Chris Hoy hits out at “stupid” cyclists

Surely what he meant was along the lines of (delivered in a Begbie style):

If the cyclists who ride like inconsiderate cunts stopped riding like inconsiderate cunts, then the drivers and pedestrians who witness this.....would hopefully see a reduction in cunty cycling, and thus would be less likely to dismiss all cyclists as inconsiderate cunts when actually most of them are ok, and just using their bikes for fairly harmless fun and transport.

I guess the Telegraph may have issues with the swearing. ...

Perhaps the phrase "respect is easily lost" might be more appropriate than "respect has to be earned".

What a fuckwit - descended to the same level of bullshit you expect from dickheads like Jeremy Clarkson.

I am not responsible for the actions of other cyclists any more than I am responsible for the actions of other drivers when I am in my car. As a driver no-one berates me for the speeding, redlight running, dangerous overtakes etc of other drivers. I don't need to answer for the infractions of some - only a few - cyclists either.

I'm amazed he didn't suggest we should be paying "road tax".

Whilst the concept of respect being automatically given, not earned, is a attractive one, I'm not sure this is actually always the case. As such, I think behaving according to the same rules as other road users might occasionally change certain drivers perceptions. So whilst other people's actions shouldn't affect the respect given to you in an ideal world, they probably do in reality.

Nothing wrong with what Sir Chris has said. But he does need to be aware of how headline writers (including those on road.cc, disappointingly ) will summarize his comments, particularly given a lot of "readers" don't go beyond the headline and first para to read the actual quotes.

Out police do need to start policing the roads again. The general standard of driving and adherence to rules on the road are awful.

In short short; until the people policing the roads are actually the Police, the alternatives are ex-Olympians and seething motorists. Neither of which seem very effective.

im shocked and digusted that chris hoy is such an idiot

It is sad and disappointing that idiots on bikes cause negative views on all bikers but it does, we can't all turn around and go, not my problem.
Many on this forum make the same generalisation about drivers. I am frankly shocked and disgusted by the strong negative comments made to a generally sensible article.

Essentially, the roads should be policed better. It would improve motorist behaviour (a serious, meaningful improvement in terms of road safety) as well as provide cyclists with the only realistic regulation possible.

Despite cyclists being comparatively harmless, the principle that they should be allowed to run wild and not be enforced at all is obviously a bit off. I think it's this that has helped provoke ludicrous calls for 'cycle number plates' and 'licensing' and other such things. I think people just feel frustrated other seeing people routinely break rules and feel there's nothing possible that can be done about it, even if the consequences of the law-breaking are realistically minor. Hence the red light ire.

But I don't think people are going to police themselves perfectly. I don't think the people Hoy's berating are necessarily interested in 'helping the great bicycle cause'. They may well just be doing it because it's quicker for them and them alone. You're going to get idiots of any form of transport, because you get idiots (or at least, highly self-interested people) everywhere. You can either rig them up to a convoluted system of identification and accountability, or you can just keep a better eye on them.

I think better policing would not only bring real benefits in terms of better motorcar behaviour, but also assuage people's feelings of being treated unjustly; that one group of road users is heavily licensed, and the other (seemingly) allowed to go about as it likes, for doing the same thing. That one group is essentially harmless is another cognitive leap altogether, and I think it normally comes after the 'I'm being treated so unjustly' line of thought.

I wouldn't be too keen on giving in to the ideological concerns of motor-centric buffoons, if the solution wouldn't also improve motorcar behaviour, and thus bring meaningful differences to safety.

Theoretically, I think 'Project Actually Policing the Roads' (or whatever it was called) in London last year was a good thing. It would have been nice if they hadn't strayed away from enforcing the law onto helmet and high-vis 'advice', but overall, I'd rather have seen it than not.

I short; I don't believe riding a bike should be COMPLETELY unenforced, despite being a gajillion times less dangerous than a motorcar, and if enforcing the roads better tidies up scruffy/lethal motorcar behaviour as well, then that's two birds with one stone. It's certainly be more effective than asking ex-Olympians to do it.

Great article and excellent comments.
I'm beginning to see why this country is so fucked up now....

20% of road users are twunts regardless of mode of transport.

The crusade should be to make people less twuntish

I kind of agree with him. Really annoyed me yesterday as I waited in ASL at a junction, cars properly queueing behind, and this lass on her mountain bike just rides on through the red, then cuts across the pavement to saved perhaps ten seconds off her journey. It was just bad manners as much as anything.

@Beztweets wrote a very good piece on 'respect'

http://beyondthekerb.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/the-most-basic-respect/

"Respect is not earned. Respect can - should - be voluntarily given, not least because those who need it may not have the opportunity to earn it. To respect people is a choice. In most aspects of life people choose to do so unquestioningly. Yet not on the road.

To use this excuse to diminish the value of lives lost on the road is cheap and morally bankrupt, and is a cover for a baffling reluctance to make just one decision: that not killing someone is the most important thing you will do today.

The most basic respect of all is surely to respect someone’s mere existence.

If you feel that such a fundamental level of respect needs to be earned, then you are a deeply dangerous human being."

And the prats come out. Well done Chris. If cyclists stop acting like plonkers, then they can expect to stop being treated like plonkers.

Yeah, motorists are also plonkers, but Chris is quite right about cyclists being their own worst enemies...

Quality, you wouldn't fancy sprinting away from the lights after being told off either

Wish I didn't have one of his bikes now. So I don't get respect on the road because of some chavy twat being stupid on their bike. Drivers certainly don't earn my respect but I still have to give it, or I die. Respect does not need to be earned when the consequences could be someone's life.

Couldn't agree with the big man more. Well said that man.

Respect is given. Not earned.

That's Chris Hoy off my christmas card list.