Hazards of gaggle of cyclists

[PrincessBandit]

I see on the intramaweb tonight an incident where a cyclist is in serious condition in hospital after being involved in a collision on the Coro peninsula. He was taking part in a K2 race when tangled up in a pileup involving a milk tanker and a ute driver. In the article one of the riders blamed an impatient ute driver's overtaking manoevre (obviously behind the cyclists) while the tanker was coming in the opposite direction.
"Cycling organisations say it is time to consider a law which holds drivers responsible for collisions involving cyclists ...Stephen McKernon of the Cycling Advocates' Network says current road rules put cars and cyclists in the way of each other, causing unnecessary accidents." And further..."Police have found and spoken to the ute driver, but suggested that [the injured cyclist's] evasive action was to avoid cyclists, not the vehicle. They themselves claimed that the cyclists were 'using the road as if they owned it' - but it remains their word against those of the competitors".
Surely there must be other locations that large groups of cyclists can "race" without being a hazard to other road users. I am a firm believer in advocating patience on the road but sometimes it's real hard to dig deep for when you get stuck with very few overtaking options. That is not in any way shape or form to absolve the overtaking driver if their actions were directly responsible for the injuries sustained, but gee, there are two sides to every story. It will be interesting to see what the outcome of this is in terms of anything being done to minimise it happening again. Realistically though nothing will probably be done until there are more deaths, and even then I wouldn't hold my breath.

[PrincessBandit]

I meant to add to that post that any law holding drivers responsible for collisions involving cyclists would be the start of the slippery slope for the irresponsible to abuse in order to lay the blame on anyone other than themselves. This practice is already common, but imagine the ramifications if it was legalised in some sort of way!

[TOTO]

I reacon its the Ute drivers fault. When we did the coro on friday, there were heaps of signs saying "EVENT" so you know something was happening ahead.

Farmers in utes are some of the worst drivers with no tolerance to anyone I reacon. Poor biker.

[Dave Lobster]

How about a law that says a cyclist has to look behind him when he changes his position on the carriageway?

I narrowly avoided taking one dumb fucker out on Manukau Road the other week when he decided to overtake a parked car, and hadn't bothered his arse looking behind to see if it was clear. It wasn't..

[Boob Johnson]

No sympathy for those fucking cyclist's, they are worse than some bloody motorbike riders


But in all seriousness i've seen these dicks myself in large packs on PUBLIC roads exactly as they said "owning the road" including on blind corners ffs! No sympathy here

[Usarka]

No sympathy for those fucking cyclist's, they are worse than some bloody motorbike riders


But in all seriousness i've seen these dicks myself in large packs on PUBLIC roads exactly as they said "owning the road" including on blind corners ffs! No sympathy here

And on the coro loop too! FFS piss off that's our road

[Pussy]

Each case has it's own merits... I see heaps of cyclists around Bell Block, a lot of them ride up to four abreast as though they own the road, and show blatant disregard for stop signs etc. Not saying the Coro cyclist was doing this

[EJT]

They have this race on the same weekend every year with heaps of warning. If the ute was overtaking before a blind corner (of whcih there are many around the Coro) then he was an idiot.

But I know how frustrating it can get being held up be slow vehicles around that area. Was on my way back from Whangamata the other weekend and came upon around 20 cars stuck behind a tanker doing around 30kmph up Kopu...suckers! The Kwak was past them all in a flash but I can imagine their frustration because there were no passing lanes for ages.

I didn't overtake on a blind corner though.

[EJT]

I narrowly avoided taking one dumb fucker out on Manukau Road the other week when he decided to overtake a parked car, and hadn't bothered his arse looking behind to see if it was clear. It wasn't..

Overtake a parked car. That must be hard. What did you expect they were going to do.

[Dave Lobster]

I didn't overtake on a blind corner though.

Wuss.



wordcount..

[Boob Johnson]

How about a law that says a cyclist has to look behind him when he changes his position on the carriageway?

I narrowly avoided taking one dumb fucker out on Manukau Road the other week when he decided to overtake a parked car, and hadn't bothered his arse looking behind to see if it was clear. It wasn't..

Mate we had a lone cyclists nearly take out one of my best mates only two weeks ago. Two of us shot past him at a reasonable pace, the road was really really wide back country B/C road, this particular part was extremely long & flat so vis was excellent, anyway so we shoot past him & even move right over to the oncoming lane (again this is a long wide straight road with no one else on it) to give him even more room. The third rider (the most conservative rider known to man kind) is pootling along at his usual snail pace when the cyclist decides to for no apparent reason swerve across the road, JUST before he passes him. He had to make a very evasive maneuver to miss him, was really close he reckons and Mike has a fully pimped 05 S4R Duke with Arrows pipes so you can't NOT hear it coming.

If the clown was indeed wearing an ipod then it just reaffirms why I won't ever use one on a bike. The ability to hear what is going on around you is as important as site I reckon

[hayd3n]

i think cyclist should pay acc/rego levys as we have to be aware of them on the road
they have their own lanes and sometimes own traffic light and parks in town
cmon who pays for these??
yes they are good for the environment and its great exercise
but they are a fukin nuisance!!

[mowgli]

I reacon its the Ute drivers fault.

Nah, the ute driver and the cyclist were victims!!! In this broken, politically correct, cotton wool wrapped country (thanks auntie helen) the event organisers will be found at fault for failing to adequately mitigate a known hazard. But punishing them would set a precedent whereby similar events would become unfeasible due to a lack of volunteers prepared to be held accountable. So instead nothing will change and from time to time another cyclist will be sent rapid like to A&E.

Riding two wheels on the road is risky. Sometimes, despite best efforts to avoid them, accidents happen. Hope the cyclist wasn't too beat up and that they recover quickly.

[pete376403]

Was going over the Akatarewas last weekend. It's a really narrow road - my driveway is wider. There was some bicycle event on, looked like it went from Upper Hutt to Waikanae and back. Anyway, I encountered numerous groups of lycra clad dorks coming around blind corners 3 or more abreast. maybe they were in race mode and going hard, but they were relying on the observation and skill of the oncoming traffic not to take them out, because they had no way of stopping or avoiding a pileup if a car was approaching in the normal place on this road ie in the middle.

[Shadows]

What I don't understand is why cyclists are allowed to "race" on an open public road. The race face everybody has on ensures they will break numerous road rules every time, putting other road users at risk (usually because they have to take evasive action to avoid the cunts).

No other road user would get away with it. Why should they?