With this cyclist

[HopsNim]

Genuine thread, not cyclist bashing.

New driver here

Pulled up at zebra crossing, once person had finished crossing, I pulled off again. Cyclist appeared on my left (seemingly out of nowhere but I should have seen him) and overtook me as I pulled off. Bashed on my window and yelled aggressively "hey get over"

So am thinking I somehow veered at little into his path as I pulled off (but don't recall doing). If all happened very quickly. there wasn't a cycle lane

Can someone more experienced please talk me through what I did wrong, how serious was it and how I can make sure I don't do it again

Thank you

Check all your mirrors before you pull away.
Turn and look around too, if you can. I don't think they teach that any more, only reliance on mirrors.

You may not have done anything wrong.
You checked your road was clear of pedestrians.

The cyclist saw you were stationary and chose to have 'your' gap.

You both wanted the same bit of road.

Nobody was hurt.

Well it is difficult without being there to know exactly what was wrong. If he asked you to get over then it is likely that you did alarm him by veering over. OTOH cyclists coming up on the inside of stopped cars are a bit of a nightmare. Yes you should be aware but it is easy to miss them.

Yes I agree, whilst i'm waiting, i keep checking mirrors - you really have to watch both sides - left for cyclists, right for motor bikes.

Thanks lesson learned and thankfully with no harm done, must check both mirrors more thoroughly

Based on what you've said I don't think you were in the wrong. The cyclist shouldn't have been undertaking you like that, and you have no duty to leave gaps in case cyclists appear.

I once had a cyclist who got very angry for me for not leaving a gap for him to get past at a junction. In the same way that cyclists can hold primary position when it's not safe for cars to overtake, when I'm driving I don't want cyclists undertaking me at junctions as I don't think it's safe. I'm certainly not going to encourage it by leaving nice big gaps tempting them to sneak through. A lot of cyclist death and injuries are caused by them trying to filter through traffic on the left hand side, and then the vehicle moving off.

I only check my rear view mirror when starting off again having come to a stop at a zebra crossing. You don't "pull in" to stop at a zebra, so there should be no need to check your in your left hand mirror. You certainly don't need to turn around and look!!

I had a cyclist bang aggressively on my car because there was not enough room for him to get by while cars were in a traffic jam. Unfortunately for him a policeman saw him do it & explained as was obvious to everyone else the road is very narrow & carsdo not need to make sure they are bang in the middle of the road to let a cyclist through the left or a motorcyclist on the right. He was an arrogant twat and continued arguing as I left..

Genuine thread, not cyclist bashing

The cyclist bashers will be along shortly nonetheless.

Assuming there was only one lane, then he shouldn't have undertaken you.
But you also should have checked all round before moving off.

Think of a bike as another car - if there wasn't room for another car to come up beside you, the cyclist shouldn't have done it. You're not supposed to make a second lane of traffic while cycling. So you did nothing wrong. The problem is though, many cyclists do fit themselves into whatever gaps they can find so you have to be super vigilant.

Haha I'm not a cyclist basher I have only had this one experience!

this explains it quite well

this explains it quite well

Thanks, am trying to piece it together and the zebra crossing is just before the road starts to veer left so it's possible that as I stopped I had already moved the wheel slightly left in anticipation, or did so as I moved off.

He then came up on my left and my car inched slightly towards him.

Feel a bit silly

Lesson one of driving. Most some cyclists are completle morons with a massive chip of their shoulders about drivers and how we are all apparently out to kill them. We'll just forget about all the times I've seen cyclists show blatant disregard for the safety of pedestrians.

There were two lanes, so I had another car to ky right

On the subject of cyclist bashing, is there a law against cycling in the dark without any lights? If not there bloody well should be!

Yes Mintyy there is. But there isn't a law about cycling without helmets (which drivers often seem to get oddly het up about).

Do they?

It might have been that there was a reasonable gap, and if you then closed the gap it is marginally understandable. But he still shouldn't be trying to filter through when you were setting off.

They do in my experience. I've seen cyclists beeped and shouted at for not wearing helmets. I've not seen drivers subject to the same thing for not wearing a seatbelt, which is the law...

you say there wasn't a cycle path, but sometimes it seems entirely random why a cycle path would suddenly stop or start and the cyclist is sort of forced to cycle "as if" there were a cycle path that has now petered out. Also, were you in the bike box at the front?

Both cyclist and driver here, and no you were not in the wrong. If a cyclist is going to undertake (i.e., move up on the left of slower moving traffic) then they should only do so where there is room to do so. And if there isn't a cycle lane there isn't normally room.

Definitely no cycle paths at all and no box, just a village pedestrian crossing. I feel bad now as I think by moving a bit to the left I might have given him a scare and it could have been very serious (he was moving quite fast and was downhill so shudder to think what would have happened if he'd gone into me)