As a cyclist I feel the need to share my thoughts and clarify so people can understand some of us (cyclists) and our position and behaviour on the pavement road.
While I don't appreciate when people curse at cyclists, (to die, get killed, run over or ban cyclists from the road) I can understand why cyclists are so universally disliked/hated by the Singaporean public.
Alot of cyclists I have seen have very poor habits, are hopelessly inconsiderate and even outright reckless. Some of these "axxholes cyclists" as I term them give ALL cyclists a bad name and I resent them very much. Examples of bad behaviour I have seen:
Running the traffic light on the road
Hog the roads excessively
Dash out at zebra crossing
Cycle recklessly and very fast on the pavement that would likely cause serious injury to pedestrians
Ring the bell excessively at pedestrians
Ring the bell at pedestrians and expect right of way on the pavement
The above are obvious examples of poor cycling behaviour but I would like to clarify a couple of things with regards to hogging the road:
One the things we cyclists worry about is something called dooring. So whenever there are stationary vehicles, we would cycle away from the vehicle on the outer lane and overtake safely before going back the leftmost lane. Video illustrates: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXaQs93Mk18
Second thing we worry is called "left hook". It happen mostly at traffic junctions or slip roads when vehicles overtake us and turn directly infront and if misjudged have the potential to knock us down. So the defensive riding is to "take the lane" so that we deliberately but temporary hog the lane so no vehicle can "left hook" us. Video illustrates: (right hook because video is from US): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnPvtwFU4E0.
I love cycling with my girlfriend and friends mostly cycle on PCN and sometimes on the road (when there is no choice). The reason we cycle is because most of us are not earning well enough or want to be burden ourselves with paying so much for a car. Moreover it bring us to places to eat and at the same time allows us to exercise.
Sorry for long post and thanks for reading (if you did) and if any of you see a guy and a girl who stops at traffic lights even when there are no vehicles, it would probably be us. Be kind and say hi anytime
Grimfan
A.S.S. Reader
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