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Cycling in London

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  • April 25, 2014 at 6:34 am #21251
    Chris82

    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.

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Viewing 15 replies - 31 through 45 (of 54 total)
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  • April 26, 2014 at 1:23 am #788251
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    Colin Peyresourde

    I think the object responses
    I think the object responses work better than the ‘fu@k offs’ generally. It at least treats the person with a degree of respect rather than just dismissing them.

    I can’t say that the poster has eloquently and sympathetically posted this forum, but I can understand his frustration. In the same way that cyclist, men, women and any other ‘grouping’ get frustrated with being unfairly tarnished I am guessing there are a good few truck drivers feel traduced by the focus that is put on them when they see rampantly poor road craft from cyclists.

    I’m not suggesting that anyone deserves to be killed by a lorry, but there are a lot of cyclists who would give me stress as a lorry driver. In fact I hate driving in London because there are so many cavalier road users.

    April 25, 2014 at 9:21 pm #788249
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    userfriendly

    Scoob_84 wrote:
    The cycling

    Scoob_84 wrote:

    The cycling extremists are out in force again

    Please enlighten me, my dear cycling moderate, which of the views expressed here do you consider extreme?

    April 25, 2014 at 7:20 pm #788247
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    Neil753

    I’d say that the opinion of a
    I’d say that the opinion of a lorry driver on a cycling forum is just as valid as the opinion of a cyclist on a lorry driving forum. It’s good to hear the forthright views, and indeed frustrations, of other road users.

    April 25, 2014 at 6:33 pm #788245
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    Scoob_84

    The cycling extremists are
    The cycling extremists are out in force again

    April 25, 2014 at 4:56 pm #788243
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    sihall34

    allez neg wrote:I don’t much

    allez neg wrote:
    I don’t much like HGV’S either – they make me a little nervous when they overtake me when I’m on my bicycle, they’re a tiresome and slow encumbrance when I’m in my car, and while they aren’t much of a factor when I’m on my motorcycle I generally prefer to give them a wide berth. That said, how do you propose that shops stock their shelves or that factories receive their materials? One HGV carries the load of several vans.

    The Parisians seemed to have figured something out, I believe they don’t allow HGVs in rush hour, and it seems they didn’t have any cyclist deaths in 2011 compared to 16 in London and I don’t think they had any in 2012 either.

    April 25, 2014 at 2:01 pm #788241
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    pants

    I do a 20 mie round trip
    I do a 20 mie round trip commuting to central and back everyday, you’d be amazed the amount of cyclists who go the inside of cars who are clearly indicating left.

    April 25, 2014 at 1:58 pm #788239
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    allez neg

    I don’t much like HGV’S
    I don’t much like HGV’S either – they make me a little nervous when they overtake me when I’m on my bicycle, they’re a tiresome and slow encumbrance when I’m in my car, and while they aren’t much of a factor when I’m on my motorcycle I generally prefer to give them a wide berth. That said, how do you propose that shops stock their shelves or that factories receive their materials? One HGV carries the load of several vans.

    April 25, 2014 at 1:40 pm #788237
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    zanf

    Quote:and under no

    and under no circumstances, whether its indicating or not DO NOT go up the inside of it.

    The next time you go driving your truck anywhere in London, try having a look at the cycling infrastructure that currently exists and look where it directs cyclists to ride.

    Secondly if you wear headphones whilst riding so you can’t hear whats going on around you, well your a moron.

    So you think that deaf people riding bikes are morons?

    Typical victim blaming, ill thought out, ignorant nonsense that does nothing to either further the dialogue, or contribute solutions.

    I’ll lay this down for you: Dont drive your HGV in London (or other major cities and towns).

    A few simple reasons:

    1. You have piss poor visibility to see whats going on around your vehicle.
    2. You have poor manoeuvrability in Londons already small streets.
    3. Your diesel engine runs inefficiently with Londons (and other cities) stop start traffic flow therefore creates vast amounts of pollution. Pollution that consists of PM2.5 which is incredibly damaging and gets deep into the lungs and body.
    4. The majority of HGVs stopped fail inspection checks by the police. Either with the vehicle being unroadworthy, the driver being unlicensed or driving for too long without breaks or a combination of all three.

    It is HGVs that are a danger to all road users, not the other way around.

    April 25, 2014 at 12:50 pm #788235
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    Anonymous

    I drove a van all of last
    I drove a van all of last weekend. Big blind spots. So whenever I pulled off or turned left, I made extra specially sure that no cyclist had inadvertently pulled somewhere they shouldn’t have.

    It’s really not that hard.

    April 25, 2014 at 12:16 pm #788233
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    bikebot

    Quote:As one of the hated

    As one of the hated truck drivers i would like to make some comments.

    Nah, I bet you’re one of the loveable ones who actually knows how to overtake a cyclist correctly.

    By the same token, you’re addressing the wrong audience. Just about everyone on this site will be an experienced and extremely safety conscious cyclist. The wallies who I’m sure must cause you a lot of frustration tend to cause as much (but less serious) annoyance to us as well.

    BTW, water really shouldn’t be delivered by truck, but the food and coffee is appreciated, as long as it’s good coffee 😉

    April 25, 2014 at 12:07 pm #788231
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    bikebot

    Scoob_84 wrote:I did see a

    Scoob_84 wrote:
    I did see a cement mixer truck with a rear window magnifier lens stuck to its passenger side window yesterday. I was quite impressed with that cheap and easy fix.

    From memory, I think that may be one of the things TfL has been encouraging with the Crossrail contractors.

    April 25, 2014 at 12:03 pm #788229
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    northstar

    “Secondly if you listen to a
    “Secondly if you listen to a radio, use a mobile phone whilst driving so you can’t hear whats going on around you, well your a moron.”

    Take your rant and fuck off to the daily mail comments section like someone else has already said.

    April 25, 2014 at 11:54 am #788227
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    jacknorell

    I actually think the original
    I actually think the original poster is coming from the right place, despite some phrasing being a bit unpolished.

    Staying the f*ck away from tipper trucks and similar is just common sense. We all know they’re driven by the worst HGV drivers around, and are very often defective as well. It shouldn’t need to be that way, but it is.

    The whole headphones things is just stupid, while the noise-cancelling ones do limit sound transmission, we still have eyes and still hear as much as car or motorcycle drivers. It’s a non-issue.

    Yes, accidents will happen, I didn’t read that as an acceptance of the status quo, just a statistical fact. There are ways to limit them though. And as mentioned by another commenter, artic drivers seem to do OK despite having a challenging job.

    Let’s address the ejits* who couldn’t care less about our safety, and constructively engage people like the OP who seem to want to be safe and keep us safe.

    * Just wish the Met would give a toss…

    April 25, 2014 at 11:42 am #788225
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    glynr36

    Some typical victim blaming
    Some typical victim blaming there, and self importance of some motorists shining right through. I suggest you f**k back off to the Daily Mail website.

    April 25, 2014 at 9:52 am #788223
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    userfriendly

    Scoob_84 wrote:
    Just as its

    Scoob_84 wrote:

    Just as its often suggested that lorry drivers should try cycling in London for a day, same could be said for cyclists giving lorry driving a go. I can imagine it being pretty tricky during rush hour.

    I’m sure it is tricky, but that’s why they’re professional drivers, they should be trained to be able to handle the additional ‘trickiness’. Or they simply should not be on the road.

    You can’t take a bad situation as an excuse for refusing to do something about that same bad situation. I’m sorry, but the onus here is on the companies that use those vehicles and on the drivers driving them. Not on the cyclists, not even those few who are either confused by the cycle lanes or just lack the common sense to stay away from a lorry.

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