Posts by BenWilson
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Lowering the Stakes, in reply to Tom Semmens,
I am not sure about much safer you are.
Completely anecdotally I can say that since I got much brighter lights, both front and rear, I’ve noticed vehicles giving me a wider berth and drivers noticing me from greater distances (when they are ahead and possibly going to pull out in front). I think that from behind they really just don’t want to be too close because it is a bit dazzling.
If you have ever navigated a boat at night, you would realise how confusing lights can be when you have no spatial clues.
Which is why they give you a wider berth, just as you would at sea if you saw a bunch of lights on a possibly intersecting path. You turn to make your adjustment early, so that both vessels know which side they will pass on. But that’s something anyone with boat management qualifications would know. Unfortunately in NZ there is nothing mandatory about that for small (but powerful) vessels.
By being a mobile disco, all they can see is a pile of flashing lights that give no spatial information.
If the lights are white, they’re coming toward you, and red if they’re going the same way. It’s the same as for motor vehicles (conveniently). Some people break this pattern, adorning their bike with color around the frame and lights on the wheels, but I’m yet to see evidence that it made them less safe. The most common excuse for hitting a cyclist was that they were not seen, rather than that they were confused by the color of the lights emanating from the Christmas tree that they smashed into.
-
Hard News: Lowering the Stakes, in reply to George Darroch,
You can’t sell a car without working lights, but you can sell a bike in that condition.
Can I put this “must have a helmet at sale” idea to bed by saying that statement is utterly false. You can sell a car in any condition whatsoever. You can sell it as a smashed up pile of junk if you like, and many people do this every day. A WOF is not compulsory for a sale. It is only compulsory if the vehicle is being driven on a public road, and is required before you can get the vehicle re-registered.
Furthermore, if you’ve done any research into helmets at all you’ll know that the number one piece of advice is to never, never, never buy a second hand helmet. It’s the most important safety equipment you will wear and you want to know that it is in good condition. Quite aside from the fact that head sizes vary a lot, as do style and comfort preferences, and budgets, I sure don’t want to have to pay extra for an old bike because the seller has to give me a shitty old helmet in the deal.
I can see the point of the idea, but I don’t think it’s a good one.
The idea of a WOF for bicycles is interesting, but I don’t think it would fly. It would make cycling considerably more costly, and they’d be giving tickets to children all the time. Way to kill cycling off.
Better education on safe cycling is a good idea though, to encourage more people to keep their bikes in good nick. Not sure what form that would take.
-
Hard News: Lowering the Stakes, in reply to Ray Gilbert,
I assume the Waterview extension will also include more cycle lanes beside the motorway onwards towards Helensville.
Considering the money going into that intersection, I bloody hope the cycleway gets some look in. Ideally, since they're remodeling the entire thing, the cycleway would continue beside the motorway all the way past Pt Chev without having to go up the hill (but that should still be possible), and then cross Carrington Rd, weave through a suburban street, before reconnecting at Chamberlain Park Golf Course. Currently, if I'm trying to keep pace, I end up riding along a footpath, waiting for the ideal moment to jump the berm and kerb, before crossing the road diagonally between traffic. If the traffic is heavy, I'll drive past the entrance street and use the pedestrian crossing. Coming in the other direction, one has to pull a right hand turn across busy Carrington Rd, then ride past the entrance to the cycleway because it is blocked by metal bars, and then execute a 180 degree turn up the very narrow footpath, followed immediately by a sharp 90 with a metal bar in the middle of it, all on a heavily loaded pedestrian footpath into Unitec. That part ain't a cycleway, it's a bad footpath.
-
Capture: Coast to Coast, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
If it's that effect it would be the crepuscular one, surely - this was in the direction of the Sun. But yes, that's highly plausible, of course rays seen from below will appear straight. Thanks Ian.
ETA: So it's "technically" shadows from the earth, if you count clouds as being from the earth :-)
-
Sunset was rather gorgeous last night.
Third pic taken from Whau bridge.
-
Need a second opinion on this one. The strangely straight dark patches on the clouds - could that actually be shadows from the earth? The sun had pretty much set, so it's possible that this is light passing through trees on the top of the Waitakeres.
-
Strange Christmas visitation. Two families of ducks, one older, one younger. The elder ones came to the door.
-
I was sorry to hear about Karen, and glad that time has helped you get some words down. Thanks for sharing this, and Merry Christmas to you and your family.
-
Hard News: We need to talk about Len, in reply to Russell Brown,
All they can do now is keep saying over and over that he’s damaged goods in the hope it will become true.
In 3 years, few will remember, and Brown may not stand again anyway. It's so far away that their insistence really can only be seen in the context of actually trying to roll the Mayor. They will fail. Perhaps they want to clip his wings, make it hard for him to do business? Again, they will fail.
Which actually goes to the real issue being the impotent helpless rage they all feel in Brown having not only been elected but having creamed the competition. It just feel so unfair.
-
Hard News: We need to talk about Len, in reply to Jim Cathcart,
It’s simple really. Sense of entitlement.
But that's everywhere.
It appears to be on the rise in NZ, but on the decline in Japan.
Hard to say. It's a very loose phrase, not exactly something that's quantified. Yes, people whose fortunes are rising tend to feel that is a good thing, and if their fortunes are falling for a lengthy period, they often decide it's time to pull their finger out.
But what that has to do with the Mayor of Auckland, I don't know. He's not the sum totality of NZ. He's not even a CEO of a major business, which is what you were comparing to. If he was, he could probably afford endless visits to Love Hotels, like they do in Japan, and carrying a burner phone would be a no-brainer, and in Japan it would have cost about $5 for all the use he made of it.
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 284 285 286 287 288 … 1066 Older→ First