To have been annoyed with the cyclists

[EverybodyLovesWine]

On the way back from visiting a friend yesterday I was behind two cyclists in the proper Lycra gear riding two abreast.

The roads were single carriage way roads through villages with on comjng traffic, corners, parked cars etc. I was not confident to overtake but the cyclists didn't move over for a good ten mins ( where the road widened out a bit anyway).

There was a LONG queue of traffic behind me and I was getting a bit stressed, even though of turning into a side road so I wasn't first. I am not an aggressive driver but wondering if I should have beeped them. They turned round a few times so certainly knew I was there.

Just as the road widened the man behind shouted loudly at them and gestured as he passed.

AIBU to have been really annoyed with the riders (the words arrogant tossers were going through my mind) as they should have pulled over IMO, should I have been more forthright with my driving? Or perhaps I should not have been annoyed and was in fact an arrogant tosser of a car driver!

[Gubbins]

Oh, to declare my interests I am a motorist. And a pedestrian. Oh, and a cyclist, too. We don't exist in a separate box, you know.

[CelticPixie]

In my experience most cyclists are just a bunch of arrogant, selfish and inconsiderate cocks who are quite happy to moan about motorists for not showing them any "respect" but they themselves never show any respect to pedestrians, or indeed motorists who unlike them pay road tax and insurance.

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen cyclists go through red lights at crossings and then look at the pedestrians who've they never nearly hit like idiots. If a car driver did that they'd be in trouble, so why its it any different for them? If they want the same rights as motorists then start showing other road users respected and start paying for the privilege like we have to!

[Technotropic]

It's a tricky one IMHO and the OP is right to ask as it shows a bit more readiness to see both sides (fair play OP).

I'm a cyclist and have sadly seen too many injured by poor drivers i.e hospitalised. I also know a few too many widows where their husbands have been killed by poor drivers. It's a sad state of affairs and results in defensive riding, such as has been described here.

If there was a long train of cars then it is clear that every single car would have attempted to squeeze their way through. It only takes one of those cars to drive impatiently and injure/kill a cyclist. As a driver who does 15k miles pa too, I would rather lose 10 mins off my journey than risk killing someone. Nobody's time/convenience is worth more than a life.

[whois]

I used to think cyclists were tossers for doing this. Then I realised generally when people do this it is to stop you squeezing past unsafely when there isn't really room.

Meh, bet it wasn't 10 mins

[EverybodyLovesWine]

PatPig if that is directed at me I think that is v harsh! I drove considerately and did not beep or overtake or go over the speed limit. I posted as I wasn't sure who was in the right/wrong and am certainly not a selfish cunt.

My DH cycles to work daily and we are well aware of the dangers motorists pose to cyclists. Equally, some cyclists are selfish and do actually pose a danger, esp to DC.

[PatPig]

There is no road tax CelticPixie. There is Vehicle Excise Duty, which is levied based on emissions. Bicycles pay the same rate as an electric car, i.e. zero.

[Sparklingbrook]

Never ever ever start a thread about cyclists.

[PatPig]

EverybodyLovesWine: I was responding to Fakebook's post about how cyclists are the bane of her existence, sorry cross-posts, can get confusing.....

[decaffwithcream]

I think they have probably had cars taking risks to pass them on the same road - if they look behind and see a line of cars, it's likely that more than one car is going to try and get past them - the guy behind you certainly sounds like he wasn't going to overtake with due regard for their safety uppermost in his mind.

I do hate being the one at the head of the queue too - I've recently had the man behind me shouting out his window and gesturing at me to pass a cyclist. The cyclist was wobbling all over the shop and kept signalling he was turning right, so no way was I about to pass.

[Fakebook]

Patpig, I'm very sorry someone's dd died this morning, BUT, when crossing the road we use not only our eyes, but our ears too. I can hear a car on a road that may turn into the road I want to cross. I can't hear a cyclist. The road is right outside dd's school so all drivers are slow and vigilant. Why can't cyclists do the same? It's not the first time. I've had cyclists pull out infront of me with no hand gesture, cyclists who are wearing headphones and can't hear me approaching and cyclists who seem to think they don't need to stop at red lights and zebra crossings and nearly bump into me and my children and then have the audacity to tut at me.

Drivers on a whole in built up areas are safer and more vigilant than cyclists. That's IME.

[Fakebook]

Cyclists who don't use lights at night and cyclists who use those flashing lights, so it looks like an alien is coming towards you are pretty annoying too.

[PatPig]

It's obviously ridiculous to say that drivers are safer than cyclists. The stats just don't back that up, cars kill all the time, cyclists extremely rarely.

We get cars coming round the corner at 50mph in a 30mph zone where we are trying to cross, and you can't hear them because there is so much general traffic noise.

I haven't experienced these inconsiderate cyclists that you mention, maybe you live in Cambridge or somewhere where there a lot of students on bikes? Personally I would be thankful that they are not driving in cars.....

[andubelievedthat]

Ido hope BMW, that those cyclists (read human beings) are not the doctors you or your family may have been going to rely on some time in your obviously impatient ,busy ,self righteous future ? sorry cancel part of post and read "your stinky little low brow life luv" life, yes you, BMW.Stood on any kitten"s head recently?

[Fakebook]

Not Cambridge, the other one.

This is why I believe cyclists should be given some kind of a licence to ride. There don't seem to be any rules for them to follow. Hardly anyone abides by the Highway Code. I doubt if anyone even reads it before riding.

Also, I'm not saying cars are safer, but not once has a car ever gone through a red light at me when crossing. Cyclists have.

[PatPig]

Yeah I guess it's a numbers thing. Same in Holland IME - the cyclists kind of ding pedestrians out of the way.

Round where I am you just have to kind of go round the pedestrians who don't ever look where you are going. But in a place where there are lots of cyclists maybe different principles apply.

It might be annoying, but it's seriously not an existential threat like being wiped out by a car.

[Technotropic]

Fakebook

It's good job you finished your sentence with 'That's IME'

Statistically you're totally wrong of course given most road deaths occur in built up areas and the most dangerous time is between 7-9am and 3-6pm. Oddly enough that coincides with kids starting and finishing school. Also you don't hear electric cars approaching so isn't too dissimilar to cyclists.

Sadly when these kinds of conversations crop up people start to lose all sense of rational thought. The classic complaints for cyclists are riding 2 abreast, riding on pavements and running red lights. They are the 3 main moans.

Yet ask any driver what their complaints of other drivers are and you will get; mobile phones, road rage, tailgating, driving too fast in snow/fog/rain, agressive driving, driving too slow, middle lane morons, fog light wankers, drunk drivers, drivers not using indicators, poor lane discipline, learners, people towing caravans, taxi drivers, busses pulling out and carving you up. The list goes on except people rarely moan about speeding or running red lights because every driver does this to reduce journey time, because everyone's car journey is the most important thing and more so than any other road users.

Somehow perspective is needed as PatPig has already mentioned.

[ColinFirthsGirth]

To all those saying hardly any cyclists abide by the highway code or that most cyclists are arogant etc you have never met most cyclists in this country, all the cyclists I know ride with respect and safely. In my area I haven't seen cyclists ride through red lights or riding in a unsafe manner. Maybe it is where you live? Or maybe you are only remembering the few that do go through red lights. By the way statistically far more cars drive through red lights. I often have car drivers squeezing past me when I am on my bike pushing me towards the gutter. If I fell off or a gust of wind blew me towards the car I would get run over. Cyclists are very vulnerable so I would ask car driver to be patient with us please. As for the OP I agree that they were probably trying to prevent cars over taking them and not leaving them enough room. I also get fed up when people go on about vechicle tax. Cars produce emissions and cause wear to the road. Bikes don't emit anything and produce very little wear. Plus this tax goes into the general tax pot not to pay for roads. Cyclists are part of the traffic and have as much right to be their as cars.

[ColinFirthsGirth]

there sorry not their

[CombineBananaFister]

Jesus BMW that's a bit harsh, think it's ok to be annoyed and all that but to wish people harm is another level entirely - hope lady karma isn't listening.

I think riding two a breast is rude (post office employees do this near me sometimes 4/5 abreast and it's ridiculous) but I understand cycling defensively.

I live in a historic city so narrow roads are a nightmare and I used to try and be considerate by cycling tight to the kerb so cars could pass easily. BUT after being clipped THREE TIMES by cars pushing past when there is clearly not enough room means that I now cycle in the middle of the road at these narrow points to stop them.

[WilsonFrickett]

I actually agree cyclists should be licensed in some way, they are road users just like everyone else. But to say that drivers are safer in general than cyclists is just total rubbish. Five cyclists have been killed by cars in my city over the past year. No drivers have been killed by bikes though.

OP Techno also makes a good point - if they'd moved over to let car #1 go at a safe spot, then car #2 would definitely have gone and maybe at a spot that wasn't safe.

Bikes are also usually more aware of things like potholes, which means they ride out, also people in parked cars who may not see the bikes and open their doors into their path.

[AThingInYourLife]

"In my experience most cyclists are just a bunch of arrogant, selfish and inconsiderate cocks who are quite happy to moan about motorists for not showing them any "respect" but they themselves never show any respect to pedestrians, or indeed motorists who unlike them pay road tax and insurance."



Do you understand that most cyclists also drive cars?

So they do know the Highway Code, and they do pay vehicle excise duty.

Your post is a perfect example of ignorant, prejudiced cockery.

Cyclists aren't arsed about being shown "respect", they just don't want angry drivers, who don't understand the Highway Code as it applies to bicycles, to kill them.

[Sparklingbrook]

Every time a thread starts about cyclists it's the same.

[AThingInYourLife]

My very favourite thread was the one about how a cyclist killed by a bus had it coming.

[Sparklingbrook]

Noooo AThing did it get deleted?

[SlowlorisIncognito]

I don't cycle (much) but I do ride horses on the road, and sometimes ride two abreast for similar reasons (Safety, easier to see etc.) as well as to help shelter younger/more nervous horses. People will often overtake dangerously close or where it is not safe to do so and I'm sure they do this to cyclists as well.

However I would try to avoid having cars trapped behind us for that long, and where we ride we pull over in one of the many suitable gateways if the road is too narrow to overtake on safely, and I would hope there would have been somewhere the cyclists could have pulled in, but if there wasn't there wasn't.

Equally, I understand the OP's feelings of being under pressure from motorists behind them.

Perhaps the cyclists should reassess how safe it is for them to ride on a stretch of road where is is unsafe for them to be overtaken and there are no safe passing places for long stretches as it will antagonise traffic, and it only takes one idiot to cause a serious accident.