I tell you what, in my short time living in London I have had more near collisions with bikes than any other form of transport on my walks in to work.
The bikes are jumping traffic lights, on pavements, through Green Park & St James's Park where it clearly says no cycling (they even have the nerve to ring their fecking bells) and I can hardly get half way across a pedestrian crossing without a bike nearly shaving my arse.
My usual shout of 'Oi I suppose red lights don't apply to you' mostly falls on deaf ears but it has worked twice which made me laugh. I also have had a couple of stare outs as I step out on the crossing as a cyclist attempts to race through.
While I agree that cyclists are their own worst enemy sometimes, they are handicapped by the ridiculous traffic layouts in the UK.
In the past fortnight, I've spent several days in Berlin and Copenhagen and, in the latter especially, the traffic system is geared to make it easy for bikes. In Copenghagen, they have a cycle lane between the pavement and the road - which means you have to be very circumspect getting out of a car or off a bus as cyclists go whizzing by. But it works a treat: cyclists don't go on roads, getting in the way of cars, and you never see them on pavements either.
It does say No Cycling in Green and St James's Park but why? There's no reason why one of the paths couldn't be a cycle path. People will take the shortest and most convenient route between two points, which is why modern town planners take this into account and are beginning to dispense with street furniture that routes people one or another.
I'm not condoning aggressive cycling and bad manners but we could make things a lot easier for all parties with better planning.
In defence of cyclists, most drivers are complete tw@ts! I mean how hard is it to flick up or down the little lever that tells everyone you are about to turn left or right? How friggin hard is it to pull over to the inside lane when you're in the middle lane and there is no one there? Drivers are frustrated because there are too many of them on the road in cities and they can't get anywhere fast. Look at that cyclist jumping the lights, like no drivers jump the lights!! Totally dangerous game cycling in London, may as well have some fun while doing it!
I was seriously laughing at that.....I had this image in my mind of HB&B running from side to side on the road, like a mad man, trying to kick them all off their bikes
Cyclists in New York do seem to have some kind of death wish. Central Park is one of the worst places. You get all the weekend warriors (tossers) thinking they own the place and have zero respect for other bladers, joggers or pedestrians. Got so bad that NYPD started patrolling and those guys don’t take any shit. Best near miss I saw was between two very overweight lawyers both claiming right of way and threatening to sue the other one.