The other day as I was returning home from my regular physio session, as I was waiting to turn onto Esmonde Road, Takapuna from Burns Avenue, I saw a “road maggot” (cyclist) run a light, in the centre lane, heading down Esmonde Road.
As I turned and headed down Esmonde road I saw a van have to go around the cyclist, and then I had to check the left lane (there are two lanes turning right from Burns to Esmonde, it is highly likely there are other cars in the left lane beside you immediately after the turn) to see if it was clear so I could get past the aforementioned “road maggot”.
I grabbed a photo too:
As you can see I was under the speed limit and the road maggot was in the centre lane, right in the middle.
I posted this on Facebook and was promptly attacked by other road maggots, who claimed roads are shared spaces…blah, blah blah.
Cyclists do not pay road user charges on their vehicles, I do. So the point is moot. But what makes this even more pertinent is that Esmonde Road has not one, but two cycle lanes, one up each side of the road. In my photo, you can actually see the cycle lane in the left of the image, beside the van.
Where I passed the “road maggot” was well within the area with dedicated cycle lanes (just to the right of the number 26) and indeed the whole of Esmonde Road up to and past that point has clearly marked cycle lanes.
Cyclists are extremely vulnerable riding like this on busy carriageways, even more so when they blithely cycle down the middle of one lane, slower than all the other vehicles also using the carriageway. Making vehicles all of a sudden lurch into one lane on the left in order to maintain safe passing distances seems rather stupid.
Yet this “road maggot” saw fit to hog the entire centre lane, riding smack bang in the middle, all to themselves. Never mind the road rules about keeping left. Ignore the fact that they had no lights, no reflective clothing or hi-viz anywhere. They just rode down the middle of the centre lane of a busy dual carriageway with not a care about anyone else.
Cycle lanes are built for a purpose yet this entitled “road maggot” decided they were more important than all the other road users.
So, I ask, what is the point of cycle lanes when these pricks simply won’t use them? Why are we bothering to provide “safe spaces” on the left when they simply do not use them?
Why aren’t cyclists charged at least ACC levies commensurate with the level of injuries they’d suffer from such poor road user skills?
I think it is high time cyclists and their bikes were registered, with appropriate road user charges to reflect the cost of providing these entitled scum with cycle lanes they don’t use. We can add ACC levies to their registration while we are at it.
Jetskis, motorbikes, and mopeds all have to be registered. Some e-bikes are as powerful as mopeds and scooters that have to be registered. It is high time cycles were too.
This is the sort of behaviour that really grinds my gears, especially when there is a perfectly serviceable cycle lane they could have used.
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