On 18/01/2011 10:32 PM, Ken & Stace wrote:
"John wrote in message
u...
Ken& Stace wrote:


Just like a slow bicycle is NOT the same as a slow truck?
Your contradicting yourself there...

No they are the same. I'm not contradicting myself. if you are in a truck
and you slow traffic you pull over a bit so cars can get past. You should do
the same thing on a bicycle. It's called road courtesy. Then the next time
the same driver comes up behind a person on a bike they will give them a bit
of room because the last person made life easy for them.

In my experience, pulling over "a bit so cars can past" is a recipe for
disaster. You WILL get squeezed.

I know that I have not ridden as many kilometers as others, only about
30,000kms, but I have seen enough to know that getting squeezed is what
happens constantly to cyclists who try to "do the right thing".

Ah, so you've never spent any time on a bicycle then? We often said as
a requirement of obtaining a driver's licence, one should also spent a
bit of time on a bike first.
That'll put the fear of [insert favourite deity here] into you.

40 something years on the road and trails on 12 different bicycles. At
present 7000 Km a year with 60 km commutes down the M4 acouple of times a
week.
Riding a bike SHOULD be part of getting a licence, but I fear it would do no
good. I think people have short memories.

With all due respect, riding down the M4 is a cakewalk with its broad
shoulders and good road surfaces.

Try riding north (towards the city) on Southern Cross Drive, through the
Airport Tunnel during peak hour AND THEN doing a right hand turn into
Foreshore Road from the left lane across 4 lanes of traffic. I would be
most interested in your suggestions as to how you would do that. BTW, I
do this regularly as well.


So you're saying it's mere "frustration" that makes people speed or do
otherwise stupid things?

No some people are just lousy drivers., witness the bus driver who was so
called assaulted last year. He didn't vcare that almost scraped the bikes
handle bars with the bus.
However Peak hour and heavy traffic brings out the worst in everybody.

Sometimes, it brings out the best. I have done that right-hander into
Foreshore Road over 50 times in peak hour traffic and have only
encountered one irate driver - my guess is that he believes he owns the
road.

Hurray.. I got through to someone!!!! Thanks for agreeing with me.
That is exactly the point of my post. Safety has to be number ONE, with my
rights coming well after that.
Geoff said he continued to say to the Federal Policeman what he was doing
was legal.
Well it may be legal, but I don't believe it is safe!!!!

Sorry, buddy. Your definition of "safe" does not agree with mine. Safe
to me means that other road users can see me clearly and take the
appropriate actions. Keeping to the left of the lane ain't safe in my
books becos I WILL get squeezed. I'll keep to the middle of my lane
thanks

Learn to read, use the internet, download the Australian Road Rules,
and READ them sometime. You might actually learn something.

You might want to take your own advice and read people posts before you
answer.

Commandeering a vehicle on the road is entirely a subjective matter
based on one's knowledge of road rules, how other road users could
potentially affect one's own utility the road, one's ability with the
vehicle, the road worthiness of one's vehicle, etc etc.

I do think that understanding the road rules is paramount prior to
understanding the others.