|
Jun 2020
2:42pm, 18 Jun 2020
10,780 posts
|
MazH
Cycling certainly has made me a more aware / patient driver towards cyclists when in my own car... I would have said I was anyway, but waaay more so in recent months.
|
|
Jun 2020
2:49pm, 18 Jun 2020
19,402 posts
|
DeeGee
I mean, look at this one! It's the main road out of Grimsby heading towards Lincoln and the airport:
The cycle path basically guides you into the door zone.
And, as there's a marked cycle path, motorists tend to expect you to be entirely within it, so pass a bit close, just the other side of the dotted white line.
And if you decide not to use the cycle path because it's not safe, you get and earful, at best.
And some cyclists assume that because there's a marked cycle path, you can use it in any direction. That's an education thing rather than an engineering problem, but it would be fixed with decent segregated infrastructure rather than creating it out of nothing using paint.
I cycled between my home in North London and University College London for three years along traffic calmed lanes and wide bus lanes and felt much safer than I do in this flat, low density town that would otherwise be just ripe for cycling.
|
|
Jun 2020
2:50pm, 18 Jun 2020
38,086 posts
|
LindsD
We've got one of those.
|
|
Jun 2020
2:52pm, 18 Jun 2020
10,781 posts
|
MazH
I was out with a friend for her first time on Tuesday, and I had to warn her about the door zone, she was like "OH MY GOD, HOW COULD I NOT HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT!"
i said to her "do you think about it when you open your car door?"
|
|
Jun 2020
2:54pm, 18 Jun 2020
11,294 posts
|
larkim
The only point of merit in that Forbes article, as a driver, that I can agree with from my personal perspective is that I do give different cyclists differing levels of credit for their predictability. A 55 overweight male on a 20yo MTB from Toys-r-us doing 10mph will probably get a wider berth than a 30yo lycra clad skinny rake on the drops on their Pinarello doing 25mph. I believe I would pass them both safely and cautiously, but I wouldn't necessarily disagree that in practice I might respond differently to them.
No different in truth to how I'd make judgements about the predicability of a minicab, a white van, a limo, a moped or a harley davidson - I've got assumptions about their road craft based on experience (and potentially pre judged views) so I respond subtlely differently to them.
Though whether the 55yo or 30yo riders above were wearing a helmet I can't honestly believe would make any difference to my assessment of how to drive around them.
|
|
Jun 2020
2:54pm, 18 Jun 2020
38,088 posts
|
LindsD
We should all be taught 'the Dutch way' of opening our doors, i.e. with the other (left) hand, so that you have to look over your shoulder.
|
|
Jun 2020
2:55pm, 18 Jun 2020
38,089 posts
|
LindsD
That would be a really easy thing to implement in the driving test.
|
|
Jun 2020
2:56pm, 18 Jun 2020
11,295 posts
|
larkim
I'm grateful our family car has sliding doors so my kids can't take out cyclists!
|
|
Jun 2020
2:58pm, 18 Jun 2020
19,404 posts
|
DeeGee
Again, another major risk factor, that the Dutch have (socially) engineered out of existence. Once you get in the habit of Dutch door opening, then you'll automatically do it all the time.
|
|
Jun 2020
3:00pm, 18 Jun 2020
38,090 posts
|
LindsD
Indeed.
|
Part-run commuting and the rain
Jul 2015