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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to still be fuming today about this cyclist?

173 replies

microserf · 15/06/2011 09:10

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.

OP posts:
StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 15/06/2011 17:49

Do you think a three year old would be fine if hit by a cyclist then, microfight?

Of your three examples, only one comes from a post that didn't qualify the condemnation with examples of/reference to bad behaviour by cyclists.

Tell me - are you defending cyclists' rights to jump the red traffic lights at pedestrian crossings and weave through the people crossing the road? Do you have a problem with anyone condemning such bad behaviour? If so, why?

microfight · 15/06/2011 17:53

stayingdavid

You are being so ridiculous, of course I don't. But my friend came off her bike badly because a pedestrian step out in front of her that doesn't qualify me to state I hate all pedestrians.

If you can't see that it is cyclist bashing to say you hate all of them based upon a minority of stupid ones then that is your downfall.

SeymoreButts · 15/06/2011 18:06

I have been shouted at by a cyclist in central London for crossing on a green man when he was whizzing through. He tried to spit on me but missed, I was 8 months pregnant and didn't get out of the way fast enough. I learned after that not to blindly cross on a green man... so he did me a favour really!

BTW there are probably as many bad cyclists as there are bad drivers!

TeaAndToast68 · 15/06/2011 18:24

I just love Taghain saying he jumps red lights, cycles on the pavement, and goes the wrong way up one-way-streets, but it's fine.

I bet they all think that.

p.s. you forgot to say you drive in the dark with no lights as well.

peanutbutterkid · 15/06/2011 18:46

I could issue a similar strong of nasty stories about "motorists", "white van man", "flat cap drivers", "Inexperienced HGV drivers shedding their loads", "Suicidal motorcyclists", "Mums with double buggies on the pavement", "People on skittish horses on the road", "Careless tractor drivers" (etc.)

OP is stirring. She didn't need to start a thread about being upset by someone who obviously could have injured her and her DC. The only reason to start this thread is to encourage everyone else into cyclist bashing, and nothing else. It's hate-mongering pure and simple.

TeaAndToast68 · 15/06/2011 19:03

peanutbutterkid, you see "cyclist bashing"

I see "criticism of certain acts by inconsiderate people"

Are you going to say that jumping red lights is OK? Are you going to say that riding on pavements is OK? Are you going to say that knocking someone over and just riding off is OK? These are the sort of acts that people criticise. Do you?

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 15/06/2011 19:04

Microfight - where have I said that I hate all cyclists? Where have I said that it isn't cyclist-bashing to say one hates all of them based on the bad behaviour of a few?

microfight · 16/06/2011 07:33

stayingdavid
I am slightly exasperated that you can't follow a simple conversation that you started.
It's ironic that you are the one who told miniwedge to read the OP. Well I am telling you to read our conversations again and try to understand the text!

Original poster
microserf · 16/06/2011 07:44

peanutbutterkid, FFS. if you read my earlier posts, you'll see i support cyclists in general. i don't support cyclists who break the rules. you'll also see i posted about an abusive truck driver i reported to the police.

but nearly having my children hit by a bad cyclist really upset me and i was shaken up for ages afterwards. am i not allowed to criticise any bad cyclist?

and "hate mongering"?!? i spit my coffee out when i read that. FFS, you need to get out more, that's the stupidest thing i've read on MN!

OP posts:
Original poster
microserf · 16/06/2011 07:47

cocopopsaddict, i am in london! if he had brown hair, tall and skinny and a bright red backpack, that's him.

OP posts:
roguepixie · 16/06/2011 07:59

microserf, YANBU. I hope you are feeling better this morning?

I was almost knocked down, from behind me, by a man on a motorised bicycle ... no not a motorcycle - I would have had a chance to hear him and he wouldn't have been on the pavement Hmm. He is a man who has this strange hybrid 'thing' that looks exactly like a bicycle but has a motor on it ... that is silent!!! He came up behind me so quickly and so quietly. Gave me a huge shock.

Can I ask, is there a possibility that you could report this to the council and appeal to them to place a camera there? Chances are high that this lunatic person isn't the only cyclist that jumps the lights.

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 16/06/2011 09:30

Microfight - you said to me, "If you can't see that it is cyclist bashing to say you hate all of them based upon a minority of stupid ones then that is your downfall."

Reading that quote, you are either saying that I have said I hate all cyclists based on a minority of stupid ones, or I have said I think it is OK to hate all cyclists, based on the minority of stupid ones.

I am challenging you to prove one of these statements, because I know I have said nothing of the sort.

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 16/06/2011 09:35

Peanutbutterkid - if the OP started this thread to incite blanket 'cyclist bashing', then they've failed. The vast majority of posts on this thread have made the clear distinction between cyclists ride safely and with consideration for others, and those that don't - and have reserved the criticism for the bad cyclists.

Microfight, who may also think this is a cyclist bashing thread, only found three examples where people had made generalised criticisms of cyclists - and that's out of a thread of 63 posts - that's approximately 4.76% - hardly overwhelming, I'd say.

TeaAndToast68 · 16/06/2011 09:40

It looks to me like Peanut is taking the view that cyclists can do no wrong so all criticism must be unfair and we're all out to get her.

Sadly this mindset might be connected with why it's so difficult to get a cyclist to admit that jumping red lights is wrong, cycling on pavements is wrong, knocking people over and riding off is wrong. They just divert into "stop bike-bashing!" mode

Yes, I do ride a bike.

microfight · 16/06/2011 10:08

Staying David
I was referring to the quote from someone elses post that said "I bloody hate cyclists" and that you then told me wasn't cyclist bashing.

You seemed to have changed your mind too because when I first posted those three quotes you said only one of them was cyclist bashing. Now you are saying all three of them are. Make up your mind!

microfight · 16/06/2011 10:16

StayingDavid
For the record I hadn't copied all the cycle bashing posts so your percentages are out I am afraid. I just took a selection!

howabout · 16/06/2011 10:25

YANBU
A car went through the green man while I was crossing the road outside our school yesterday - this happens quite regularly. The man in front of me shouted a string of expletives after it which probably made the driver at least consider their recklessness and made the other half dozen pedestrians feel much better!
I think cyclists are even more dangerous than cars in this context as they are silent and harder to see.

MackerelOfFact · 16/06/2011 10:45

I was crossing at a pedestrian crossing this morning (and there was a huge group of people crossing - probably 20 or 30 - at the same time) and some twat on a bike came hurtling across at great speed and missed the woman in front of me and several other people by about a cm. I felt the rush of air as he passed!

I'm always tempted to give cyclists who jump red lights a little shove from the side to topple them off when they cut me up on a pedestrian crossing. Oh sorry, are you riding an unstable vehicle? Perhaps you want to watch where you ride it, then.

everlong · 16/06/2011 10:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OTheHugeManatee · 16/06/2011 10:51

Stupid cyclist.

I do jump red lights when cycling, but only

a) if there are no pedestrians anywhere in sight (ie I'm not going to squash someone)
b) there are no cars anywhere in sight (ie I'm not going to get squashed)

Under other circumstances it's just reckless and antisocial.

Debs75 · 16/06/2011 10:55

'I don't really have a problem with cyclists going through red lights if they are being careful and there's nobody there, I don't understand why people get so het up about it. '

Er because it is against the law and if they make a habit of it then one day there will be someone there and they will have an accident.

I say this as an ex cyclist who one night didn't see the pedestrian crossing and ran a red light almost knocking an old man down. I felt sick about it and was more careful since then. I understand being a cyclist is hard when cars and buses cut you up but it works both ways some road users, cyclists or cars do not have any respect for others.

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 16/06/2011 11:16

Microfight - you found 'cyclist bashing' phrases/parts of posts that I did not find. I missed them - I'm human. Once you drew my attention to them I accepted that those phrases were cyclist-bashing.

And maybe my percentage is out - but the vast majority of this thread consists of people criticising cyclists who behave badly/break the rules of the road/show no consideration for other road users or pedestrians.

I maintain that the overall tenor of this thread is NOT generalised cyclist-bashing - it is criticising the ones who let decent, careful cyclists down.

JudysJudgement · 16/06/2011 11:16

if someone is being an idiot on a bike, ie not having lights, wearing dark clothing at night, going thru red lights, I think well you dont care about your safety, so I wont bother either :)

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 16/06/2011 11:23

I have read through the thread again, and this time I have counted all the posts I found that had generalised 'cyclist bashing' phrases in them, and I still only found four - which doesn't change the percentage that much.

And one of the posts, which mentioned, iirc, most cyclists in London cycling inconsiderately/recklessly, was balanced by one later on defending London cyclists, saying that drivers in London seem to regard them as inconveniences, and that it is more hazardous to cycle in London, due to the amount of traffic - words to that effect.

quirrelquarrel · 16/06/2011 11:36

I go on a cycle path every day and there are ALWAYS children toddling along in the cycle bit. The parents, blocking the pedestrian bit, just smile and I have to stop and wait for them to go past me. Or yappy little dogs. There's also a bridge on a right angle with the path, and I was once stopped by a lady who shouted two or three times, "this is the cycle path! this!", pointing to the bit which followed on from the bit marked "pedestrian" a way away and which was dotted about with people. Ditto re the pushchairs- often you're completely ignored and have to step into the road or into someone's front garden. Just some examples of hazardous pedestrians...:o

It's not like I can claim to be a model cyclist, but I'm always safe and so are the people around me. I do check v. carefully. I don't cross the road on a red light if there are little kids around. I also have terrible depth perception, so I can either count on that or use it as an excuse...!