Get on the pavement!

On the way to work there is a nice wide smooth road, and alongside it
a fairly narrow pavement replete with overhanging trees and Magic
White Paint. Quite frequently, members of the motoring fraternity see
fit to inform me of its presence (a fact of which I am well aware,
thanks).

Today one of them took it a little further, pulling alongside, leaning
on his horn and moving towards the kerb. Which was unpleasant.
Especially since he was driving a 38T articulated truck...

All of which, naturally, reinforces my determination not to be driven
off the road and onto the pavement by the clueless ******s.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
On the way to work there is a nice wide smooth road, and alongside it
a fairly narrow pavement replete with overhanging trees and Magic
White Paint. Quite frequently, members of the motoring fraternity see
fit to inform me of its presence (a fact of which I am well aware,
thanks).

Today one of them took it a little further, pulling alongside, leaning
on his horn and moving towards the kerb. Which was unpleasant.
Especially since he was driving a 38T articulated truck...

It could have been a lot more than unpleasant. Not all cyclists are
experienced enough or confident enough to deal with that kind of
aggression and it doesn't take much of a panicky wobble near to an artic
to cause a very serious incident indeed. If he does it to you he could
one day do it to a less savvy rider.

--
Brian G

Had one of those a few years ago. Pretty scary as he came up fast
behind me on the approach to a narrow gap (pedestrian island) and
managed to get some of his back wheels to lock while going mad with the
horn and gesticulating wildly.

I had absolutely no idea what he was pointing at, so thought something
had fallen off my bike and pullled over - he passed with more blowing
of the horns and waving of arms.

It then dawned on me he was pointing at the pavement psycho-path: it
had never occurred to me to use it, because about ten metres further on
it cuts left through a housing estate, wheras my route was to go 200
metres straight to the T then turn right. So according to him, I should
use a path because it has a picture of a bike on it, even though it
doesn't go where I'm going.

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

Today one of them took it a little further, pulling alongside, leaning
on his horn and moving towards the kerb. Which was unpleasant.
Especially since he was driving a 38T articulated truck...

He didn't have one of those "How's my driving?" stickers on the back,
did he? The increase in motorist aggression is one of the nastier side
effects of on-road and on-pavement cycle facilities. I'm becoming
increasingly convinced that they are necessarily dangerous, even the
very few that meet decent standards.

--
Dave...

"dkahn400" wrote in message
ups.com...

He didn't have one of those "How's my driving?" stickers on the back,
did he? The increase in motorist aggression is one of the nastier side
effects of on-road and on-pavement cycle facilities. I'm becoming
increasingly convinced that they are necessarily dangerous, even the
very few that meet decent standards.

--
Dave...


Some time ago I attended a LA meeting about a "quiet lanes" scheme. The
cyclists in attendence were all in agreement, we *didn't* want warning signs
being put up to say "expect to see cyclists here" - or words to that effect,
as it had the effect of telling motorists *not* to expect to see cyclists in
other places.. places where cyclists had a perfect right to be - such as on
the road which was not a "quiet lane". There was mucho scratching of LA
heads at the objections raised and then apparent dismissal of our concerns
:-(

Cheers, helen s

dkahn400 wrote:
Today one of them took it a little further, pulling alongside, leaning
on his horn and moving towards the kerb. Which was unpleasant.
Especially since he was driving a 38T articulated truck...

He didn't have one of those "How's my driving?" stickers on the back,
did he? The increase in motorist aggression is one of the nastier side
effects of on-road and on-pavement cycle facilities. I'm becoming
increasingly convinced that they are necessarily dangerous, even the
very few that meet decent standards.

I've heard of a bus driver doing this too. It needs to be reported to
management and/or police. It's dangerous driving, by any measure. Even
if the only result is a 'quiet word', that still may make the idiot
think (what with, I hear you ask) next time.

It's hassle to complain, but it does help.

Colin McKenzie

dkahn400 wrote:
Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:


Today one of them took it a little further, pulling alongside, leaning
on his horn and moving towards the kerb. Which was unpleasant.
Especially since he was driving a 38T articulated truck...

Most unpleasant, pleased to hear no damage was done.


He didn't have one of those "How's my driving?" stickers on the back,
did he? The increase in motorist aggression is one of the nastier side
effects of on-road and on-pavement cycle facilities. I'm becoming
increasingly convinced that they are necessarily dangerous, even the
very few that meet decent standards.


The worst thing about pavement psychlepaths is the growing belief that
ALL pavements are psychlepaths by default. A letter in our local paper
last week appeared to support this view. The writer was calling for
'audible approach warning devices' to be fitted to all bicycles to
prevent the 'silent menace' from sneaking up on unsuspecting members of
public and scaring the sh*te out of them.

Having both feet firmly planted in the 'Bicycles are Traffic' camp, I
dislike on-road bike lanes and positively hate pavement psychlepaths.
The thing that most bothers me now is that The General (largely
non-cycling) Public are sending the message to Powers That Be that what
we really want are more pavement psychlepaths. We could end up being
forced off the road completely.

Terry Duckmanton

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
On the way to work there is a nice wide smooth road, and alongside it
a fairly narrow pavement replete with overhanging trees and Magic
White Paint. Quite frequently, members of the motoring fraternity see
fit to inform me of its presence (a fact of which I am well aware,
thanks).

Today one of them took it a little further, pulling alongside, leaning
on his horn and moving towards the kerb. Which was unpleasant.
Especially since he was driving a 38T articulated truck...

All of which, naturally, reinforces my determination not to be driven
off the road and onto the pavement by the clueless ******s.

Guy

Did you get the registration and company name? I've had two of these
and each time wrote a letter. The first one I got a letter back from
the Chairman of P&O apologising and saying they had now terminated that
contractor because of numerous complaints. The second (ironically a
safety wear company) said they had left the driver in no doubt his
behavious was not acceptable and offered me some free safety wear.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote in message
...
On the way to work there is a nice wide smooth road, and alongside it
a fairly narrow pavement replete with overhanging trees and Magic
White Paint. Quite frequently, members of the motoring fraternity see
fit to inform me of its presence (a fact of which I am well aware,
thanks).

Today one of them took it a little further, pulling alongside, leaning
on his horn and moving towards the kerb. Which was unpleasant.
Especially since he was driving a 38T articulated truck...

All of which, naturally, reinforces my determination not to be driven
off the road and onto the pavement by the clueless ******s.

I am sure you will -- but complain vociferously to his employer. He is
clearly not fit to be in charge of a baby's buggy -- let alone 38 tonne of
instant death.

T

Terry D wrote:

The worst thing about pavement psychlepaths is the growing belief that
ALL pavements are psychlepaths by default. A letter in our local paper
last week appeared to support this view. The writer was calling for
'audible approach warning devices' to be fitted to all bicycles to
prevent the 'silent menace' from sneaking up on unsuspecting members
of public and scaring the sh*te out of them.

I'm sure the shared use facilities are partly responsible for the huge
recent growth in pavement cycling. It's the number of respectable
looking middle aged cyclists with helmets and Sam Browne belts riding
along on the pavement with a saintly air that persuades me of this. The
sort of people you couldn't imagine knowingly breaking any law.

Having both feet firmly planted in the 'Bicycles are Traffic' camp, I
dislike on-road bike lanes and positively hate pavement psychlepaths.
The thing that most bothers me now is that The General (largely
non-cycling) Public are sending the message to Powers That Be that
what we really want are more pavement psychlepaths. We could end up
being forced off the road completely.

This is the great danger. I used to think that shared use paths were
part of a deliberate agenda to pedestrianise cyclists and force us off
the roads. Now, however, I tend to look towards Hanlon's Razor as
providing the true explanation.

--
Dave...