Cyclist gesticulating wildly at me

Aai, the draw of rushing to get home straight on SM is too great

Perhaps part of a driving test should include spending x hours on a bike in amongst rush hour traffic. Some drivers don't have a clue how to drive safely and it can be terrifying.

I’m in Wales. Almost nobody is doing 20 in the 20, nor are they sitting behind those that pootle along at 1/2-2/3 of the indicated limits.

This is a reason why I’m a big fan of 20mph zones, especially on residental streets. When the relative speeds of all road users is brought closer it just makes the environment more pleasant and calm.

I’ve adopted my own changes by driving slower on residential streets despite what the limit is.

I don't cycle myself but I know how vulnerable I feel walking on narrow pavements when cars are going past at 30 mph. So I can only imagine how scary it must be if you are on a bike. I think all these dickheads who love to slate cyclists relentlessly should have a go at cycling along a busy road sometime.

This thread just highlights how ignorant some people are. I'm ok in my big (getting bigger every year) metal box and screw the rest of society for having a slightly different way of travelling or caring about the environment.

Some rather nasty people comment on anything that involves bicycles which surprises me as most children spend so much time on bikes and you would expect at some point they too would ride on a road.

F*ing ell, someone's seriously rattled your cage haven't they. You were on here most of yesterday as well!

Cyclist cannot stop quicker and safer than a car. A car driving at 25 mph can do an emergency stop no problem. A cyclist going at 25mpg cannot do an emergency stop without going over the handlebars and breaking bones. It is very dangerous.

How stupid are people who think cyclists going at speed can stop faster and safer than a car going at speed?

I am also wondering when the OP was last on a bike - because if someone pulled in on me after a dodgy overtake into oncoming traffic with 1.5m or so space, I too would be somewhat peeved....

You unsafely overtook another vehicle. You were wrong.

As a cyclist, I would like to know what a 'serious looking cyclist' is and what the driver equivalent is?

Don’t be daft. Drivers in cars with ABS can stamp on the brakes as hard as they like and stop safely from any speed. A cyclist who brakes too hard will go sailing over the handlebars.

Except that anyone pulling out of side road into the path of a cyclist would be breaking the law, wouldn't they. The highway code makes it very clear that road users should not take action that forces other road users to take evasive action, and that includes braking.
If you want to overtake or pull into a road, you have to wait till it's safe.
So yes the cyclist in your example would be sensible to avoid a collision, but if they send headcam footage to the police, the driver might find themselves wishing they'd had a bit more patience.

Why shouldn’t they “bat along overtaking and being overtaken”? It’s called filtering, motorcyclists do it too, and it means they can make faster progress, perfectly legally.

Lucky he didn't fall off his bike while he was busy gesticulating and shouting, I doubt he was in full control.

It's difficult to know who was in the right, but some cyclists do think they own the road, and if the road is busy they bat along overtaking and being overtaken as the car traffic slows and accelerates. It may be having got past, you slowed for the oncoming vehicle, the bike didn't and closed on you rapidly, they were probably going not much slower than you in the first place if it was a proper cyclist on a fast bike. Worst thing is if you both use that road every day at about the same time you will see them frequently in the future.

If you needed to "nip in" because of an oncoming car, then you overtook at the wrong time, or you overtook too close to a bend to reasonably see the oncoming traffic.
I'm a driver and a cyclist, and I grew up around bendy country lanes, so I get the frustration when there's something slower in font, but you just have to take a deep breath and ask yourself whether the 5 minutes you might save on your journey is worth risking someone else's life in a collision because the road is too bendy or narrow to overtake properly when you'd like to.

Thanks. You've persuaded me. I will let the other people in my office who cycle know as well that this is the responsible thing to do. It currently takes 1 hour plus to drive 6 miles into my work (which is why I often cycle). If we all decide to do it, we can probably stop all traffic for most of the day.

So wait, your answer to road safety issues is just that everyone should just drive a big fuck off armoured vehicle everywhere?

Not if that pedestrian is driving instead of walking.

So you agree, the point you made about pavements being safe is wrong?

My DH can cycle at 30 mph on a flat road. If you overtook and only left about 1.5 m, you nearly killed him. He would have had to do an emergency stop to not plough into the back of you. On the basis of what you have said you are in the wrong and deserve a bollocking.

No point travelling in even a heavy car or SUV, it's far safer to travel by air. If you are killed in a car, it's your own fault for not getting around in your Learjet.

Bedrooms should all be on the ground floor.

Thought school holidays ended this week?
Have you just graduated from Troll School?