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TalkRadio slammed for holding poll asking 'Are cyclists a danger on the road?'

The radio show held the poll after the announcement of the latest changes to the Highway Code

TalkRadio has been mocked after it launched a poll asking 'Are cyclists a danger on the road?' 

The radio show started the poll on Twitter after a raft of new changes were announced to the Highway Code which seemingly left many people enraged. 

The programme heard from an irate Mike Graham who claimed, among other things, that cyclists were 'fanatics'.

He added: "Isn’t it ridiculous that we are now officially unwanted as car drivers. We are now officially being told by the people that run this country that they don’t care about car drivers.

"We are the lowest of the low when it comes to priority on the road. Even though we pay most of the money to the road tax people….

"It winds me up incredibly that cyclists have now been told ‘we know you don’t really like obeying the laws now you don’t have to and you can make your own laws up as you go along. Whatever happens on the road it won’t be your fault, it will be the guy in the car who we’ll blame for everything.’"

Of course, if you want to understand what the new changes actually mean you can do so here

> Cyclists to be given “carte blanche to go sailing through red lights,” apparently … except they’re not

The show decided to launch a poll on Twitter asking if people thought that cyclists were a danger on the road. 

The number of cyclists killed on British roads increased by 40 per in 2020. 

In total, 140 cyclists were killed on the roads over the 12 months, up from 100 the year before, an increase the AA called 'staggering'.

People began commenting on the controversial poll explaining why the answer was - no.

One user helpfully gave his own method for dealing with cyclists he encountered on the road. 

They wrote: "Saw two cyclists riding side by side this morning when I was out in my car.

"I thought I'll show these guys something. So I slowed down, waited patiently, overtook when it was safe. Showed them a safe pass. It's not hard."

Another user added: "Hi Mike. I'm not a 'fanatic', I'm a normal middle aged bloke who wants to try and keep slim and healthy, so I cycle to work.

"I don't want to drive anyone else off the road. All I ask is that drivers give me a bit of space when they overtake...

"And as others have mentioned, about 85 per cent of adult cyclists also drive, so according to Mike we want to drive ourselves off the road...

One person pointed out that the poll could have been helpful if in fact the question had been 'Are cyclists in danger on the road?' Or even 'Are drivers a danger on the road?'

Another asked: "How is a bike a danger to a 2 tonne car?"

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38 comments

Avatar
FrankH | 2 years ago
0 likes

Are cyclists a danger on the road? They kiil a handful of people each year so the answer is obviously YES.

Next question: Are drivers a danger on the road?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to FrankH | 2 years ago
4 likes
FrankH wrote:

Are cyclists a danger on the road? They kiil a handful of people each year so the answer is obviously YES.

Next question: Are drivers a danger on the road?

A handful? That seems a lot.

Avatar
FrankH replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
2 likes
hawkinspeter wrote:
FrankH wrote:

Are cyclists a danger on the road? They kiil a handful of people each year so the answer is obviously YES.

Next question: Are drivers a danger on the road?

A handful? That seems a lot.

Yes, I think you're right.

Here's a quote from the Guardian: "Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle."

Maybe I should have said "You can count them on the fingers of one hand", but it's a bit unwieldy. and I don't have  half a finger.  3

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to FrankH | 2 years ago
3 likes

Also worth considering that 2.5 involve a bicycle, but it's not necessarily the cyclist's fault so not "killing".

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Hirsute replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
2 likes

There was some short analysis buried in some govn report into cycling and for the 20 or so deaths involving cyclist/pedestrian it was slightly down to the ped - something close to 10 50/50, 6 ped, 4 cyclist.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to FrankH | 2 years ago
1 like
FrankH wrote:
hawkinspeter wrote:
FrankH wrote:

Are cyclists a danger on the road? They kiil a handful of people each year so the answer is obviously YES.

Next question: Are drivers a danger on the road?

A handful? That seems a lot.

Yes, I think you're right.

Here's a quote from the Guardian: "Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle."

Maybe I should have said "You can count them on the fingers of one hand", but it's a bit unwieldy. and I don't have  half a finger.  3

I can count on the fingers of one hand, the number of times I've been to Chernobyl

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
0 likes

I don't know. How many fully grown people can fit in your hand?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
0 likes
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

I don't know. How many fully grown people can fit in your hand?

You'd be surprised!

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
1 like

Well the follow up question should be how much do you charge?

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hawkinspeter replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
2 likes
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

Well the follow up question should be how much do you charge?

You're getting confused, it's bulls that charge

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
2 likes
hawkinspeter wrote:
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

Well the follow up question should be how much do you charge?

You're getting confused, it's bulls that charge

is that a squirrel? looks more like a prarie dog or gopher

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
2 likes
wycombewheeler wrote:
hawkinspeter wrote:
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

Well the follow up question should be how much do you charge?

You're getting confused, it's bulls that charge

is that a squirrel? looks more like a prarie dog or gopher

More confusion. A dog looks like this:

//i.imgur.com/zRG8JW1.jpg)

whilst a golfer looks like this:

//i.imgur.com/FVYhuds.jpg)

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
0 likes
hawkinspeter wrote:
FrankH wrote:

Are cyclists a danger on the road? They kiil a handful of people each year so the answer is obviously YES.

Next question: Are drivers a danger on the road?

A handful? That seems a lot.

It's peanuts.

Avatar
eburtthebike | 2 years ago
0 likes

Actually, anyone using a bike with those "suicide" dual brake levers in the picture is a danger on the road.

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brooksby replied to eburtthebike | 2 years ago
1 like
eburtthebike wrote:

Actually, anyone using a bike with those "suicide" dual brake levers in the picture is a danger on the road.

??

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
2 likes
brooksby wrote:
eburtthebike wrote:

Actually, anyone using a bike with those "suicide" dual brake levers in the picture is a danger on the road.

??

More likely a danger to themselves. The big problem with those levers is when you need to do an emergency stop and find that the levers hit the bars and don't stop you quickly enough.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
0 likes

When I rode a drop bar bike for the first time since early 90's, I did wonder where my secondary brakes were. 

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
2 likes
brooksby wrote:
eburtthebike wrote:

Actually, anyone using a bike with those "suicide" dual brake levers in the picture is a danger on the road.

??

They are seriously less effective than normal brake levers and are banned in some countries.  I've seen collisions caused by their failure to stop the cyclist.

Avatar
wtjs replied to eburtthebike | 2 years ago
1 like

Yep! Soggy rim brake calipers and super-soggy dual levers (never had them on a bike of mine, obviously)- keep Death off the roads! At least it wasn't raining, and even that bike doesn't look old enough to have chromed steel rims.

Avatar
brooksby replied to wtjs | 2 years ago
0 likes
wtjs wrote:

Yep! Soggy rim brake calipers and super-soggy dual levers (never had them on a bike of mine, obviously)- keep Death off the roads! At least it wasn't raining, and even that bike doesn't look old enough to have chromed steel rims.

One of my bikes has centre-pull cantilevers.  Have to admit I find it a bit less relaxing than my bike with V-brakes...  My wife pootles around the village with rod brakes 

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to wtjs | 2 years ago
0 likes
wtjs wrote:

Yep! Soggy rim brake calipers and super-soggy dual levers (never had them on a bike of mine, obviously)- keep Death off the roads! At least it wasn't raining, and even that bike doesn't look old enough to have chromed steel rims.

Aaaaagh; chrome rims in the wet; there was not stopping them.

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Boopop replied to eburtthebike | 2 years ago
2 likes

Huh? My 1984 Dawes Galaxy has those. Never had an issue.

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OldRidgeback replied to Boopop | 2 years ago
0 likes
Boopop wrote:

Huh? My 1984 Dawes Galaxy has those. Never had an issue.

My 1978 Falcon Black Diamond had them too and I commuted on it until it was nicked. The brakes weren't as good as on a modern bike but that was down to the caliper design. 

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to eburtthebike | 2 years ago
0 likes

I'm actually more surprised on where the gear levers are located. Mine used to be halfway down the down tube which used to be as fun. Especially as they were not ratcheted so you had to guess how far to move it to change gear smoothly. 

Avatar
Rick_Rude | 2 years ago
7 likes

Why do these idiots talk about cyclists as if they aren't also car drivers most of the time? A while back I owned a car that cost me £500+ to tax and did sod all mpg. I've paid my way on the roads thanks.

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to Rick_Rude | 2 years ago
2 likes
Rick_Rude wrote:

Why do these idiots talk about cyclists as if they aren't also car drivers most of the time? A while back I owned a car that cost me £500+ to tax and did sod all mpg. I've paid my way on the roads thanks.

meanwhile my current car costs me £30 a year. I don't feel like this is such a significant contribution that it should result in any privilege over any other road users. I feel that anyone paying more road tax has chosen an inefficient vehicle and therefore they should just suck up the consequences of that decision. 

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the little onion replied to wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
3 likes

I've paid about £30 per year in VED. But tens of thousands per year in income tax, VAT, alchohol duty, stamp duty........ I deserve those roads much more than those oxygen thieves

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to Rick_Rude | 2 years ago
1 like
Rick_Rude wrote:

Why do these idiots talk about cyclists as if they aren't also car drivers most of the time?

..

Not easy to "other" someone who's similar to you.

Avatar
Jenova20 | 2 years ago
9 likes

""We are the lowest of the low when it comes to priority on the road. Even though we pay most of the money to the road tax people…."

 

Sounds like an adult hissy fit. Just to clarify that paying a tax on the fuel you consume, and an emissions tax, don't entitle you to special treatment, and to claim you own the roads. Jeez. Are we sure that's an adult?

Avatar
wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
3 likes

surely a typo

 

Are cyclings IN danger on the road?

or next week they can run there next insightful debate

" Cows; are they expoliting farmers?"

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