road rules?

I live in Melbourne and just like in Sydney,I get all sorts of abuse from ignorant drivers.Nearly every week after the Hell ride fiasco which caused the death of a pedestrian,we were all prime targets for all sorts of abuse and stupid driving.The lets get em attitude.What about all the damage drivers do daily?I lost a good friend to an inconsiderate driver around this time ten years ago,his family had to come half way around the world to take their son home.cars kill!cars suck!

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road rules?

When the motorist start to obey the rules, so will I, ie, never! I want to ride & LIVE, so I make sure I'm well out of the way of cars & trucks. Yeah, stop dreaming, the gov is never going to spend suffiecient bucks to help out a minority group, thugs will be thugs, and ignorance is the rules for many motorist.

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The early bird cops the abuse.

As someone who rides 3-4 times a week usually between 4&6 a.m I am constantly bemused by the number of motorists who take it upon themselves to give me a blast with their horns or wave good morning with a one finger salute. This usually happens on a dual carriageway with no other cars in sight and me on the hard shoulder. You will never educate these morons because the bottom line is that they don't give a damn. Keep up the good work with the TV coverage SBS. Stay safe everybody.

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I'm a commuter cyclist in Sydney and weekend warrior. Look anyone who rides in Sydney gets abused. In a month or so I've been abused by a bus driver (how dare I actually travel at 45km p/h ahead of him), a taxi driver (how dare I sit in the lane he crosses 2 lanes of traffic to enter) and just this morning had someone turn right in front of me deliberately "not seeing" me, it's just an everyday thing. Ok I do run red lights, but only when there are no pedestrians and no entering lanes on my side, my bad but it gets me away from those angry car drivers sooner and space is king in bike survival!!

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Forget the road rules for a moment. When people learn to respect each other and stop being so self centered this will be reflected on peoples attitudes to each other on the road. Be it as a driver, cyclist or pedestrian I am often shocked at the lack of respect and complete disregard for others safety from other road users.

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Good point Waz. Many bike riders are just as much to blame as motorists. Some believe they have the power and authority of Lance armstrong when fully kitted out. There may be on less car on the road (as the sticker suggested), but there's one more wanker on two wheels creating havoc.

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There is a traffic light in Butlin Ave, University of Sydney, where cyclists ignore the red light and ride through, numerous times a day. I was crossing and a cyclist was weaving through we pedestrians, against the light, and someone said, "Hey, you've got the red light!" This incited a stream of shocking abuse from the 30something male rider, who was fully kitted out, on a nice Trek road racer, with a One Less Car sticker on the bike's frame. As someone who commutes daily on a bike, I was extremely disappointed by this, and don't wonder that cyclists cop it from other road users, as many of we cyclists routinely abuse the most basic road rules. We all need to shape up, get a life n consider our responsibilities!

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From reading all these anecdotes the bottom line is either don't ride a bike in Sydney or keep the car at home.

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Stop arguing the cause for being a bike martyr. The current road rules and roads don't work for bike riders. Do what it takes to live. It is sometimes safer to break them than to obey them in many occasions and by safe I mean staying alive. You don't get a second chance often on a bike. I made an effort to obey the road rules and almost got killed by cars changing lanes at a red light start. and again almost killed when a semi merged into my lane at the peak of a hill. I now run red lights to get in FRONT of cars so they can see me and the speed difference is less. Likewise I now ride on footpaths during hill climbs and in poor visibility areas. So arrest me, so yell at me, I want to stay alive. NOT A DEAD BIKE MARTYR. ps. A Brisbane poll showed that in most bike to vehicle accidents over 50% of the time it was the cars fault. How about emphasizing the need for the big heavy fatal mostly in the wrong car to be a bit safer rather than the light weight minimal damage bike????

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I also live in Sydney and agree the degree of abuse from motorists is hard to understand. Whenever I'm brave enough to ride to my local bunnings (Mascot) i know I'll get some abusive shouting along the way. I think some people can't help themselves picking on an easy target, but I think DEFINITElY we could use some public education about the rights of cyclists on the road. So many motorists get angry with me because they don't actually understand I have the same rights they do. The classis is those "turn left or straight ahead" lanes at traffic lights. If you're on a bike going straight ahead, and the car/truck/bus behind you is turning, you know you're going to cop an earfull of abuse and gestures, because they are offended you are holding them up.

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