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.

I’m more afraid of DS9 and I being knocked over or worse by a speeding cyclist racing past us on the path / wrong way down a one way street than anything else here in Lambeth. They’re a fucking menace.

I do sometimes encounter delivery people with bikes/e-bikes who cycle really dangerously. But I find their counterparts with vans are just as bad, just as likely to hit someone or cause an accident by driving erratically, and would be much more likely to cause a fatality if they did. The root cause there isn't the vehicle, it's that they're paid by the delivery or so try and do it as fast as possible with no consideration for anything else, including safety.

Wasn’t there a pavement cyclist who yelled “move away, I’m not stopping”, killed a pedestrian, and then laughed their way out of court with a tiny fine worth a fraction of the value of their bike?

Wasn’t there a pavement cyclist who yelled “move away, I’m not stopping”, killed a pedestrian, and then laughed their way out of court with a tiny fine worth a fraction of the value of their bike?

This could be describing the exact road/separate cycle path set up I've been referring to in my post. As I say, I have been told multiple times by pedestrians that I shouldn't be there and that 'bikes go on the road!!!!'. I do still use it and I think the cyclists who don't are foolish (it was put in after two separate incidents where cyclists were killed on that stretch of road) but it does feel hard to win with this one!

Why do you get so riled up about cyclists misbehaving, when motorists do the same sort of stuff and kill and injure thousands every year? Cyclists kill, on average, about one person every year or so.

Same here for the Cotswolds.

The canal incident was awful.

Really really need more designated cycle paths in the uk, in the meantime, we do share the road and I always am cautious around cyclists.

However- my work commute is to a cathedral city via a fairly narrow road with two way traffic. There are a few sets of lights and traffic backs up a bit. All normal.
There are a lot of cyclists; I've lost track of the number of times when I've been at a light, stopped in traffic and a cyclist will edge their way ON THE LEFT, to get past. Then no one can get by them because the road isn't wide enough and there's oncoming traffic, and there ends up being a long trail of traffic behind them. Pretty frustrating

We were in London yesterday and twice had to jump out of the way of cyclists going through red lights. That was in the space of a couple of hours. In my home town, cyclists seem to think they have equal right on the roads and pavements. If the road is busy or there’s a red light, they will hop onto the pavement. They also have the cheek to expect pedestrians to move out their way on pavements and sometimes use their bells.

It's not how "you" cycle, it's how the others cycle. You become guilty by association due to all the other cycling muppets who barge through pedestrians, ignore traffic lights and one way systems, etc.

This is exactly what happens in my area too. Worse, the big clubs travel specifically to my area for their large group outings and the locals can’t get anywhere by car at the weekends because we end up stuck behind huge groups of cyclists and unable to pas for miles.

I'm sure you can see from this thread (and beyond MN) that this isn't simply a case of my overgeneralising based on my own experience of cyclists - this is borne out time and time again by people reporting the same, either as car drivers or as walkers.

I must be lucky. I've been driving for nearly 20 years and have only ever been mildly annoyed by a cyclist. Not a cyclist myself. Loathe electric scooters.

I don't have an issue with cyclists when I am driving. They piss me off as a pedestrian when they cycle on the streets and run red lights.

I have lived in China and the Netherlands, countries with longstanding bicycle cultures for everyday transportation, not the same imho.

In the UK, no side is quite there yet, the infrastructure, the drivers and the cyclists.

And it’s a different crowd. Many cyclists here have started cycling for fitness reasons and from a car driver perspective, they like riding fast, don’t like to stop and they can be quite entitled, many MAMILs around.

In “bike-culture” countries, all sorts of people use bikes since childhood to go from a to b in a convenient, cheap way, drivers are used to them or cycle too, it’s more chill.

The biggest delays I have on roads are caused by tourists driving cars. Cyclists its just a few minutes. A traffic jam caused by tourists... can be 20mims to drive 1 mile!

Ib my area we have mostly the lycra clad middle aged men in groups and also quite a few single cyclists that clearly have no road sense.
I think cycling on a road should require a test and insurance. Too many are just absolute idiots and selfish on the road. They cause so many near misses. And often die.
Roads are dangerous and cyclists make them worse.

As others have said, it's the entitlement that cyclists seem to carry around with them.

I live near a canal network so encounter them daily. They don't want to stop for anything (god forbid! Strava is running!) and I do move out of the way for them but you know, a thanks or acknowledgement wouldn't go amiss sometimes. I don't have to move out of the way, I could stand there all day slowing you down.

That side, the video of the guy pushing that cyclist - he was a dick. There was plenty of room for both to pass by safely if he hadn't been blocking the path. Also, should have had his dog on a lead if that was a concern, but that's another thread.

I was in Copenhagen earlier this year. Cycling is a lot more prevalent than anywhere I've been in the UK and there are massive issues there with cycling behaviour with lots of accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians. One evening a friend was nearly mown down by a cyclist who should have given way on a pedestrian crossing. It was only because I screamed that my friend stopped and the cyclist turned their front wheel. It's great to promote cycling and great that a capital city encourages cycling, but at what cost?

Its circular.
Yes, theres hatred towards cyclists, but this is because most of the time cyclists act like complete twats.

Yes! Two places I've recently been to that have a lot of cyclists are Oxford and Amsterdam. Both were an absolute nightmare with cyclists on pavements, ignoring traffic lights/signs, and generally riding too fast with no concern to pedestrians. Outside Amsterdam, Holland was brilliant with miles of dedicated cycle tracks, but in the city, there were places where you really couldn't walk safely. As for Oxford, far too many middle aged blokes who didn't give a shit about pedestrians, traffic light controlled crossings etc and just barged their way through!

It does concern me that so many people are driving about with an attitude of "all cyclists are entitled twats".

We were in the Netherlands a few years back on holiday and saw some appalling cycling there - visited Amsterdam, Delft, Haarlem and other towns and cities. I just presumed that everyone would be responsible, given the cycling culture, but in the 2 weeks we were there we witnessed 2 accidents involving cyclists mowing into each other - one serious at speed, the other less so, but they both were hurt. Plenty of cyclists riding on paths and roads where they shouldn't have been. It just wasn't what I expected to see, it really surprised me.

It needn’t bother considerate cyclists because they won’t be doing anything cause any negative interaction with a driver!

if you’re referring to me, thats my lived experience, and is thus my attitude. I’m not a driver though, but a pedestrian.