[NOtotheEU]

The first bicycle video from the driving instructor I really rate but most of you love to hate! He gets left hooked (but not hit) by a German SUV, who’d have guessed?

To be fair I can see why most people on here don’t think much of him as in another recent video video he says

“You have to look after cyclists because they don’t really read the traffic and read the roads as well as they could do” which is an odd take given that 99% of his ‘driving fails’ are drivers.

On the plus side he then goes on a rant about how mobile use while driving is getting to “ridiculous levels” and “I think it’s about time we had some harsher penelties . . . . as 6 points & £200 doesn’t seem to be working” so I’m sure he’s now going to support Cycling Mikey. OK, I won’t hold my breath.

Topic

[AlsoSomniloquism]

Ashley, 

Ashley, 

Talking about always being in control… When you drive and do your bits to camera, isn’t that just as bad as driving with a mobile? Afterall, you are thinking about being perfect for the scene and not slipping over your speech and I expect you have to do several takes. You might be thinking you are in control but research has shown that even using hands free, you are less attentive to the roads. So isn’t these an example when you think you are in control but might be less so? I also hate this with news items with “normal” drivers as well.

[Ashley Neal]

There are videos planned to

There are videos planned to mythbust your perception of the loudness of the horn approaching anyone, including cyclists. I got criticised I didn’t listen, but you didn’t listen to me either. Quite ironic.

In the video you talk about with the Tesla, I never let risk become unmanageable. I was always in control.

Just because you cycle 5000 miles a year doesn’t mean you are good at it, think of motorists who do similar. They think they are good also.

I’ve been approached many times in my car (while teaching mainly) for driving correctly. Have a look at “Road Rage Parent” for an example, where I even talk about my own mistake during the interaction.

Some people don’t act in a way that does the cycling community any favours, they create division instead. Road.cc is usually one of the prime examples.

 

[giff77]

In all honesty I would

In all honesty I would imagine that the majority of contributors on this forum would agree that the cyclist in question was pretty much bang out of order and an embarrassment. 

[IanMSpencer]

His basic education and on
His basic education and on topic stuff is excellent. He also is relatable to the audience we as cyclists want to improve behaviour.

Unfortunately, he goes outside his field of expertise and at times I don’t think he perceives how some of his throwaway remarks come across – and how charged the motoring fraternity on the Internet is, as someone commented below, you have UK Dashcams putting out dozens of videos of plonkers in killing machines doing their level best to kill people, but it is often the cyclist clip that will garner the most comments (not that they didn’t deserve criticism).

As an example of Ashley not necessarily setting a great example, watch his Tesla video on using what is essentially cruise control. He starts out by saying it is unsafe and unusable, and then proceeds to demonstrate this on the public highway, including driving across junctions saying “I would have slowed down there”. So he has actually filmed himself driving without due care.

At several times, Ashley was not in control of his car and was allowing it to drive in a way which was below the standard of a reasonable and careful driver. Did he need to demonstrate that the feature was not fit for purpose on the public highway? Was that wise? Clicks won out over common sense.

Moreover, the fundamental premise was flawed. I doubt anyone would suggest cruise control was ever a suitable device for driving in urban traffic, even with distance protection (adaptive cruise). Allowing your speed to be determined by the car in front, even within the speed limit, rather than the surroundings is wrong. Speed limiters are an appropriate device and I find them useful to allow me to concentrate on surroundings rather than needing to check how fast I am going (a quiet modern automatic with a torquey low revving diesel gives very little feedback on what actual speed you are going). The idea of allowing a car to accelerate in a built up area based on the car’s perception, whether it is a sketchy Tesla or some other smart cruise control, rather than the drivers perception is something I can’t get my head around even being on the agenda.

I don’t think that he realises that many cyclists do thousands of miles a year (my recent average since retirement is about 5000 miles a year) and that this represents many more hours on the road than a driver for a similar distance. (I now cycle further than I drive in a year).Similarly, a motorist driving a 20 mile round trip commute outside London might interact with a handful of cyclists, some may never see a cyclist on many of their usual journeys. A cyclist interacts with hundreds of cars on every ride. Which group might have a better idea of what the other group might do in any given circumstance? Do cyclists shout at cars simply for using the road correctly – no of course not – but being shouted at simply for riding a bike legally and carefully causing no impediment to motorists is a normal occurrence. That’s before we get into the number of careless or deliberate dangerous interactions we have. I’ve mentioned that simply shouting “Whoa!” in surprise at a driver overtaking skimming past an oncoming car within inches of a collision is enough to be subjected to a foul-mouthed lesson on road usage as perceived by an aggressive and probably drunk van driver. How many times has Ashley been assaulted for driving correctly on the road – I know I am not the only one! Boasting about such behaviour is socially acceptable too.

Similarly, I don’t think he is very good at understanding the subtleties of posting on forums. For someone who likes to talk about diffusing situations when he is driving, even if the other road user is in the wrong, he’s lobbed a few hand grenades around here, and I’m not sure he knows he’s done it. On the horn example, he’s just suggested that he’s not been listened to, but several people explained what the problem was and his response was simply that we were wrong in a fairly condescending manner but he didn’t give a proper explanation as to why from a cyclists perspective (how could he?), we are just supposed to be able to tell that the 110 decibels a few feet from our ear is friendly and helpful.

[NOtotheEU]

No problem, nice to see you

No problem, nice to see you posting on here. It might impress my 21 year old son a Youtuber commented on my post but I’d be more impressed if he watched (& learnt) from your videos. Obviously he doesn’t drive a VAG SUV because after my rant that would be a tad embarrassing . . . . ahem.

[NOtotheEU]

The german SUV comment came

The german SUV comment came about because over half of the close pass and dangerous driving reports I’ve made to the Police in the last few years are German makes. More than half of those are from the Volkswagen Audi group which from memory this vehicle was. The SUV bit didn’t mean anything, or perhaps I had the audience in mind?

My problem with german cars is your average driver thinks anything German is ‘premium’ even though it’s just an image promoted by clever advertising. They then pay extra for a badge on the bonnet of a car that’s basically the same as all the other cars on the road. I suspect a large number of them do this because they think they deserve a premium car as they are better than your ‘average car’ driver and so drive accordingly. Not all by any means but enough to show up glaringly in my Police reports.

On your driving videos, I really rate them and wish all drivers would watch them and take your advice. I only use 2 wheels but your advice has challenged me to look at how I make decisions when on the road. The only thing I don’t like is your ‘creep to show your intentions’ line. When a cyclist or motorcyclist sees a car creeping it only tells them one thing, “they haven’t seen me, am I about to die?”

Hope i didn’t offend you too much. I’m embarrassed to say (on here) I’m a bit of a fan boy.

[Ashley Neal]

Thanks for the reply! I don’t

Thanks for the reply! I don’t take offence to things like that, in fact there’s not much I do take offence to. 

The key to all poor decision making is the human element and we’re all in that one together.

Thanks for your support (especially on here!)

[brooksby]

Mungecrundle wrote:

Mungecrundle wrote:

I very much doubt that this account belongs to Ashley Neal. What checks are made by moderators for accounts purporting to represent the views of a named person?

You think that “Ashley Neal” might be another of the Infinite Nigels?

[Anonymous]

I vaguely remember herniated.
I vaguely remember horngate. Personally I don’t mind a pip of the horn In the right context. On the one hand I’ve been on a single-track with a strong head wind and not heard the motor behind me. He’d been behind me fuck knows how long then tooted before a climb I move over, slow slightly let him pass, wave at each other everyone’s happy.
Or.. I might be head down arse up on the TT tanking along atm 30mph hearing nothing but road noise under the tt lid weaving around potholes, chasing a seggy a friendly horn at least brings awareness for me to then assess the situation and decide whether or not I’m gonna let the car pass or not.

[Ashley Neal]

I’m wary of all cyclists when

I’m wary of all cyclists when I’m driving. That makes things safer. Things can work in different ways.

[Podc]

The difference is a cyclist

The difference is a cyclist who views “German SUV” owners as a group will be wary of them with no power to intimidate or endanger them. A “German SUV” owner who views cyclists as a collective can be terrifying and dangerous.

[chrisonabike]

Mungecrundle wrote:

Mungecrundle wrote:

I very much doubt that this account belongs to Ashley Neal. What checks are made by moderators for accounts purporting to represent the views of a named person?

Don’t listen to the above poster – I don’t think it’s really Mungecrundle at all.  That’s what I got from Great Eastern anyway.  As we all know the mods are all over user account moderation.

[Ashley Neal]

I get your point about

I get your point about collective responsibility but the editor of this piece mentions a “German SUV”. I’ve had a few of them, what’s the difference?

[Podc]

Appreciate most of your

Appreciate most of your content Ashley – that I’ve seen. You’re desire to educate people to correct and allow for other people’s mistakes and bad driving is great. I do however feel it fails when the stakes are a bit higher and the actions of others threaten physical injury or death. We’ll see how you feel or react when someone deliberately tries to scare you, or run you off the road when you are out and about on your bike.

The only real gripe I have with your content is it makes no effort to address the notion that cyclists are responsible for the behaviour of all other cyclists and we have some kind of collective responsibility. This view is prevalent on much dashcam content on YouTube. A 15 minute collection of road incidents primarily featuring motorists, with one stupid cyclist, and it’s the cyclist element that gets the comments ‘bloody cyclists’ etc etc. There are no ‘bloody motorists’ comments that assign a similar group responsibility despite motorists featuring in the vast majority of clips. This mentality is allowed to perpetuate and cyclists get ‘punished’ because some other cyclist did something stupid somewhere else at some other time.

[Ashley Neal]

You’ve ignored my opinion on

You’ve ignored my opinion on it also then. 

[Author]

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