Third lane is bad enough - but what about the fourth lane??

When you're keeping your eyes on the vehicle in front, the oncoming vehicles, the vehicles in the 3rd lane, pedestrians etc. and you think you've got everything covered . . . some idiot on a bike comes up on the inside!!!!

I can handle all the rest reasonably well, but this is plain insanity. And it's not the daredevil didly bops or whatever they're called these days. It's people in business dress for God's sake!!!! 

Why? Death wish? Forgot that we drive on the left? Actuaries who feel it's a safe bet?

So it's not ok for someone to have THEIR whole lane to themselves? You get your lane plus a foot of theirs but they can't expect a whole lane to themselves? Is that what you are saying? I guess I don't have the right to drive on the line but you get the right to drive over it? Maybe you should learn to have some patience and wait next time you are at the lights...you obviously have a hard time dealing with the fact that if you play with fire you might get burned.

Yea, you drive a CRV on harbor road and tell me how much room you have to play with in your lane. I've never driven mine on harbor road. I've seen people clip mirrors in jeeps, so I feel no need to take the chance. But I do agree they are too big, but they're nice as foooks

And yea, being that those side mirrors cost like $900 to replace... I'd choose the bike/rider who has to pay for my damages, over the wall who aint paying shit.

I think the woman was out of order if she intentionally aimed her vehicle at you. I think in rush hour traffic, people have to be a little bit more considerate towards other drivers, as there are some circumstances when people have to take additional risks just to get out of a junction.

I am one who gets fed up with bikes who like to encroach, thinking about doing it and actually doing it are two different things in my book.

I have on many occasion inconvenienced other road users, and they have afforded me sufficient space (or whatever), and on that basis, what goes around comes around, and I try to be considerate to other road users no matter how frustrating it is.

Just one final post, although I did say I wouldn't again:

I sat, as usual, in traffic along Harbour Road this morning watching hundreds of bikes speed down the centre lane.  I tried as hard as I could to pretend that I was driving a car, because I really wanted to get angry with these people.  It was difficult to do so (pretend I was in a car) as I was rather hot, sitting on my bike in the sun in my work clothes.  The sweat trickling down my back made any slight breeze quite refreshing, however.  It was also difficult to pretend to be in a car due to fact that I was forced to suck in the fumes of some Terios that was in dire need of a tuneup which was in front of me.  Nevertheless, I tried to get mad at these horrible people who were GETTING IN FRONT OF ME on their bikes!  My GOD...how dare they do it?  But, I just couldn't.

Maybe it is the airconditioning in a car that is responsible for all this anger, or maybe the radio talk show hosts can be blamed.  I'm not sure.

Anyhoo...I kept trying, but just could not bring myself to get angry.

The only couple of things that got me a bit *upset* was the car that cut the corner just missing my front wheel on MY SIDE OF THE ROAD once I got into Town.  Apparently *I* did something wrong because the driver muttered some angry comment in my direction as he drove past.  I actually checked to make sure I was not on his side of the road and found that I was well into my own lane.  Then a few moments later I had to make a right hand turn and the car behind nearly rear ended me trying to squeeze by on my left side, he just couldn't wait for me to make the turn.  Then there was the double parked car on the opposite side of the road that forced drivers to overtake it, thereby encroaching on my side of the road, forcing me to pull as far left as I could and then actually stop becuase NATURALLY the person overtaking the double parked car who was now on my side of the road NATURALLY had the right of way, or certainly felt she did.

I did manage to control my temper though and didn't even get upset by the crowds of pedestrians slipping through cars to cross front street after getting off the ferry.  Despite the fact that there is a crosswalk less than 20 feet away these people just popped out into the road assuming everyone would stop for them.

They are LUCKY I wasn't driving my car, because if I had been I would have every right and justification for scaring the daylights out of all of them.  I could have done so on my bike I suppose, but oddly didn't feel the need...besides *I* might actually get hurt myself as I don't have a tonne of metal around me for protection.

All in all it was a typical drive into work on my bike.  I'm sure glad I didn't drive my car though, because I don't like feeling angry.

Have a nice day everyone.

Toodles.

I’m sorry we’re not all here to pat your back on this issue but what you did was not only illegal it is indicative of the problem we have in Bermuda in regards to driving today. You see your ‘mistake’ as something small and minor but when you take into consideration the fact there may be 5,000 people on the road at any one time if each one of these people made a ‘mistake’ like you because they couldn’t wait 5 seconds at a stop light the risk of something major happening increases greatly. Removing these small ‘mistakes’ from our driving habits is what is needed if the level of safety on our roads are to ever increase. I’ve removed them from my driving, how about you remove them from yours now?

And I have never justified the aiming of her vehicle at you and therefore take great offence to being called an idiot for pointing out your driving deficiencies. Like I said earlier, what you did was illegal, as seen below (taken from www.bermudalaws.bm):

(100) Never attempt to overtake if by so doing you are likely to inconvenience or endanger any other road user.

and

(102) Overtake only if you can do so without forcing the person overtaken or approaching traffic to swerve or slacken speed.

I’m sure what happened shook you up (as it clearly has done so on here) but none of this would have happened if you had sat in the traffic and waited like everybody else. You may feel she should have simply driven on the left side of her lane but that is where our differences begin. She has the ‘right’ to drive as close to the line as she so desires. You being parked over the middle line doesn’t remove this ‘right’ of hers and so if you choose to park there, well you know the potential consequences.

And congrats for sitting in traffic on Harbour Road this morning – I do it every day and have hardly seen another bike do the same. Changing habits can be hard, but I honestly feel that if we remove our bad ones (due mainly from impatience), driving on the roads will be a much safer thing to do. Change starts one person at a time and although you may see lots of other bikes going down the middle of traffic on your way to work every morning just be glad that when the next driver decides to aim their car at a bike rider it won’t be you.

There are too many good things in life to look forward to…getting to work early isn’t one of them!

Actually when you are driving one hopes you use all ones observational skills when deciding to overtake. To me that's one of the prime reason that we have so many accidents on the roads here as this does not occur. It is pretty clear when a car is accelerating from a standstill and if not then one does not have the observational skills to be riding.

As far as time saved, well even on a pedal cycle along Harbor road I can make up 5 - 10 minutes over work mates, so by motorbike this is considerably more. It is a waste in fuel all these cars clogging up the road, so I'd rather not be penalised by them.

I don't know if you are a cop or not, but being lectured on what is safe driving by one is a bit hypocritical!! I've seen their road antic's over the years and even remember when they wrecked was it 6 cars in 2 months??? Then they have the nerve to book you for speeding on a totally quiet stretch of Kindley Field road at 7am on a Sunday while manic's are loose overtaking on blind corners, on the insides etc!!


I'm all for road safety! I say deal with the truely dangerous stuff rather than make easy picking cause it gives the appearance that the jobs being done!!