... to challenge road users who drive badly

[Bennifer]

I cycle a lot around the town I live in.

On the way to work today, I come up to a junction and want to turn left. There's a car in the advance box, not signalling, so I pull to the side of the car. As the lights change, I go off, and the driver starts signalling to go left. By being over the line, and not indicating, she's causing a hazard. The driver overtakes me, and we meet at the next junction, again, they're past the line, not indicating. This time I hang behind them, thinking they may turn left. Lo and behold, as the light changes, they go to turn left.

I was sorely tempted to cycle on, tap on their window and explain how badly she was driving, but I thought better off it. As I cyclist, you're "outside" in a way that drivers aren't. Would I have been unreasonable to have explained to her the way she drove put people at risk.

PS: The point isn't to be a car v. cyclist thread, it's just that cyclists being outside are often freer to speak to other motorists.

cyclists don't always obey the rules.

the other day, a cyclist came down the road at a fair lick and didn't even attempt to stop for the pedestrian crossing. I was there crossing with a pram, I would have found it very hard to move out of his way had I been that far across.

My point is, that all road users can be twats.
It's the ones who are pre-disposed to being twats.

We could open the question - would you challenge any road user who was doing something dangerous on the road? The point is not to argue which road users are worse (we all know it's motorists )

In some cases it's a bad idea for cyclists to stop at pedestrian crossings. For instance at a zebra crossing, unless the pedestrian is already crossing, in which case they have right of way (but not otherwise), stopping is likely to get you rear-ended by a following motorist.

It's all very well for non-cyclists to get all high and mighty about cyclists following rules, but they don't seem to be aware of the issues.

I would not shout at a motorist passing me in a 30mph zone at 40mph to obey the fucking speed limit, but I don't expect him to cut me up or put me in danger.

Regarding challenging any motorist - I once stopped coming up to a roundabout, planted my car in the middle of the road and got out to tell the driver behind that...

...the idiot had forgotten to put his lights on! does that count?

In some cases it's a bad idea for cyclists to stop at pedestrian crossings
Not for pedestrians it's not.

you do seem to be a very selfish cyclist poulay

DISCLAIMER - I am a cyclist

zebra crossing, I can see your point.

red light pelican is what the crossing was.
he was going so very fast that it was obvious he had no intention of stopping - he was fast enough to have been rather far away when the light turned amber.

Bennifer - it depends on lots of things re challenging other road users.

I have reported 3 van drivers to their company for behaving like total twats (am sure it won't be the first time for them.)
If it's really bad I shout a bit and make the odd hand signal in not in the Highway code. When it was a careless attempt to kill me, I caught the fucker up and climbed onto the front grille (lorry) so he couldn't see to drive whilst I harangued him throug hthe windscreen.

to be fair 95% of drivers have been excellent ime. It's just that the other 5%, and you don't know which ones are which, will carelessly kill you.

Poulay, it sounds like a free for all where you are!

I wouldn't dream of going across a pedestrian crossing, and I ink the excuse of being rear ended is silly. The car should also be stopping. Or do you go through ALL red lights, too, just in case the car behind you doesn't stop. Actually maybe that should apply to me whilst driving too - don't much fancy whiplash!

I challenge motorists and other road users (if I can reach them)

i do believe I shouted after the cyclist "pedestrian crossing you

Motorists that do not indicate get on my nerves BUT not half as much as Cyclists. They should be banned from using roads and have some sort of cycle road provided. They are a hazard to Motorists and Pedestrians.

You climbed o to the grille of a lorry?!

Well it was at red lights in rush hour traffic, and there was a nice big bumper to stand on. Not advisable, but oooh..I could have ripped a tissue.

DH is a fast cyclist & routinely chases down drivers who have done something hazardous. He manages to do it with a big smile. Have to be ready to get a mouthful of abuse, though it's rarely happened to DH. Most people are pretty chastened. Phone users are among his favourites to nab.

Angel - cyclists are a hazard to Motorists.

You're kidding me.

In answer to OP depends where you live. Where I used to live (SE) there was a real danger of any 'challenging' on the road resulting in fisticuffs at best or weapons at worst. So you just beeped and kept your head down. Here there seems to be a lot of challenging but no actual violence so it would probably be safe to try it

I had a nice thing - driving on holiday in rural France I was on a single track country lane, with a Frenchman in his 2CV coming the other way. We had a bit of a stand off only due to the impossibleness of the situation. He muttered something at the window and I said 'je ne comprend pas. excusez moi'.
He sort of nodded, and then went on to say exactly the same thing - except slower and slightly louder.....so British!

OP - that sounds annoying, but I agree it might scare/annoy her more if you tapped on her window. Which is crap, because obviously it must have been scary and annoying for you.

'Oooo it annoys me when motorists are going straight on at a roundabout and indicate left. Especially when there is no left turn!'

I've read the thread and I still don't get why this would annoy anyone - it's correct. You indicate left to say you're turning off at the next exit. It makes no difference at all what precise angle of road is involved!

This is a pet hate of mine because if I come up to a roundabout, chances are I may not have seen what exit a car already on the roundabout came out of. I just need to know whether they're intending to turn off before me, or carry on past me. That is why you need to indicate left if you're turning off the roundabout, because other folk do not have the psychic power to tell whether you calculated the angle as 'straight on', 'slightly left of centre' or what.

AngelWreakinHavoc Fri 01-Jun-12 16:13:10
Motorists that do not indicate get on my nerves BUT not half as much as Cyclists. They should be banned from using roads and have some sort of cycle road provided. They are a hazard to Motorists and Pedestrians.

Are you the guy who tried to hit my DH deliberately twice on Wednesday through traffic lights, before deliberately emergency stopping so that my DH was unable to do anything but plough into the back of him? And then drove off with no consideration for the state my DH was in, or even if he might be hit by another car. FOR NO REASON AT ALL. And that was the opinion of the independent witness who saw it and thankfully gave a statement to the police. DH got the reg so we are hoping and praying the police actually pursue it and get this guy before he actually kills someone.

Attitudes like this infuriate me. There are bad cyclists and there are bad drivers. Cycle lanes are lethal - they are badly maintained and drivers don't check them when they cross them anyway. They reinforce the idea that drivers think they have cyclists have not right being on the road - it would be impossible to have them everywhere - so it makes drivers worse in areas where they aren't. Not to mention there is a speed limit on cycle lanes. DH far exceeds it. So he has no other option but to use the road.

Holland has such different attitudes to cyclist. There they aren't treated with contempt and drivers have the responsibility to not drive like self bastards.

Learn some patience. Learn to share. There is room on the road for everyone. Other countries manage it. Why can't we?

Well, being from the Netherlands I think car drivers are incredibly careless around cyclists. Overtaking when there is not enough room, getting really impatient when a cyclist has right of way because it isn't going fast enough and really, really aggressive driving around a very vulnerable road user.

Cyclists do have as much right to be on the road as cars, but for some reason in this country they are seen as a nuisance.

I do not cycle in this country at all - even though I have cycled all my life in the Netherlands - as I feel it is too dangerous.

Personally, I have hardly ever seen cyclists do dangerous things here in the UK, only car drivers. And I'm a car driver.

You know the box, at traffic lights which is supposed to be a cyclist only zone but everyone just parks in. And you know all those cycle lanes with cars parked the whole length of them.

Big clue about the amount of awareness drivers have for cyclists in the UK.