"Colin McKenzie" wrote in message
...
Martin Underwood wrote:

All times that I see a vehicle disobeying the speed limit, it has an
engine. Most road users, whatever their vehicle, do what they can get
away with. This is why so many drivers are so against speed cameras -
they can now not always get away with speeding. The solution is
enforcement, prioritising the offences that cause most danger to other
road users. At the moment that means offences committed by users of
motor vehicles.

The only time recently that I've seen a car blatantly run through red lights
was a few weeks ago: late one night I was stopped at a red light and a car
came up behind me, flashed me several times, overtook and then slammed his
brakes on just in front of me. I think he may have missed the red lights and
only seen the green lights for a second set of lights about 100 yards ahead,
then realised his mistake as he overtook.

I think you'd be hard-pressed to break any normal speed limit on a bike -
apart from a 20 mph limit, or maybe a 30 on a steep hill.

I think the traffic police should spend more time targetting the
drivers/cyclists/pedestrians who CAUSE accidents (eg those that pull out
from side roads) rather than going for the easy target of the driver who has
priority because he's on the major road but who may be exceeding the speed
limit and so can't avoid being involved in an accident that is caused by
someone else. Everyone can make mistakes, but the right people shoudl be
punished when they do so.

Blocking off cyclists undertaking you when signalling left is a good thing
to do if you drive a long vehicle. But a stationary car can be passed
quickly, in less time than a red/amber phase, and the biggest danger to
the undertaking cyclist is opening car doors.

I do it because if I'm turning left, I can't afford to take my eyes off the
road ahead to check my left mirror or look over my left shoulder to look for
cyclists who are ILLEGALLY overtaking me. That would apply no matter whether
I was driving a car or an HGV. I get shouted at a lot by cyclists, but I
know I'm only doing it for their
(and my car's!) protection.