to still be fuming today about this cyclist?

[microserf]

i have to rant. i have form ranting on here about how much i hate ill mannered cyclists, but this one really took the piss.

last night, at 5pm (so still sunny) i was walking with my 2 kids in the double buggy and we had to cross a busy road at a crossroads. i waited ages at the crossing for the green man. green man light flicked on, i checked the cars had actually stopped and stepped out onto the crossing. all seemed fine.

only for the buggy to be nearly hit by some fucking asshole who came flying around the corner on his bike and ran the red light (he was going downhill, so had built up a bit of speed) swerved at the last second and cycled off without a word of apology.

i am still furious!!! i was really shaken up by it, and i am really tired of bad cyclists running red lights and cycling over pedestrian crossings when i'm crossing, esp with the kids. it's not like a fully loaded buggy can jump out of the way!

i think we should put license plates on the cycles, so the bad ones can be weeded out! if i did that in my car, i'd not be driving for much longer.

That cyclist needs a kick up the @rse but before you start tarring them all with the same brush... I have two friends who have permanent injuries caused by pedestrians stepping out in front of them while they were cycling. They both smashed their elbows and needed complex surgery. One of them has had 18 months of physio and still can't straighten her arm.

It's not the mode of transport that's the problem... it's the person that's the problem.

well said nocake

I also know a friend who has extensive injuries due to a pedestrian stepping out in front of her between parked cars. she swerved to avoid the pedestrian and ended up somersaulting and being hit by a car.

cyclists really get my goat

they think the rules of the road are for everyone else except them :(

Oh look, another cyclist bashing thread.

All groups of road users including pedestrians can be arses, it's not just the cyclists.

I cycle daily, I use cycle tracks where available and abide by the rules of the road where they are not available.
I also try very hard not to hit the groups of pram wielding mothers who stop and chat in the middle of a cycle path rather than use the pavement.
I then try very hard not to hit the pedestrians who lunge at me when I cycle past on a shared use pathway because they can't see the little blue signs that tell them I am allowed to be there and would prefer to assume I am carelessly cycling on a path.
I further try very hard not to hit the driver who turns left without checking their mirrors or indicating that they are turning left.

So you see, as a cyclist, I try very hard generally to be considerate and follow the rules.
I don't assume that every driver/pedestrian is rude, negligent or generally being a nob because in reality most people try to follow the rules of the road. The examples I mentioned above happen only occasionally.
I'm aware that it's a small minority that misbehave, I find it really confusing when threads like this slate cyclists and ignore the fact that actually, ALL people can be bastards, the number of wheels doesn't really factor in that.

YANBU, it seems that most cyclists think they can just go through pedestrian red lights, whizz past on pavements, my favourite bugbear is the fact that they cycle the wrong way up my road when it is one-way. They think no rules apply to them whatsoever. And yes, I'm sure there are good cyclists, but I think there's a greater amount of people who get away with it as they don't have as much accountability, such as a licence plate or a driving licence.

I totally agree that nobbers use all forms of transportation.

MrsJamin
"most cyclists whizz past on pavements"
That's just a blatant lie

Its a perception problem. You notice the idiots. Normal well-behaved cyclists are inconspicuous.

I blame the cyclists!! As usual it must be the cyclists fault. A lot of times it a person on a bike not a cyclist (which is a catch-all title). I detest all of them going thro' red lights/cycling on the pavement etc BUT how many of you exceed the speed limits/park in disabled areas/double park outside schools/overtake 'cyclists' then cut in front and signal left or realise there is a queue of traffic and nowhere to go/park in cycle lanes/go thro' red lights/turn left or right without indicating/drive too close to the car in front or the cyclist next to you/use the cycle lane as an extra area to pull out from a side road/ignore the cyclist coming from your right at a roundabout/let your kids,husband shout abuse, throw things from the car/walk in the cycle side of shared pathways or step out in the road or cycle lane. Miniwedge has it right.

when things like that happen i write to my local paper so they can put in a letter in their write to us section.

Someone once left a pile of dogshit outside my garden gate so i wrote in saying

'Thank you to the inconsiderate person who allowed their animal to foul right outside my garden gate. The next person i see alloowing their animal to foul outside my garden will be handed a nappy bag to take it home with them'

It got printed the following week

I agree with those protesting to those trying to tar us all with the same brush.

I am so extra careful and polite when cycling to make sure that I can't be judged badly and give cyclists a bad name but do I get the same courtesy back? Yesterday I was almost forced off the road by a van overtaking parked vehicles on his side of the road coming straight at me and had a teenager who walked out in front of me. I had to screech to a halt and she just stared blankly at me inches away from my wheel before wandering along.

Cyclists, drivers, pedestrians etc arent a bad bunch but there are some idiotic individuals.

Miniwedge and Pedallleur - this thread is only complaining about the rude, inconsiderate, dangerous cyclists (or people on bikes) who act like the rules of the road don't apply to them - cyclists who whizz across pedestrian crossings when the traffic lights are on red, the green man is showing, and there are pedestrians on the crossing - and then abuse the pedestrians for getting in their way. Or the adult cyclists who cycle along the pavement with no regard for pedestrians - like the one I mentioned in Southend who knocked over an old lady, causing injuries that led to her death. Or the ones mentioned by an earlier poster on this thread - the one who came out of a concealed alley at speed, without looking or (apparently) caring whether there was any traffic coming, and the other one who jumped a red light and sped right in front of her car - it's only her good reactions and road knowledge that mean these two weren't severely injured.

FYI - I do not "....exceed the speed limits/park in disabled areas/double park outside schools/overtake 'cyclists' then cut in front and signal left or realise there is a queue of traffic and nowhere to go/park in cycle lanes/go thro' red lights/turn left or right without indicating/drive too close to the car in front or the cyclist next to you/use the cycle lane as an extra area to pull out from a side road/ignore the cyclist coming from your right at a roundabout/let your kids,husband shout abuse, throw things from the car/walk in the cycle side of shared pathways or step out in the road or cycle lane..."

As the mother of three boys who do a lot of cycling, and the wife of a man who also enjoys cycling, I am very aware of cyclists on the road and make sure I slow down and give them plenty of room.

NO-ONE on this thread is saying that all cyclists are rude/inconsiderate/dangerous, nor are they saying that all other road users are saints. If you take the time to read the OP, you will see that microserf is complaining about one cyclist, who ran a red light at speed, at a pedestrian crossing, and narrowly missed hitting the buggy with her dc in it.

Do you think she is wrong to be cross about this behaviour?

cyclists really get my goat

YANBU, it seems that most cyclists...

There are a couple of tarrers.

Anyhow, the OP is certainly NBU to be cross with this cyclist.

I was very angry yesterday as a teenager rode his bmx straight infront of me as i was crossing the road - he had swerved from behind me (on the pavement) to cross into the road infront of me - and only stopped because a taxi suddenly pulled across the crossing.

I am rather heavily pregnant - and my DH was glaring at this stupid kid. If it hadn't been for the taxi I think he would have bumped into me - as i didnt hear him coming.

Grr to naughty cyclists!

StayingDavidTennantsGirl - I did read the op and then I read the rest of the thread which is indeed full of cyclist bashing.

AIBU to ask why it is that if you disagree with the gist of a thread in AIBU that you get told to read the op....

YANBU at all!! Arround here its being on the pavements, I've been given cracked ribs by some tosser on the pavements handle bars, nearly been trown of a bridge when one hit me, again on the pavement. I walk to work and they are used to be getting in bleeding and bruised or at least pissed off because of cyclists who refuse to accept that the rules of the road apply to them. The cops need to stat pulling people up on it.

And before you say im bashing cyclists I'm not. They follow the rules of the road they are fine with me. And I know drivers can be dangerous to cyclists. Last year a friend of mine ended up being killed by a truck who was cut up by some arsehole causing him to swerve. The rules of the road are arround to protect people, in cars on bikes or on foot. people should bloody well follow then

YABU to still be fuming about ANYTHING 24 hours after it happened

YANBU, some cyclists can be stupid and inconsiderate.
I'm a cyclist by preference but a salesperson for 20+ years driving up to 60,000 miles per year.

I try to drive safely, and I try to cycle safely, too. Sometimes this means breaking the law.
I jump red lights if it is safe to do so, because that way I'm not mixed in with a load of cars all accelerating together and not concentrating on their surrundings. I've been knocked off a bike after waiting at lights, becasue I wasn't pulling away fast enough for the aggressive driver behind.

If a pavement is empty and beside a busy road I will cycle along it or over it at busy & complicated junctions. It's safer.

I sometimes cycle up one-way streets the wrong way as a courtesy. They are generally narrow with no space to pass, so if I cycle the wrong way I can see cars come towards me & pull in. If I cycle up a parallel narrow 1-way the right way, I find that I don't know what's behind me and I can hold up the traffic for a while.

Let's face it, there was 1 death caused by a cyclist in the last couple of years, and that was when some drunken teenagers jumped in front of a cyclist expecting them to stop. How many deaths were caused by cars or lorries?
How many cyclists were injured by pedestrians not looking?

The remedy is cycle training - personally I thing that we shouldn't be allowed to drive cars unless we are competent on 2 wheels first.

miniwedge I agree with you, StayingDavidTennantsGirl has no need to tell you to read the OP. There are some who have clearly labelled all cyclists as terrible on the road.
Stayingdavidtennantsgirl I think you are the one who should read the whole thread before you jump on people!

Miniwedge - I've been reading this thread as it grew, and the vast majority, if not all posts, appear to be referring to the cyclists who use their bikes with no consideration for other people or for the rules of the road. Can you point out the posts which condemn all cyclists or tar them all with the same brush?

As far as I can see, the overall tenor of this thread is condemning the cyclists who are a danger to others, not the many good cyclists - I don't have a problem with that at all, and cannot understand why anyone else would have a problem with it.

If you're in London, I think I met the same guy yesterday!! Was walking in park and had him swear and snarl at me for getting in his way with the pushchair! I just yelled fuck off at him.

"YANBU, it seems that most cyclists think they can just go through pedestrian red lights, whizz past on pavements, my favourite bugbear is the fact that they cycle the wrong way up my road when it is one-way. They think no rules apply to them whatsoever."
There you go Staying David

"Come on now, if you have 2 wheels and not one then everyone knows you can COMPLETELY disregard any rules of the road what so ever. (this includes motorbikes too...they have the advantage that there is no speed limit for them.)

Who needs a red light when you have a pushbike....ding ding I'm coming through on the inside of you, you motherfuckers!"

Another one for you stayingdavid

For stayingdavid

"I bloody hate cyclists and they are always so bloody self righteous about being vulnerable. I want to shout "YOU ARE NOT AS VULNERABLE AS A THREE YEAR OLD CROSSING THE ROAD"

Microfight and miniwedge - I have just reread the entire thread, and there is only ONE post that says most cyclists are a problem (MrsJamin, yesterday at 14:36:55). All the others are condemning cyclists who do specific things that are dangerous to other people - jumping red lights and crossing pedestrian crossings when pedestrians are using them, cycling too fast on the pavement and shouting at pedestrians who are in their way, putting other road users and pedestrians at risk by their behaviour.