Live blog: “Selfish” cyclist ‘holds up’ truck driver; Bike clamping in London Bridge City; Crap bike lanes; Watch a handcycling LEJOG world record attempt documentary; a near miss for a pro + more
SUMMARY
Crap infrastructure in Reading
We’re always keen to see laughable cycle lanes and Julian from Reading has sent us two corkers.
He told us: “The first one’s a cracker, being three metres long, straight into a pavement and metal barrier, with huge tree roots raising the cracked tarmac.
“You then need to somehow cross the three-lane roundabout it vomits you into.”
We can’t help but notice the branch of Evans in the background having spoken to the disgruntled staff member behind the Make Evans Great Again Instagram account earlier this week.
Here’s Julian’s other submission.
Feel free to send your own examples to info at road.cc.
Near Miss of the Day: Pro edition
Marco Mathis coming down Puig Major in Mallorca, as shot by Rick Zabel.
It’s a particularly nasty bend, according to my colleague Liam.
Crap cycle lane in Wiltshire
Wiltshire council spent ten grand on this 17-metre masterpiece in Trowbridge.
Another bike clamped in London Bridge City
A couple of months ago, we reported how a cyclist’s bike had been clamped in London Bridge City, a development on the south bank of the River Thames owned by the Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund.
The development includes the 13-acre More London shopping area and Nigel has got in touch with road.cc to say his bike was clamped there yesterday – even though there are no signs indicating you aren’t permitted to lock your bike up.
“I just got back from a coffee with a friend near the Tooley Street exit of London Bridge station,” said Nigel. “When I came out of the cafe I found my bike had had an extra lock placed on it in the hour I was in the coffee shop.
“On this lock I was told to phone a number to get it released, and the tag giving these instructions had the branding of the local council on it. I phoned the number and was told someone would be along shortly to unlock my bike: 20 minutes later a perfectly amenable chap showed up (albeit with the wrong key at first) and unlocked my bike, saying that I can’t lock my bike there.
“For context ‘there’ was around a tree, out of the way. When I told him that there were no signs up in the area suggesting that you couldn’t lock your bike up or that doing so would risk having it temporarily impounded, he responded: ‘Yeah, this is private property and the owners don’t want to put any signs up because then they’d have to hire guards to police it’ – ignoring the fact that the owners are clearly happy to hire people to arbitrarily lock up bikes, then come back to unlock them, or that wasting 20 minutes of my time was a bit of an inconvenience. (Thankfully it wasn’t raining and I wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere). I should also note that I was not fined.
Nigel added: “I feel like this sort of behaviour clearly shouldn’t happen: by all means put up a sign warning cyclists not to park bikes in the area, but don’t come along and lock up people’s private property for no good reason without due warning.”
The photo above is how Nigel found his bike (after he took his own lock off).
Is bike clamping on private land legal?
Regarding the incident below, car clamping on private land has been illegal in England and Wales since 2012. However, that law constantly refers to ‘vehicles’ and so may not apply to bicycles. Indeed the press release about it was headed “Greater rights for motorists”.
This 2017 Guardian piece looked at “the insidious creep of pseudo-public space in London” – basically squares and parks that seem public but which are actually owned by corporations.
These sites are not subject to ordinary local authority bylaws but are instead governed by restrictions drawn up the landowner and enforced by private security companies.
Crap cycle lane in Urmston
Robert took this shot a while back when leaves made things extra dangerous.
He provided us with a StreetView link as well where you can also see the few metres of cycle path on the opposite side of the road.
Crap cycle path in the West Midlands
Tried to follow this one to avoid the dual carriageway A45 between Birmingham and Coventry – even more overgrown now so had to turn back. pic.twitter.com/ryDxUN4ZaQ
— Andrew White (@pixeltrix) January 9, 2020
Video: Documentary tracks GB Paralympian as she attempts to beat the LEJOG world record
Mel Nicholls suffered a series of strokes as a young woman. She was left unable to walk or use much of the left side of her body following the third one in 2008.
In June 2019, she set out to break the world record for handcycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Dream Big from Friction Collective Film on Vimeo.
A crap cycle lane near Towcester
Barrow cyclists to be fined for riding in the pedestrianised area of the town centre
Barrow’s having a crackdown on cyclists.
The Mail reports that police have started issuing £50 fines.
Speaking earlier this week, PC Emmie Doughty of Barrow Police said: “In a nutshell, cycling has been banned on the pedestrianised area in the town centre for some time.
“We have been aware of complaints that have been made to us about people cycling and a recent accident which involved an elderly female being run over and sustaining some serious injuries.
“As part of the force wide week of action we have added this issue to the list of things we are dealing with this week.
“This is not a one week event but will be a sustained focus going forward. We have decided to advise people for the first couple of days and then take enforcement action.
“Anyone found to be contravening this will receive a £50 fine.”
“Selfish” cyclist holds up truck driver… according to the truck driver
This video features a Dublin truck driver whining swearily about a cyclist who he says is ‘holding him up’. (It’s a long video, but the link should take you to the relevant bit from about 22 minutes in.)
“There’s absolutely no reason why that cyclist can’t be on the canal,” says the truck driver, referring to a cycle path off to the right.
No reason? Maybe he wants to turn left and wants to be in a position where he can do this without going miles out of his way to cross the railway line.
Or maybe he doesn’t want to get assaulted.
When the truck driver gets caught at the next set of lights, the cyclist receives a volley of abuse as he overtakes him.
Strikingly, the description under the video on YouTube says, “Special thanks to Garda Philip Earl for the permission to post this.”
(Thanks to John for point this video out to us.)
Tesla driver flossed his teeth while using ‘Autopilot’ at 84mph
He’s been charged with careless driving.
A 58 yr old Tesla driver was stopped by #Burlington OPP in #OakvilleON, using autopilot while using both hands to floss teeth and going 135km/hr. Charged careless ^kw#ArriveAlive #lookmanohands pic.twitter.com/zPK34AmVPJ
— Sgt Kerry Schmidt (@OPP_HSD) January 8, 2020
Tesla tells drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel when the semi-autonomous ‘Autopilot’ feature is engaged.
In 2018, a Tesla on Autopilot crashed into police car in California.
A year earlier a Stanford University robotics researcher said the firm’s technology displayed a frightening inability to recognise cyclists.
After testing the feature along with a colleague, Heather Knight recommended that it never be activated when cyclists are around as she believes people would be killed.
Crap cycle lane element in Manchester
Even an otherwise reasonable cycle lane can have its failings.
In the comments below, CygnusX1 writes:
This is my submission – actually quite a nice 2 way protected cycle lane alongside the A56 in Manchester, but if like me you wish to continue along the A56 at this point (rather than continuing along the cycle lane which now follows the side road off to the right) it spits you out in an awkward location:
https://goo.gl/maps/5kffxU6PUyZzDaJ98
There’s actually the remains of some green paint just in front of the island in the middle of the side junction, so you’re supposed to hop over to there, but then where do you go?
1. Carry on along the pavement on the right, and eventually get back onto the road somewhere after the railway bridge (perhaps using the pedestrian crossings just outside of Deansgate station .
2. Ride on the wrong side of the road until you can get past the island protecting the right turning traffic and merge with the two lanes of rush hour traffic heading into Manchester centre.
3. Use the refuge for traffic turning right the wrong way. You have to navigate quite a large turning angle due to the kerbing from a standing start, soneed to pick your gap in a near constant stream of two lanes of traffic.
Personally, I opt for number 3.
Why don't police crack down on mobile phone use at the wheel?
From the force that brought us Operation Close Pass, it’s Operation Top Deck.
#OpTopDeck | We’ve gone viral with this video we released way back in 2018 showing how we used buses to catch motorists using their phones. The clip’s surfaced again and has had 3.4m views in a few days. Loads of people are asking us about it, so here’s a thread explaining all! pic.twitter.com/ckibHTJCrP
— West Midlands Police (@WMPolice) January 9, 2020
Deceuninck Quick Step are prepared
When the @deceuninck_qst team even takes a croque-monsieur toaster to aerotesting, you know they ‘ve thought of everything. pic.twitter.com/XrIPIaWSZQ
— Stijn Steels (@StijnSteels) January 9, 2020
Those who can, do; those who can't...
To the learner driver and their instructor today that close passed me with the horn blaring. I hope you fail. pic.twitter.com/61WE2uxYGc
— Jake (@jakey_stewart) January 9, 2020
Crap cycle lane in Harrogate
Writing in the comments, HarrogateSpa draws our attention to this striking piece of work.
“My best guess is that it’s for people who are fine about cycling along the A61 with no cycle path, but too frightened to stay on the road at the roundabout. I reckon that’s a small demographic.”
More words and photos here.
Ever get that nagging feeling that you've set off on a ride without something?
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Latest Comments
Clearly driver training and the driving test need to change to meet modern time poor driving conditions. I suggest the following need to be added to the practical test : 1) Undertaking on pavements. 2) Close passing cyclists or horses at 50mph. 3) Threading between bollards to park on pavements near fast food outlets. 4) Steering with the knees while using a mobile phone and eating a burger or sushi, depending on the area. 5) Fighting with cyclists at roundabouts. For the advanced driving test the fighting will be with Hell's Angels or gangs of Mods. 6) Handbrake turns. 7) Driving at speed after all night parties. 8) Selecting the wrong gear and smashing into somebody's living room. The theory test could be scrapped to make way for these practical additions.
The headline states the article will "weigh up the pros and cons" but doesn't really provide any argument for keeping the limit. Or maybe it's to "weigh up the pros (of lowering the limit) and cons (of keeping the limit)"? Beyond having a different limit for either/or women's races/smaller riders, which I can see a strong argument for, I don't really see the point of just lowering the absolute limit. What will it achieve? We'll end up with aero bikes at the new limit but instead of costing £10-15k, it'll be £15-20k and we'll still hear more complaining about everything in the bike industry being so expensive. Sure, no one's forced to buy the TdF bike, but it does anchor the price ceiling, which will have an effect on every other model. There's a focus in the article on companies being able to make lightweight bikes again, or for pros to race on them. Well, they already exist for those that want them. And the pros? We might have a few years of bike choice, but we'll still end up with everyone using the aero bike at the new weight limit but with lots of expensive R&D and new materials that need to be paid for. Especially lightweight bikes don't have a right to exist. A 7kg bike from 20 years ago is the same weight as a 7kg bike today. I think what's more interesting is the suggestion of scaling the weight limit with rider weight. That feels fairer. But could it remove an advantage that a bigger sprinter might have over their colleagues, for example? We could end up with just the same style of rider across a whole race. It also feels like it doesnt make much sense to just map the men's limit onto the women's field. But then if it's an arbitrary limit, does that matter either?
FFS France always seemed like a safe place to ride a bike, outside Paris that is. Can't see the Department number in the photo - hire cars traditionally have been registered in Oise (60) and many still are, though not all. Does make you wonder if it was a Brit on holiday. Only road rage driver I've experienced in Spain was in a hire car, and that was relatively benign - brake check and windscreen wiper / fluid squirt.
Good idea! It's still here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vgC4HnpW8Ns?is=yBeUq91LrYRbA9-C FF to 2:30 sorry I never got around to editing it down. May still be set to private due to the police 'investigation' but you can view it with the link. Bus one is here, again FF to 2:00: https://youtu.be/_AEHH4kl5Rs?is=wfwc4gZVW2UFp1x7
@Smoggysteve I ran the numbers (because I'm a geek like that) and with a 5mph difference in speed, the car driver would need to see approximately 120 meters of clear road ahead before considering an overtaking manoeuvre of a 15mph cyclist in a 20 zone, and that doesn't account for the delay in the car accelerating from speed-matching to overtaking at the limit. If the cyclist was actually doing nearer 17mph (because the instructor was exaggerating the "slowness" of the cyclist) then the car would require more than 200 meters of clear road before attempting to overtake. Those kind of gaps aren't rare, but they're certainly not all that common either. Uncommon enough that overtaking should NOT be first instinct for the driver in that situation, but would be obvious if a suitable opportunity is missed.
Daniel Smith demonstrates the overwhelming motonormativity in society, and his attitude stinks. He's probably capable of teaching people to pass their test, otherwise he'd be out of business, but he doesn't teach people to be tolerant of other road users, which in turn generates contempt and the likelihood of drivers translating that into driving dangerously around cyclists. Nothing demonstrates his appalling attitude better than the fact he chose to post this embarrassingly awful video himself, as if he thinks it shows his teaching skills.
There is a 20mph road, not that far from me, which has dashed line cycle lanes on either side and road humps with gaps in them. If the drivers swerve into the bike lane then then they can avoid the road humps. It is often used by Driving schools to teach drivers and I always see driving instructors actively teaching learner drivers to swerve in an out of the bike lane. When I used to commute along it I had to remonstrate with drivers a few times for blindly doing this and swerving into my path when was using the lane.
@Jakrayan Sounds like a good one for near miss of the day if you still have the video. I reckon even in Gloucestershire that would have resulted in a NIP but you never can tell nowadays.
Just get rid of all the rules on weight and shape. Why not? Seriously though, either: a) we want the sport to be about human performance: in which case we should rigorously standardise the equipment (far more than we do now!") b) or we don't: in which case, what is the point in letting the bike makers continuously nibble away at the rules decade after decade, and have this slow drift in equipment standards? Just be done with it and get rid of all the rules in one go.
@mitsky I can answer the first question. 1. Complete indifference. Its cars innit? Anyway, its probably a cyclists fault that there is traffic. Cyclists are held to a completely different set of rules and standards to cars despite cars being far worse in basically every area. Most people drive cars. Most people don't ride bikes on our roads. Until that changes, attitudes won't change.
33 thoughts on “Live blog: “Selfish” cyclist ‘holds up’ truck driver; Bike clamping in London Bridge City; Crap bike lanes; Watch a handcycling LEJOG world record attempt documentary; a near miss for a pro + more”
” However, that law
” However, that law constantly refers to ‘vehicles’ and so may not apply to bicycles.”
The law seems fairly clear that it only refers to motor vehicles (or other mechanically propelled vehicles) and so does not apply to bikes: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/section/54/enacted
what about a new segment on
what about a new segment on road.cc, “crap infra of the day”, doesnt have a great acronym unfortunately.
i am fairly certain there are already accounts doing this somewhere on the socials, but road.cc gets pretty broad coverage, just an idea
thehill wrote:
Perhaps a collaboration with Warrington Cycle Campaign that have a “Cycle Facity of the Month” on their website: http://www.warringtoncyclecampaign.co.uk
Also two books (available on Amazon and elsewhere) entitled “Crap Cycle Lanes” and the sequel, “Crapper Cycle Lanes”.
I walked past that second one
I walked past that second one of Julien’s last week on the way to the Evans in the first pic (they’re on opposite sides of the same roundabout) and thought the hedge was a tad overgrown.
As an aside, the chap in the workshop there was most helpful and gave me a bolt I needed to install some brakes. It’s not a bad branch of Evans and would be a lot better if they could keep some more of the basic maintenance spares in stock, rather than keep having to use the click and collect service.
Unless it is signed that
Unless it is signed that there are restrictions on parking bikes, they are on shakey ground, even if it is “technically” private land. If there is no marked boundary, with signage informing it’s a private area with private operating rules, then immobilising a bike without warning could be treated in teh same manner as bike theives that add an extra lock to your bike, so they can come back later and cut yours off (sometimes with a crappy old bike still attatched to their lock so it “looks” like an accident. Label or not, I’d be tempted to buy a bolt cutter and cut it, rather than risk the bike vanishing overnight.
I suspect to test the legality they will have to impound a lawyer’s bike and then they’ll soon find out of it’s legal, but I’m pretty sure simply impounding private property with no warning signs or notices would be illegal, under som eportion of the law.
This is my submission –
This is my submission – actually quite a nice 2 way protected cycle lane alongside the A56 in Manchester, but if like me you wish to continue along the A56 at this point (rather than continuing along the cycle lane which now follows the side road off to the right) it spits you out in an awkward location:
https://goo.gl/maps/5kffxU6PUyZzDaJ98
There’s actually the remains of some green paint just in front of the island in the middle of the side junction, so you’re supposed to hop over to there, but then where do you go?
1. Carry on along the pavement on the right, and eventually get back onto the road somewhere after the railway bridge (perhaps using the pedestrian crossings just outside of Deansgate station .
2. Ride on the wrong side of the road until you can get past the island protecting the right turning traffic and merge with the two lanes of rush hour traffic heading into Manchester centre.
3. Use the refuge for traffic turning right the wrong way. You have to navigate quite a large turning angle due to the kerbing from a standing start, soneed to pick your gap in a near constant stream of two lanes of traffic.
Personally, I opt for number 3.
The Irish driver really needs
The Irish driver really needs treatment for his anger management issues, and he might benefit from studying the law, as in it is perfectly legal to ride a bicycle on any road they aren’t banned from.
I enjoyed the text at 22:20
I enjoyed the text at 22:20 raging that the cyclist has forced him into the wrong side of the road.
Then, the very next clip at 23:34, he’s forced onto the wrong side of the road by a car and yet, strangely, it doesn’t seem to bother him at all. Funny that.
rpcutts wrote:
what an utter idiot that HGV driver is. massive rant about cyclists holding him up, to then pass a cyclist no problem and not held up one bit. Even if there was traffic coming the other way and he had to wait behind the cyclist, he still wouldn’t have been held up – as the cyclist glides past him when he gets stuck in traffic further up the road! he’s basically countered his own argument and is too thick to notice!
HoarseMann wrote:
Around the 6min mark, he is ranting about a driver using a buslane to skip the queue, “you always catch up with them in the end. I hope you’re proud of yourself. Where did it get you, you fucking wanker?”
If only he applied to the same logic with the cyclist who overtakes him again at the lights, no point in passing him then.
Numerous replies from him calling the cyclist a faggot. Reported.
Having sat for over 2 hours,
Having sat for over 2 hours, stationary, on the M11 last night due to drivers causing a serious collision that completely shut the southbound carriagway and almost certainly as a result of criminal driving standards by at least one of them. I really have no time for drivers who complain about being held up for a few seconds by cyclists doing absolutely nothing wrong in using the public highway.
I had a look at this bike
I had a look at this bike lane recently, at a new housing development near Harrogate. I’ve written a bit about it here.
My best guess is that it’s for people who are fine about cycling along the A61 with no cycle path, but too frightened to stay on the road at the roundabout. I reckon that’s a small demographic.
I’m a little confused by the
I’m a little confused by the Irish video.
“Forced onto the wrong side of the road” – isn’t that what we call “overtaking”? I’d thought it was a pretty basic driving skill, and would expect a professional road user to know how to do it.
And
“Held him up” – err, how? I didn’t notice him slow down AT ALL, not even as he was approaching said cyclist. Admittedly, things would have got pretty interesting if another car had been coming in the other lane as he reached the cyclist, but any problems there would have been of his own making.
brooksby wrote:
Truck drivers used to be known as the Knights of the road. I prefer to call them the Shites of the road. Almost all of them drive too close to the vehicle in front, try to pass another truck on a duel carriageway, taking ages to crawl past. I see loads on their mobiles whilst driving, in fact I have had two very near misses with truck drivers on their phones. One cut me up on a roundabout, he didnt even look, and I very nearly cycled underneath the wheels. The other incident I was driving and was cut up on a roundabout (again) by a truck driver who was too busy on his phone to see me(again) and cut me up (again) and I very nearly drove under the wheels. The twats give the minority a bad name. I have to say that I do get some that stay back, and pass me with plenty of room, but they are very, very rare.
The Irish HGV driver has
The Irish HGV driver has really got me annoyed.
I wound the footage on far too far and found myself at 29:00 minutes watching the self entitled little prick parking his HGV in what appears to be a cycle lane. He said he was held up by the cyclist, but as others have commented he didn’t slow down. As for the overtake, if that camera was in the centre of an HGV, then the guy could enter himself on this site for Close Pass of the Day.
Somebody needs to point that out to the Garda officer who supposedly allowed this to be posted, strange too that the comments section of his posting is turned off.
Idiot
Here in the US (in some
Here in the US (in some states) a bicycle is considered a “vehicle” but not a “motor vehicle”. It meets the Oxford Dictionary definition of a vehicle; “something used to transport people or goods, esp. something used on land or roads”.
If that is also the legal definition in the UK, then the guidance note would seem to indicate that there need to be signs prohibiting parking in order to leagally “clamp” a bicycle.
See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9155/guidance-unpaid-parking-charges.pdf
That being said, if I were a regular in an area where I knew that people were using crappy cable locks like that to interfere with using my bicycle in a legal manner, and if permitted by law, I would tuck my cable cutters into my cycling bag and that cable would go in the bin.
Check the legality of this advice before you act.
I’m surprised the owners of
I’m surprised the owners of said ‘private land’ were granted planning for such a development without provision for cycle parking 😉
Also hold on. Why the hell
Also hold on. Why the hell are the council enforcing the bike parking if it’s private land anyway?
Municipal Waste wrote:
Good point
Why are the council getting
Why are the council getting involved in policing private land?
“On this lock I was told to phone a number to get it released, and the tag giving these instructions had the branding of the local council on it. “
Captain Zhap wrote:
That is the reason for the question, not the answer.
Anyhow, the answer to the problem is simple, just cut the tree down and take your bike home.
hirsute wrote:
Looks like that lock only goes through the front and rear wheel, not the frame. Drop the wheels out, remove frame and rest safely to one side. Depending on height/ bushy-ness of tree, throw/negotiate wheels over tree, thus removing lock. Transport all home and cut lock.
Far more effort to prove a point than necessary given there was no fine. But still…
“There’s absolutely no reason
“There’s absolutely no reason why that cyclist can’t be on the canal,”
By the same logic
“Theres absolutely no reason why whatever freight the trucker is carrying can’t be on the railway”.
Or is that different?
[quote=Kestevan]
“Theres absolutely no reason why whatever freight the trucker is carrying can’t be on the railway”.
[/quote
Or the canal for that matter.
As others have alluded to the
As others have alluded to the “Irish Truck Driver” doesn’t swear at the cars in front of him that bring him to a stand still. The logic fails me: Cyclist slows me down while I wait for a safe place to overtake = sweary rant about cyclists….. Motorised traffic brings me to a standstill = what’s the problem! Unfortunately this is the attitude of impatient motorists that put the lives of cycists in danger. Clearly some better education is required.
The worse bit of the eejit
The worse bit of the eejit lorry driver is that he did close pass by not adjusting his speed. A lift off the accelerator 10 seconds before would have allowed a greater distance after the cars passing the other way had proceeded for a text book overtake. Punishment pass by a professional HGV driver and the Police apparently approve…
alansmurphy wrote:
He was also speeding. I calculated his average speed over the 0.5km up to the cyclist and it was 57kph in a 50kph limit.
alansmurphy wrote:
Lorry drivers live and die by the tacho. Slowing down for anything is a no no.
vonhelmet wrote:
The trouble is so do other road users as per another report on this site.
Re: Irish Trucker.
Re: Irish Trucker.
Comments have now been turned on for the video. On a quick scroll A couple are from cyclists about the bike thing but alot are about him being shit at his overall job anyway in other parts of the video. I suspect the thanks to the Garde might have been for somewhere else in the Video but I was pissed off watching 2 mins of his drivel for me to watch another 52 to be certain.
Edit: Also, the camera is right in from of the driver as well judging by its location when traffic was coming towards him so that was definitely a close pass and I suspect the cyclist was telling him about it when he shouted his drivel back. I think someone needs to report the video to the Garda as Police have done people on self filmed videos in the past.
was told by a UPS driver that
was told by a UPS driver that I should move out of the way for him on a single track road just after he forced me off the road
kimmcbride wrote:
Let me guess: did they mention something about road tax? 😉
(in the interests of full disclosure, I tend to give way to delivery drivers and bus drivers. Partly because I know they’re paid by the delivery and partly because they’re working to a timetable. Partly because they’re often a pack of utter sociopaths…)
Came across thishttp://www
Came across this
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/part/3/chapter/2/crossheading/offence-of-immobilising-etc-vehicles
In this section “motor vehicle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle or a vehicle designed or adapted for towing by a mechanically propelled vehicle.
A bicycle often falls under the term vehicle in legislation, so that suggests the chaining of the bike is illegal.
But it seems it would have to be an ebike if you wanted to argue it comes under the act.