What is hacking you off today?

[Mad Cyril]

What is a toke?

Blazing away.

Smoking a jazz cigarette.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Apple have agreed to fix my laptop which is under warranty yet managed to come across as though they are doing me a favour and I will be without my machine for over a week.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Blazing away.

Smoking a jazz cigarette.

What is a jazz cigarette?

 

[GBJ]

If you look many junctions (e.g. Hamlet Court Road) have a box specifically for that.

I do it anyway. Not to stop motorists pulling away but to make sure they have seen me and are not going to turn left without looking/indicating and knock me off. I know it is selfish but my view is that it is better that a motorist takes a few more seconds to reach his destination than I lose a leg or worse.

Selfish, but totally understandable.

Subsequently however, it’s just another example of why cyclists & drivers cannot ever fully co-exist.

 

[RHB]

Selfish, but totally understandable.

Subsequently however, it’s just another example of why cyclists & drivers cannot ever fully co-exist.

I guess it depends where you drive/cycle. I've been a cyclist for many years and a driver too and I've never had problems with cyclists apart from the packs of riders who insist on riding 3/4 abreast on the seafront or down country lanes. Singularly, most cyclists I've encountered are sensible and I give them space accordingly.

Thinking about it, the only real cycling exceptions that really deserve all they get are the courier bikes in London. They are a breed apart and I've only encountered them as a pedestrian. Normal traffic light signals aren't to do with them obviously.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Apparantly there was an irresponsible programme on C5 last night about cyclists being "the scourge of the streets" that'll no doubt add grist to the mill.

....it “is, in effect, 45 minutes of hatred, misinformation and outgrouping against people who just happen to sometimes use two wheels to get about.”

 

[Napster]

I guess it depends where you drive/cycle. I've been a cyclist for many years and a driver too and I've never had problems with cyclists apart from the packs of riders who insist on riding 3/4 abreast on the seafront or down country lanes. Singularly, most cyclists I've encountered are sensible and I give them space accordingly.

Thinking about it, the only real cycling exceptions that really deserve all they get are the courier bikes in London. They are a breed apart and I've only encountered them as a pedestrian. Normal traffic light signals aren't to do with them obviously.

most bike riders in London do this now. its a massive problem.

 

[RHB]

most bike riders in London do this now. its a massive problem.

I've been retired 8 years now (Christ, that's scary) Whitehall and Westminster used to be horrific when it came to crossing a road. I guess it's got a lot worse since I bailed out.

 

[Napster]

I've been retired 8 years now (Christ, that's scary) Whitehall and Westminster used to be horrific when it came to crossing a road. I guess it's got a lot worse since I bailed out.

yeah I cross from Charing X over to Leicesetr Square and up Tottenham Court Rd. Its every man for themselves on the crossings.

 

[GBJ]

I guess it depends where you drive/cycle.

Precisely this.

I imagine relations between cyclists & drivers will be very different in London to most(?) other parts of the Country

 

[MK Shrimper]

Precisely this.

I imagine relations between cyclists & drivers will be very different in London to most(?) other parts of the Country

I see more aggression whenever there are traffic jams or roadworks. For some reason car drivers don't like it when you whizz past them when they're stuck for ages and obviously with the congestion in London it's like that virtually every day.

 

[GBJ]

I see more aggression whenever there are traffic jams or roadworks.

Nothing gets by you Sergeant

 

[MK Shrimper]

Nothing gets by you Sergeant

Definitely not a Ford Fiesta stuck on the V4 due to road works @ Stony Stratford.

 

[Benfleet A1]

Apparantly there was an irresponsible programme on C5 last night about cyclists being "the scourge of the streets" that'll no doubt add grist to the mill.

....it “is, in effect, 45 minutes of hatred, misinformation and outgrouping against people who just happen to sometimes use two wheels to get about.”

Just blame it all on truck drivers, that should help the Sainthood.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

most bike riders in London do this now. its a massive problem.

Not nearly as big a problem as the air pollution is.

As a pedestrian, I far rather have to deal with cyclists than all the cars choking me to death with their toxic fumes.

 

[GBJ]

Not nearly as big a problem as the air pollution is.

As a pedestrian, I far rather have to deal with cyclists than all the cars choking me to death with their toxic fumes.

The irony is, with all the super cycle highways they’ve been building, all four-wheeled vehicles have been forced to occupy less space, and as a result, grind to a halt. Which of course produces more pollution.

Makes you wonder what the point of the Congestion Charge was...

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The irony is, with all the super cycle highways they’ve been building, all four-wheeled vehicles have been forced to occupy less space, and as a result, grind to a halt. Which of course produces more pollution.

Makes you wonder what the point of the Congestion Charge was...

The studies I saw suggested that the Congestion Charge reduced traffic by over 10%.

 

[GBJ]

The studies I saw suggested that the Congestion Charge reduced traffic by over 10%.

If that figure is accurate - which I’m not entirely convinced by - then it’s a grim assessment IMO.

16-years it’s been going on, and to only to reduce traffic by (possibly) 10% proves that it wasn’t about cleaner air & less pollution, it was only ever about squeezing an extra couple of quid out of the drivers.

 

[MK Shrimper]

If that figure is accurate - which I’m not entirely convinced by - then it’s a grim assessment IMO.

16-years it’s been going on, and to only to reduce traffic by (possibly) 10% proves that it wasn’t about cleaner air & less pollution, it was only ever about squeezing an extra couple of quid out of the drivers.

The ultimate aim may have been to reduce traffic, but if people are still willing to pay the charge then there's not a lot Government can do.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The ultimate aim may have been to reduce traffic, but if people are still willing to pay the charge then there's not a lot Government can do.

What do you mean there's not a lot government can do?

Government can increase the amount of the congestion charge.

It can close central London to non-essential traffic like taxis.

It can tax the polluters more.

It can use that income to improve public transport and build more cycle lanes (which are cheaper to maintain than roads as bicycles don't damage the road like heavy vehicles do despite being able to carry more people per hour).

The government has plenty of options, it just chooses to delay making the decisions that it will end up having to make sooner or later to reduce the ways the car industry is poisoning us.