Cyclists at night

[Santaclarita]

I'm not being unreasonable, I'm aware.

But please, for the love of God, if you plan on cycling, at NIGHT, in the dark, WEAR BLOODY HI VIS. It costs about £3 to buy a vest. Dunno how much hats are these days, but is the cost worth your life? Is £3 worth more than your life?

I was driving on an A road tonight, 60mph road easily. And some absolute bloody moron was cycling the other way, wearing black. No lights apart from the reflectors. No hi vis. No helmet. Saw him at the last second. I flashed him with my lights and put hazards on for people coming towards me so they would know there is a problem ahead for them.

If someone hit him, they'll no doubt get the blame. And they have to live with that forever. Just because he won't spend £3 on hi vis or buy lights. It annoys me so much. How lazy and stupid can you be?

Take care on roads incase there are other plonkers out there.

I think NPG phrased that wrong (though I'm confused by all the double negatives). I think they were meaning that to overtake properly you normally have to go into the oncoming lane (yes there are exceptions). So if there's oncoming traffic which prevents that then it is not safe to overtake whether it's one rider or two abreast.

I think my double negatives even confused me 😂 You should only overtake if there’s nothing coming the other way (or a sufficient gap to go onto the opposite side and back safely)

Couldn't agree more as a cyclist mysrlf6, I have super bright clothing, front & back lights plus helmet light. My cycling jacket is fluorescent orange with reflector strips as do my trousers. Not being seen is suicidal!

This is actually safer for cyclists. It makes them more visible, prevents car users from overtaking too close and actually makes it easier to overtake in may circumstances as you are overtaking over a shorter stretch of road

I agree with all of this except for the "preventing car users from overtaking". I will make a decision whether it's safe to overtake, I don't need the cyclists (or indeed the impatient car drivers behind me) to make that decision for me.

I cycle with two cycling groups - with one group we tend to cycle single file when it's busy and double up to chat when it's not. But the other group (Breeze - the group for women cyclists) more or less insist on doubling up nearly all the time. I don't know if I am comfortable with that - I think in some cases it is safer but otherwise you might as well make it as easy for cars to overtake as possible. It's obviously easier to overtake one small group of cyclists than a long drawn out string, but the first group I cycle with split up into groups of four/six so cars can get past and then pull in and then overtake the next group - and we move over to let cars past too when we can.

However, I don't care if I am lit up like a Christmas tree, now that the clocks have gone back I am no longer cycling to and from the station and am walking instead even though it adds 30 minutes to my daily commute. If we had segregated cycle paths I might feel differently but I don't trust drivers to pay attention.

Is it legal to cycle without a helmet? If so, why? That seems utterly bonkers!

Cyclists around here are the most inconsiderate expletives anywhere. They ride in packs blocking the road, chatting passing drinks and things between themselves at 15mph. Cyclists should be forced to pass a test like other road users, pay road tax and have a licence plate for the purpose of finding, fining and arresting etc.

Cyclists should be forced to [...] pay road tax

Why? “Because I have to!!!!” Is not a sufficient reason.

Oh goody. It's descended into a typical MN cyclist rant thread.

Cyclists don't have to wear helmets - when helmets became law in Australia, bike use dropped dramatically. I honk the U.K. government want to avoid that although you'd never guess from the abismal provision of bike lanes

Is it legal to cycle without a helmet? Yes.
If so, why? Why not? In Holland hardly anyone wears helmets and they have a much better safety record for cyclists. A helmet is not a force field and it has been shown that if you wear a helmet cars will often drive closer to you. In countries where helmets are a requirement the main impact has been to reduce the number of people cycling, and cycling has actually become more dangerous.
That seems utterly bonkers! What's bonkers is the number of people who base their opinions on knee jerk reactions.

Is it legal to cycle without a helmet? If so, why? That seems utterly bonkers!

The research into whether helmets saves lives is debatable.

Also being hit by a 1.5 ton car at 40mph (let alone by a lorry) means the cyclist or pedestrian will suffer far far more than just head injuries.

Obviously its essential cyclists use Florescent clothing and good quality lights but the onus should be on the driver to over take safely, slow down and give sufficient space, its also how you drive after seeing a cyclist pedestrian etc

Cyclists around here are the most inconsiderate expletives anywhere.
I live in one of the most popular areas in the country for cycling and don't particularly notice cyclists acting any worse than any other road user.
They ride in packs blocking the road, chatting passing drinks and things between themselves at 15mph. Riding in a pack is safer and easier to overtake than a long line. But most cycling clubs will have guidance on how many people can be out on a ride (normally about 10 max). If there are bigger groups than this then try talking to the club.
Cyclists should be forced to pass a test like other road users Cyclists are better than other road users - in accidents they are much less likely to be deemed to be at fault than car drivers. Some insurance companies even offer reduced rates on your car insurance if you cycle.
pay road tax snigger
and have a licence plate for the purpose of finding, fining and arresting etc. sledge hammer and nuts.

Your comment says far more about you than it does about cyclists.

YANBU Last night I was pulling out of a petrol station on to a busy one way road and after waiting for a while I finally found a space to get out. It was a one way road with no pavement so of course I wasn’t checking the other direction. As I pulled out a cyclist with no lights, all dressed in black whizzed in front of my car going in the opposite direction to traffic. He’d seen me but I hadn’t seen him and he was going too fast to stop. A split second earlier and he would have been killed and I would have struggled the rest of my life to live with it.

pay road tax and have a licence plate for the purpose of finding, fining and arresting etc

No such thing as road tax anymore, most cyclists will have a car and a job as owning a bike isn't cheap, so pay plenty of tax and VAT.

Having a number plate, insurance & taking a test doesn't stop 1000s of car drivers failing to stop after being involved in an accident, speeding, running red lights and killing approx 1800 adults and children & injuring 1000s more every year.

What the anti cyclists have to realise is that if all those commuting riders drove a car or caught the train, we'd have even more congestion, pollution etc.

Doesn't excuse no lights or bad riding but its a very minor problem compared to the damage cars do to us all and the environment.

How many times do these myths need debunking?
Nobody in the UK has paid 'road tax' since 1937. Drivers pay Vehicle Emissions Duty. Cyclists do not produce emissions therefore pay no duty.
The evidence about helmets and hi vis is not clear cut; and there is no legal requirement in the UK to wear either.
The evidence indicates that, far from being careless, cyclists make better than average drivers because they are more attentive: road.cc/content/news/232185-cyclists-make-better-drivers-study-concludes
Oh, and the cost of segregated cycle infrastructure is tiny compared to the cost of building roads, and produces an average benefit for around £5 for every £1 spent: road.cc/content/news/134759-benefit-building-space-cycling-far-outweighs-cost-says-dft
Any more?

I'm convinced a lot of the cyclists near me are trying to get a life insurance pay out for their next of kin from the way they behave near busses.

As someone who cycles to and from work every day I can't understand why people don't wear helmets/high vis/lights. On the way back from work at 5.30 tonight I almost got hit on a (simple) roundabout despite high vis/reflective gloves/3 bright lights!

They should also get some spoke reflectors. www.amazon.co.uk/Pack-Premier-Spoke-Reflectors-ROADUSERDIRECT/dp/B009N3DSA4?tag=mumsnetforum-21

Oh two months ago in dark a cyclist hit my car. I was notified and shaking even though he admitted hitting me. He offered to pay for broken wing mirror.
Mirror fine and repaired no cost but what I thought was a rubber mark on window is actually big damage and £££.

Too late - just grateful he ok although his fault - but not a cyclist fan now.

Glitter, surely what that shows is that the problem is not whether cyclists are wearing hivis, but whether drivers are looking properly.