINGHORN wrote:

I get the the ones actually walking along, but you can't do that to folk ALREADY crossing, they actually have right of way!

Did you mean priority? Not sure what you mean by already crossing, is it only ok to alert them before they step off the kerb?

They've still willfully walked out in front of moving traffic (or done it without looking), can't see the problem of alerting them to the rider's presence.

If you were cycling and pulled out in front of moving motor vehicles, without looking, do you think that drivers might use their horns?

Yes priority if you want to be pedantic and "already" means just that, already crossing, not about to cross.

KINGHORN wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

KINGHORN wrote:

I get the the ones actually walking along, but you can't do that to folk ALREADY crossing, they actually have right of way!

Did you mean priority? Not sure what you mean by already crossing, is it only ok to alert them before they step off the kerb?

They've still willfully walked out in front of moving traffic (or done it without looking), can't see the problem of alerting them to the rider's presence.

If you were cycling and pulled out in front of moving motor vehicles, without looking, do you think that drivers might use their horns?

 

Yes priority if you want to be pedantic and "already" means just that, already crossing, not about to cross.

I still don't think you've grasped what you've implied even though I spelled it out for you.

You are suggesting it's only ok to alert pedestrians to your presence when they are not on the road... This seems at odds with the highway code as horn use is supposed to be to alert other road users to danger or your presence. Or do we a have a Schrödinger's Pedestrian situation?