Quick Drivers Test (Debate)

Wed 19 Nov 2008, 07:17

I really don't understand the logic that replies to a motoring fatality and the rising incidents of dangerous driving in and around Charlbury with the citing of cyclists getting tickets for not having lights in Summertown.

I guess it's the same faulty logic that assumes that just because I point out the recklessness of local drivers that somehow I condone the illegal behaviour of cyclists in Oxford.

Nor do I support the assertion thrust on me that all motorists are dangerous killers.
But I didn't make up the facts that the great majority of deaths and severe injuries caused on our roads are the direct consequence of bad driving, including speeding.

Nor that, according to the survey I quoted, an alarming number of motorists seems believe that speeding is less of a crime than littering.

The relevance to Charlbury is that there appears to be a great number of these deluded drivers speeding through Charlbury everyday, posing a real hazard to pedestrians, cyclists and in the mornings, children going to school.

Excuse me for thinking that such an issue threatening the public welfare of this community should be taken seriously rather than dismissed as the individual eccentricity of one of those weird cyclists who doesn't drive a huge 4x4 in the middle of the road every day.

But I guess I'm expecting too much.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 16:25

Thankyou Richard ,i appreciate the response. At least you see us as people rather than potential killers when we get behind the wheel of a car.
As i said the only thing i have killed in well over thirty years of driving is one rabbit thank goodness .I like everyone else make mistakes when driving ,but i like to think i am a fairly good driver and would certainly not want to hurt anyone whilst doing so.
The juntion at chippy should i feel be changed and surely there is scope for this by turning the onto what is the grass area as it is now so that motorists have to stop and look both ways instead of having to crane you neck to see whats coming from Burford direction .
At the moment it lends itself to only slowing and giving way where it should be a full stop instead thereby making the driver think before you make a move.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 15:03

Geoff and Roger - there is a fine line between what's on topic and what isn't, and it's impossible to get it right all the time. Nonetheless a posting about an accident on one of just four main routes out of Charlbury seems, to me, to be more directly relevant than one about a nearby urban area which has very little in common with Charlbury. Charlbury people may have been caught up in the B4437 accident whereas I doubt any of them were cycling around "the Summertown neighbourhood" on a Friday night.

Clearly it's possible to overstretch "relevance" and (to refer to another topic) I'm not convinced that Obama's policies would ever be off-topic for the Charlbury website, happy though I am that Chimpanzee-Face is on the way out!

On a personal note I would rather be treated as a "person" than a "motorist" or a "cyclist", but hey. I both drive a car and ride a bike yet the RAC speak for me no more than the CTC do.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 13:37

sorry Igor as driver of 45years i am not one of your terrible motorist no I was not watching Top gear I expect that i was watching the same programme as you Mickey Mouse!!Not certain why you are exempt from the grease pit with your entry about an accident seven miles from charlbury. no I did not take the test as I have very recently been tested by TVP for the work that I do.you do seem to take exception to any one who dares to point out the wrongs and rights that cyclist get upto,no different than the way motorist dislike your attitude accussing all motorist in charlbury as road hogs.We are not all bad as you seem to think.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 08:22

Sorry Geoff, did you not pass the test or was Top Gear on again?

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 08:20

Oh dear, it's the strangely defensive motor brigade speaking out again against all us life endangering cyclists.

Count the road fatalities caused by motorists compared to cyclists for any given year.

That's the end of your argument, at least the sane part of it.

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 22:19

I did - all 13 and Heinekin... so there!

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 19:44

Nor are some on the main board Richard ,but still they remain .Would you care to enlighten us as to why.

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 19:16

This thread is not Charlbury-specific and so I am moving it to the Grease Pit.

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 18:11

In case you have not read the TVP article.

Police in North Oxford have stopped 201 cyclists for not having lights, or riding on pavements, since July in a crackdown on dangerous riding.

On Friday night, officers set up an operation on Banbury and Woodstock roads and issued 28 cyclists with £30 fines.

Their get-tough approach comes after cyclists failed to heed earlier softer warnings from police.

Those caught without lights have been offered the chance to avoid the fine by buying a set of lights and producing the receipt to police within a week.

The purge follows a sting in Oxford High Street last month where a cyclist was caught riding without lights almost every two minutes.

During that operation — the first this winter — police dished out 83 fines to cyclists in an hour-and-a-half.

Excuses for cycling in the dark included having had lights stolen, leaving them at home and claiming there were enough street lights for cyclists to be seen by other road users.

Sgt Emma Garside said: “Issues involving cycling are the number one priority for the Summertown neighbourhood — and that covers everything from cycling on the pavement to cycling without lights, going through red traffic lights and the inconsiderate use of bicycles.

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 18:07

God almighty,not another round of Igor versus the motorist.
Lets start one about all the cyclist caught by the Tv police with no lights,on pavements,going wrong way up oneway streets.
Pity there is no cycling test on the internet for cyclist to take (on there honour)

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 13:41

Rather than get bogged down in another ping pong match with Roger over the lack of driving skills in and around Charlbury, I'd like to set a challange for those expert drivers who take umbrage at being asked to slow down and drive more safely.

Take a simple test and on your own honour, see if you pass it:

tinyurl.com/6m5s3b