Penny Farthings, Legality and responsibility.

cletus

Mountain Biking: The Untold British Story

https://youtu.be/e6zbENQcwkk


I found this interesting.

I'm fully aware we've gone completely off topic

magicbastarder

i don't know if we ever were on topic.

Eamonnator

cletus wrote: »

Mountain Biking: The Untold British Story

https://youtu.be/e6zbENQcwkk


I found this interesting.

I'm fully aware we've gone completely off topic

Thank you very much.

Eamonnator

magicbastarder wrote: »

i don't know if we ever were on topic.

It may not be be completely off topic, because I am almost sure that Alastair Martin, who is a renowned PFer, raced in one of the early MTb races, referenced in that film, the one in Peebles, Scotland.

cletus

Eamonnator wrote: »

It may not be be completely off topic, because I am almost sure that Alastair Martin, who is a renowned PFer, raced in one of the early MTb races, referenced in that film, the one in Peebles, Scotland.

Make sure you warm up well, I'd hate to see you pulling a muscle making that stretch

07Lapierre

07Lapierre wrote: »

Nope. I've only 40 odd years of cycling and driving experience. The RSA certainly think cycling is lethal! He'll even kids walking on the pavement in daylight are encouraged to wear hi-vis!

The point I'm trying to make is that they are measuring road safety by comparing the no. of fatalities.

Is that an accurate way to measure how safe roads are? It's my opinion that I experience more close passes now (and they are vehicles that are bigger,heavier and travelling faster) than close passes from years past.

Just came across this photo which really illustrates just how much cars have changed over the last few years.

magicbastarder

i have seen similar for a 70s or 80s half ton pickup vs. a 2020 one; which is a more direct comparison as the shot above should arguably be using a modern 3 series to compare, not an SUV.

regardless, the difference is still marked with the pickups, because they have the same capacity and function.

cletus

07Lapierre wrote: »

Just came across this photo which really illustrates just how much cars have changed over the last few years.

In fairness, you're not comparing like with like there.

This picture would illustrate your point better. It's a MK1 Golf vs a Mk7 Golf

07Lapierre

Fair enough, a bad example. Still some difference though.

Seth Brundle

cletus wrote: »

In fairness, you're not comparing like with like there.

This picture would illustrate your point better. It's a MK1 Golf vs a Mk7 Golf

Aah to be fair, the Mk 1 is further back so looks smaller. Typical Small Vs Far Away scenario!

cletus

True, but lined up side by side the MK1 is still smaller. We could discuss why, with the golf moving from being a hothatch to being essentially a family hatchback, but this isn't the motors forum.

Suffice to say cars are getting bigger, along with more comfortable and safer.

I know which of the two cars above I'd like to be sitting in if I was in a crash

07Lapierre

cletus wrote: »

I know which of the two cars above I'd like to be sitting in if I was in a crash

Fair enough, but as we're cyclists, while cycling, which one would you prefer to smash into you from behind at 30+kph?

I also came across this on the Volvo website. Great tech, but it wouldn’t recognise a penny farthing!

https://www.volvocars.com/lb/support/manuals/v60-cross-country/2016w17/driver-support/collision-warning-system/collision-warning-system---detection-of-cyclists

cletus

07Lapierre wrote: »

Fair enough, but as we're cyclists, while cycling, which one would you prefer to smash into you from behind at 30+kph?

I also came across this on the Volvo website. Great tech, but it would recognise a penny farthing!

https://www.volvocars.com/lb/support/manuals/v60-cross-country/2016w17/driver-support/collision-warning-system/collision-warning-system---detection-of-cyclists

Honestly, I think it would make zero difference which of those cars hit you at 30+kph. It's still a block of metal hitting a bag of meat

07Lapierre

cletus wrote: »

Honestly, I think it would make zero difference which of those cars hit you at 30+kph. It's still a block of metal hitting a bag of meat

Agreed. The vehicles themselves are not the problem, it's the "nut behind the wheel" thats the problem.

magicbastarder

cletus wrote: »

In fairness, you're not comparing like with like there.

to be fair, even though i made the same point; people aren't buying like for like either. SUVs didn't exist when the mkI was available; so a more interesting comparison would be what's the average size car sold in 1980 vs today.

magicbastarder

07Lapierre wrote: »

I also came across this on the Volvo website. Great tech, but it would recognise a penny farthing!

https://www.volvocars.com/lb/support/manuals/v60-cross-country/2016w17/driver-support/collision-warning-system/collision-warning-system---detection-of-cyclists

quite a few caveats posted on its ability to detect cyclists there though...

For the function to be able to detect a cyclist, he/she must be an adult and riding an "adult bicycle".
The bicycle must be equipped with a highly visible and approved
rearward-facing red reflector, fitted at least 70 cm above the roadway.
The function can only detect cyclists directly from behind and who are travelling in the same direction - not at an angle from behind, not from the side.
Cyclists travelling on the left or right-hand edge of the car's imagined/extended side lines may be detected late or not at all.
The function's capacity to detect cyclists at dusk and dawn is limited - just like the human eye.
The function's capacity to detect cyclists is deactivated when driving in darkness and tunnels - even when streetlights are lit.
For optimum bicycle detection, the City Safety™ function must be activated, see City Safety™.

so - it must be daylight, cannot be a child on a bike, must have a rear reflector in a place where few bikes have reflectors fitted, and must de directly in front of the car. i think it's fair to say that the techology is in its infancy.

breezy1985

magicbastarder wrote: »

quite a few caveats posted on its ability to detect cyclists there though...



so - it must be daylight, cannot be a child on a bike, must have a rear reflector in a place where few bikes have reflectors fitted, and must de directly in front of the car. i think it's fair to say that the techology is in its infancy.

I assume "adult bicycle" is the exercise bike Mac had in Always Sunny

07Lapierre

Just noticed my typo error (correct now) in my original post.

Yeah it’s far from perfect. But you can really see how the engineers are really trying to remove the driver from the equation.

magicbastarder

i was impressed to see a warning in the wing mirror of a toyota (stopped in traffic) as i filtered up the inside. a little orange icon lit up on the wing mirror to let the driver know something was potentially in the blind spot.

magicbastarder

that said, i got a car with reversing radar a few years ago and it's gas how quickly it makes you lazy about reversing, which a lot of these driver aids can do.

07Lapierre

magicbastarder wrote: »

that said, i got a car with reversing radar a few years ago and it's gas how quickly it makes you lazy about reversing, which a lot of these driver aids can do.

Yes that’s the negative aspect to all these safety features.

Sometimes I think we could get drivers to drive much more safely, if there was a greater chance of the driver being injured. Example, removed the steering wheel airbag and replace it with a steel spike! I bet every driver would wear a seatbelt and drive a lot slower!

magicbastarder

i don't know anyone that it's happened to, so it may just be an urban myth, but i have heard 'friend of a friend' sort of stories about people who didn't realise what the pulsing on the brake pedal was when ABS kicked in, and lifted their foot off the pedal.

07Lapierre

magicbastarder wrote: »

i don't know anyone that it's happened to, so it may just be an urban myth, but i have heard 'friend of a friend' sort of stories about people who didn't realise what the pulsing on the brake pedal was when ABS kicked in, and lifted their foot off the pedal.

Yep I get that a lot! I also get people calling me to tell me there is a problem with their car, as it “won’t go around corners!” I get this one on cold, icy, winter mornings!

I get people calling me to tell me their car “just brakes while drivers on the motorway” ( they don’t realize/understand how adaptive cruise control/advance braking works)

magicbastarder

have you listened to that malcolm gladwell podcast about the famous 'stuck accelerator' on toyotas? i think it had pretty much already been rubbished (even though toyota paid out billions on it) but the gladwell podcast seems to be a good summary of it.

07Lapierre

No haven’t heard it. Can’t say I’m surprised though as our dealership carried out lots of inspections and no defects were found.

cletus

magicbastarder wrote: »

that said, i got a car with reversing radar a few years ago and it's gas how quickly it makes you lazy about reversing, which a lot of these driver aids can do.

A guy recently reversed into my car (parked outside my house, under a street light, in a small housing estate). He claimed the parking sensors hadn't alerted him. My car is a silver Toyota Avensis estate. Not a small car

breezy1985

cletus wrote: »

A guy recently reversed into my car (parked outside my house, under a street light, in a small housing estate). He claimed the parking sensors hadn't alerted him. My car is a silver Toyota Avensis estate. Not a small car

Your car should have been yellow flou

magicbastarder

07Lapierre wrote: »

No haven’t heard it. Can’t say I’m surprised though as our dealership carried out lots of inspections and no defects were found.

http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/08-blame-game

Worth a listen.

I can see the chat has moved on, but I remember having a Raleigh Bmx Burner back in the 80s. Blue and white, with the mag wheels. Good memories of fitting pegs to the back for tricks. Anyway - carry on:-)

Eamonnator

One of my sons had a chrome Burner with mag wheels.
I can't remember, where he got it, or where it went.