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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be glad that *some* police forces are going to tackle the dangerous overtaking of cyclists?

118 replies

GilMartin · 19/01/2017 09:46

And that I live in one of the areas trying this out?

road.cc/content/news/215826-close-pass-policing-could-be-rolled-out-16-forces-yours-one

Whilst I don't think it will tackle every dick who flies past with millimeters to spare or those who deliberately target cyclists with punishment passes, it will hopefully raise enough awareness amongst those who act carelessly rather than meliciously.*

  • Yes, I know some cyclists can ride badly, not have lights and have earphones on and run read lights and yes I support efforts to tackle that too. It isn't an either or situation.
OP posts:
JustAnotherPoster00 · 19/01/2017 12:16

No 1 here is suggesting that cars and dangerous but as always cyclists feel that they can do whatever they want cos theyre not as dangerous as cars

Spudlet · 19/01/2017 12:22

Oh bullshit! Which cyclists? All of us? So me in my jeans with a toddler on the back of my step-through with a basket would be exactly the same as a fully Lycra-clad guy on a racing bike?

Cyclists are people, just like anyone else, we don't all suddenly adopt groupthink as soon as we start peddling! But that thinking - lumping all cyclists together in an out group - is bloody dangerous, because it sets you up for an us and them mentality, which makes it totally ok to risk their lives to get past a little bit quicker.

Original poster
GilMartin · 19/01/2017 12:23

but as always cyclists feel that they can do whatever they want cos theyre not as dangerous as cars

Whoa with the massive generalisations.

Your argument makes absolutely no sense. On my bike I'm exposed with only a polystyrene helmet for protection. It is painfully apparent to me that in a collision with a car, I will come off many, many times worse. If I 'do whatever I want' I will end up on a one way trip to a mortuary slab in fairly short order.

OP posts:
PinkSwimGoggles · 19/01/2017 12:24

I wish they'd do something about cyclists who speed past you on the pavement

wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't so dangerous riding in the road due to arsehole drivers.

Original poster
GilMartin · 19/01/2017 12:28

wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't so dangerous riding in the road due to arsehole drivers.

I can't say I agree, there's no excuse for adults riding bikes on the pavement.

We should claim our place on the road and if we want to be taken seriously as road users and treated with respect, we shouldn't be hoping on the pavement when it suits us.

You see *Just" not all cyclists act and think exactly the same!

OP posts:
FlaviaAlbia · 19/01/2017 12:30

Good to see this, I hope it gets rolled out across the UK.

I was nearly wiped out by a car pulling a horsebox the other day. Some drivers just don't think and apparently it's easy to forget you're towing a massive metal trailer with an animal in it Hmm A few cautions and people might start to think..

Original poster
GilMartin · 19/01/2017 12:32

Good to see this, I hope it gets rolled out across the UK

Yes me too, I bet the police pick up a fair few untaxed, unlicenced and uninsured drivers in the process too, so it kills several birds with one stone.

OP posts:
EwanWhosearmy · 19/01/2017 12:34

I always give cyclists loads of room, and stay behind them if there isn't space; I just wish they'd do me the same courtesy.

In case they hadn't noticed, an awful lot of our roads are extremely narrow and you have a job to get two cars passing. So that will be the time that the knob on the bicycle decides to squeeze up the inside of my car in the 1/2 inch gap between me and the pavement.

Or the dodgy junction we have locally where a roundabout has a constant stream of traffic joining a main road. You can be waiting there ages, and of course you are waiting for a gap on your right. Just as there is finally a gap will be the time the cyclist going straight across decides to come up your inside, ignoring your left indicator. They could go round and overtake you on the right, but that would be safer so no bugger does. After the first near miss I get as close as I can to the railings on the left to discourage undertaking while I'm waiting to pull out.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 19/01/2017 12:36

The vast majority of complaints people have about cyclists there are already laws about. Cycling without lights? Yep. On pavements? Yep. Through red lights? Yep. All it needs is enforcement, which means police stopping cyclists who do such things. Just as they would for cars. Having license plates would make fuck all difference apart from massively reducing the number of people who cycle. Which I suspect is really the reason why people suggest these things. There are a significant minority of people who hate cyclists and see them purely as a nuisance.

And give over with the hyperbole about lives being put in danger by cyclists. There is no such thing as no risk, but the chance of being killed by a cyclist is so ridiculously low. It is in no way equivalent to cars and should not be treated as such.

TheNameIsBarbara · 19/01/2017 12:36

I always try and leave a lot of space, almost the same space as a car as even if the cyclist is driving near a kerb, I as a car driver can't easily spot pot holes or grids so always give enough space in case the cyclists need to move into the middle of road.

I welcome this idea and would add that whenever a cyclist makes a mistake its not nearly as fatal for the cyclist as when cars make mistakes. That is why drivers should be more cautious. I'm not a cyclist may I add!

NameChanger22 · 19/01/2017 12:37

It's happened to me a few times. I always ride on the pavement for a while afterwards because it's very scary. A cyclist got killed recently in front of my workplace, because of an idiot motorist. I'm not going to risk my neck.

We have a boards in the pedestrian areas of our city which say that careful cycling is permitted. I think this is great. I think cyclists should be able to ride on the pavement as long as they are very slow and careful and get off if it's too crowded. The roads are not safe, especially now that there's so much hatred towards cyclists. We're not the ones polluting the planet.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 19/01/2017 12:38

Funny how people moan on threads about something stupid a cyclist has done that it is irrelevant what cars do. Yet here we have a thread about trying to encourage car drivers to be safer and it is being turned into "Oh but cyclists do dangerous things too".

Brokenbiscuit · 19/01/2017 12:51

I must admit, my heart sinks when I see a cyclist in front of me on a busy road. I am completely clear that I will not put them at risk, and so I will drive behind them until it is genuinely safe to overtake. I remember being told that you should leave enough space so that you would be able to clear them even if they suddenly fell off their bike and into the road, so I use that as my guide. They are very vulnerable. But god, I hate the impatient buggers who sit behind waiting for you to edge past with an inch to spare. Selfish bastards just have to wait.

fedupski · 19/01/2017 13:11

I've only had my license for 2 years, but I was taught to give a cyclist the same room as any other road user when overtaking and if I can't to wait until I can. I don't want someone's injury or death on my conscience, so that's what I do.
On the other hand I have been put in hospital by an idiot riding on the pavement, and last week my daughter was nearly flattened by a bike thinking red lights wasn't for them and shouted a load of abuse at us, so I welcome enforcement of the rules for cars and bikes.

myfavouritecolourispurple · 19/01/2017 13:38

Would it be totally draconian to insist that anyone physically capable of doing so should have a cycling proficiency test including time on he road before learning to drive? I suppose it would be fairly impractical

I do think we could take a long-term view and require everyone to do cycling proficiency (level 3 bikeability) by the time they take their GCSEs. If they've not done it then, they have to do it when doing their driving test. That would mean that, gradually, everyone (bar a few people who can't physically cycle) would have an understanding of what it's like to be on the road on a bike.

FlaviaAlbia · 19/01/2017 14:04

I quite like that idea in general. On the flip side, I definitely became a better cyclist for taking the motorbike test, more aware of road positioning and cycling more defensively than before.

laidbackmummy13 · 19/01/2017 15:29

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Spudlet · 19/01/2017 15:30

I am definitely a better cyclist for having driven... I agree that having a range of experience helps. Even riding horses on the road has helped (possibly that's not entirely practical as a blanket driver / cyclist training method though!).

Brokenbiscuit · 19/01/2017 15:33

Interesting, laidback. I have never paid road tax and yet I've been driving for years.

I do, however, pay vehicle tax. It is not the same thing.

laidbackmummy13 · 19/01/2017 15:38

It is the same thing. I can assure you. If you can't be tracked or held responsible for your actions then you should not be on a main road. If cyclist are considerate then I am considerate to them. If not then I just get past.

FlaviaAlbia · 19/01/2017 15:39

Till then I get past however possible and they can be grateful I haven't run them down.

Gosh laidbackmummy13 I'm really grateful you haven't crushed me under your car recently Flowers

Perhaps you should reconsider your username, it doesn't seem apt.

Spudlet · 19/01/2017 15:41

It's really not. Vehicle tax is based on emissions, and is not ring fenced for use on things like road maintenance. You are paying tax based on the level of toxic emissions that your vehicle causes.

Ifailed · 19/01/2017 15:41

Here we go again Sad.

Standard cut 'n' paste:

  1. Pedestrians, cyclist and riders have a right to use the highways (bar motorways).
  2. Drivers & vehicles are given permission to use highways, so long as they confirm to various laws and regulations.
  3. Every tax-payer in the UK funds roads, regardless of whether they drive or not.
laidbackmummy13 · 19/01/2017 15:41

Yes the irony lol. I do give them enough space to be sure if the fall it's not under my wheels. But that's it. Cause I've seen too many accidents caused by oblivious cyclists.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 19/01/2017 15:43

Yet more evidence of the hate people have towards cyclists. As if paying insurance (how do you know they don't have any?) or road tax (which doesn't exist) would make any difference to your attitude.

What is scary is how socially acceptable it is to put this hatred on show, and that this comes across with the way people drive.