Author Topic: You should be on the cyclepath  (Read 5221 times)

You should be on the cyclepath
« on: 25 May, 2010, 08:37:15 pm »
... or so I was told by a driving school instructor on the commute this evening.

I thought I might question his wisdom so fired an email off:

Quote
This evening one of your vehicles was conducting a lesson on the Southampton Road.

The instructor vehicle in the vehicle ** ** *** informed me that I should not be cycling on the road and should have been on the adjacent cycle path.

This is an interesting attitude to be teaching the pupil of this lesson as it has absolutely no founding in law or any other driving legislation.

In fact exactly the opposite. The DfT Code of Conduct for cyclists (Annex D to Local Transport Notes on Walking and Cycling) clearly states that at the speed I was cycling :

As a general rule, if you want to cycle quickly, say in excess of 18 mph/30 kph, then you should be riding on the road.

It is of extreme concern that a driving instructor is unaware of this and is teaching such erroneous claims to the pupil. Before taking this further I would be interested in what justification your instructor has for the claim that I should not have been on the roads and the legislation or literature that states I should not have been on the road.


20 minutes later I got a reply:

Quote
Thank you for your email.

I have spoken to the Driving Instructor concerning this email and i have forwarded your complaint to him and advised him to be aware of the highway code for cyclists.

Please accept our apologies on his behalf.

I know I only have their word for it but I consider it a result!

Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #1 on: 25 May, 2010, 08:44:02 pm »
Very good  :thumbsup:

andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #2 on: 25 May, 2010, 08:45:15 pm »
 :thumbsup:
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
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Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #3 on: 25 May, 2010, 08:46:03 pm »
I'd ask them to get him to email you himself and make the arrogant git eat a bit of humble pie.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

FatBloke

  • I come from a land up over!
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #4 on: 25 May, 2010, 08:49:22 pm »
Not as satisfying as beating the bastard into a coma with a length of 2x4!!

Sorry, but I've just about had enough of this brand of fuckwit!!   >:( >:( >:(
This isn't just a thousand to one shot. This is a professional blood sport. It can happen to you. And it can happen again.

Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #5 on: 25 May, 2010, 08:51:18 pm »
Not as satisfying as beating the bastard into a coma with a length of 2x4!!

Sorry, but I've just about had enough of this brand of fuckwit!!   >:( >:( >:(

You don't say!  ;D

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
  • Overseaing the building of the death star
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #6 on: 25 May, 2010, 10:32:34 pm »
Not as satisfying as beating the bastard into a coma with a length of 2x4!!

Sorry, but I've just about had enough of this brand of fuckwit!!   >:( >:( >:(

Use an aluminium baseball bat not a 2x4.  Lets be sporty

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
    • John's Bikes
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #7 on: 25 May, 2010, 11:01:23 pm »
 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Better ergonomics. Less chance of straining your wrists.  :demon:

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Charlotte

  • Dissolute libertine
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Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #8 on: 25 May, 2010, 11:07:20 pm »
Aluminium might cause you RSI - Polypropylene FTW  :)
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Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #9 on: 25 May, 2010, 11:08:57 pm »
Quote
advised him to be aware of the highway code for cyclists

yeah, the code for the sandal wearing yoghurt weavers. Not for us testosterone fuelled car drivers.
It is simpler than it looks.

urban_biker

  • " . . .we all ended up here and like lads in the back of a Nova we sort of egged each other on...."
  • Known in the real world as Dave
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #10 on: 25 May, 2010, 11:18:32 pm »
There's something in me that just wants to say  +1
Owner of a languishing Langster

Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #11 on: 26 May, 2010, 10:39:59 am »
Aluminium might cause you RSI - Polypropylene FTW  :)

Exogrid surely!!

 ;D

Karla

  • car(e) free
    • Lost Byway - around the world by bike
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #12 on: 26 May, 2010, 10:40:08 am »
The place for you is on the cyclepath.

The place for him is in the jobcentre.

Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #13 on: 26 May, 2010, 10:47:55 am »
Aluminium might cause you RSI - Polypropylene FTW  :)
But aluminum bats make such a satisfying 'boing' noise when they hit the skull.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Regulator

  • That's Councillor Regulator to you...
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #14 on: 26 May, 2010, 10:51:15 am »
... or so I was told by a driving school instructor on the commute this evening.

I thought I might question his wisdom so fired an email off:

Quote
This evening one of your vehicles was conducting a lesson on the Southampton Road.

The instructor vehicle in the vehicle ** ** *** informed me that I should not be cycling on the road and should have been on the adjacent cycle path.

This is an interesting attitude to be teaching the pupil of this lesson as it has absolutely no founding in law or any other driving legislation.

In fact exactly the opposite. The DfT Code of Conduct for cyclists (Annex D to Local Transport Notes on Walking and Cycling) clearly states that at the speed I was cycling :

As a general rule, if you want to cycle quickly, say in excess of 18 mph/30 kph, then you should be riding on the road.

It is of extreme concern that a driving instructor is unaware of this and is teaching such erroneous claims to the pupil. Before taking this further I would be interested in what justification your instructor has for the claim that I should not have been on the roads and the legislation or literature that states I should not have been on the road.


20 minutes later I got a reply:

Quote
Thank you for your email.

I have spoken to the Driving Instructor concerning this email and i have forwarded your complaint to him and advised him to be aware of the highway code for cyclists.

Please accept our apologies on his behalf.

I know I only have their word for it but I consider it a result!


Good e-mail to the driving school.  I might have been tempted to insert a reference to the (in)famous case of R v Cadden, in which Judge Robin Onions (fantastic name) said there was no compulsion that a cyclist should use a cycle path.

I'd also have been tempted to refer to Rule 61 of the Highway Code, which they should as driving instructors be familiar with: "Use of these facilities is not compulsory and will depend on your experience and skills"
Quote from: clarion
I completely agree with Reg.

Green Party Councillor

Julian

  • samoture
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #15 on: 26 May, 2010, 11:03:55 am »
Ah, that reminds me.  

Quote
Dear Sir or Madam

I am writing to ask for your comments on a situation I experienced last Thursday 20 May 2010.  I was setting off from home with a group of friends at around 6.45pm, and paused to turn right out of Mattock Lane W13 onto Northfield Avenue W13.  I was driving a fairly distinctive blue Fiat Doblo and the instructor in question might remember me.  

I certainly remember him, because as I waited to turn right - there being traffic in both directions - he pulled to the left of my vehicle and then aggressively moved forward in order to turn right from the left-turning position.  When I failed to let him perform his illegal and dangerous manoevure, he mouthed abuse at me and my friends through the window and gave us the finger.  

He had an instructee with him at the time who was in the passenger seat.  She looked highly embarrassed at his behaviour.

I can't imagine that this sort of driving is condoned by the AA.  Your instructor should not be driving like that at all, never mind when he has someone with him.  If he is that impatient with qualified drivers then I feel sorry for the learners he instructs.

The instructor was a white male whose physical age was somewhere below forty although clearly his emotional age was well under the legal driving age.  

Can you please confirm whether you encourage this sort of behaviour from your driving instructors?  If so I can only imagine that the worst sort of idiocy I see on the roads is always from those who were taught by the AA.

Best regards


*sits back and awaits noncommital response*

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #16 on: 26 May, 2010, 11:05:22 am »
I am frequently disturbed by the standard of driving by instructors.
Getting there...

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #17 on: 26 May, 2010, 11:19:38 am »
I make a point of thanking Instructor cars profusely if they treat me right. Hoping, probably forlornly, that it might make a difference in the future.
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #18 on: 26 May, 2010, 11:22:01 am »
Ah, that reminds me.  

Quote
Dear Sir or Madam

I am writing to ask for your comments on a situation I experienced last Thursday 20 May 2010.  I was setting off from home with a group of friends at around 6.45pm, and paused to turn right out of Mattock Lane W13 onto Northfield Avenue W13.  I was driving a fairly distinctive blue Fiat Doblo and the instructor in question might remember me.  

I certainly remember him, because as I waited to turn right - there being traffic in both directions - he pulled to the left of my vehicle and then aggressively moved forward in order to turn right from the left-turning position.  When I failed to let him perform his illegal and dangerous manoevure, he mouthed abuse at me and my friends through the window and gave us the finger.  

He had an instructee with him at the time who was in the passenger seat.  She looked highly embarrassed at his behaviour.

I can't imagine that this sort of driving is condoned by the AA.  Your instructor should not be driving like that at all, never mind when he has someone with him.  If he is that impatient with qualified drivers then I feel sorry for the learners he instructs.

The instructor was a white male whose physical age was somewhere below forty although clearly his emotional age was well under the legal driving age.  

Can you please confirm whether you encourage this sort of behaviour from your driving instructors?  If so I can only imagine that the worst sort of idiocy I see on the roads is always from those who were taught by the AA.

Best regards


*sits back and awaits noncommital response*

Fantastic !!

Top letter.
Rust never sleeps

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #19 on: 26 May, 2010, 01:57:06 pm »
He had an instructee with him at the time

Nice letter, so I'm very sorry that I feel the need to be picky - is there any reason not to use the word "pupil" or "student" here?

Anyway, pedantry aside, fingers crossed you get as satisfactory an outcome as Cudzo. Though it's the AA, you say? Hmmm. Not a company famous for its positive attitude towards non-motorised road users.

d.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Julian

  • samoture
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #20 on: 26 May, 2010, 02:02:26 pm »
He had an instructee with him at the time

Nice letter, so I'm very sorry that I feel the need to be picky - is there any reason not to use the word "pupil" or "student" here?

It's the word they use when they're being wanky.  I thought I'd be wanky back.  :)

Quote
Anyway, pedantry aside, fingers crossed you get as satisfactory an outcome as Cudzo. Though it's the AA, you say? Hmmm. Not a company famous for its positive attitude towards non-motorised road users.

d.


I woz motorised myself at the time, and I don't mention my filthy cycling habits.  I'm sure if I wrote to them regarding a complaint I had as a cyclist they'd ignore me.

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
  • Overseaing the building of the death star
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #21 on: 26 May, 2010, 02:10:25 pm »
I am frequently disturbed by the standard of driving by instructors.

Look at the standards of drivers it must come from somewhere.

Now wheres my soap box - blah privilege not right blah blah

border-rider

Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #22 on: 26 May, 2010, 02:14:33 pm »
I've found that when the instructor is driving, and I'm on the bike, it can be most effective to lean into the car and say sorrowfully "you'll never pass if you drive like that"


:)

iakobski

Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #23 on: 26 May, 2010, 02:18:05 pm »
I was overtaken by an AA instructor last night, on his own in the car.

It was a textbook perfect overtake: all four wheels over the centre line, not too fast, no harsh acceleration.  :)

Apart from one thing: the centre line was a double white solid line.   :-\

Luckily for him (and me) the car coming towards him wasn't doing the full 60 mph allowed on that road. Also luckily, the car following him had the very good sense to see what was about to happen and hold back. So he was able to slam on his brakes and tuck back in behind me.  :o

When the oncoming car had passed, he overtook again, and as he did he made strange hand signals at me.  ???

The cars following him didn't overtake until there was a safe place, unlike the so-called professional instructor.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: You should be on the cyclepath
« Reply #24 on: 26 May, 2010, 02:19:26 pm »
I've found that when the instructor is driving, and I'm on the bike, it can be most effective to lean into the car and say sorrowfully "you'll never pass if you drive like that"


:)

A line I've used, along with (to a driver alone in a driving school car) 'Shouldn't you have your Instructor with you on a first lesson?' ;D
Getting there...