Compulsory Motorways

On 27/12/2019 23:40, Simon Jester wrote:
On Friday, December 27, 2019 at 10:05:02 PM UTC, GB wrote:
On 27/12/2019 14:59, Simon Jester wrote:

We were cycling here on Pagan Midwinter Festival day

Is that relevant to what follows?





Side by side in accordance with the Highway Code.

You were on a single lane B road, going far slower than the other motor
traffic on that road normally goes. Surely, whatever your rights are,
you can see that that is going to cause inconvenience and possibly
annoyance to other road users?

Nobody is suggesting you should not cycle there, but if you cycle in
single file, it is much easier for other traffic to pass you safely.



You miss the point.
The motorist could have used the parallel motorway and there would have been no problem.



That must count as the daftest point of 2019. Perhaps he's not going
that way? Why should he be banned from a B road? Above all, you were the
one at risk, not him.

GB wrote:
On 27/12/2019 23:40, Simon Jester wrote:
On Friday, December 27, 2019 at 10:05:02 PM UTC, GB wrote:
On 27/12/2019 14:59, Simon Jester wrote:

We were cycling here on Pagan Midwinter Festival day

Is that relevant to what follows?





Side by side in accordance with the Highway Code.

You were on a single lane B road, going far slower than the other
motor traffic on that road normally goes. Surely, whatever your
rights are, you can see that that is going to cause inconvenience
and possibly annoyance to other road users?

Nobody is suggesting you should not cycle there, but if you cycle in
single file, it is much easier for other traffic to pass you safely.



You miss the point.
The motorist could have used the parallel motorway and there would
have been no problem.


That must count as the daftest point of 2019. Perhaps he's not going
that way? Why should he be banned from a B road? Above all, you were
the one at risk, not him.

The stupidity of the cyclist cannot be underestimated.

On Sunday, December 29, 2019 at 3:46:18 PM UTC, GB wrote:
On 27/12/2019 23:40, Simon Jester wrote:
On Friday, December 27, 2019 at 10:05:02 PM UTC, GB wrote:
On 27/12/2019 14:59, Simon Jester wrote:

We were cycling here on Pagan Midwinter Festival day

Is that relevant to what follows?





Side by side in accordance with the Highway Code.

You were on a single lane B road, going far slower than the other motor
traffic on that road normally goes. Surely, whatever your rights are,
you can see that that is going to cause inconvenience and possibly
annoyance to other road users?

Nobody is suggesting you should not cycle there, but if you cycle in
single file, it is much easier for other traffic to pass you safely.



You miss the point.
The motorist could have used the parallel motorway and there would have been no problem.



That must count as the daftest point of 2019. Perhaps he's not going
that way? Why should he be banned from a B road? Above all, you were the
one at risk, not him.

Thank you for proving my point. The subsidised road user chose to put paying road users at risk rather than using the motorway.

On 27/12/2019 19:04, Simon Jester wrote:

The point is we were cycling next to a motorway. We are told cyclists should use cycleways where available so why wasn't the motorist on the motorway?

erm it doesn't go to where he wants, maybe he is scared of motorways
maybe... Could be lots of reasons he doesn't want to use the Motorway .

There is a 'mixed use path' near to me but it meanders along a river; OK
if you have all day, it's dry etc, but if you just want to pop along to
the next village it is much quicker and easier (less dog walkers too) to
just zip along the road. I have never been maligned for using this road
(A70) rather than the 'mixed use path' (Water of Leith walkway) .

What I have experienced is people 'saying' I should use bike lanes
when supplied . But these lanes are not always 'fit for purpose' being
really narrow, leading you into situations that are more dangerous than
using the lane properly etc.

On 29/12/2019 18:56, Simon Jester wrote:

You miss the point.
The motorist could have used the parallel motorway and there would have been no problem.



That must count as the daftest point of 2019. Perhaps he's not going
that way? Why should he be banned from a B road? Above all, you were the
one at risk, not him.

Thank you for proving my point. The subsidised road user chose to put paying road users at risk rather than using the motorway.


You're getting dafter the deeper you dig your hole. Can you explain the
car driver's choice here? How much signage had you put up explaining
that you and your mate would be cycling along this main road two abreast?

If you hadn't provided advance signage, then the only choice he could
make was when he came across you. At that point, he slowed down and
waited for an opportunity to pass you. You demonstrated greater faith in
the average motorist's common sense than I would have done.

On 29/12/2019 15:46, GB wrote:
On 27/12/2019 23:40, Simon Jester wrote:
On Friday, December 27, 2019 at 10:05:02 PM UTC, GB wrote:
On 27/12/2019 14:59, Simon Jester wrote:

We were cycling here on Pagan Midwinter Festival day

Is that relevant to what follows?






Side by side in accordance with the Highway Code.

You were on a single lane B road, going far slower than the other motor
traffic on that road normally goes. Surely, whatever your rights are,
you can see that that is going to cause inconvenience and possibly
annoyance to other road users?

Nobody is suggesting you should not cycle there, but if you cycle in
single file, it is much easier for other traffic to pass you safely.

You miss the point.
The motorist could have used the parallel motorway and there would
have been no problem.

That must count as the daftest point of 2019. Perhaps he's not going
that way? Why should he be banned from a B road? Above all, you were the
one at risk, not him.

Sorry, you're the one missing the point. Motorists tell cyclists to use
facilities provided (paid from their "road tax", whatever that is), even
if useless, dangerous or don't go where the cyclist wants to go.

The motorway is a drivers facility that the driver didn't want to or
chose not to use. Besides, take a look at the map. The road in question
goes between two closely spaced junctions.

On Monday, December 30, 2019 at 10:59:17 AM UTC, soup wrote:
On 27/12/2019 19:04, Simon Jester wrote:

The point is we were cycling next to a motorway. We are told cyclists should use cycleways where available so why wasn't the motorist on the motorway?

erm it doesn't go to where he wants, maybe he is scared of motorways
maybe... Could be lots of reasons he doesn't want to use the Motorway .

There is a 'mixed use path' near to me but it meanders along a river; OK
if you have all day, it's dry etc, but if you just want to pop along to
the next village it is much quicker and easier (less dog walkers too) to
just zip along the road. I have never been maligned for using this road
(A70) rather than the 'mixed use path' (Water of Leith walkway) .

What I have experienced is people 'saying' I should use bike lanes
when supplied . But these lanes are not always 'fit for purpose' being
really narrow, leading you into situations that are more dangerous than
using the lane properly etc.

Exactly the point. Cyclists are expected to use cycle facilities even when they are dangerous and inconvenient yet motorists can chose to use motorways as it suits them.

On Monday, December 30, 2019 at 11:10:45 AM UTC, GB wrote:
On 29/12/2019 18:56, Simon Jester wrote:

You miss the point.
The motorist could have used the parallel motorway and there would have been no problem.



That must count as the daftest point of 2019. Perhaps he's not going
that way? Why should he be banned from a B road? Above all, you were the
one at risk, not him.

Thank you for proving my point. The subsidised road user chose to put paying road users at risk rather than using the motorway.


You're getting dafter the deeper you dig your hole. Can you explain the
car driver's choice here? How much signage had you put up explaining
that you and your mate would be cycling along this main road two abreast?

If you hadn't provided advance signage, then the only choice he could
make was when he came across you. At that point, he slowed down and
waited for an opportunity to pass you. You demonstrated greater faith in
the average motorist's common sense than I would have done.

The driver had the choice to use the motorway. My wife and myself had no choice.

On 30/12/2019 13:54, Simon Jester wrote:
On Monday, December 30, 2019 at 11:10:45 AM UTC, GB wrote:
On 29/12/2019 18:56, Simon Jester wrote:

You miss the point.
The motorist could have used the parallel motorway and there would have been no problem.



That must count as the daftest point of 2019. Perhaps he's not going
that way? Why should he be banned from a B road? Above all, you were the
one at risk, not him.

Thank you for proving my point. The subsidised road user chose to put paying road users at risk rather than using the motorway.


You're getting dafter the deeper you dig your hole. Can you explain the
car driver's choice here? How much signage had you put up explaining
that you and your mate would be cycling along this main road two abreast?

If you hadn't provided advance signage, then the only choice he could
make was when he came across you. At that point, he slowed down and
waited for an opportunity to pass you. You demonstrated greater faith in
the average motorist's common sense than I would have done.

The driver had the choice to use the motorway. My wife and myself had no choice.


Utter nonsense. You had a choice, unless you suffer from some weird
compulsion to cycle along that particular road. If so, you should seek
urgent medical help.

I doubt you are suffering from that, just some weird temporary
affliction that causes you to write nonsense arguments on Usenet.

On 30/12/2019 13:17, TMS320 wrote:

Sorry, you're the one missing the point. Motorists tell cyclists to use
facilities provided (paid from their "road tax", whatever that is), even
if useless, dangerous or don't go where the cyclist wants to go.

I clearly am missing that particular point, as it's nothing I've ever
done or would ever dream of doing.

I would obviously recommend that cyclists take reasonable precautions to
keep themselves as safe as reasonably possible, because there are some
pretty awful drivers around (me included).