northwind |
28-11-06 12:43 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyC
I honestly couldn't believe she said it... as if a pothole presented a more significant hazard than swerving infront of traffic!
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As a cyclist, a pothole really can be more of a hazard than swerving to evade it- if you hit one badly, it can throw you off or leave you basically out of control, and that's worse than a quick controlled swerve. Sorry Billy, but you were just too close. Highway Code says that you should always give a cyclist the same space that you give a small car, for exactly this reason- they need to have space to evade hazards that would be irrelevant to other road users. Whether or not this one represented that sort of risk, I really don't know, probably not- but you need to give cyclists more room than they physically take up. They're also very vulnerable to wind, which can cause them to change direction unannounced. And a lot of them are utterly rubbish, which can also cause them to change direction unannounced :) You give taxis and white vans special consideration since they're all barking, you have to do the same for cyclists.
Still. Not sticking up for this particular cyclist, London cyclists are all insane. One of the most dangerous cycling environments in the world, and they insist on making it worse. I rode daily for years, and never had any problems since i'm not a cretin- so it always stuns me when I see the ridiculous stuff some of these guys get up to.
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