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Electric cars are the devils work - yes this is to do with cycling
I got passed by an arsehole in a Tesla doing about 100+ on a B road yesterday and I could tell he was coming and braced myself because of the sheer tyre noise he was making.
Speeding aside I'm finding these things more disconcerting in urban/low speed situations as at lower speeds without the tyre noise, you can't heard the bastards and suddenly there's a twat close passing you.
The other day I was going through a quiet village and moved out around a pothole without looking over my shoulder as I couldn't hear anything. Mistake. Bloody BMW thing was trying to overtake me closely and I almost got collected.
Give me a 5l V8 behind me any day.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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- jaymack 3 sec ago
You can prove anything with statistics, even the truth
- dubwise 3 min 43 sec ago
Is that it for the cyclocross WC coverage, ripping the p*sh out of a 16yo? A new low road.cc
- The_Ewan 7 min 10 sec ago
If they also have the abilty to switch from dipped to 'full beam' they'd be interesting to know about....
- bikes 24 min 4 sec ago
If Cycling UK aren't helping you already, please start a GoFundMe for lawyer's fees. I would like to see this story get more widespread coverage.
- don simon fbpe 43 min 11 sec ago
Some great cycling country, but some of the shittest driving I've ever seen. RIP brother.
- old bod 1 hour 26 min ago
and for flying mosquitoes in ww2 films
- BPhillips 3 hours 6 min ago
Thanks for your thoughts David. Argos is looking a good bet.
- mdavidford 3 hours 17 min ago
I'm pretty sure this is at least the third time the BBC have had a story on this - not sure why they keep forgetting that they've covered it.
- cyclisto 3 hours 29 min ago
Watching sports seems super boring to me, so not a problem....
- Secret_squirrel 3 hours 40 min ago
Wattbike are notorious for releasing products before the software is ready. Likely long term it will be fine....
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25 comments
If electric cars really are silent then there is going to be a huge increase in pedestrian casualties.
I have a degree of sympathy here regarding moving around a pothole, but it depaends how far you are moving out. If its 30 cm or less you are moving out then no, I don't shoulder check, the car shouldn't be anywhere near you.
How do you shoulder check prior to a gust of wind from the side?
So the reality is you failed to look behind you when pulling out, but it's easier to blame the EV driver than look at your own poor riding. If the Tesla was being driven anywhere close to the speed you quoted he'd have been so far behind you when starting to pull out that it's unlikely you'd hear them regardless of their choice of propulsion, however EV's weigh considerably more than ICE vehicles, therefore their tyre noise is far more noticeable, but the've still got to be close enough to hear.
Tl;dr always glance back every time you change your road position. Better safe, than dead.
I don't disagree with the principle of a shoulder check but by the same logic, if the Tesla was being driven anywhere close to 100mph, surely it'd also be so far behind that you wouldn't spot it on a quick glance back?
Try reading my post again. The Tesla and the BMW were separate incidents. I could hear the Tesla as it was doing a high speed with high tyre noise. I never changed positions with the tesla. Yes it was doing 100+ as I do those speeds myself on motorbike so I know fast.
The BMW was doing about 20mph and I never heard it
Sorry if I didn't follow your post, but the statement still stands, look before you manouevre. I ride motorbikes too, don't they call it the lifesaver during training? I also drive an EV, a Jaguar I-Pace and have a BMW i3 as a pool car at work. The I-Pace is a big SUV, you'll always hear that, but the i3 being far smaller and running on skinnier tyres is far, far quieter.
Don't get me wrong, I sympathise with your views, smaller EV's will definitely be the bigger menace in the future, but as of next summer all new cars sold in Europe are required to have speed limiting sensors fitted, albeit one's that can be overridden, but the medium term trend will be for vehicles to obey speed limits regardless of driver input. I'm pretty sure this enforcement of speed limits is to ensure other road users and pedestrians are treated far more equitably.
Probably best if I get mesen down to Specsavers asap
Time for some politics !
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58170665
Noooooooooooooo......! Not "politics"!
Don't worry, the mods are too busy sorting out the ads to check for unrelated political posts : emoticon:
Amazon have started using electric vans, and I encountered a DPD mini electric car/golf buggy out delivering parcels the other day,whilst utility companies are slowly swapping their fleets over, and so electric vans are only likely to increase in number, scarily able to accelerate much more quickly than their ICE equivalents given their size, and virtually completely inaudible in most urban road situations.
its not just Teslas or other electric cars weve got to worry about on this point.
I've been running electric vans at work for 10 years now. They can't accelerate anywhere near as quick as electric cars. They aren't designed to. Acceleration is muted to increase range which is still pretty woeful, especially in bigger vans.
Anyway, on a plus note I'm just about to undertake a trial with Amazon to carry out deliveries using e-cargobikes.
Job done.
They are only really quiet at low speed, after that the tyre noise is the biggest thing.
I find that if it is windy, then it is harder to hear and if you have a helmet it is harder too, so even if they are full petrol/diesel they can still sneak up on you.
The newer ones are now being fitted with a noise emitter to give an audible warning at low speeds. Some even have a 'bing, bong' sound when reversing - was quite surprised to hear that on a new range rover hybrid the other day.
I think the only way to not be surprised by an approaching vehicle is a mirror and/or varia radar. Some petrol cars are really quiet now.
Dicks in cars will still be dicks in cars no matter what the method of propulsion is. The price of those Teslas equates to a high end BMW, Merc or Range Rover, so is it that surprising it was being driven by an entitled prick?
I read there was some sort of tax break thing so if you could get a company car, they were one of the cheaper options (depending on you tax and pay circumstances).
Yes. Zero BIK/Company Car tax on Electric vehicles - of any make not just Tesla's. Makes a huge difference if you are lucky enough to have a job with a car allowance.
I haven't encountered a Tesla, but have seen a few electric cars and haven't really noticed whether they're driven well or not (which probably means they were well-driven).
The tyre noise is usually quite noticeable, though I have been surprised a couple of times by using my handlebar-end mirror and spotted a close vehicle that I hadn't heard approach. Personally, I much prefer a quiet, non-fumey electric car to a noisy, fumey car.
peter - slightly OT, but did you see the article in the Evening Post the other day, that They reckon far more people have swapped from walking or cycling to electric scooters than from motor cars to electric scooters? Seems like that's a fail, then...
No, I must have missed that.
I'm not so sure that it's a complete fail, as it gets drivers more used to dealing with two-wheeled traffic. Unfortunately, a lot of scooter riders are now getting abuse from a minority of drivers (no surprise to us cyclists, then) which will undoubtedly add a chilling effect to people wanting to change how they commute. I'm hoping that as scooters become normalised, then more motorists might weigh up their finances and decide whether they really need to own a car or not.
Id not be surprised, albeit based on my admittedly poor sample size, but the demographic of people I see on electric scooters are almost exclusively those who arent legally old enough to drive anyway, or those who most likely cant afford to own a car.
Are you sure it isn't that you're so old that everyone else looks young?
That explains that ten year old policeman I saw the other day!
I saw a Something General on the news the other day, he looked shockingly young...
no Im not old, Im just more experienced
tyre noise is usually quite noticeable, though
I agree. I don't view electric cars as any less detectable than a large IC engine van travelling at 50 which suddenly appears by your right shoulder.