It's Bitterly Cold in the UK

[Steve J]

Being both a driver and a cyclist as well as pedestrian, I see way more bad and dangerous drivers than cyclists, by a significant margin. Bad cyclists annoy me as much as anyone else, but having nearly been crushed to death by a bad bus driver three years ago, as well as numerous close calls with vans and cars dangerously undertaking and overtaking , I very much resent the 'crush a cyclist' attitude .

[Pruneau]

Friend of mine just facebooked in that this morning they had 60 cms of snow, and temperatures dropped down to -25° C in Honefoss.  Now that's freezing.

[MooseDontBounce]

It's ridiculous round here.  18 inches of snow so far at Pendraken HQ, with more to come apparently. 

Leon:

How much snow do you normal receive?  I'm not making light of it.  It's easy for some of us to forget not everyone gets burried in snow for a 1/4th of the year.

Here is Syracuse, New York, 18 inches is an average storm and probably doesn't close anything unless there is some ice too.

You can always plot Summer/Autum birth spikes to major Winter storms.  Everyone go have some fun!

[Leon]

How much snow do you normal receive?  I'm not making light of it.  It's easy for some of us to forget not everyone gets burried in snow for a 1/4th of the year.

We don't normally get anywhere near this much, although last winter we had about 5 weeks worth.  The average year we probably get only a few inches, some years none at all really.  They take bets on there being snow on Xmas day, and the odds are usuall pretty poor.  When it does come though, we always seem to be underprepared, and the whole country grinds to a standstill.

My car battery died on Monday morning, so I've got it charged back up now and am quite happily running about in 4x4 heaven!

[Leon]

Being both a driver and a cyclist as well as pedestrian, I see way more bad and dangerous drivers than cyclists, by a significant margin. Bad cyclists annoy me as much as anyone else, but having nearly been crushed to death by a bad bus driver three years ago, as well as numerous close calls with vans and cars dangerously undertaking and overtaking , I very much resent the 'crush a cyclist' attitude .

I was considering cycling to work earlier this year, but the country roads I'd have to travel on puts me off slightly.  Plus a mate of mine got wiped out by a truck and broke most of his face.   

[Steve J]

When the bus knocked me off my bike I was 1' away from having my head crushed by the back wheels! After leaving A&E badly bruised and shaken, all my son wanted to know was what type of bus it was . I now cycle on the side roads to avoid idiot drivers in a hurry to queue at traffic lights.

[exilesjjb]

Well I work nights in a warehouse complex so lots of walking inbetween them (Supervising) got to -16 in Jan , not as cold yet but the brass monkeys are cupping their bits

[Leon]

When the bus knocked me off my bike I was 1' away from having my head crushed by the back wheels!

I hate buses.

[SV52]

Bit of a thread-jack, sorry.

Pass the popcorn. 

I want to see compulsory insurance fior cyclists who use public roads.  At the moment when a cyclist damages a car scraping past or knocks over a pedestrian, who pays?  Additionaly some kind of driving test, to prove they actually understand that they have responsibilities toward the rest of us.

[Sandinista]

All road users to retake test every 5 years if failed banned until they pass

[Steve J]

  "Additionaly some kind of driving test, to prove they actually understand that they have responsibilities toward the rest of us."

I find car drivers who are also motorcyclists and/or bike riders are much better drivers than those that are not. I would love to see say, basic moped riding, introduced into the standard driving test. I believe it makes you a better and safer driver and so do motorbike instructors/examiners that I know.

It is a rare occurance that a car overtakes a cyclist leaving a safe distance between them (it was 6' when I took my test in '82) as written in the Highway Code (then). Few drivers are aware that a cyclist is allowed by law to be 3' from the kerbside when riding on a public highway, yet I am often forced out into the road by illegally parked cars or into the gutter by careless drivers! Now who is at fault? Everyone always blames the cyclist!

What about pedestrians having insurance? I have lost count of the amount of times I have had to swerve at the last minute to avoid pedestrians who have stepped into the road without looking (and don't get me onto cars pulling out at junctions without looking). A colleague of mine was knocked off her bike by a pedestrian stepping into the road and was hospitalised, but did not get a penny for loss of income etc.

cars

[Sandinista]

Spot on Steve.

I used to be a motorcycle courier in central London and many a time pedestrians would step out in front of me, then hurl abuse as if it was my fault. People with pushchairs are worse, many step out into traffic expecting vehicles to stop instantly, I narrowly missed one once, got off my bike and hurled verbal abused at the idiot. I was doing less than 20 mph but would have still injured the kid badly if I had hit it. the woman looked at me as if i was mad. She was only about 10 metres from a zebra crossing as well. Should be a parent test too

[Leon]

Should be a parent test too

Yes!  But that's another thread entirely...   

[goat major]

i've generally found it useful to classify the world into two types of people. There are those who are ignorant, inconsiderate, ungrateful, thoughtless f**wits. And there's me.

[Steve J]