Room 101

[smittims]

Yes indeed, let's be fair. There are amny considerate cyclists and many law-breaking dangerous motorists. I see a car go past a red light about once a week, usually at a pelican crossing, which many seem to think 'don't count'.

[Bryn]

Funny how bad drivers don't seem to tar motorists with the same brush isn't it?

With motorists, it tends to get more specific, especially regarding 'Audi drivers' 'Chelsea tractor drivers' and 'white van men'. Cyclists who abide by the Highway Code are those who tend not to get noticed, despite, most probably, constituting the majority.

[pastoralguy]

With motorists, it tends to get more specific, especially regarding 'Audi drivers' 'Chelsea tractor drivers' and 'white van men'. Cyclists who abide by the Highway Code are those who tend not to get noticed, despite, most probably, constituting the majority.

Oh absolutely! I see a lot of tailgating at traffic lights these days, sometimes up to three vehicles.

I had a marvellous experience yesterday yesterday. I was driving through an area of Edinburgh where the speed limit drops from 40 mph to 20mph quite suddenly. I had a gentleman of Arabic appearance drive up my exhaust in a BMW whilst I was in the 40 zone only for him to get VERY upset when I dropped to 20 as required. Lots of flashing lights, gesticulating and horn honking which climaxed in him overtaking me at some speed as soon as the road was clear. However, by a miracle, there was a police speed trap just ahead so they must have clocked him at 50mph! Instant Karma.

[gradus]

As a road user (pedestrian, cyclist, motorist) I frequently see motorists take no notice of traffic lights. I had not previously realised that motorists were exempt from obeying the rules of the road that govern other road users. I dare say the police have other more pressing problems.

In a 2 hour drive through Central London last week, I noticed no car van or lorry driving through a red light but lost count of the delivery cyclists and others driving straight through and - a cyclists speciality - leaving the road to ride on pavements and not slowly either - that pizza has to get there!
Of course bad driving of motorised vehicles is a very serious problem but blind-eyes are turned to dangerous cyclists.

[alywin]

How I agree! My particular bête noir* is the so-called "walkie talkie", which looms menacingly in its misplacement, totally out of place.

Ugh, it's an obscenity. I have a photo of it looming over what had previously been an attractive-looking, historical building. If there's one building I'd like to remove from London, it's that one.

[Serial_Apologist]

Ugh, it's an obscenity. I have a photo of it looming over what had previously been an attractive-looking, historical building. If there's one building I'd like to remove from London, it's that one.

When first built the refracted solar heat from its upper windows caused a lot of damage on one or more of those buildings, melting plastic window frames etc. They had to replace the glass with a special non-reflective type if I remember correctly.

[alywin]

Didn't it melt/set alight/something some cars parked in the street below, too?

[Sir Velo]

Didn't it melt/set alight/something some cars parked in the street below, too?

If they were SUVs it was performing a public service.

[gradus]

When first built the refracted solar heat from its upper windows caused a lot of damage on one or more of those buildings, melting plastic window frames etc. They had to replace the glass with a special non-reflective type if I remember correctly.

I remember the story. The building is so hideous it is an affront to its historic surroundings.

[LHC]

I remember the story. The building is so hideous it is an affront to its historic surroundings.

It’s hideous.

From Wikipedia:

“During the building's construction, it was discovered that for a period of up to two hours each day if the sun shines directly onto the building, it acts as a concave mirror and focuses light onto the streets to the south. Spot temperature readings at street-level including up to 91 °C (196 °F) and 117 °C (243 °F) were observed during summer 2013, when the reflection of a beam of light up to six times brighter than direct sunlight shining onto the streets beneath damaged parked vehicles, including one on Eastcheap whose owner was paid £946 by the developers for repairs to melted bodywork. Temperatures in direct line with the reflection became so intense that City A.M. reporter Jim Waterson managed to fry an egg in a pan set out on the ground. The reflection also burned or scorched the doormat of a shop in the affected area.”

The architect also appears to be an idiot, as well as a terrible architect.

“The building's architect, Rafael Viñoly, also designed the Vdara hotel in Las Vegas which has a similar sunlight reflection problem that some employees called the "Vdara death ray"…

In an interview with The Guardian, Viñoly said that horizontal louvre windows on the south side that had been intended to prevent this problem were removed at some point during the planning process. While he conceded that there had been "a lot of mistakes" with the building, he agreed with the building's developers that the sun was too high in the sky on that particular day. "[I] didn't realise it was going to be so hot," he said, suggesting that global warming was at fault. "When I first came to London years ago, it wasn't like this ... Now you have all these sunny days."