To get annoyed at cyclists in the middle of the road

[ILiveAtTheBeach]

There are loads round here. They don't cycle to the side. They cycle in the very centre of the lane you are in. So you can't overtake if it's busy. Thus you drive to your destination in first gear. I. Haven't. Got. Time. For. This. Aargh!

i cycle in the middle of the road cos it's safer and I ain't going to stop. However, I also take designated bike streets and lanes wherever I can. Unfortunately there is a certain subset of drivers who also take bike streets and get aggressive when they're behind cyclists. Um....really? beep at me all you want, you'll just have to wait.

What usually happens on my regular journey to next town is:

Car in front travelling at 50mph. Car several car back wants to drive at 70 and is outraged by this slow driver crawling along. They overtake several cars, forcing drivers in opposite carriageway to take evasive action.

We all meet up tail to tail on the one way system in next town and sit there for the same 5 minutes waiting to get through the traffic lights.

Would be funny except for the regular deaths on this road.

I can see that there is still a lot more work that needs to be done to inform drivers people about why cyclists adopt safe positioning and should not be cycling too close to the kerb. This is a good piece which includes a link to a good video with Chris Boardman and an advanced driving instructor. He (and British Cycling) have produced another one which I can't find a link to, where they describe how a cyclist should move even further out when approaching certain dangerous situations (eg where there is a traffic island) specifically to stop cars trying to squeeze past dangerously.

As both a driver and a cyclist, I always try to follow the Highway Code except where it is not safe to do so. There is one (traffic light) junction I use where the only safe place for a cyclist to wait is ahead of the solid white line - so that's what I do.

There's another road (2 lanes each way, commuter road, speed limit 30mph) where the (narrow) pavement is technically dual use - not that the pedestrians would notice as the signs are 12-15 feet up lamp posts and in many places obscured by tree branches. I stay on the road as the pavement isn't safe: too narrow, too much street furniture, uneven surface due to tree roots and entrances to houses/sports clubs. Some drivers might be pissed off by the cyclists on the road - but at most they are inconvenienced 5 seconds (I usually catch them at the next set of traffic lights).

ah so they're saving our lives

SoutheastAstra - maybe you should read the thread - you might learn some stuff.

Well, they are certainly stopping you from having to live the rest of your life with the knowledge that you killed someone and the fall out from the ensuing court case.

ah so they're saving our lives

No they are not saving your life they are keeping everyone on the road safer including themselves. If you try to overtake when you don't have a visible clear road then there is every chance you will either cause a head on collision with the car on the other side that you didn't see in time or will knock off the cyclist. I have been knocked off my bike by a car pulling out on a blind bend and then pulling straight into me because something was coming the other way. We were going downhill and he clearly misjudged how fast I was going so went right into me. If I had cycled further out he probably wouldn't have risked it.

You said you haven't read the thread but I suggest that you do as this is explained repeatedly above and there is little point in typing it out again.

Waves at PB not been on FB but did see your post about revolution theft, was a cruel for the lad.two Solcc were taking part. DD still has same problem sadly so not doing it...hope your all ok

i was in court 2 weeks ago and will be going back next year , as the driver who sped ahead of the pack at the lights apparently did not see me on my bike in an empty road and me riding as close to the sidewalk as possible= no place to go if i had heard her speed up so close to me that she hit my handle bar and knocked me off my bike into the road. She then pulled into the middle of the still empty road and stopped, stayed in the car with 2 passengers, sorting out the story she had started when she pulled into the middle of the road. No apology,no offer of help,did not ask how i was-she and her passengers got busy asking for names and addresses of witnesses to subborn. So fast forward 4 months to court and she is telling the judge she does not know what she is supposed to have done as she did nothing wrong and needs time to prepare her defence. She has been given another 4 months and what will she lie about next time? Thankfully i have a witness and truth on my side. I guess i shd ride in the middle of the road?

How awful for you, I hope you are ok A similar thing happened to my sister and I when we were out cycling together. The man stood up in court telling a completely fabricated story, however his passenger fell apart in court and ended up getting the made up story all wrong, whereas my sister and I told identical version of events despite not hearing each other speak. He ended up having to pay a substantial amount in costs to my sister and lost his driving license for 18 months. All because of a moment of road rage, caused by us cycling in the primary position and him deciding to squeeze by as close as possible and knocking my sister off her bike in the process. Be warned op, road rage gets you nowhere!

Link to one of the most jaw dropping cycle accidents ive seen. Unbelievable driving.

thank you MissDuke. I hope your sister has recovered. I am hoping that the same will result for the woman who hit me. I heard the clerk of the court warn her that if she is found guilty she will be charged $1000. If she continues to lie when we next go to court i will be pursuing a civil case for damages. If she decides to tell the truth , i may not.

southeastastra we can think we would like to live in a lovely bicycle loving town like amsterdam but it isn't going to happen.

Why not? Looking at that horrific video posted of an accident, the whole junction is an example of incompetent, bad urban planning. None of it looks that old. If planners start now designing roads with cycle paths, it will make life easier for both drivers and cyclists.

Its no great secret that most Northern European countries manage it, or that cycle paths needs to be alongside, but separated from, all roads other than motorways, and of a consistent and reliable design. Most of them work by giving cyclists and pedstrians priority in urban areas, based on the premise that you should expect your journey to be quite slow and subject to interruptions if you choose to take a car into an urban environment.

And not just for cyclists, for pedestrians too. My local authority has permitted loads of new housing estates to be built recently, but strangely the plans haven't even included footpaths along the main roads to link them to the rest of the town and village they are stuck on the end of.

I think some of you criticising cyclists should try it yourself. I've said before it's not for the fainthearted.

I was cycling in the middle of the road yesterday. Couldn't move to left as there was car's parked up. I was cycling down a hill and going pretty fast but had to slow down when 3 cars overtook me to take a left turn further down the road. Couldn't be arsed to wait the few seconds it would've taken me to get clear of that turn. No, far more fun to shit me up and have me slow down so they the far more superior motorist can get past.

This morning I was cycling along a cycle path which actually has a kerb division between it and the road. A man in a car ploughed up in front of me - over the curb - to turn and nearly knocked me off. He didn't seem to have any idea what he had done although a motorcyclist on the other side of the road beeped in outrage and stopped to check I was ok.

A few minutes later, I was cycling up my side of the road and there was a big white van parked on the other side. A car going the other way tried to pull round it on my side of the road, stopped just in time rather than driving straight into me, and wound his window down to say as I passed "You're ugly".

What is it with men in cars?
Who trains them to be such shits?

"If planners start now designing roads with cycle paths, it will make life easier for both drivers and cyclists."

I agree, the problem is road design (and can I just state my objection to combined bus-and-cycle lanes. They are a stupid solution!). But (pedantic point) - this is transport planning, not urban planning (in my city, the two teams are almost entirely separate). And the planners (urban or transport) can't take these decisions by themselves - they are ultimately dependent on the political context, and on willingness on the part of council leaders and politicians to make brave infrastructure decisions. Because many roads are quite tight in this country, this may mean prioritising the bike over the car in places, which will be controversial, something that many local politicians fear.

This is why we need cycling advocacy groups to demand these changes.

dangerous as people will overtake forcing them into oncoming traffic

but you are supposed to go on the opposite carriageway to overtake a cyclist

So if a car is coming towards you, you have to wait until there isn't. Simple.

my standard answer to any unwelcome call out is U2