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| Thread ID: 138825 | 2015-01-28 20:52:00 | Bicyclist on motorway | kingdragonfly (309) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1393212 | 2015-01-28 20:52:00 | There's an extremely aggressive bicyclist near Johnsonville in Wellington. I call him the angry bicyclist because he often yells at drivers. In the mornings, he typically uses several very busy two-lane round-abouts at 60 KPH. Frankly he doesn't slow down ever, and swerves through traffic without slowing. But I digress. Today in my car at rush hour I entered the two by three lane Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway at Johnsonville, going toward Wellington, near the speed camera. The speed limit reduces briefly to 80 KPH. An 18 wheeler was in lane #1 (the slow lane), driving below the speed limit, about 70 K. Roughly parallel in lane 2 was another 18 wheeler. And I was in lane #3, the passing lane. I noticed the truck in lane #2 was pushing the white edge when I passed. I was able to see why when I passed. The angry bicyclist was in middle of lane #1 doing about 70 K, with the 18 wheeler a number of meters behind him. Note there is an alternate bike path to using the motorway, using the parallel sidewalk, and even a number of residential street options. The angry bicyclist must have also entered the motorway at Johnsonville. The truck in lane #1 had moved as much as he could to the right, which then caused drivers the truck in lane 2 to get nervous about passing, so he too slowed and moved to the right of his lane also. You could argue that the bicyclist was within his rights, and technically for a short distance the motorway was no longer a highway despite it having six lanes. But here's my point: why is bicycles using non-bike lanes on MOTORways of more than 4 lanes or more legal? A racing bicycle has about 2 square inches in contact with the road. The bicyclist can easily fall off, either due to slipping or mechanical failure. In today's rush hour traffic, the 18 wheel truck behind him doing 70 K would not have been able to completely stop before hitting him. At the very least it would be likely to result in a chain reaction crash behind the truck, potentially killing some car drivers in addition to the bike rider. Of course it would have been painted as the truck driver's fault. However drivers aren't expecting to safely navigate around an ejected human body on a motorway. So my question, who do I talk to get it illegal for a bicyclist to use non-bike lanes on motorways with * 4 lanes or more * and speed limits over 60 KPH? |
kingdragonfly (309) | ||
| 1393213 | 2015-01-28 21:25:00 | The motorway southbound stops before the Newlands ramps, so technically it's an open road, he's also an idiot by the sound of it. | Whenu (9358) | ||
| 1393214 | 2015-01-28 21:39:00 | As a lifelong cyclist I avoid roads like that its plain suicide to ride them. However I won't ride on shared footpaths either too many times in the past pedestrians have looked at me and then walked into my path. I have a right to be on the road but I don't have a death wish so choose my routes carefully to avoid traffic, obviously angry man wants to die. |
gary67 (56) | ||
| 1393215 | 2015-01-28 22:06:00 | It seems to me that the angry bicyclist is either very stupid or very brave. | Bobh (5192) | ||
| 1393216 | 2015-01-28 23:05:00 | Bicyclist make more friends by being nice than by being rude. | kingdragonfly (309) | ||
| 1393217 | 2015-01-28 23:16:00 | Sounds to me like natural selection in progress...he can't last too much longer if he's doing that every day... | wratterus (105) | ||
| 1393218 | 2015-01-28 23:48:00 | I have a right to be on the road but I don't have a death wish so choose my routes carefully to avoid traffic best..answer..ever :thumbs: |
1101 (13337) | ||
| 1393219 | 2015-01-29 01:41:00 | The angry bicyclist must have also entered the motorway at Johnsonville. ..mad bicyclist. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 1393220 | 2015-01-29 06:53:00 | i don't know the road but cylists are not allowed on motorways at all. a highway is a little different. i goggled the aera and there seams to be a highway but it has cycle lanes on the side. get in touch with police. *555 if you see him again. he will get himself killed and worse still take someone else out with him. |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 1393221 | 2015-01-30 05:14:00 | Sounds like he's just trouble, on a number of levels, with the state of his mind being the biggest risk factor. I'll bet his behaviour on the roads is not the only behaviour causing concern. I'm struggling to pick my words carefully to show the guy any respect. Best I just quit now. |
Paul.Cov (425) | ||
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