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[STEMO]

You are dropping down the pecking order;

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-10317955/Nine-big-changes-driving-laws-road-rules-car-tech-coming-2022.html

[Sir Tigger KC]

Well there's a lot of effin stupidness amongst that lot! 

Whoever dreamed up giving pedestrians priority over cars at junctions as in the diagram needs taking out and shooting!   

Can you imagine the iffy insurance claims?   

An anovver fing.... As an ex-lorryist I've never had much sympathy with bicyclists who ride up the inside of large vehicles.  They should be responsible for their own actions! 

[Sir Tigger KC]

The horse thing is fair enough though. 

There's lots of horsey types round here and I've often seen cars zip by horses without slowing down or even giving them a wide berth!   

[dave the builder]

I read this somewhere else a few days ago 
I can see a few injured cyclists and pedestrians in the near future 
how much RFL are the moving targets cyclists/walkers going to pay 
I imagine there will be plenty of rear end shunts  as cars stop before turning into a road 

[Varche]

Intelligent speed assistance! On all new cars from mid next year.

Big brother.  Might stop some buying a new car?

Motoring in twenty years time will be duller than washing dishes. The children of today will become driven by automated taxis. They will of course be able to continue doing whatever it is that they do on their phones without the hassle of driving.

We have just had our wonderful scenic road to our local town “ upgraded” with 12 million of mostly EU money. Great new surface and they have eliminated the narrow sections and sharp bends. Now it is bland and flanked by armco on both sides right at the edge of the road for 20 miles destroying the view of the scenery and the road ahead. Overtaking is now very difficult so you are stuffed if you encounter a tractor or labouring lorry. Worse there is nowhere to pull off if you breakdown.  The armco in quite a few places is doubled. The extra lower section presumably is to stop motorcyclists sliding under. All in all a great example of the nanny state but everyone can drive it easily at 45 mph

[Andy B]

Don't we have kerbs over here? Not curbs .....

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

The horse thing is fair enough though. 

There's lots of horsey types round here and I've often seen cars zip by horses without slowing down or even giving them a wide berth!   

On the other hand - also have lots of them around here. They ride two or even three abreast along the roads with a long line of cars behind them and dont give a toss.
A local Doctor complained about being stuck behind then when he was on his way to a patient who had a heart attack.
Keep them on the green stuff. Roads are for cars and motorbikes.

[Andy B]

.....
Keep them on the green stuff. Roads are for cars and motorbikes.

I agree ..... there's a time & a place for horses, today's busy roads are not the place for a jittery horse

[Rangie]

We have paths along riverbanks & fields with paths galore all local to me all are suitable for horse riding but for reasons beyond my thinking skills, the people who ride them all want to do so along fast stretches of road where the poor drivers amongst us scare the animals & have total disregard for them. It's a bad situation that does need to be addressed.

[Andy B]

We have paths along riverbanks & fields with paths galore all local to me all are suitable for horse riding but for reasons beyond my thinking skills, the people who ride them all want to do so along fast stretches of road where the poor drivers amongst us scare the animals & have total disregard for them. It's a bad situation that does need to be addressed.

same mentality as lycra clad cyclists that insist on riding on busy the 2 & 4 lane by-passes around here when there's a dedicated cycle lane near by ..... they're entitled to.

[Nick W]

Don't we have kerbs over here? Not curbs .....

I'm in two minds about this:


the junctions change is contrary to all good sense, and if followed will increase the number of rear end collisions at junctions. It takes away the pedestrian's responsibility for being aware of what they're doing.


Drivers expect.... cycle training has ALWAYS taught cyclists that riding in the gutter is very dangerous. The government's own publication(I've just checked my copy) suggests that 0.5metre from the curb is the minimum distance which it calls the Secondary Riding Position. and 'should be adopted when it is reasonable when this could help others as long as your safety is not thereby impaired' - their emphasis. The Primary Riding Position is in the centre of the left hand lane. I'll wait while you all froth at the mouth. This is not new advice, as it's what I learnt when taking the cycling proficiency test in junior school over forty years ago. Incidentally, the school still runs the same test, using the same roads. It's the same advice that anyone who takes extra vehicle  instruction; you take control of your bit of the road for you own safety and then that of other road users, whether your vehicle is a bicycle or a 40 tonne truck.


The same bill also makes changes to how road layouts are constructed for cycle lanes etc to reduce the complaints and improve their abysmal safety - that's my opinion from using many of them around here. I guarantee that won't be followed.

[Nick W]

We have paths along riverbanks & fields with paths galore all local to me all are suitable for horse riding but for reasons beyond my thinking skills, the people who ride them all want to do so along fast stretches of road where the poor drivers amongst us scare the animals & have total disregard for them. It's a bad situation that does need to be addressed.

same mentality as lycra clad cyclists that insist on riding on busy the 2 & 4 lane by-passes around here when there's a dedicated cycle lane near by ..... they're entitled to.

And in many cases, the dedicated cycle lanes are utterly inadequate for any cycle without training wheels. There are several around here that I won't use for that reason.

[Andy B]

We have paths along riverbanks & fields with paths galore all local to me all are suitable for horse riding but for reasons beyond my thinking skills, the people who ride them all want to do so along fast stretches of road where the poor drivers amongst us scare the animals & have total disregard for them. It's a bad situation that does need to be addressed.

same mentality as lycra clad cyclists that insist on riding on busy the 2 & 4 lane by-passes around here when there's a dedicated cycle lane near by ..... they're entitled to.

And in many cases, the dedicated cycle lanes are utterly inadequate for any cycle without training wheels. There are several around here that I won't use for that reason.

so you can't complain too much then when vehicles pass a little closer to you than you'd like 

You've lost me re the training wheels/stabilisers .... 

[Doctor Gollum]

Presumably a suitability issue... ie in such poor condition that training wheels are required to negotiate them safely...

I agree re the positions... If you're in the middle of the lane anyone wishing to pass has to consider how they are going to, ie they actually have to think about the manoeuvre. Riding at the edge of the lane is asking to get smeared into the kerb.

I was always under the impression that a pedestrian walking along a main road and having to cross a side road had priority along the main road over any traffic wishing to turn into that road.

Likewise, anyone passing a cyclist etc immediately before turning left needs a slap.

Neither of these are new concepts.

[Nick W]

And in many cases, the dedicated cycle lanes are utterly inadequate for any cycle without training wheels. There are several around here that I won't use for that reason.

so you can't complain too much then when vehicles pass a little closer to you than you'd like 

You've lost me re the training wheels/stabilisers .... 

I don't. I've made the decision to avoid the dangerous cycle path and use the road where all vehicles should be. I do change my routes when using a bike compared to a car to take advantage of the different characteristics of both the vehicle and the road. For instance, if cycling towards Maidstone from home, I use two residential roads instead of the main route, and join it after pushing the bike 50m through an alley. This is quicker, easier, safer and has fewer junctions than riding up the main road. And that's just the first mile...


Training wheels: how fast do you think a bike fitted with them can travel and corner? It's the limit that many dedicated cycle lanes are safe to use. That's assuming that they're in a reasonable condition; if you think the roads are in a state, try a bike/lane.