The only thing that really hacks me off about cyclists is that when the council goes to the trouble and expense of building a cycle track - a proper one separated from the road and not just a bit of red paint, some cyclists will still insist on riding on the road.Normally it's the serious fully lycra'd up ones. It wouldn't be unreasonable to say that cyclists should have to use cycle tracks.
You have a point, however, I also agree with Mick's comments below. Near where I live is a very large junction with a lot of fast moving traffic. It is J24 of the M60 where it meets the M67 and A57. When travelling west towards Manchester, about 100 yards before the roundabout, there is a turning on the left off the A57, which at that point is a 40mph dual carriageway. This takes you off the main road and over the M60, rejoining the A57 after the junction. It carries a purpose built shared pedestrian/cyclist route. When I cycle I always use it; without exception. There are those who choose not to. And I have to say that they usually are the "lycra'd up ones". They are almost certainly trying to beat their, or their friends, personal best on Strava. They've altered the layout of the junction which should have virtually engineered the cyclist out of the equation. Alas, some still choose to ride on the road at that point.
This entails riding up the bus lane to the point where they have to move out across traffic that is in turn moving in to the point where the bus lane ends in order to gain access to the M60 towards the west. Once out there and riding between two lanes of traffic they then have to enter the roundabout which has traffic coming from the east on the M60 to join the A57 towards the west and much of which will either cross the path of the cyclist or come up behind them at (often) a much higher speed. To my mind this is lunacy.
It also brings to mind an ex-colleague of mine who was cycling to work early one morning and was going ahead at a roundabout, 2nd exit when he was struck from behind by a driver who was joining from the junction he'd just passed. As this was in the days before no-win, no-fee compensation law firms, he received about £100 to pay for a new bike. He returned after a few months but over the years he developed Spondolitis (sp?) and was in almost constant pain every day. Every morning if the weather was cold he'd have to stick a bean bag in the micro-wave to try and lessen the pain. Last year he underwent an operation to try and alleviate the problem but, to add insult to injury, the surgeon worked on the wrong vertebrae which has left him permanently crippled and almost unable to walk unaided. He eventually lost his job and has just been awarded £259,000. Personally I'd rather do without the pain.
Sorry, but you're obviously not a cyclist!
Cycling facilities are more often than not, cycling farce-ilities.
The ones locally here are laid out so you have to give way at every junction, driveway and entrance even though you are going straight on. You are seriously at risk of being "left hooked". This is only one of the problems.
The ones I see tend to be strewn with litter, gravel, dog poo, glass ............ and pedestrians. Cycle farce-ilities prevent the cyclist from making good progress and if you're like me who does 100miles a week by bike, there's no way on God's Earth that I would use a cycle track/path/farce-ility.
In 1800 and something, the bicycle was declared a "carriage". ie a vehicle for carrying the person, and as such belongs on the roads. Bicycles pre-date the motor vehicle too.
Read the Highway Code.
https://www.gov.uk/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82
Read rules 61 to 64 incl. specifically. Note rule 64 too, and THAT should be enforced very strictly indeed.
Regards,
Mick.
Several years ago I phoned the Highways Department of our local council and spoke with one of their engineers. I asked him why there were now bus lanes in areas that never suffered with congestion holding up buses, and how much this was costing the rate payers. His reply was that it wasn't costing us anything as the government of the day was providing the funding. I asked if this was the same with cycle lanes and tracks and he agreed it was. The council was simply meeting government targets. The implication of this, to me, was that they didn't actually care about the lanes and, in the few places that a separate cycle path was put in they were too narrow for even the sweeping machines used on pavements to work on. Ergo, they didn't get cleaned.
One of my bugbears has for a long time been cycling on the pavement. I'll agree that for a young child this may well be the best option. But, and it's a big but, when it comes to adults there really is no excuse. I cycle and, apart from one specific exception, never use the footpaths to ride on. In addition, at that location I can ride along the pavement without actually committing an offence. Previously, the Cops were too busy to enforce this offence and PCSOs weren't trained, even though it was within their power to deal with this. Now more and more are trained. I recently saw some video footage taken by GMP on an enforcement operation near the university. The clips included a student riding along the pavement swerving between pedestrians with his hands in his pockets. Well, it was cold. Another was riding along the same stretch of pavement while listening to music via earphones and at the same time texting.
One thing that I found interesting was the comments of people as they were being given their Fixed Penalty Notices.
Car drivers who were ticketed for running red lights, creeping up to the Advanced Stop Line and driving in the bus/cycle lanes commented that "Why don't you do something about those bloody cyclists. They're a f*****g menace.
When cyclists were ticketed they said.....well, I think you can guess what they said. Cyclists also claimed that what they were doing wasn't illegal. It just goes to show that a little knowledge really is a dangerous thing.
I would say road tax has nothing to do with being responsible for your own actions and looking out for others regardless of your chosen method of transportation.
I find 66 interesting of those rules personally, so those who ride two abreast on little country roads or busy roads are contravening the highway code..also the part "be considerate of other road users, particularly blind and partially sighted pedestrians. Let them know you are there when necessary, for example, by ringing your bell if you have one. It is recommended that a bell be fitted." Seems to be forgotten by most.
Have to agree with you that paying VED has nothing at all to do with being responsible. Otherwise there wouldn't be many magistrates' courts. Although the numbers are different, the M60 has been resurfaced along most of its length every couple of years; in fact they are working on it near Stockport as I type this. By contrast, the Fallowfield Loop, an old railway line that is used by pedestrians and cyclist was surfaced about 10 years ago and hasn't been done since. Motor transport, without a shadow of a doubt has far, far higher infrastructure costs and the money has to come from somewhere.