cycling on narrow platform incident

[Platform 1000]

Reminds me of a time I was walking quickly along the platform at Bolton only to almost walk straight into a slow cycling teenager who came riding up right at the side of me. He was behind the yellow line.
I started to imagine that it could have been a lot worse such as if I had been quickly hurrying for an approaching train and what would've happened if I had walked into him and knocked him off the platform right into the trains path.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

That's a technique thing. You need to take control of the lane through road narrowings. If you take a Bikeability course they will show you how to do that. I have part of my cycle commute through a village on a busy A-road with a whole series of central islands. I just ride in the middle of the road at each island so there is no room to pass. But I agree if you don't some drivers will quite happily squeeze you off the road at the narrowings to get to the back of the queue in front.

A tactic I'm aware of, and which drivers in Taunton (a Town whose topography did lend itself to cycling) seemed to respect. However in both Huddersfield and Dewsbury the tactic results in at best a torrent of abuse! This is probably due to cyclists being less common though. A shame as a ride from my flat to Dewsbury would be almost completely flat right into town, with only a small climb if I wanted the station. I may try again once the weather improves...

 

[Clip]

Pedestrians lose their balance and fall under trains too. While I accept it is illegal and antisocial and they shouldn't be doing it, as a cyclist myself I do think the dangers in this case are being over-dramatised. There were no pedestrians on the platform to "step out" and knock him off, he kept well to the left and was riding carefully. People think cyclists are vulnerable because they are balanced on two wheels, but they are actually pretty stable and there are far more injuries per km travelled on the highway from pedestrian trips and falls than there are from cyclists falling off.

And this is the problem with a large section of the cycling community, something happens which is dangerous and they all come on with 'Well so is this' and 'well this happens too' and then point out that there wasn't really that many people about so it wasn't all that bad... Never really condemning the cyclist as they should
honestly you do yourself a disservice with such a post. And I say that as a cyclist myself.

 

[jon0844]

Glad I'm not the only one to notice this.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Pedestrians lose their balance and fall under trains too. While I accept it is illegal and antisocial and they shouldn't be doing it, as a cyclist myself I do think the dangers in this case are being over-dramatised. There were no pedestrians on the platform to "step out" and knock him off, he kept well to the left and was riding carefully. People think cyclists are vulnerable because they are balanced on two wheels, but they are actually pretty stable and there are far more injuries per km travelled on the highway from pedestrian trips and falls than there are from cyclists falling off.

I think there was at least one pedestrian in the platform ... whoever was taking the video, which presumably means the cyclist had to veer out close to the track to avoid that pedestrian a second or so before the video started. At about 17s into the video, as the cameraman sweeps round, you can very briefly see a second cyclist, following the first one, doing exactly that. At that point it also becomes clear that the noise from the passing steam train means you can't hear the electric train approaching alongside the platform. It seems to me that those two issues make what the cyclist is doing rather more dangerous than the video looks on a casual first impression.

 

[GB]

What I did
say is it was not as dangerous in that case as people were making out.

Its the act that is dangerous. The fact there wasn't any consequences on this occasion doesn't make it any less dangerous.