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news
CommuterTalkRadio slammed for holding poll asking 'Are cyclists a danger on the road?'
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.
New Highway Code changes will give cyclists more priority than drivers.
Mike Graham says cyclists are "fanatics" who want to "drive everyone else off the road."
"They don't care about car drivers. We are now the lowest of the low."@cristo_radio | @iromg pic.twitter.com/ByKUtO9N1M
— talkRADIO (@talkRADIO) July 31, 2021
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'.
Are cyclists a danger on the road?@PatrickChristys | #talkRADIO
— talkRADIO (@talkRADIO) July 30, 2021
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?"
The @talkRADIO poll; and the reality. Happy to help. pic.twitter.com/DtKnAxywRR
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) August 1, 2021
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38 comments
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.
Also worth considering that 2.5 involve a bicycle, but it's not necessarily the cyclist's fault so not "killing".
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.
I can count on the fingers of one hand, the number of times I've been to Chernobyl
I don't know. How many fully grown people can fit in your hand?
You'd be surprised!
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:
whilst a golfer looks like this:
It's peanuts.
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.
When I rode a drop bar bike for the first time since early 90's, I did wonder where my secondary brakes were.
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.
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
Aaaaagh; chrome rims in the wet; there was not stopping them.
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.
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.
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.
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
Not easy to "other" someone who's similar to you.
""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?
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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