| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Question for Cyclists | |
| Posted by: | David Thorpe | |
| Date/Time: | 17/09/14 18:51:00 |
| Here's the bit I don't get. And by the way I say this as a very rare motorist (20,000 miles in 8 years), an occasional cyclist, a regular walker, runner and user by preference of public transport. When I drive my car if I deliberately speed I might say to myself, "road's clear, should never be a 30/50/70, blah blah" but I never question the fact that I am breaking the law/rules and if I get caught I would expect to get fined and would never be able to justify to a magistrate that the speed limit there is too low. If I speeded by mistake, as I think we all have done from time to time, I would still expect to be nicked. A common 'excuse' after the London riots and looting was that the 'shops could afford to lose it". No harm no foul. That is also often used as an excuse for robbery. Nobody buys it. I can't think of any blatant disregard of rules/regulations where this is generally acknowledged as an okay thing to do and where the perpetrator thinks they have the right to decide level of risk/harm and act based on that rather than the rule. That's why I asked the question originally. If you don't see a sign that's one thing. If you do but chose to ignore it then you have made a conscious decision to say "it's safe I will ignore" or "that doesn't apply to me because I don't want the hassle of moving my leg from one side of the frame to the other and then back again later". And it's just an odd anarchic attitude that nobody else seems to find strange. And I guess if it only happened when the streets/roads/paths were deserted then I could understand some of the logic—but still wouldn't agree with it any more than I would say speeding at 120 mph at night on an open road is okay. But as I said originally this happens every second of every day on really crowded places and where it is obvious it would be better for the pedestrians if the cyclists dismounted. And as the majority do, I was intrigued as to the thought process of those that don't. And I am still not much the wiser other than "we know best". |