Runners on the road
While I respect your healthy living, for the love of all things holy, please do not run three abreast on the road!
There was a run in Umhlanga this morning and while the verges are narrow, these runners were respectful of the cars on the road and ran in single file close to it.
Then you get to La Lucia where these tannies run side by side and expect you to stop for them. I should not have to drive into oncoming traffic (which is not really possible at some places) or bring my car to a complete stop because you and your chommies can't stop your gossip for a moment to move out of the way onto the BIG VERGES. One delirious tannie even put her hand out to stop my car when she thought I was not going to stop.
Furthermore, for the safety of you and the people on the road, please do not run side by side on a blind turn (I'm looking at you Virginia runners). Had there been a car on the opposite side of the road, I would have hit it because I had to swerve.
Runners and drivers can both use the roads if we just show some respect for each other. Yes, I'll stop or slow down to let you get past the circle because there isn't enough space for us both, but at no point will I be putting myself in danger because you want to run next to your friends.
Okay. Rant over.
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u/Cyber-Soldier1 9d ago
Fully agree. I've seen a lot of these morons on the road. I usually don't alter my driving line for them. I force them to run off the road and not on it especially during peak times. I refuse to have an accident because of these idiots.
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u/SafferSoldier 9d ago
Runners are almost, but not quite, as bad as those lycra louts on their bloody bicycles, who think they own the roads and don't need to adhere to the rules of the road, nor do they seem to apply any common sense.
I don't care how expensive your new carbon fibre torture device was, it - and you - will definitely come off second best against my 2.2 ton Land Cruiser. Through no fault of mine, either!
Twats...
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u/ArtisticAccountant1 8d ago
Cyclists give me more road rage than bad drivers
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u/scudsucker 8d ago edited 8d ago
Not in Durban, but in Cape Town, I did a little informal non-peer reviewed study
I was commuting to work - a short commute, about 8km. There are cycle lanes for almost the entire distance (none for the 1st 100m from my house to a road that did have them)
I played a game in my head for a month, where I did a survey. I took note of every cyclist. I counted the ratio of well-behaved cyclists to illegal cyclists. I would only count the cyclist on the first sighting, occasionally in traffic, I might see them multiple times.
So the standard red-light running, riding without a helmet, jumping on the pavement, not single-file... usual biker stuff.
In my informal survey, 83% of bikers I saw - eighty three percent!! - did at least one illegal act. I mean, I was only counting their first!
Fuck cyclists. I'd tell them to get a mountain bike, but fuck me, they are just as inconsiderate on the mountain. Yes, you spandex wankers, Newlands forest and the lower slopes of the mountain are places where people walk. And walk their dogs. And for fucks sakes, I used to walk there with children.
There are established routes on the mountain. The signs are easy to read. I mean, as a mountain enthusiast, I don't want the cyclists there - aside from recklessness, they greatly damage paths they are not supposed to be on, and obviously the paths they are allowed to be on resemble a dirt BMX track.
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u/ArtisticAccountant1 8d ago
Drove Chappies for the first time last summer and they refused to cycle in single file? Not only are they breaking the law, risking the lives of others, it seems that they don’t care about their own?
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u/Derbydumdum 7d ago
I maintain that bicycles should be registered and have numberplates for this reason so they can be fined. Registration fees can go to the RAF.
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u/Mixedmasala7861 8d ago
Perfectly said, and always appearing in visible light clothing or lights on foreheads etc when jogging around before sunrise. Fortunately the runners I saw on NMR Avenue this morning on the way to gym understood their assignments and remained off of the main lanes.
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u/Kilowatt68 8d ago
Interesting - must be a false sense of security, or a mob mentality. I'm a solo runner in the Westville area and our roads are very narrow so I'm on the sidewalk or grass verges when cars are around - I don't trust drivers at all. These mentioned runners are playing with their lives.
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u/L0v3r569 8d ago
The areas mentioned and the behaviours described kinda point to white privilege
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u/Big-West5885 7d ago
The fact that there was zero race mentioned, not once, nor did anyone in the comments, yet you’re the only one to mention it, why? Are you that sad that even something small like this must be linked to race as well? What’s wrong with your brother 😂? Just don’t man, people like you ruin parties dawg 😭
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u/imminentZen 9d ago
I've been wanting to rant about Umhlanga pedestrians for a while. I've seen a woman crossing the road, with airpods in, not looking for cars... Pushing a friggin' PRAM !
The slower runners will cross the road very late to catch their running mates and will cross when its long been red for them. As a motorist, in the early morning, while it's still dark out, one does not expect a person to just randomly run across the street.
There are also regular folk wearing all black, walking against traffic on the road where there is no pavement. It's wild out there.