To get annoyed with cyclists not using cycle lanes?

[AKMD]

In the town I live in there is a big A road leading straight into the town centre, with a cycle lane running the whole way to the countryside alongside it. Most of the track is set back from the road. I use it; it's lovely.

As a car driver, I often pass cyclists ignoring the lovely cycle lane and using the road instead, forcing cars to slow down and pull partially onto the wrong side of the road to pass them. I hate overtaking cyclists. I'm always scared of either knocking them off if they wobble or having a head-on collision with cars coming in the opposite direction. On normal roads I have to get over it but on this road I am getting increasingly irritated. AIBU?

YANBU. I live in the centre of London and it's absolute chaos on the roads now, very very scary. DS suggested cycling to and from Fulham to Putney to get to Cadets the other day, I told him to use his legs instead. Bikes are to be used in parks and in designated areas only.

YABU

Cycles are entitled to be on the road.

There are several reasons to not use cycle lanes - you can usually go faster on the road, there may be pedestrians in the cycle lane, you may need to be turning onto a different road soon, the cycle lane can be in bad repair, etc etc etc.

I cycle quite a bit and if there is a cycle lane , I always use it. That is what they are for after all.

My opinion is cycles should not be entitled to be on busy roads, more for the cyclists safety than anything else.

It does depend on where the cycle lane goes, how many pedestrians it has etc. If you are a serious commuter, taking a cycle path that stops and starts, has pedestrians and dogs to dodge etc, your trip is much much longer.

I think perhaps you are BU, in that they have the right to use the road, and hard as it is to overtake sometimes, you need to breathe deeply and cope with it.

Cycle lanes near us are rubbish, you can park in them, so you have to veer into traffic, and the ones off the road suddenly stop without any way of getting to where you want to be... a token effort, rather than a transport link.

I think cycle paths are well intentioned but unfortunately they can be very dangerous - I've now had a couple of accidents on cycle lanes, and none on roads. As Paiviaso says, they can unfortunately be in very bad repair, there are often pedestrians on them, cars can drive over them without looking (a big problem on the cycle paths where I cycle - I've now been hit twice by cars pulling across a cycle path), there can be wheelie bins put out on them, etc.

It does sound like you're unnecessarily worried about passing cyclists - have you thought about having a couple of refresher driving lessons just to restore your confidence in what you're doing? I've done this myself and it really was excellent.

i get really really really fed up with pedestrians meandering around in cycle lanes whilst they fiddle with their iplayer/ipad/whatever it is...or....READING A BOOK!!!

YABU! Cyclists have a right to be on the road. There are many valid reasons why they do not want to use the lanes. Car drivers sh

yabu

if you're scared of knocking them off if they wobble you're driving too close. If you're scared of hitting oncoming traffic you need to improve your driving

cycle lane here generally= car parking spaces, to alot of motorists

Of course the cyclsists have the right to sue the road but IMO they should use the cycle path if usable i.e. not full of pedestrians, not covered in broken glass, not blocked by parked cars etc. In this particular case the cycle lane is set back from the road and is separate to the path for pedestrians. It is wide and has markings for bikes going in opposite directions, like a mini road. havign used it a lot, I can safely say that it is very rare for there to be broken glass or other rubbish making it unusable.

Of course cyclists should be entitled to cycle on busy roads, thats just ridiculous.

Where I live one minute theres a cycle path, then it stops dead, may start again or may not, its very erratic.

Everyone, cyclists and drivers, should just use the road and be more considerable towards each other, I've seen some cyclists being dangerous and some drivers also being dangerous.

I sometimes cycle to work, I have a mirror on my handlebar so I am very aware of what is behind me and I am just as entitled to use the roads as drivers....plus my bike doesnt fuck up the environment (like my car does)!

Reading a book!!! Really? Muppets.

Refresher lessons might be fun. I'd like a go on a skid pad!

YABU! Cyclists have a right to be on the road. There are many valid reasons why they do not want to use the lanes. Car drivers should expect to share the road.

I vote YABU, as our cycle paths are utter shitwank so you'd need to use the road to get anywhere. I would much rather have proper cycle paths with no cars parked in them that don't cut off randomly right in the busiest part of my journey!

YANBU, as well as the reasons stated here - with cycle lanes that aren't part of the main road, cyclists have to give way at lots of junctions. If I am cycling at 25mph, I do not want to have to stop at every junction, so I use the road so I can go with the flow of the traffic.

I only really use segregated cycle lanes when with the kids.

Nope, I disagree with a passion, it makes busy central roads a ridiculously unsafe place to be.

sorry, yabu

But why does it make it unsafe....is it because drivers get too close to cyclists and cant wait a couple of seconds as they are in such a bloody hurry!

On the country road between my house and the local town (an awful road btw, very narrow and twisty), for the first 4 miles, no cycle path, bikes have no option but to use the road - they have the right to use the road of course, but it causes quite severe tail backs on any nice sunny day as people chose to cycle from the nearby city to the town (about 12miles in total). Fair enough, there is no path, they have to go on the road.

There are NO passing places on this stretch of road, and I have yet to see a cyclist dismount at a road-end or field gate to let the (sometimes literally hundreds) cars building up behind them pass (as tractors and other slow vehicles do here). That is BU.

On the second stretch of road into town, about 6miles, there is a new, very well built separate cycle path, cost ££££, which almost none of these cyclists use - they are beingVU indeed.

I use cycle lanes if they?re safe, but they?re often not which I why I often don?t use them. They can be unsafe for lots of reasons, i.e. if they?re full of parked cars, put you back on the road in a silly place. I?m a good cyclist, and always cycle in the safest way, for my own benefit and for other road users. Sometimes not using cycle paths is the best way to do that.

For what ever reason, and there are many, vehicles and bikes don't mix well.

I used to tell my son that no way was he having a motorcycle, I now don't want him to have a bike!

missfaversham I cycle through putney to fulham frequently. Nothing to be afraid of there in my opinion. As long as you're a confident cyclist, it's totally manageable.

YANBU, if there is a cycle lane why don't they use it - do cars park in it as happens round here? The other day I was walking along the pavement, by a main road with a lovely cycle lane on it, it was about 11am so not busy at all, but still I had to move out of the way as a cyclist came cycling along the pavement towards me. I gave him my best Paddington Bear hard stare and he looked a bit embarrased, but carried on regardless . Someone on MN once suggested saying "Aaww, bless, doesn't your mum let you cycle on the road yet?" to grown-ups who do this

YABU

When I cycle with the kids on a MTB I will use them.

On a road bike no way. You think I'm cycling over broken glass at 30mph on tyres at 100psi? You think I'm playing avoid the pedestrian? Jump the the curb with £800 wheels? You think I'm not entitled to use the road? I pay 40% tax, sky high council tax, excise duty...... yip YABVU. It's safer and I've paid, if you don't like going around me and my friends well tough. We obey all rules of the road just like scooters and motorcyclists... YABVU.