To be hacked off with cyclists

[chickydoo]

Well actually just one...but so angry.
Traffic was at a standstill this evening....I was going nowhere fast!
I was on the inside lane of a two lane road in a small town when I hear a massive crash. A cyclist had tried to overtake me on the inside, smacked in to my wing mirror, flew off his bike and landed on the road infront of me.
I had just started to creep forward in the traffic...thank God I slamed on my brakes, I could have driven over him. Thankfully he was fine. (though his Ego a bit bashed) his bike was fine, but my wing mirror totally trashed, looks like it's been ripped off.
I pulled in to a bus stop that was close to us. Looked around for a witness, but everyone just moved on and away.
In fairness to the guy on the bike, he did admit it was his fault, when I said it was going to be a costly repair he just shrugged. I suggested as it was his fault he should pay for the damage, he didn't respond. I asked for his details, he gave me a card with a number on, but now I'm wondering if it was any random card he pulled out his bag. There was no reply from the number when I tried to ring it an hour ago. I am so hacked off. I was doing nothing wrong, and I could have killed this guy, I may have a costly repair bill, just because he wouldn't wait his turn in the traffic.
In general I admire cyclists, I like the enviromental aspect, the health aspect, the fact it's cost effective etc etc....but AIBU to think they should be more bloody careful and not overtake from the inside!!!!!!
sorry just needed to let off steam

ivykaty, I looked in all 3, always do. Am a careful driver over 20 years. Try to watch out for every hazzard, some just come upon you.

Am off to bed now, but thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

I'm not ashamed to say that I hate cyclists with a passion, especially the ones that ride side by side and won't go single file

I'm ready to be shot down for saying this, but until ALL cyclists start paying road fund licence, then I'm sorry but IMHO there isn't room for them on the roads - and certainly not on pavements

I find some of them dangerous, careless and sometimes just utterly stupid in their quests to make better their carbon footprints

OP you may get a bashing as people will probably say "you obviously didn't check your mirrors as you would have seen this cyclist coming, duh". But I definitely agree with you, I hate cyclists. Hope your wing mirror doesn't cost you too much money or trouble.

Babylon1 The road fund licence is now an emissions tax, so even if cyclists paid, they would still pay nothing, just like lots of the cars currently on the road.

Oh look, a bunfight :)

OP, I'm an experienced cyclist. I always cycle to work, and I've encountered my fair share of bad drivers. I've also encountered other 'cyclists' who I'd consider to have put themselves and others in danger! The one you describe comes into this category - he was going too fast for the conditions - so in this case, YANBU. It's a bit OTT though for people to start saying they hate all cyclists! (not including you OP here)

I was about to pounce and say YABU but then you mentioned in your post that you're just cross with the one so good for you for not tarring all with the same brush.

YANBU to be cross, give him a chance to answer and hopefully he should offer to pay out of courtesy.

I'm going to bed now and hate missing a good bunfight so how about we agree we all dislike road users who do not use the road safely and in a courteous manner. [can i use the gavel please?]

Yes yes all cyclists are the devil's spawn and all of us in our 2-ton vehicles need to "teach them a lesson" that they don't own the road and in fact are merely privileged guests to cars and other motorised vehicles. Let's see, how can we do that?

-- drive at them on narrow roads, no need to stay in your lane. If there's a car parked in your lane that means you can drive directly at them without braking and see how fast they have to dive onto the pavement to get out of the way. Film it with a camera if you can so we can all laugh.

-- watch out for them in queuing traffic and move either left or right in your lane to block them. Check your mirrors to make sure you're squeezing them right into the curb or into oncoming traffic.

-- deliberately overtake extra closely then swerve close to the curb just as you get to their front wheel for good measure. If they are still alive behind your car, slam on the brakes and see how fast they can stop from going into you. It's always the fault of the tailgater, right?

-- if you're really deft you can turn on the windscreen wipers and spray them good with the washer fluid at the same time when you overtake them.

-- and if you have a passenger you can roll down then window and hit them with one of the following: a) leftover rubbish from your car, b) a bottle full of something, c) your arm.

Yes yes cyclists need to get off the road and get into cars so there can be even MORE cars out there! That'll get everyone to work faster....

Stay tuned for my next post: how can we keep pedestrians in their place by making them fear for their lives any time they step into the street? Includes such highlights as "speeding up as you approach a zebra crossing" and "turning left at high speed into side streets, hopefully timing it with the moment they step off the pavement".

Long live motoring and Road Tax, may it always give us the right to drive exactly like we want to all the time with no regard for other road users or taxpayers!

[puts gavel away]

I'm a regular cyclist and agree that there are some very foolhardy cyclists about. I can never get over why cyclists do manoeuvres that no-one would risk when protected by two tons of car but think that they are safe cos they have their bike and a happy thought!

On the other hand there are some really really dangerous drivers out there too. I live in a cycling city. There are "Think Bike" signs everywhere. And yet some cars seem absolutely amazed that a bike would be in the cycle lane.

My favorite is the cars that overtake you whilst a car is coming the other way leaving all of 6 or 7 millimetres between you and them and then 2 seconds later when there are not cars coming the other way and they are 10 feet ahead of you then move out from the kerb to give lots of space for overtaking.

I'm a cyclist, and have come to the conclusion that some cyclists are twats. As are some drivers, and some pedestrians.

The problem is that cyclists are vulnerable, far more so than cars. Yes, if they cause damage recklessly they should be held accountable. But they're far more likely to be seriously injured or killed in collisions with vehicles than get up and walk away blithely leaving a wreck behind them.

Almost your situation in reverse - I had a scary incident a while ago, I was zooming along in a cycle lane next to a long line of stationary traffic, when a woman in a car ahead of me obviously took exception to cyclists moving freely past the jam. She swung her car into the cycle lane just as I was passing and I had to swerve very hard to avoid her, nearly coming off my bike at speed. I stopped with difficulty and went back to ask what she was thinking, but she just sat chewing a wasp staring straight ahead and ignoring me. The woman in the car in front of her got out to make sure I was ok, holding her up even further, so I guess karma got her back just a little bit!

But in this case YANBU, definitely.

Nope, YANBU. Obviously, not all cyclists are dangerous, most are cautious and courteous road users. I do not have any problem with cyclists, btw, in fact, I want to cycle more myself. However, there are a minority who are bloody lethal. Have seen DP come up against the exact scenario you describe, OP - and DP is a very careful driver - he has no choice, with me in his ear, reminding him how my uncle was killed in a car accident.

As a pedestrian, I cross a bridge en route to Uni most days. A bridge with vehicle lanes, cycle lanes, and a pedestrian walkway. I have nearly been mown down by cyclists more times than I can remember, tearing around the corner of the pedestrian walkway at breakneck speed. There are cycle lanes, which they argued for, just on the other side of the partition dividing the walkway and the cycle lane.

We also drove out a narrow road recently, with a cyclist weaving across both lanes. Again, so dangerous. Just to reiterate, lest I get flamed - I have no problem with cyclists in general. But some take far too many risks and are very bloody dangerous.

Scrambled puts it well - I'm a cyclist, and have come to the conclusion that some cyclists are twats. As are some drivers, and some pedestrians.

Babylon - I'm a cyclist and I do pay road tax. The fact that I'm on my bike means I'm not in my car which means your traffic queue is shorter than it might otherwise be.

OP I hope the cyclist who caused this accident pays for the damage he caused and you are ok.

I'll chip in here with the car that ran into the back of my partners bike at traffic lights (red) and drove off - we got his number and will prosecute if poss. Or the driver the other week that decuded that he would be held up in the outside lane so moved in to the inside lane where 2 cyclists were riding at 20mph+ single file. Well that was exciting for a moment. Strangely enough, the driver didn't want to discuss his actions when I caught up with him a couple of miles further on. I take no pleasure in saying that my answer in future will be to remove a wing-mirror or to damage their paintwork since they don't give a toss about us, why should I care. Of course there are good and bad cyclists just as I've illustrated there are bad drivers

"The road fund licence is now an emissions tax"

Wrong and wrong again

It hasn't been a road fund licence for decades. It was and still is Vehicle Excise Duty, and has always had a charging scale for types of vehicle. Recently dirtier cars have been charged more.

"so even if cyclists paid, they would still pay nothing, just like lots of the cars currently on the road."
There's no reason to tax cyclists for using the roads.

Road are dangerous places and accidents happen. All users should have compulsory insurance, and that includes cyclists and horse riders.

my answer in future will be to remove a wing-mirror or to damage their paintwork since they don't give a toss about us, why should I care.

Helpful.

Most horse riders are insured. It's a standard thing to do when you have one as the vet bills are so high all the time.

Yes notmyproblem it's a personal favourite of mine when cycling home from the station that drivers squeeze past to overtake. Overtake to reach the back of the enormous queue much faster and then as if in some choreographed move, some will pull left and some will pull right so it is impossible to filter through. Of course, everyone driving a 4x4 totally needlessly, along with those who are just too lazy to self propel their carcasses to work would much rather everyone drove a car so there is more congestion, more pollution and fewer parking spaces.

How I laugh at their total reliance on fossil fuels for their 2 mile journey to the train.

jenfraggle that's good to hear. I hope they are insured for third party damage too. That's the subject of this thread.

*Yes notmyproblem it's a personal favourite of mine when cycling home from the station that drivers squeeze past to overtake. Overtake to reach the back of the enormous queue much faster and then as if in some choreographed move, some will pull left and some will pull right so it is impossible to filter through. Of course, everyone driving a 4x4 totally needlessly, along with those who are just too lazy to self propel their carcasses to work would much rather everyone drove a car so there is more congestion, more pollution and fewer parking spaces.

How I laugh at their total reliance on fossil fuels for their 2 mile journey to the train.*

Lol. It's ok, Jesus will take you first when the rapture happens, don't worry.

In reply to ItsaPublicForum - I agree it's not great but when people run you off the road and drive off laughing plus any number of incidents I can tell you about then perhaps they are happy to have their car damaged since that seems to be what they want. I'm courteous, I obey the rules of the road and I'll let some things slide because we all make mistakes but to those who crowd me off the road, try to run me down etc then Im thro' with forgiveness.

When a cyclist went into the back of me and messed up the tailgate on the car, our insurance company arranged to the work to be done as a "no fault" claim. Didn't affect our premium.

Pedal It works both ways, I can tell you stories about cyclists... Doesn't make it right to behave that way.

It's a pointless bunfight. Some people are cunts, but it doesn't mean innocent people should have their cars or bicycles or personage damaged as a result, or be made to feel their choice of transport is wrong in any way.