To ask how we stop dangerous cyclists

I'd say the opposite. When walking on a shared use path and the cyclist doesn't use the bell and I don't notice them until they're very close behind me it makes me jump and panic. Even if they're just sat there waiting patiently and not flying up behind me. My brain sees they're there before I register that they're not pelting along at high speed. I'd much rather hear a bike bell from some distance away and have time to react more calmly.

At the point the pedestrian notices the bicycle slowly following because there is no room to pass widely, they will have plenty of time to react without panicking and step to the side to let the bicycle pass. The cyclist could also hop off the bike and walk by quickly. I’ve used both options when riding.

I like the dutch system, where the law generally assumes the car driver is at fault, such a forward thinking nation

Absolutely, that's a given, but it's still annoying.

22 hours into the thread and the OP hasn't been back. Maybe they're busy finishing off their submission to the Mailonline...

So, riding home from work (on a lined cycle path as per the attached sign). Woman with dogs sitting in the cycle lane. She has a go at me for wanting to pass along the cycle lane rather than illegally riding in the footpath. I can't win.

By the way, a little further on I get to a zebra crossing. The car on the near side stops first. Did the Audi SUV on the far side (which arrived after the other, with plenty of notice to stop) give way? Did it fairycakes. Just blew through.

And you are committing an offence.

Highway Code states that cyclists should give way to pedestrians.

Licence plates on all road bikes, plus compulsory 3rd party insurance.

Perfectly possible. The French operated this system (OK it was the Vichy French but still doable).

New highway code rule is that cyclists give way to pedestrians.

Doesn't matter if the path is shared or has designated cycle lanes, Cyclists should give way to pedestrians.

I live in the fenland city that's capital of a certain kind of committed cyclist. There are pluses and minuses to this. I'm a pedestrian and cyclist but no longer drive. I like the cycle lanes and initiatives for cyclists. I dislike the over zealous initiatives to control some traffic flow. I highly dislike how pedestrians don't get much of a look in initiatives wise.

There's a certain self congratulatory way that any failure can be ignored. We have - for example - several uncrossable corner areas. Ironically, cars often let the pedestrian waiting cross. I was once shouted at by a cyclist as I was crossing one of these points. Cyclist going very fast.

And they won't wear head cams if they thought it would show them to be wrong ?

They are to catch the bastards trying to kill them

Given how many cyclists ( and pedestrians ) ( and and other car users ) are killed by motorists I think we need to sort out the bad behaviour of car drivers first

Because the evidence is that it's the arrogant and careless drivers that are the problem

When you see videos of someone leaning out of a white van passenger window to push over a cyclist, yeah that's not behaviour to be encouraged, but it is the misdirected result of the van passenger/driver's frustration at encountering cyclist after cyclist breaking the rules.

Bull. Shit.

These men are common or garden thugs. A person riding a bike can do everything by the book, pull over at every opportunity etc. and still be the target of murder attempts by men with an inferiority complex.

Look up "rolling coal". Men who spend thousands modifying their vehicles (usually pick-up trucks) to chuck out smog on cue. No motivation other than sheer spite.

Motorists behave dreadfully around horses on the road but there never seems to be the same vitriol online and in the press.

@Dotjones
Totally agree with everything you say but it also applies to car drivers. Most are law abiding and considerate but there are plenty who don’t follow the rules, who run red lights, break the speed limit etc and the potential consequences for everyone else are so much more serious. That’s why so much more time & effort goes into making sure car drivers have appropriate insurance (though sadly many don’t do this either)

What cyclists often struggle to realise is that they are loathed by pedestrians and car drivers largely because they believe the rules of the road don't apply to them. Not all cyclists are bad, but a lot are, and the problem is their behaviour isn't tackled by the authorities.

Most cyclists are also car drivers and pedestrians.

As a pedestrian I have never once seen the authorities tackle car drivers jumping lights, yet it happens every time the lights change.

If cyclists were all responsible, didn't jump the lights and followed the same rules that car drivers did, they would find that over time drivers would have more respect for them.

If car drivers were all responsible, didn't jump the lights and followed the same rules that cyclists did, they would find that over time and cyclists would have more respect for them.

When you see videos of someone leaning out of a white van passenger window to push over a cyclist, yeah that's not behaviour to be encouraged, but it is the misdirected result of the van passenger/driver's frustration at encountering cyclist after cyclist breaking the rules.

no it isn’t misdirected frustration. It’s illegal and dangerous and can kill somebody. Let’s not minimise it.

I have been waiting to exit a minor road before on more than one occasion and a car driver going by on the main road who has not been impacted by me at all has shouted a load of nasty abuse or thrown stuff. For no reason other than being a thug. And I suspect hating women. I get loads of abuse when with female friends cycling, barely any when out with men.

Cyclists should be forced to have 3rd party insurance and bikes should have registration numbers so cyclists can be easily identified. Cyclists should face the same consequences a driver would for not having insurance, running a red light, travelling along the pavement and so on.

What cyclists often struggle to realise is that they are loathed by pedestrians and car drivers largely because they believe the rules of the road don't apply to them. Not all cyclists are bad, but a lot are, and the problem is their behaviour isn't tackled by the authorities.

If cyclists were all responsible, didn't jump the lights and followed the same rules that car drivers did, they would find that over time drivers would have more respect for them.

When you see videos of someone leaning out of a white van passenger window to push over a cyclist, yeah that's not behaviour to be encouraged, but it is the misdirected result of the van passenger/driver's frustration at encountering cyclist after cyclist breaking the rules.

It's the same thinking that leads to people wanting reparations for the slave trade. A lot of people behaved badly in the past, so the victims who weren't personally affected react against people who weren't the perpetrators but are similar to them.

Also some MAMILs are just absolute fucking ultra competitive twats who probably drive their Audis furiously when not cycling in the same way. I was out cycling with DH and struggling to get up a hill (I am fit but don't cycle often) and got a load of negging comments from cyclists passing us on their wafer thing wheels. Have never had that from fellow runners, ever.

I feel in London and other major cities that some cyclists are an absolute pain in the arse to pedestrians and they certainly make it harder to cross the road safely. All the traffic has stopped at a crossing, apart from the competitors in the Tour de France (apparently) whistling up the left. Then you get the kamikaze Lime bikes and so on and Deliveroo riders.

Haha should be a belter

I am looking forward to the summary of this thread in the Daily Heil

Yeah it's a bit like that. And then if I'm out on a walk and a man (becaue its always a man) comes barrelling up on his bike expecting me to jump out the way it grates.