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#1
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
Riding into work today was feeling pretty good. The eighth day in a row of
cycling, headed out with plenty of speed, negotiating the first few traffic bottlenecks smoothly. Then approaching the Whitehorse Rd crossing, moving well, clear of traffic with the green light, just one car waiting to turn right. Then... WTF! Whoah! The car is heading straight at me! Visions of me and my bike crashing across the bonnet. I hit the brakes hard, and the bike skids and spins. Unfortunate that it was to the left, into the line of the car's direction! We come to a halt with my bike in front of the car - back wheel just a centimetre or two from his bumper Probably not a good move, but involuntarily I let fly with a stream of abuse "What the f*%$!! Where did you get your licence? Out of a f*(%ing weeties packet!" I walked clear, across the intersection, just a tad shaken. Nothing from the driver, no wave, no aggro (good I guess) no sorry. Typical! So to the inscrutable oriental gentleman, in the red/brown 1980s Mitsubishi Magna - you are an insult! You need to wake up and develop some driving competencies Rest of the ride was much more peaceful. Even got a nice draft off a bus moving slowly in flowing traffic But it was a wake up call, to be ever-vigilant. -- Cheers Peter ~~~ ~ _@ ~~ ~ _- \, ~~ (*)/ (*) |
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#2
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
On Feb 11, 5:48 pm, "PeteSig" wrote:
Rest of the ride was much more peaceful. Even got a nice draft off a bus moving slowly in flowing traffic But it was a wake up call, to be ever-vigilant. Glad to hear you survived intact. As far as ever vigilance goes, one must never forget! I had one the other day.. waiting at the lights for through traffic so I can turn right.. get a green arrow, but notice that BMW convertible coming in other direction doesn't appear to be slowing... some seconds (!) after my green, she sails through her red light - with a trail of my expletives ringing in her ear. I honestly don't think idiots like this even realise their mistakes half the time. |
#3
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
"Duncan" wrote: I had one the other day.. waiting at the lights for through traffic so I can turn right.. get a green arrow, but notice that BMW convertible coming in other direction doesn't appear to be slowing... some seconds (!) after my green, she sails through her red light - with a trail of my expletives ringing in her ear. I honestly don't think idiots like this even realise their mistakes half the time. Well yes, of course not! BMW = Bicyclist Make Way -- Cheers Peter ~~~ ~ _@ ~~ ~ _- \, ~~ (*)/ (*) |
#4
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
PeteSig wrote:
"Duncan" wrote: I had one the other day.. waiting at the lights for through traffic so I can turn right.. get a green arrow, but notice that BMW convertible coming in other direction doesn't appear to be slowing... some seconds (!) after my green, she sails through her red light - with a trail of my expletives ringing in her ear. I honestly don't think idiots like this even realise their mistakes half the time. Well yes, of course not! BMW = Bicyclist Make Way I sympathize Mr Sig, I've often wondered what device in a car seems to dis-engage 90 % of the driver's brain when they turn the key. I f--- up when I'm driving occasionally, but I never commit faux pas of the magnitude I see on the roads whether on two or four wheels. Cheers, Ray |
#5
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
In aus.bicycle on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:13:01 +1100
ray wrote: I sympathize Mr Sig, I've often wondered what device in a car seems to dis-engage 90 % of the driver's brain when they turn the key. I f--- up I believe it is because for the majority of people driving is an unavoidable boring chore. It's to get from where they are to where they want to be, it's an unavoidable waste of time and they don't want to think about it really. There's also the active vs passive safety thing. If you are on two wheels, powered or unpowered, you realise there's not much passive safety to be had. You have to actively engage, have to be involved in what you are doing. In a car you are surrounded by passive safety. The metal cage, the seatbelt, the airbags. The advertising you have seen every day for years about how insurance is good because a crash in a car is all about bent metalwork, never about bent people. The two wheeler develops habits that move across into 4 wheels. The average four wheeler never develops those habits, never gets into active safety. Plus there is the rarity problem. Crashes are *rare*. Most people will be able to drone along operating the controls of their motor vehicle without crashing. Most crashes require 2 people to make a mistake at the same time, given the hours/km travelled and the number of cars on the road crashes are quite rare. So people can develop bad habits, make mistakes all the time, unless someone else makes a suitable mistake at the same time then nothing bad happens. So for the average driver there's no *reason* to turn the brain on. Zebee |
#6
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
Yep, they'll do that.
BTH |
#7
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
On 11 Feb 2008 21:06:18 GMT, Zebee Johnstone wrote:
The two wheeler develops habits that move across into 4 wheels. The average four wheeler never develops those habits, never gets into active safety. I presume thats true of motos. Its definitely NOT true for some cyclists, especially somewhere like Canberra where you can ride almost entirely on shared paths and footpaths(legally). Well, they do develop habits, bad habits. |
#8
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
In aus.bicycle on Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:14:34 +1100
Aeek wrote: On 11 Feb 2008 21:06:18 GMT, Zebee Johnstone wrote: The two wheeler develops habits that move across into 4 wheels. The average four wheeler never develops those habits, never gets into active safety. I presume thats true of motos. Its definitely NOT true for some cyclists, especially somewhere like Canberra where you can ride almost entirely on shared paths and footpaths(legally). Well, they do develop habits, bad habits. Makes sense. You do what works. And if there isn't much threat then you don't need to learn how to deal with threats. Most people seem to function on the idea that what happened a few seconds ago is what will happen a few seconds in the future. Which makes sense, it is usually the case. I find when riding on a cycle path that I have to consciously check the mirror regularly because *sometimes* there is a bicycle overtaking. Happens maybe once every 15-20 trips. SO there's a lot of experience saying "it won't happen". And only sheer stubborness saying "so check the damn mirror anyway". I still forget. Drifted into the middle of the path today, not deliberately, and heard a call from behind me so moved back. I hadn't realised I'd drifted, hadn't checked in ages. Had I not heard the call, had the other rider not called, had I mistook what was going on, then there could have been a problem. Zebee |
#9
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
On Feb 13, 9:14*pm, Aeek wrote:
On 11 Feb 2008 21:06:18 GMT, Zebee Johnstone wrote: The two wheeler develops habits that move across into 4 wheels. The average four wheeler never develops those *habits, never gets into active safety. I presume thats true of motos. Its definitely NOT true for some cyclists, especially somewhere like Canberra where you can ride almost entirely on shared paths and footpaths(legally). Well, they do develop habits, bad habits. Yep. Like the 3 schoolkids (all in separate incidents) this morning who, without exception, moved to the *right* when I called out "passing". BTH |
#10
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Gentle morning commute... Grrr
On Feb 13, 6:52 pm, BT Humble wrote:
Yep, they'll do that. BTH Damn Labradors are worse - no feeling for left and right. |
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