to think cyclists ought to sit a test before being allowed on the road?

[SantanaLopez]

I live on a route popular with amateur cyclists. Yet again this morning another group of folk were causing absolute havoc on a two lane road. They aren't dressed properly, they don't signal, they don't even look where they're going. One man was weaving along instead of cycling in a straight line!

So while I have a cup of tea and a cake (for medicinal reasons)- aibu to think that they should have to be tested before being allowed on the road? I know drivers are the biggest hazard, but safety works both ways!

Op its a sunny Sunday morning. Cyclists are out. What's your hurry? Just pass safely.

There are lots of roads round where I am from that have no footpath, do pedestrians have no choice but to walk on the road.

There are done cyclists who are reckless and a danger to themselves, but there are quite a lot of drivers who do stupid things, talk on the phone, drive drink etc. Having laws doesn't stop the truly stupid.

I think they should have to wear proper clothing they are so hard to see in the dark. Plus they often ride on the pavement where I live, freaking the life out of me when I walk to work. I’m constantly looking behind me.

Just pass safely.

That's my point. Every morning, each weekend, without fail I cannot pass safely because of the actions of cyclists.

SantanaLopez, drivers rarely pass me safely, even if they have plenty of room

So you wait behind them, just as you would in any otherkind of traffic.

Some cyclists are idiots
Some drivers are idiots
Some Pedestrians are idiots

As for the cyclists vs driver vs pedestrian its frankly pointless and fucking stupid.

I have never not been able to pass a cyclist even if I have had to wait a short while. Perhaps just develop a bit of patience.

SantanaLopez, you shouldn't be passing cyclists if you don't have a clear road to do so, it should be the same as if you were passing another car.
They were probably riding three abreast to stop you doing that very thing, ie squeezing past with a dangerously small gap between you and them.
What was so critical that you couldn't wait until there was clearer visibility before passing?

There are no traffic lights within a 5 mile radius of my house. I live in an area which uses roundabouts more than traffic lights and crossings are few and far between. There is a crossing between us and the local supermarket (other roads to cross too) and yesterday the first car stopped so the one behind pulled out and passed him nearly running someone over. I assume that car driver had passed a test but just didn't care.

I don't know why people get so het up and angry about this.

Round here, everyone cycles, and as a cyclist you can get an on the spot fine for not having lights at night, cycling the wrong way round one way systems, failing to stop at a red light, and various other road rules. It is policed quite heavily, and I tihnk that keeps everyone quite safe.

There is plenty of information on correct road use and what all the rules mean on the internet that cyclists can look up. It doesn't need to be made compulsory.

What I hate, as a cyclist, and get cross about sometimes, is other cyclists not adhering to ctaying on the left on cycle lanes or dual use cycle/pedestrain lanes. Round here you stay on the left, no matter what.

Something I never understood was pedestrians who are wrongly walking in a cycle lane who get all cross and huffy when you ring your bell to let them know you are approaching. I never understand that. Would they rather I cycle past them with no warning?

Patience is one thing but when the road has plenty of laybys that they are ignoring it becomes about their arrogance and poor roadmanship.

I have always ridden and know to use laybys to allow any built up traffic behind me. No road user has the right to interfere with the flow of traffic when there are alternatives.

The lanes here are small and windy. You cannot overtake safely. If we'd have been arses we'd have done it anyway forcing them into the edges of the road but we didn't. We used our patience and good manners to sit well back behind them while they behaved like dicks.

And several of them were in the wrong gear for hill climbing.

Mignonette, what gear they're in is entirely down to their own preference, strength and/or skill

I think there should be more education on how to use the roads safely for cyclists and also pedestricians, horse riders, etc.

I watched a near miss recently caused by a cyclist riding two abreast and preventing cars from overtaking where it was unreasonable to do so (don't try to tell me he had a good reason because he didn't) and a driver who thought the fact that the cyclist was being an idiot made it OK to risk killing him. They both behaved like entitled twats but the driver wouldn't have been the dead one.

I think there must be a cycling club locally that encourages cyclists to ride in large packs, preventing other vehicles from overtaking just because they can because there is an awful lot of it happening on the roads round here and there is just no excuse. It happens when there are no bends or obstructions for miles and a car could overtake one cyclist who was riding well away from the kerb with a good six foot space between them but not three abreast without getting dangerously close. They pull in when cars pass in the other direction then pull out again! They need to understand that they can wind car drivers up but it just puts their lives and those of other cyclists at more risk.

Then yesterday I came across a guy cycling right against the verge allowing cars to overtake without giving him sufficient room. I had my heart in my mouth! He needed someone to tell him how to hold his position safely to prevent drivers pushing past.

Yes, car drivers need to stop driving like idiots and take responsibility for the safety of other roads users but a lot of cyclists really don't help themselves and some public education adverts or such like might really help.

Boney I would say some people are idiots.

Cyclists don't have to pull into laybys to let cars pass them

SantanaLopez so you were going uphill, with cyclists in front of you, and you expected them to pull over and stop so you could overtake? They were also going uphill, under their own steam rather than using an engine, who should they have stopped so you could pass? That doesn't make sense. You don't have priority over them.

Rule 169 of the Highway Code: do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle.

If cyclists needed insurance then if the cyclists then caused accidents that resulted in big pay-outs then there would be an incentive for insurance companies to offer reduced premiums to those taking courses/tests.

I think that cyclists have to take some responsibility for their own safety though

Being hit and severely injured or killed through your own actions or those of car drivers is taking quite a bit of responsibility.

I think it's unreasonable to expect cyclists to stop for you while going uphill, it takes a lot of energy to start cycling while on a hill, without any momentum built up. If these people were in the wrong gear then they probably weren't the strongest of cyclists anyway, just something to consider!

Being hit and severely injured or killed through your own actions or those of car drivers is taking quite a bit of responsibility.

? What's your point? Because you could be killed, you shouldn't have to sit a test? That makes no sense.

SantanaLopez so you were going uphill, with cyclists in front of you, and you expected them to pull over and stop so you could overtake?

No, if they been riding in a single file, there would have been plenty of room for me to overtake.

YANBU.

I'm not saying that drivers don't need to take better care and give cyclists more room.

However in my town we have a problem with bad cyclists. There's a right corner by our train station with a zebra crossing right after it. As everyone is leaving the train station at rush hour, people on foot head for the zebra crossing and cyclists get onto the road before the zebra crossing. Drivers can see the zebra crossing early, cyclists can't cos of the tight bend. But it's not a big town, and every commuting cyclist who comes out of that station knows that zebra crossing is there, and knows that people will be crossing it at the same time they are heading towards it.

Yet still they come haring around the bend ridiculously fast The amount of near accidents I've seen is just silly. It's bad cycling, it's bad road awareness, and it's very dangerous.

Licensing might not be practical, but some cyclists do need more training.

Perhaps they were riding three abrest to stop people from over taking them dangerously?

No, if they been riding in a single file, there would have been plenty of room for me to overtake.

It comes back to this so many times.

Why is it so important to cyclists that they ride next to their friends even when they are holding up other road users by doing so?

If there is room for a car to overtake safely, why would you not go into single file to facilitate that?

Highway Code, rule 66: never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends.