Cyclists do not have the same rights as motorists on roads - comment

[SandyV]

Cyclists do not have the same rights as motorists on roads

 

[nicknack]

Twat.

[Wowbagger]

He's just wrong. Someone so blinkered was simply not qualified to be in charge of transport.

[PeteB99]

I don't know what the situation is in Oz but here the headline would be correct.

Cyclists, pedestrians and other groups have a right to use the road. Motorists have qualified permission.

And I guess most people on here pay a lot more into the road maintenance system in taxes than we ever get out of it.

Motons should be grateful

[mrcharly-YHT]

He's a tw£t, buut

40-kilometre, 3.5-metre wide, grade-separated, off-road cycle

A 3.5m wide cyclepath? That's wider than most rural *roads* in the uk. then people used the breakdown lane on a motorway instead of the cycle path?  I'm not surprised he's narked at them.

[andygates]

Off-road may be gravelly shite.  Breakdown lanes have tarmac

[mrcharly-YHT]

No, these are australian cycle paths. I've seen them. They even bother marking proper lanes, road style.

It will have been smooth bitumen.

there are loads in WA. Some are absolutely fantastic. they've placed one nearly all the way from the city centre, to the outlying suburbs, 40km south. It's parallel to a major new freeway, but separated from it by a 7ft solid fence. So you don't even get the moton lights blinding you. 1.5m each lane, a total of 3m wide, dedicated *cycle* track, not shared with peds.

It's not a cycle track, it's a cycle road.  No kerbs, no road junctions to cross, dedicated flyovers over the motorway/freeway. Cycling nirvana.

I hope this link works. See the brown bit to the left of the main road, with a hashed line? That's the cycle road. It goes under the sliproad to the train station, and also parallel to the sliproad joining another cycle lane at the junction.  that's an old photo - the facilities are even better now.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Perth,+australia&sll=53.967037,-1.072776&sspn=0.003156,0.009109&g=York,+UK&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Perth+WA,+Australia&ll=-32.069127,115.849942&spn=0.001136,0.003299&t=h&z=19

[Ariadne]

So why don't people use it? there must be a reason.

I admit to having been a bit freaked by seeing cyclists on the motorways in Australia! But fair enough, if they're allowed.

I gather that generally the attitude towards cyclists is pretty bad there, worse than here. it's a very car-centred culture.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Probably the same reason people in the UK refuse to use a cycle lane. I've seen people riding outside a perfectly adequate clean cycle lane; just sheer fanatic stubbornness, combined with an amount of snobbishness.

Besides, the fakers will get a bit of an *assist* from the cars passing close, keeps their speed up so they can fool themselves they are cool racing cyclists.

[clarion]

I think the author doesn't appreciate the speeds at which we cycle.  I am usually faster than motorised traffic on my commute.  I do not think the idea of conducting such a journey on paths shared with pedestrians is a good one.

[Tourist Tony]

Twat + 1
It is clear from his last line that he considers that bikes are leisure equipment and motors are for necessary transport. I hear echoes of peak-time train bans there. Once the workers and important people have gone by, the kiddies can be let out to play.

[Charlotte]

What a knob.

From what little I saw of cycle paths in Perth, WA when I was there in September they're much better than most of the attempts that you see in the UK.  But Australia would appear to have a policy of segregating cyclists and forcing them to wear magic hats.

I can well believe that every so often someone wants to get onto a bus and deck the idiot driver.  I've been tempted myself on more occasions than I care to recall...

[mrcharly-YHT]

I think the author doesn't appreciate the speeds at which we cycle.  I am usually faster than motorised traffic on my commute.  I do not think the idea of conducting such a journey on paths shared with pedestrians is a good one.

I guess you missed my post. They are dedicated cycle paths, 1.5m per lane. Not MUPs.

But he's still a knob.

[clarion]

No, I didn't miss your post, but he was discussing shared use as a principal provision.

[LEE]

There's always the same assumption by these twats that I don't pay road tax and therefore don't deserve road space.

I suspect many/most adult cyclists pay road tax on a car and, whilst they are cycling, are not:

1 - Damaging the road they have helped pay for.

2 - Taking up as much space as a car.

I pay fucking road tax on 2 fucking cars and will therefore fucking cycle on the fucking road I have fucking paid for fucking twice *

* This rant is not subject to copyright.  Please feel free to scream it into the face of the next motorist who uses the "cyclists don't pay road tax" argument

[mrcharly-YHT]

Nah. You ain't paid any road tax.

'cause it doesn't exist.

[Regulator]

Glad to see the UK doesn't have the monopoly on ill-informed, twattish, anti-cycling politicians... 

[mattc]

Probably the same reason people in the UK refuse to use a cycle lane. I've seen people riding outside a perfectly adequate clean cycle lane; just sheer fanatic stubbornness, combined with an amount of snobbishness.

PERSONALLY I need a reason to ride outside them. But there is a reason more than 90% of the time - your locale may vary.

[Tourist Tony]

I had a suspicion, so I read some of the comments...and googled.
Yup, Mr "build more farcilities" is a lobbyist for, er, a major construction company.

[clarion]

Yup.  tbf, his sigline gave it away.  All became clear...

[LEE]

Nah. You ain't paid any road tax.

'cause it doesn't exist.

Well it doesn't exist for the twunts who use it as a road-ownership argument either then.

[Tourist Tony]

Seriously here, when I rode around Perth I used some of the bike "motorways" and they were fine, but a lot of the time I simply used the roads. Once out of Perth, the paths became scarcer,and the vast majority of the time I was simply on roads as per normal behaviour for me. Single carriageway roads with varying gravel shoulders.
In Cairns, there were cycle lanes rather than separate paths in the main, and all the usual attitudes from drivers--they seemed a lot more "redneck" up there. Main junctions were of the classic design where you are pushed down the left hand side even if you want to turn right, and in some places the only safe way to do so was to find a set of lights and use the 24" gear.

[tonycollinet]

Having committed tens of millions of toll-paying motorists' dollars on this fantastic project, I was more than a little disappointed with the reaction.

Then try consulting before you invest tosser, instead of assuming you know best.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

"Tool paying motorists".  Hmmmm. Looking at the plans for road pricing in the UK, I would think generally they are a good idea. However, this sort of argument ought to be guarded against.

[andygates]

If the general experience of cycle lanes is crap, then a rider won't seek out an unknown lane in preference to a reasonable road.

"Hello sheeps, hello trees, ooh look, a new bit of cycle lane, I expect it'll have glass and dogs like all the others.  Great!  I'll detour from this well-signed, well-lit carriageway to make my life crappier!"