[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]

I think they have cleaned up

I think they have cleaned up the replies now as well. So not all him but states why I think the site secretly love having the controversials on as it drives visits. Just the way the internet is I suppose. 

[HoarseMann]

You only need to look at the

You only need to look at the number of comments on this thread – down to 141 when they were well over 200. A good third from that single account speaks volumes.

[OldRidgeback]

When I took my motorcycle

When I took my motorcycle test many moons ago I did a training course with professional instructors. They advised me to treat every ‘cage’ driver as someone out to get me. This was sound advice. Of course, not ever car/van/truck/bus driver is out to get you, but if you assume they are then you’ll maintain awareness at a higher level. 

Curiously enough, taking my motorcycle test taught me a lot about driving a car more safely as well. I already had a car licence but the motorcycle training was just so much better for hazard awareness. I know that vehicle insurance firms often offer cheaper car insurance rates for motorcyclsits because the insurance firms have crunched the data and this shows motorcyclists in general are better car drivers.

According to a peer reviewed paper published by the Transport Research Laboratory, cyclists also make better drivers. If it was up to me, the driving test would include a compulsory cycle training portion. Disabled riders would be offered the option of a hand cycle/trike if appropriate. I’d also make the cycle training retrospective, so that existing licence holders would have to undergo it when renewing licences, unless able to demonstrate that they had extensive cycling experience (such as through having a long road racing history or holding BC coaching certification for example). 

[Rendel Harris]

Without speaking for the

Without speaking for the editorial team (who are exceptionally helpful when asked, I must say) I believe that they certainly do keep an eye on the comments section and are aware of the people causing problems. Nigel was certainly banned in the past for comments to me about which I did not complain… I do recognise it’s a very difficult job to weed out the more pernicious trolls, it can be perfectly obvious to everyone that somebody is only here as a wind up merchant but unless they transgress site rules it’s easy for sanction to become censorship.

 

[AlsoSomniloquism]

TBH I welcome his cycling

TBH I welcome his cycling videos IF he films himself being officially trained up the levels, first as a normal cyclist and finally as an instructor. Then, he might be worth listening to on using a bike on the road. Afterall, he has done this for being a Driving Instructor and is why he touts to be able to comment on videos.

But what I don’t welcome is him stating he hasn’t had close incidents on bikes when he literally named his “first” video of him cycling after a known close incident we experience, and shows it in the first 30 seconds and then doesn’t acknowledge it at all. He even slams on his front brake. Yet when asked, he didn’t consider it “as close as he had it under control.” Just makes him out to be a liar to me as the exact same incidents have had Police Action and make up a good percentage of NMotD submissions. Also makes out he was only filming for the clicks and profit but that can’t be right as only Mikey does that apparently.

Also showing videos of him tooting his horn in the normal way of use when he overtakes other slower vehicles to let them know he is there. I mean the cyclist one was because he believed they didn’t know he was there, how does he know a horse rider has seen him, or a slow farm vehicle, or a lorry. 

[brooksby]

Rendel Harris wrote:

OldRidgeback wrote:

No, there are still some of the comments about on other threads.

Not direct comments from him though, only where other people have quoted him. His removal was confirmed to me last night by the site mods – along with the sensible request that if (as is sadly likely) he surfaces again, don’t engage with him but report at once and he wil be dealt with.

Did they give any idea of what their criteria are for banning someone?  Do they wait until enough people complain about a particular user, or do they directly monitor what’s going on on the site?

[Rendel Harris]

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

The only worry is we do not know which is which. NotoEU for example, (who strangely likes to stay out of politics apart from having the most politically dividing username on here), got tarred as being him. And any other 1 post who comes on with a comment not agreed with will be as well. 

I suppose don’t reply to any of them? 

I was guity of that too (for which I apologise to NotoEU). I guess engage until obvious trollhood appears; in the case of Nigel, the cloven hoof will always pop out sooner rather than later as part of the way he gets his troll jollies is letting people know that he has “cleverly” circumvented any ban and will always drop subtle [sic] hints (“leafy Essex”, “courteous behaviour” etc). I shouldn’t have been hooked really but when someone starts directly attacking one using stalkery quotes from other social media and making personal comments about one’s wife it’s hard to keep schtum.

[Hirsute]

The one posters who are

The one posters who are clearly there as a WUM probabaly need a few robust responses. The ones this year haven’t lasted beyond the thread they started in.

Garage did ok until the live blog of 1 july when he outed himself to the both of us – an extended discussion in a short space of time meant they reverted to type as it was too hard to keep up the persona.

[AlsoSomniloquism]

The only worry is we do not

The only worry is we do not know which is which. NotoEU for example, (who strangely likes to stay out of politics apart from having the most politically dividing username on here), got tarred as being him. And any other 1 post who comes on with a comment not agreed with will be as well. 

I suppose don’t reply to any of them? 

[Rendel Harris]

OldRidgeback wrote:

No, there are still some of the comments about on other threads.

Not direct comments from him though, only where other people have quoted him. His removal was confirmed to me last night by the site mods – along with the sensible request that if (as is sadly likely) he surfaces again, don’t engage with him but report at once and he wil be dealt with.

[OldRidgeback]

No, there are still some of

No, there are still some of the comments about on other threads.

[mark1a]

IanMSpencer wrote:

IanMSpencer wrote:

…As an advanced driver you are told to be wary of everything…

When I did IAM Skills For Life Advanced Driver years ago, the examiner (Police class 1 instructor) advised me after I’d passed to think of driving as “formation flying with hundreds of people you’ve never met” – then said that less than 2% of drivers on UK roads have done this, terrifying thought really. 

[IanMSpencer]

Back on topic. I think the
Back on topic. I think the key red flag on this topic was Ashley saying he was wary of cyclists.

As an advanced driver you are told to be wary of everything. I think the fact that Ashley singles out cyclists for extra attention because he thinks they don’t have road skills, rather than they need protection because they are vulnerable shows an interesting bias.

After all, tonight in two 3 mile journeys I had to deal with what appeared to be a drunk driver (at 7:15pm – erratic speed, wrong signals, drew alongside a lane away turning right and could see his demeanour, no phone usage) and someone who I guess was on their phone because they weren’t interested in avoiding a head on as they wandered a couple of feet out of their lane into mine and yet they continued to drive at me, forcing me to evade (could have been another drink I suppose). Passed a couple of cyclists, dodgy youths riding down pavements, strangely, they didn’t try and kill me through drunkenness or carelessness.

So until Ashley gets his head straight on his public pronouncements of his biases then he cannot have the confidence of the cycling community on his project.

[IanMSpencer]

You’ve depressed me. Not that
You’ve depressed me. Not that I’m looking to change until it falls to bits

[mdavidford]

chrisonatrike wrote:

Unfortunately the thread (and a couple of others it seems) has been left-hooked and now no-one’s thinking about what we were doing before that.

Yep – perhaps now we can get back to nailing down the arrangements for the next Evil Cycling Lobby meeting.

[Author]

Replies