AIBU to think lots of motorbike drivers are dangerous arseholes?

[wheresthebunman]

still feeling shakey & fuming after an 'incident' with a motorbike on the road this morning as i was driving my 2 young DS home. usual story of bike creating his own lane in queue in attempt to cut up & race cars at lights. he then proceeded to bob & weave around, causing me to slam breaks a few times and when i didnt make space for him to overtake me in busy traffic, drove his bike parallel to car shouting abuse & flicking finger.
ive got a 'kids on board' sign & am not a dodgy driver! just getting from a to b. i live in a city & this happens alot & im sick of these agressive, bullying fuckers. they are very different to cyclists who tend to look after themselves on the roads without disrupting flow of other traffic.
'THINK BIKE' my arse

[Shakirasma]

A few are, but not as many as car drivers. If you are experiencing a lot of incident with motorbikes, maybe you need to reassess your own driving behaviour around them? They are a lot more vulnerable than you.

[BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack]

As are car drivers, pedestrians, people in general.

As my mum used to tell me, when you drive treat everyone around you as an idiot.

[watchingout]

You are surrounded by a pretty strong metal shell; they are very exposed. Most bikers are considerate in the main, but, as with everything, you get a few arses. They tend to make better progress through traffic so shouldn't hold you up, but are as fully entitled to road space as car/van/lorry drivers

[Quoteunquote]

Just leave a large gap in front of you for them to slot in, and keep well back.

[OwlCapone]

If you are experiencing a lot of incident with motorbikes, maybe you need to reassess your own driving behaviour around them?

I wonder if it's my driving behaviour that makes the twattish riders exceed the speed limit and hare up the road past the moving traffic...

[FoxesRevenge]

Private Hire taxi drivers and pedestrians with earphones playing on their gadget are the biggest problems I have on the roads.

[Shakirasma]

Of course not owl, but do you deliberately refuse to make space for them to pull in because you're miffed that they overtook you, leaving them vulnerable to oncoming traffic?

[SingSongSlummy]

As a Vespa rider of nearly 20 years experience, I can assure you that it is generally the car drivers that cause more problems/dangerous accidents for those of us on two wheels.

[whatsthatcomingoverthehill]

Hmmm....I suspect this is one of those where the the motorbike driver would probably have quite a different story to tell.

"causing me to slam breaks a few times" "didnt make space for him to overtake me" doesn't exactly sound like you were driving very considerately.

If it is heavy traffic letting him in won't make any difference to your journey, not giving him room is just antagonistic.

[Bartman]

'Kids on board' sign usually means 'Unpredictable, shit driver on board' in my general experience!

[OwlCapone]

I wouldn't deliberately close up a gap but if there is not space for them, they should not be overtaking. That is basic road sense and probably in the Highway Code somewhere. I wouldn't overtake if there was not space for me to pull back in because that would be stupid, and I am in a nice safe metal shell.

There are arses everywhere, pretty much evenly spread across the population, but it seems that when you complain about certain forms of arse, it is somehow your fault they behave that way. It's interesting.

[aworkingmummy]

Yes yabu. Some bikers are arseholes, no different to car drivers. By law, they are able to filter between slow moving traffic, but lots of car drivers get pissed off they are making progress when they can't and subsequently do as you did and not make space for them to pass - which is pretty pathetic IMO.
I always move over for bikers and I always get a nod or a wave of thanks as they pass and have never felt bullied, harassed or had an "incident" with them.

[DoctorTwo]

I'm an ex biker and my DCs often comment on how different my driving style is to their mum. Namely that I tend to brake less and my anticipation is better.

[limitedperiodonly]

I usually find motorcyclists the best drivers. They're also the most likely road users to thank you for courtesy whether you're in a car or on foot.

They get arsey when they get cut up though, which seems reasonable.

[limitedperiodonly]

x-post with aworkingmummy I beam with pride when I get a nod from a biker. I'm just a sad praise-junkie .

[Mirage]

We ride horses on the roads a lot,and the one group of road users who without fail,always slow down and pass us safely,are motorcyclists.We have never had one race past us, or drive without courtesy,which can't be said for cyclists or car drivers.

[DesperatelySeekingSedatives]

Not 100% sure but don't car drivers cause most of the accidents that involve bikers? My DP been a couple of accidents while on his bike and both times the car driver was found to be at fault due to their stupidity and downright dangerous attitude.

It's not ok for the biker to have given you a tonne of abuse of course but maybe your constant sudden breaking and not understanding the law (bikers are allowed to weave around traffic as long as they stay to the right hand side of the cars) and refusing to make space for him when you should have worried him ever so slightly?

[betman]

'Creating his own queue' is called filtering and motorbike riders can legally do this. To be honest you sound like the bad driver, slamming on breaks and not letting him through. You seem like an angry person in your OP, maybe that's the issue if you drive like that?

[AchyFox]

i didnt make space for him to overtake me

But for most of your account he is in front of you and you are braking!

I can't understand your OP; it just sounds like you are trying unsuccessfully to block a motorcyclist then bullying him when he succeeds in getting past you.

[HappyGirlNow]

YABU!

Firstly, why do you have a 'kids on board' sticker and why would you expect anyone to drive differently because of it? Now, that's arseholeish..

I can tell from the tone of your post that you would most likely be at fault here, trying to stop the bike getting past you. FYI the rider wasn't overtaking or cutting you up or racing anyone at lights, he was filtering! A perfectly legal manoeuvre and one of the many benefits of motorcycling Jealous?

I'd say he would probably describe you as an obstructive fucker.

BTW, both myself and my husband are bikers.. And fortunately, despite the odd person like you, I'd say most car drivers are now more clued up on biking and have a much better attitude to motorbikes and their riders than used to be the case.. More things are possible and reasonable on bikes than cars and that's a fact.

[postcodebollocks]

YABU!!! And a dangerous driver who seeks validation on the Internet.

"when i didnt make space for him to overtake me in busy traffic, drove his bike parallel to car shouting abuse & flicking finger."

Why didn't you make space for him? Were you actually aware of the bike approaching? Or were you trying to prove a point?

I don't understand why you mention that you have a kids on board sign. Is this supposed to make people drive differently? Why?

Granted the biker in this incident was rude but perhaps
he thought that you weren't paying any attention / making things difficult?

I always give way to bikers who want to overtake because they are so much more vulnerable. I have seen some bad accidents over the years. Also it keeps the traffic flowing.

I have also witnessed lots of road rage but never from a biker, mainly from van drivers.

Entitled car drivers like you really, really scare me.

[toolonglurking]

'Kids on board' sign means dodgy driver to me. When I see a car with all those silly signs flapping around I can't help but laugh at the irony. You realise your car has windows so you can see what is going on around you - not so you can block your own view with silly meaningless signs.

[postcodebollocks]

"'THINK BIKE' my arse"

wow just read that last statement. You actually sound very aggressive. Would you prefer it if people didn't pay attention to bikers and they got seriously hurt or died as a result?

OP, your attidue is unbelievable!

[TheSmallPrint]

There are some arseholes out there but worse drivers I find. I have a bike licence and my eyes were truly opened to the stupidity of most road users as soon as I got on two wheels, it was like you didn't exist.