I don't disagree with your observation. However it does presuppose that everyone who is using the road (with the exception of one person or persons who happen to be cycling) is doing so perfectly.
I think I also need to point out that my comment isn't restricted to cyclists; thus to reword your statement: any road user can make someone else have to make a dangerous manoeuvre. Also I should point out that your paraphrasing of what I wrote doesn't fully reflect my intended meaning.
I think we need to accept that most road users (yourself and myself) included could use the road better and with more consideration for others. (And I think this is the main point that emperor is making in this post.)
The point I'm making is that not all car drivers are evil, just as not all cyclists are evil.
We also need to accept that everyone makes mistakes. Everyone at some time fails to see somebody else on (or about to be on) the road. I've done it myself; I've seen lots of other people do it, in all manner of vehicles as well as on foot. And I'm sure that you've done it too.
Something else that needs to be considered when talking about margin for error is the the knock-on effect further back down the road where my extra space and the extra space for the car in front of me and the one in front of that, etc. To give an example of what I'm thinking of, on my way home I travel about a mile from a motorway junction along a two lane dual carriage way to a roundabout. The volume of traffic is such that for a short space of time (1/4 to 1/2 hour) backs up to (but not onto) the motorway slip lanes. I don't know how many vehicles are on that mile of road, but if every one of them took an extra yard it would be quite a few extra yards of traffic queue. On separate occasions I've experienced the problems that happen when the traffic attempting to leave the motorway can't do so because the slip lane is backed up from a blockage. Luckily I haven't seen the accidents that have occurred in those queues, but I know that they have happened. I think that if we can avoid such queues from occurring then it probably increases the overall safety in the area. If that means that the extra yard that everyone would use in an ideal world doesn't get used then regrettably that is probably the optimum in a not ideal situation.
Yes, we as car drivers need to do lots of stuff to minimise the impact of the unexpected, but to be successful it depends on other people trying to do the same in the general area. Any road user who believes that they've never made a mistake on the road is seriously deluding themselves to the extent of being dangerous.
no subject
I think I also need to point out that my comment isn't restricted to cyclists; thus to reword your statement: . Also I should point out that your paraphrasing of what I wrote doesn't fully reflect my intended meaning.
I think we need to accept that most road users (yourself and myself) included could use the road better and with more consideration for others. (And I think this is the main point that
The point I'm making is that not all car drivers are evil, just as not all cyclists are evil.
We also need to accept that everyone makes mistakes. Everyone at some time fails to see somebody else on (or about to be on) the road. I've done it myself; I've seen lots of other people do it, in all manner of vehicles as well as on foot. And I'm sure that you've done it too.
Something else that needs to be considered when talking about margin for error is the the knock-on effect further back down the road where my extra space and the extra space for the car in front of me and the one in front of that, etc. To give an example of what I'm thinking of, on my way home I travel about a mile from a motorway junction along a two lane dual carriage way to a roundabout. The volume of traffic is such that for a short space of time (1/4 to 1/2 hour) backs up to (but not onto) the motorway slip lanes. I don't know how many vehicles are on that mile of road, but if every one of them took an extra yard it would be quite a few extra yards of traffic queue. On separate occasions I've experienced the problems that happen when the traffic attempting to leave the motorway can't do so because the slip lane is backed up from a blockage. Luckily I haven't seen the accidents that have occurred in those queues, but I know that they have happened. I think that if we can avoid such queues from occurring then it probably increases the overall safety in the area. If that means that the extra yard that everyone would use in an ideal world doesn't get used then regrettably that is probably the optimum in a not ideal situation.
Yes, we as car drivers need to do lots of stuff , but to be successful it depends on other people trying to do the same in the general area. Any road user who believes that they've never made a mistake on the road is seriously deluding themselves to the extent of being dangerous.