Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:I'm a little confused by the comment about pedestrians. Are you saying:
- bikes should give priority to pedestrians?
- pedestrians should give way to cars?
I may have worded what I meant wrong, as I am thinking really in terms of speed, not size. Any slower moving vehicle should cede priority to a faster moving vehicle. This then means pedestrians should be ceding priority to bikes, and bikes should have priority over pedestrians, but cede priority to cars, and the such-like.
I, and the Highway Code, disagree with you about vulnerable road users automatically ceding priority to other vehicles. There are measures, such as wearing visible clothing, that they can take to improve their safety, but to suggest they constantly stop or move out of the way of people in motorised vehicles is to reduce them to second-class road users, and that's not how the law views them at present.
I'm not suggesting that bikes should constantly stop, but I am suggesting that they should, every now and then, pull over, if they are riding along a road, and there is a long tailback behind them with very few opportunities to allow a car to safely overtake them. They should also try to minimise the delay that they can cause to faster moving vehicles by helping to accommodate their overtakes and progress.
You may say that this is merely (un)common courtesy, but I feel that it should be enforced by law. It is not an attitude of "cars are superior to bikes and pedestrians and therefore should take priority."
It is merely an attitude of taking the responsibility upon yourself to try and prevent any road-rage taking place.
I do this all the time when riding my bike along the road, if I hear a car coming, I will look forwards and if I feel it is safe to do so, I will slow down, move as close to the left as I can (or even stop if I feel it is necessary), so I can reduce the time spent on the other side of the road for the driver, and reduce the time I am holding the driver up. If I don't consider it safe, then I will move more into the centre of the lane, and try to signal to the driver using my road positioning that s/he should not take the risk of overtaking, as there is, for instance, a blind bend coming up. Here's the thing, I have never had any problem with the driver of the car overtaking me stupidly close, or being overtaken in dangerous places. Every time they go past, I have always put one hand up to say thank you, and they always reply with the same gesture. (A habit I picked up from the horse riders around here).
Now I know this may not exactly apply to London, but it works well for the country roads around the village I live in.
By your own admission, you don't drive yet. You have a disability. Yet you already have the attitude, even if only held as an opinion, that once in a car you will be more important than any cyclists or other vulnerable road users you will be sharing the road with. That is not correct. I think you need to work on that before starting to drive.
Only because my age restricts me from doing so. I am going to presume that you are saying that my disability is that I don't drive.
I don't hold any such opinion. I understand that if there was a pedestrian in the middle of the road, I would do my best to ensure their safety by taking the appropriate measures, such as stopping to allow them to continue crossing. All I am saying, is that the slower ones allow the faster ones to continue forwards at their higher speed, as it is their choice to travel at that higher speed, and the slower ones should not take any responsibility of controlling the speed of the faster ones, but merely to try and accommodate them if practical.
I will assure you that I will be carrying my bike-riding attitude into my driving attitude, which is if someone wants to go faster, let them. I will do my utmost best to allow them to overtake safely and continue on their merry way.