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Live blog: Edinburgh primary school bike bus; Peter Sagan in bizarre relay race; chauffeur in road rage incident says his manoeuvre “was perfectly safe” + more
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Fri, Oct 26, 2018 08:55
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Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn’t especially like cake.
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-300x225.jpg "“Was one of them bad driving?” Newspaper criticised for publishing “8 dangerous cycling mistakes that put people in hospital”; Punchy finale without fans at wildfire-affected Tour de France + more on the live blog")
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Latest Comments
tomlew 37 minutes ago
@Rendel Harris No contradiction here. You can start with the intention to win the GC or just take your chance when you get it. The first one puts you under immense pressure - both mentally and physically - and could indeed cause a lot of trouble. The other gives you absolute freedom - the aim is to survive and learn the ropes, but when the stars align, you could just push and see what happens.
ktache 1 hour ago
And there will be a +1 option, which the highlights on ITV4 never had, meaning that if there are problems on the train or I have to stay a bit at work I won't be as bothered. Quest had it, but not DMAX. But both suffered from the aforementioned unexplained no-show.
andystow 1 hour ago
@mdavidford it was ice moments before the photo was taken. Those guys make a lot of watts.
TrainWalkWheel 2 hours ago
The constant misconception with closs passing relates to the view that 1.51m is legal and 1.49m is illegal. It isn't. The government considered a minimum distance offence (and Tim, quoted in the article, pushed heavy for it in the consultation) but the conclusion of the consultation was that a minimum distance offence would result in no prosecution as the forensic evidence of distance would not exist. Instead s3 was the sensible fall back. Tim and a few other cyclists push the narrative that 1.5 is a legal requirement and police forces receive criticism if they apply the law of careless driving rather than the imaginary law of close passing. As time passes police forces understand that 1.5 is a fallicy, as more separated cycle lanes demonstrate this as they are themselves less than. 1.5 m from passing traffic despite having a physical separation. This distinction makes closs pass prosecution very "dodgy" without clear carelessness. But that message is lost in the fog of twitter.
ktache 2 hours ago
According to the commentators today the french police can and have. They were chatting about temporary powers so that it's an offence to disobey an order from the police, concerning preventing spectators because of the wildfires. There were however far more fans than I was expecting. Yesterday's flare was over the border of course.
griggers 2 hours ago
Nothing wrong with large chainrings - in fact, big to big is way more efficient so, use a big chainring and bigger cassette sprockets - it'll freak out your mates and allow you to pedal more smoothly and replace your chain less often!
ktache 2 hours ago
Having recently purchased a month of TNT, and waiting for the start of the TTT, I caught some of the men's downhill, might have been the winner, but this lad did particularly well and decided to fall off after crossing the line. His airbag went off. I still think a bit of aramid in the weave on hip and shoulders wouldn't go amiss,
ktache 2 hours ago
I liked it. I will watch it. It's essentially the TNT coverage, highlighted. So the same coverage that would have been on Quest or DMAX, but with the singular presenter, maybe less chat and maybe more racing. Hopefully less chance of the weird no coverage and no explanation days. Unfortunately no rest day recap, one of those lovely itv things. And no Chris.
23 thoughts on “Live blog: Edinburgh primary school bike bus; Peter Sagan in bizarre relay race; chauffeur in road rage incident says his manoeuvre “was perfectly safe” + more”
Quote:
I’m going to go with, “Because it was signposted as a left-turn-only lane, so them’s the rules, innit?”
Sorry, based on this limited
Sorry, based on this limited evidence, I’m with the driver.
MarkiMark wrote:
So you think the rules don’t apply? Awesome.
”It was perfectly safe” is the driving equivalent of “it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye”.
vonhelmet wrote:
In all fairness, it doesn’t say that the chauffeur said it was perfectly safe for the cyclist…
MarkiMark wrote:
If you watch the longer version of the vid, you can see the driver drifting left towards a parked white van, presumably cutting off the cyclist who he is still driving along next to having a chat.
MarkiMark wrote:
“limited evidence” is the problem.
The driver has released an edited video which only shows what happens after the traffic starts moving at the lights. The cyclist is clearly already annoyed – but we’re not allowed to see what the driver did to upset him.
Instead we get the driver going straight on in a left only lane then pulling alongside the cyclist and berating him before overtaking and pulling in to block him. Why? Up to the point the cyclist had done nothing wrong, yet the driver feels the need to drive alongside and lecture him and when that doesn’t work stop him to complete the lecture.
The driver knew he’s done something wrong, but he won’t let us see what it was.
“It was perfectly safe”,
“It was perfectly safe”, sorry matey, but It’s not your call.
don simon wrote:
Ah, but you are forgetting, he’s a professional driver….
As for the cyclist, I would have used the other side of the wheel, save damaging the rear mech.
Many comments on this and
Many comments on this and linked posts follow the maxim that the cyclist is always right because he’s a cyclist right?, and the driver is obviously always wrong because they’re all dangerous idiots. It’s a very blinkered way of looking at things. As a regular cyclist around London I see moronic cyclists who shame the rest of us (and yes, moronic motorists also). I suspect only a couple of people know the facts about who was in the wrong in this case. The cyclist, however, has done himself no favours at all in deciding to commit criminal damage to get his point across.
ridiculouscyclist wrote:
I think that driver was obviously wrong for driving straight on from a “left-only” lane and then using his vehicle to block in the cyclist. The cyclist didn’t react well, but it’s very easy to over-react when idiots are putting your life at risk with their idiotic driving.
hawkinspeter wrote:
On the one hand you have someone making another human feel threatened by the incorrect and intimidating use of their car. On the other hand you have someone making another human feel threatened by throwing a bike against the car and through wagging their finger.
Stacking those threats up against each other, the cyclist under-reacted. The driver needs to grow a pair and be thankful he wasn’t twatted.
ridiculouscyclist wrote:
In this case though… the driver has admitted to driving improperly… because he judged it was safe to do so. Rules are put in place because people are clearly incapable (by constant demonstration) of making effective judgements themselves.
The cyclist does indeed do himself no favours however… these situations never end well, so why bother engaging with these idiots? The only time to do so is when you are certain you can stay calm and rational… which is very rarely (never) in the hear of the moment.
ridiculouscyclist wrote:
Get some T-Cut, I’m sure the scratch in the bonnet will buff out.
Well that’s a ridiculous
Well that’s a ridiculous first post.
There’s a couple of key points to me – rarely does a cyclists mistake lead to an innocent party losing their life. Secondly, it’s apparent who was in the wrong, the taxi driver was deliberately using the wrong lane to not sit behind a right turning lorry, he said so himself.
Well played on the “I’m a cyclist” bit though…
alansmurphy wrote:
Well, thanks – you’re clearly a nice, amiable chap.
ridiculouscyclist wrote:
He has his moments.
I found the longer version
I found the longer version others have mentioned, which is misrepresented by the headline in the London Evening Standard.
The guy on the bike knows where the traffic is – all to his right – except that when the chauffeur goes straight on from a left turn lane, he’s got a vehicle (driven by an impatient driver) right behind him. I completely understand why he’s unhappy about that.
When the chauffeur acts like the police and pulls him over by blocking him into the kerb, and saying ‘you’re in trouble now’ several times, I suggest that’s a threat, not the behaviour of an innocent victim of road rage.
The main thing concerning the paper is how much did the car cost, which says everything you need to know about Britain in 2018.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
Even before it gets that far it’s clear the driver wants an argument, he rolls down his window and starts shouting accusations at the cyclist. . . and on a par when everyone I’ve ever had a “discussion” with about their driving style, he KNOWS he was in the wrong, because he simply refuses to allow the cyclist to say more than 3 words before interrupting him again.
Ever had that discussion that starts with “Why don’t you use the cycle lane ?” (In this case a shared use, narrow, down a hill under a roundabout, pick an arm in the centre while trying to peer through the concrete walls, and back up the hill on the other side . . . followed by “you cause queues by not using that cycle lane” . . having pointed out I actually follow the road at the same speed as the other traffic (owing to the give way lines etc) I then get the “You ride through the roundabout too fast, doing 40-60km/h”
StuInNorway wrote:
never really a discussion though, is it? Which is why in my experience if you respond at all the only correct response is “why don’t you fuck off?”
If it was a “perfectly safe”
Watching the longer version quoted above, it sounds as if the driver pulls in front, alongside him and then pulls over – using his vehicle to block him in. I’ve had it tonnes of times before. In too much of a rush to wait, then pull over and stop to have a ding-dong with you.
“I didn’t pull in front of
“I didn’t pull in front of you”, “it’s on camera”!
Sorry mate but if I employed you as my chauffeur*, you would be looking for another job due to lack of integrity, honesty and for allowing my vehicle to be damaged to the tune of £1500 because of your idiocy.
I have seen the footage. You did not adhere to the traffic regulations at that junction and proceeded to engage in a totally avoidable altercation with someone who looked at you. You also then DID deliberatly pull directly in front of the cyclist who YOU antagonised and therefore YOU are reponsible for the outcome.
Here is your P45, now go and work for someone who is happy for you to put their family at risk whilst you are driving them around town.
*Assuming that this is a personal hired chauffuer
Pushing50 wrote:
Mini cab driver, in my experiance hardly professional and the majority fall far below the driving standards of black cab drivers in London. Although sometimes that is not a vey high bar.
As well as the paperwork and lanugage tests perhaps TFL should make them pass an advanced driving test?
Driver cant drive. Cyclist
Driver cant drive. Cyclist shouldnt have responded.
Did the cyclist smack the car or did the driver just pull in anyway ?
Not worth the hassle getting involved.