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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

WTF cyclists in the snow

193 replies

lifeandtheuniverse · 01/03/2018 18:47

Cycling in the snow and ice, with no lights on and no reflective gear.

AIBU to think they should be arrested as a danger on the road.

Just had one fall off as lost back wheel on the snow,, car behind him managed to swerve round lost his back end and corrected. Me second car behind, I slam on brakes as he slides towards my front wheels - feet under my bumper. Car behind me ends up touching my bumper!

Then the moron has the balls to swear, berate me and demand my details.

OP posts:
gingergenius · 01/03/2018 20:10

Needs must. Not ideal but if you have no choice, you have to run the gauntlet I guess. Hope everyone is safe. It's the knobs in the black hoodies with no lights, their hands in their pockets, in the dark every other day of the year I have a problem with.

tortelliniforever · 01/03/2018 20:12

Where I live, the mayor has introduced a local byelaw that you can't cycle in the snow. YANBU! (And I am a cyclist).

DoneDisappeared · 01/03/2018 20:16

As long as all of the car drivers with snow covering their lights, plates and/or windows and heaped on the top of their cars get arrested to. Stupid road users are not confined to just cyclists.

Hassled · 01/03/2018 20:18

lifeandtheuniverse - that must have really shaken you up - hope you're OK. And no, YANBU re the insane cyclist.

HesterShaw · 01/03/2018 20:19

People still need to get to work.

bigsighall · 01/03/2018 20:25

Yanbu. Madness

smashyourglasses · 01/03/2018 20:27

'Got the usual diatribe about his right to be on the road.'

It's true though you numb nut.

I cycle to work (with good lights and reflective clothes) as it's the only way i can get there, being a non-driver and my shift beginning at 6am. What a fucking idiots all cyclist are eh, just scum of the Earth 🙄😂

IllustriouslyIllogical · 01/03/2018 20:30

What a fucking idiots all cyclist are eh,

Not all of them, I'm certainly not when I'm cycling Grin

But quite a few are.....

VladmirsPoutine · 01/03/2018 20:34

In the scenario you describe yanbu. Everyone's heart must have been racing.
But to be honest I wouldn't use cycling as a method to travel. Only reserved for huge parks with scenic views. It's a death trap in the making in the UK - specifically in large cities.

I saw someone on some kind of like 'one-wheeled' thing it's like a single big wheel and you stand on either side of it. I recall hoping he had also taken out life insurance after buying that contraption.

KidLorneRoll · 01/03/2018 20:38

"A bike on ice is fecking lethal & an idiotic thing to be riding."

A car with summer tyres on ice is lethal too, and much more likely to cause damage to other people.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 01/03/2018 20:40

Yanbu. He sounds like he's on a death wish.

Ariela · 01/03/2018 20:41

Some cyclists do have winter tyres...more should have them though

gingergenius · 01/03/2018 20:43

I cycle to work (with good lights and reflective clothes) as it's the only way i can get there, being a non-driver and my shift beginning at 6am.

That's great and no sensible cyclist who understands the dangers surrounding them as a 'small' road user should do otherwise.

No-one wants to injure a cyclist. Or in fact any other human being.

Because otherwise, that would make us psychopaths Confused

BUT. lots of cyclists think that being on a bike somehow immunises them to standard rules of the road, including appropriate clothing, manoeuvres (bearing on mind as a small road user people will not see you in the same way they see a car etc), but will then berate you for an accident simply because you were driving a car.

I speak from experience. I was undertaking a very careful 3 point turn. Spotted an unexpected cyclist. Stopped. Cyclist clipped my front wheel and was catapulted across my bonnet and on to the pavement. His mate was screaming at me that I should've looked where he was going. CCTV proved he was too busy chatting to his mate behind him to see what was ahead. CCTV also proved I was stationery when the accident occurred/

Shit me up for weeks and it was awful but it's not always drivers in the wrong and if cyclists want to ride at night they need to ensure they are visible.

Littleoakhorn · 01/03/2018 20:47

Avocado got it in one.

ThereIsNoSuchThingAsRoadTax · 01/03/2018 20:54

Oh and braking distance at 6mph is 5 metres - I think the 20 for Car 1 and the further 10 for me - shows we were thinking!

But you are advised to multiply that by 2 in wet conditions, and by 10 in ice and snow.

gingergenius · 01/03/2018 20:57

with no lights on not a legal requirement unless it was after dark

and no reflective gear. never a legal requirement

Interesting because I asked a police officer about this and his responses differed!

nonfatnofoamlatte · 01/03/2018 21:00

I agree with IllustriouslyIllogical!

As long as all of the car drivers with snow covering their lights, plates and/or windows and heaped on the top of their cars get arrested to. Stupid road users are not confined to just cyclists.
Of course they should be stopped and ticketed! No one said they shouldn't.
It's not all cyclists I'm against - only the entitled ones. Where I live, we have loads of great cyclists who follow the road rules. We also have a load of entitled cyclists. They are the ones who breeze through stop signs and red lights and ride on the sidewalk when it suits them and give the finger to anyone who dares to shout at them. They also don't wear helmets anymore as, apparently, it messes up their hair. Two cyclists crashed into each other on a bridge in town because they wouldn't yield to each other and blamed cars even though a car wasn't involved in any way. We've even had cyclists talk on TV about how they don't know the rules of the road as they don't drive cars which doesn't make any sense at all. Being smaller than a car or truck, they should know enough to stop at a red light or stop sign and to be careful of cars, trucks, etc.
It's all about sharing the road and everyone following the rules and not taking unnecessary risks. Just imagine how great that would be!

leghoul · 01/03/2018 21:00

Ive always found cycling much safer and more stable than walking in this weather and less likely to kill or injure other people than a 1 ton + steel box. Maybe I have grippy tyres.

gingergenius · 01/03/2018 21:02

@Littleoakhorn @AvocadosBeforeMortgages
Do you disagree that this:

with no lights on = not a legal requirement unless it was after dark

and no reflective gear.= never a legal requirement

is an argument that whilst may not be law, still gets people killed.

I'm a motorcyclist. I can't imagine riding at night without making myself visible and safer.

What's in it for you to quote the law but do nothing to encourage safer road usage and awareness?

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 01/03/2018 21:07

lights on a good 20 metres behind, me car 2, lights on and snow tyres, a good 10 metres back from him

Shock You especially were way too close!

IllustriouslyIllogical · 01/03/2018 21:24

I'm a motorcyclist. I can't imagine riding at night without making myself visible and safer.

Me too & I've actively added more lights to my motorbike to increase visibility and wear gear that does the same - because I'm not stupid.

You won't catch me riding that on the roads in this weather - I'd rather be in my steel box, that way - if someone does die, my kids still get to see their parent that evening.....

As I said above, it's small consolation being morally right when you're dead..... Very few smug corpses out there....

Littleoakhorn · 01/03/2018 21:24

ginger drivers need to concentrate on their own responsibilities: think about the large peice of heavy machinery they are operating and how easy it is to kill or seriously injure people with it. I’m sick of reading posts (not specifically this one) that justify nearly killling someone because they weren’t a cycling Christmas tree.

That said, I think the op just had a scary moment in an already stressful drive. It must have been scary for the cyclist too but given that none of us (including the op) know the circumstances of the all people involved, it’s best to just remind ourselves to be patient and careful when we’re driving. Lights or no lights, we’d all feel pretty shitty if we accidentally hurt someone while driving.

gingergenius · 01/03/2018 21:25

@IllustriouslyIllogical YYY!

gingergenius · 01/03/2018 21:27

@Littleoakhorn I agree. But if making yourself a cycling Christmas tree makes it easier to avoid hitting you, where's the beef? I think it safe to say that not one motorist wants to hit, injure or kill a cyclist. If we can't see you, that job is immeasurably harder. Why would you NOT want to help prevent accidents?

rollingonariver · 01/03/2018 21:29

I don't understand why car drivers think they're journeys are more important than cyclists. I live an hour and a half a walk from work but it's a 20 min cycle, why should I have to walk 70mins longer because it's snowing?
Surprisingly, Cyclists have as much right to be on the road as you do ! You know how cars have to be a certain distance away from other cars? Reserve the same right for cyclists considering you could kill them.