This hatred towards cyclists needs to stop

[OverlyFragrant]

This constant drip feeding from the media and online that cyclists are road vermin, dont pay tax, shouldn't be on roads etc needs to stop.
The last two days ive read about cyclists being pushed into dangerous situations by members of the public who feel entitled to hurt them, just because...
First a cyclist was pushed into a canal, the cyclist was still clipped into their bike pedals and couldn't swim. They very nearly drowned.
The second was pushed off a beach wall and needed urgent assistance from the ambulance and suffered serious injuries.
Words aren't just words, they have consequences and know two people have come to harm simply because they were riding a bike.

As a driver, the time I am most worried about knocking a cyclist over is driving around Cambridge at dusk.
So many have no lights, and no visible clothing. Cambridge is very bike friendly, with paths all over the place, crossing lanes of car traffic, running counter to the flow of cars. You have to be very vigilant, and that's fine, but if you literally can't see someone it's bloody hard!

It would help if cyclists started obeying the highway code. They are an absolute pain & a large number of them think the law does not apply to them

I am utterly fed up of cyclists using the rural roads around me for leisure purposes. I work on Saturdays and regularly have to drive for 2 or 3 miles very slowly uphill as the selfish cyclists refuse to let me past, despite multiple opportunities. It’s just so selfish to inconvenience people going about their lives for your bloody hobby. No other group does this - horse riders always pull in to let cars past as do agricultural vehicles. People going for walks don’t just walk 3 abreast down the middle of the road for a mile when they know there is a car behind them.

There is a particular hill that I have to go up with a very sharp turn, cyclists zoom down it on the wrong side of the road totally out of control. I crawl round it but have still nearly been hit a couple of times. I’ve bought a dash cam now as it’s so frightening.

My parents live in a village of about 10 houses and recently an organised bike ride of 1000 bikes came through their tiny village - no warning, no signs, no Marshals, no advanced notification. A bunch nearly hit my dad’s car going round a corner in race formation and speed (which I guess would have been his fault legally) and another bunch nearly flattened dm on her dog walk. They then had to spend hours trapped at home as it wasn’t safe for them to leave. I have no idea how these events are allowed - dangerous and selfish.

Cyclists really don’t do themselves any favours!!

A good number. I walk more than I drive, and the level of entitlement I see from many cyclists on shared paths is quite appalling. As a car driver, I always wait until I can safely overtake and often means driving slowly at a safe distance behind the cyclist until that point. Do I see that from many cyclists on narrow shared paths? Do I heck.

Cycling on public roads is regulated by the Highway Code. One lorry does the same amount of damage as it passes over a piece of road as 80 million bicycles. Pedestrians cause more damage to pavement surfaces, than do cyclists to roads. Are we going to introduce a pedestrian tax? Why should cyclists have to wear helmets? Many more injuries and deaths would be prevented if motor vehicle occupants wore helmets, so let's do that.

If there is space to walk past pushing a bike then there's space to overtake while on the bike so I can't understand why that would ever be the best option. Again, I never expect pedestrians to move for me (and on the route I'm thinking of it's wide enough I can always get past without them doing so, unless there's someone coming the other way, in which case I wait - I recognise not all shared paths are like this) but some people I encounter in real life, and some posters on this thread, seem to object to a cyclist passing them when they're on foot at all. They object both to the cyclist letting them know they're there and to the cyclist not alerting and so surprising them.

What people seem to be asking for isn't the equivalent of a car waiting behind a bike until they can safely pass, it's a car waiting for the entire rest of the journey!

Exactly this. And I bet it has never even occurred to any cyclist reading your post that they could maybe dismount, walk behind slowly if necessary - so EXACTLY like they expect cars to behave with them. Entitlement.

All. And that’s the problem.

I think this is absolutely an example of putting ourselves in each other’s shoes. Those who only ever walk or drive or cycle struggle to appreciate what it’s like to travel by other modes of transport and maybe don’t have the awareness of how hard it is to be seen in certain situations, or how frightening it can be when traffic passes too closely.

No, a cyclist going at speed needs far more space to pass by when in order to ensure that they don't hit others on the path or make them feel unsafe. Getting off the bike and walking is far safer, and is what the Outdoor Access Code up here sets out.

Again, think of it like a car overtaking a bike. A bad driver will squeeze past at speed - they risk hitting the cyclist or giving the cyclist a fright and potentially causing them to lose balance. The right way for cars to overtake is to slow down until it's safe to overtake properly - the same should go for cyclists passing walkers which you can do by walking more quickly than them. No walker should have to stop and get off a narrow path or press themselves right into the side just because a cyclist wants to carry on at speed.

OK. I think you've been unfortunate then if every single cyclist you see shows such behaviour. That is not my experience at all.

There are 2 sides to every story. The dog walker says the cyclist was speeding along a canal path and nearly hit his 26 weeks pregnant girlfriend, the cyclist then clipped his hip and as a result careered into the canal.
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/my-family-danger-dog-walker-32222834

But if there's no safe place for the car to pass, that's exactly what happens you follow them until you or they turn off, would it be acceptable for me to beep my horn, rev my engine to alert you to my presence when I'm behind you or should I just wait?
Same should apply to a cyclist behind a pedestrian or horse rider, if you can't safely get around them then you wait behind until you can and if you can't then you wait until they or you turn off.
If you're not going to pass them unsafely then walking along behind them pushing your bike until you can or they're out of the way isn't a problem is it?

I do slow down (and to be honest I'm not really going at road race speeds anyway - I'm a plump woman in her 40s with my work laptop on my back!), people still don't like being passed.

Ultimately, lots of people hate shared use paths (and I encounter some people who seem to believe it simply isn't possible that a pavement is shared use, despite the big signs everywhere). I also don't think they're ideal, really. But then people also don't like cyclists being on the road, and they absolutely don't want to give up road space for dedicated cycle lanes, so

It’s unfortunate that cyclists and drivers have to share the roads; imo they’re not compatible. They do though, so it would be nice if consideration went both ways.. cyclists don’t need to be arrogant arseholes who hold up the traffic because the Highway Code says they can, and drivers don’t need to be stupid thoughtless idiots who have no regard for the vulnerable on their bikes.

I live on the edge of the Peak District and experience the same behaviour from cyclists. It's shared space, they might need to slow down and, you know, dismount from time to time, but no, every single time pedestrians are expected to get our of cyclists' way.

On one walk it was dusk and two male cyclists came up behind me with one of them barking and order at me - it was literally, "move right, bikes coming through!" Shouted as they were right behind. Scared the hell out of me. I'm left handed and frequently confuse left and right (not sure it's connected with my handedness) and froze in fright. These two men were arseholes who thought they were more entitled to use the space.

I don't think all cyclists are the same, but I see and experience awful behaviour from cyclists very frequently, whether I'm driving or a pedestrian . Just as I do from other drivers when I'm driving. It's often in very close quarters with cyclists and more unpredictable which makes it worse from my perspective.

The issue isn't cyclists, it's a certain sort of cyclist. Usually ones that are cycling for sports purposes on carbon fibre bikes. The reason they don't use the cycle paths is that they don't want to be slowed down by child and amateur cyclists. And it's probably best that they don't, I remember going for a family bike ride with my small children on a wide cycle path and my daughter nearly getting run over by a sports cyclist going at high speed who then shouted at her for wobbling into his path. No self awareness that one should slow down and give a wide berth to children, just thinking about his race times. This was a disused railway path without a road or river alongside intended for leisure walkers and cyclists, not a sports track.

Unfortunately the increase in traffic and aggressive drivers on the road means that only these aggressive, fast cyclists brave the road any more, my adult daughter and I could in theory cycle to work, it's not far, but I wouldn't dare, it's not safe. But the Mamils have no such qualms.

People don't like being passed on shared paths because too many cyclists don't slow down and don't have enough space to pass safely. I could pass cyclists in my car with a foot or 2 to spare, but I don't for obvious reasons. When a cyclist on a bike is coming towards you or up behind you at speed (and by that, I don't mean Wiggins or Hoy type speed) on a big bike and there's only about small distance between the two of you then it's not surprising people don't like it - there's an entitlement from too many cyclists that every other road and path user must accommodate them.

Yeah because that’s what I was talking about

so you also turn around, see the very long queue of cars and then crack on riding in the middle of the road? Yup @Pedallleur

The hatred won't stop. Cyclists are fucking annoying.

I’ve lived in Spain for a year, cycled identical to how I cycle in the UK (albeit opposite side of the road). Not once had a problem or the abuse I get in the Uk.

Apologies my thread probably triggered this, as I was hunting for some justification on people’s opinions.

It’s clear, nothing will change in the UK, any legislation will still frustrate the motorists. They want us off the roads, and they want us off the cycle paths that people walk on.

We are never going to be equals as cyclists sadly.

I personally will continue on my way and remember that the angry man/woman clearly have an insignificant/depressing life and just need to moan at someone.

They love to cycle on the beach walk where l live and love to ring their bells at people to get them to move -l ignore them. Problem is cycling isn't allowed and there are numerous signs which they ignore 🙄

I think we're perhaps both overgeneralising from our experience. My experience is that I overtake considerately as a cyclist (and as a driver) and am often very much not treated considerately by drivers - you may not overtake with a foot or two, but in my experience more do than not. My experience is also that some people object to the very presence of bikes, whatever they actually do. Your experience, I accept, is very different and you are often treated very inconsiderately by cyclists and feel that this is poorer behaviour than your own treatment of cyclists as a driver. I suspect we are in fact both right, in that those are our own experiences, and that neither of us should generalise beyond that.

Ok, I’ll stop complaining when the cyclists start behaving.

in my area we have exceptionally good cycle path system. Very little of it shared with cars. So why do cyclists deem it appropriate to cycle along the dual carriageway when the official cycle path runs directly parallel and with a 20ft grass verge between? Why do cyclists deem it appropriate to cycle at night, wearing black with NO FUCKING LIGHTS? Why do they assume that a red light doesn’t mean they have to stop?

I could go on but my blood pressure medication would need to be increased.