Why so much anger towards cyclists?

[Thatsthatthen87]

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/sep/01/i-will-never-ride-a-bike-again-why-people-are-giving-up-on-cycling

Just read this and I can totally relate to what a couple of people are saying about drivers' attitudes to cyclists. If people are not following the rules or using their bikes responsibly or whatever, I get it, but some drivers just seem to hate the fact that they have to share the road. Why? I've even had 'get a car' yelled at me from a window. 😄

Because where I live (rural) we get men on racers speeding through the lanes like maniacs. They won't give way they shout to each other through the high street ona Sunday early doors

And they ride in a manner that endangers their own lives.

If I hit one that's my life ruined too even tho they are at fault.

The women riders do not act in this way.

99% of them are idiots. I used to be fair and open to them but having seen and been the subject of dangerous and illegal moves by cyclists, I now realise it’s them.

I belong to a Women’s cycling club and regularly ride on roads. The amount of abuse we get really shocks me.
My husband cycles as well but doesn’t seem to get as much abuse as I encounter.It really concerns me as I feel vulnerable and threatened.

Because nonsense terms like road tax give motorists a sense of entitlement.

I don't just mean lycra-clad, super expensive bike type cyclists, just people who use a bike to get from a to b.

I've seen them behaving like idiots too, I've seen motorists doing the same but cyclists just seem to be targeted for no particular reason in a lot of cases.

I’m in France cycling and the difference from drivers is incredible

tbf the french know how to overtake and when I’m driving here I am overtaken a lot more than in the uk, I’m barely under the limit.

when drivers know how to overtake I guess they don’t view cyclists as a problem 🤷‍♀️

Because they’re entitled and rude. They get in the way.

Because ime they are twats

Drivers don’t like being inconvenienced. They don’t like having to slow down and being unable to pass. I do get it - it’s frustrating. We would have far safer roads and a healthier population if more people left their cars at home and cycled instead. ( better air quality too). It’s cheaper too…. Win, win, win.

Its the Lycra ones I have an issue with. The ones just getting to work are fine and dont behave like dicks. Tho we don't get many of those here. Just Lycra knobs.

Because they are constantly in everyone's way

Drivers don't like being inconvenienced

No, I certainly don't like being purposely inconvenienced by a bunch of lycra-clad entitled arseholes when they are gallivanting mob-handed around the country lanes on a Sunday morning. They deliberately slow down as soon as they get an inkling that there's a vehicle behind them, and spread out all over the lane so you literally can't overtake. It isn't safe to do so because they are winding roads. On roads where there is a 30mph speed limit they make sure they are doing around 26. Slow enough to be a pain in the arse, but too fast to be able to pass a dozen of them without breaking the speed limit yourself.

And don't get me started on the ones who blithely ignore red traffic lights.

Ordinary folks going from A to B on their bike are fine. It's the (invariably male and middle-aged) hobbyists who are the utter gits.

Cyclists in general aren't the issue. Mostly male lycra-clad cyclists who insist on riding as fast as possible, don't show any consideration for other road users (pedestrians, car drivers, horse riders etc), don't stick to the highway code, ride in intimidatingly large groups and so on.

They don't seem to understand that country lanes and villages are not a race track. That they are not audible like cars are. That they are dangerous to pedestrians and children. That horses can be badly startled by bikes.

It's because some car drivers think they are superior and their journeys are more important. There's also a lack of tolerance of other road users who aren't them.
I'm a pedestrian and car driver. There are idiots who drive, cycle and walk. I don't think cyclists should be singled out. I've seen more dangerous car and van driving than cyclists.

Nonsense, people are just trying to get from A to B.

Why can't motorists have some patience?

One cyclist going about his day fine

A group of middle aged men who think they're in the tour de France gallavanting in their lycra is very fucking irritating.

Also cyclist who bell me out the way on a footpath/no cycle zones. As a cyclist you'd expect a car to slow down amd make a safe overtaking maneuver not beep their horn at you. Same here, if your cycling on a footpath don't just bell at me

What I find strange and frustrating in this day and age is that lots of people see some cyclists behaving badly and then assume that all cyclists are going to be inconsiderate and deliberately get in everyone's way. We have learnt not to do this on the basis of appearance or beliefs so why can't we do the same for people who choose a bike to use for exercise or to get from A to B.

Some ride on pavements when people are walking along and expect the pedestrian to get in the road
Some overtake or undertake cars
Some sit in front of the head car at traffic lights then take ages to pull away holding the line up so maybe 2 cars get through the lights
Some are very rude verbally to drivers
Some cycle down the inside of cars and bang into the side of your car causing damage
They are not required to have any insurance
Some ride 3 abreast in the lane making it impossible to get past and ensuring all the traffic drive at less than 10 miles an hour
Some seem to view red lights as an optional invitation to stop
Some are considerate

I’m not angry at cyclists at all but the lack of cycling infrastructure in this country is ridiculous. It’s not about ‘sharing the road’ when it’s a fairly busy country lane and you have a massive queue of cars going 15 mph when they should be able to drive 50 or 60 - it’s just a complete farce. Not the cyclists fault at all, but having lived abroad where cycling is really common and the roads are built to support this, it’s just laughable.

I'm a cyclist and a car driver. I find some cyclist are incredible annoying. When I cycle I wear a helmet and make sure my lights are working. I always stop at lights and I signal. I am aware when I am slowing traffic and will move over when I can.

I live in a town town that's 5 miles away from another town along country roads. Some cyclists travel in packs between the two towns and don't care that they hold the traffic up for the entire distance. When I cycle that route I'll pull over from time to time if I'm causing a tail back. I know technically I don't have to but I'm not a selfish idiot and I'm aware some people are in a hurry.

A fair number of drivers are pretty arsey generally, TBH, they just take it out on cyclists because they can. It doesn't help with the Daily Heil winding it all up every couple of days. The reactionary types don't need much to set them off.

In general we are a country suffering from a long period of underinvestment. The roads are shit, along with everything else.

Yes there are some cyclists who are rulebreaking twats. But look how many drivers are also rulebreaking twats. The percentage is about the same in each group.

Not this shit again

Its every other day we get these threads😐

Because they are often selfish.

When people talk about their dislike of cyclists, they aren’t talking about the commuters that follow the rules of the road. They’re talking about the selfish bunch of bastards that think nothing of holding you up for miles when they have safe opportunities to allow a build up of cars to get past, or the ones that ride two and three abreast, or the ones that cut corners and red lights, or the ones that think school rush hours are the perfect times to get together with five other cyclists in neon to take over the road. The ones that want to prioritise their jolly over every other road user.

A lot of drivers are just basically impatient. Comments like cyclists are "in the way", when the road belongs to them as much as car drivers, or "they're entitled and rude", like they're a different species. Most cyclists are also drivers, and obviously, pedestrians. I drive and we walk to school but I don't cycle anymore because I didn't feel safe. Granted there are shit cyclists, but I think we've all encountered enough shit drivers, or pedestrians who just step into the road while on their phones to know it's not confined to cyclists.