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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

AIBU to bloody hate cyclists

845 replies

FortyAndFlagging · 30/05/2019 16:20

I have just trailed three cyclists during the course of the day. Honest to God, why don't they just pull over and let people pass?

OP posts:
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6
fairweathercyclist · 31/05/2019 09:36

I see so many cyclists in London just whizz over zebra crossings with no heed to pedestrians whatsoever

And drivers. And who is more likely to kill a pedestrian? The person on a bike or the person in a large heavy metal box on wheels?

WhiteDust · 31/05/2019 09:39

In reply to you hough Buzz, you are attacking all car/van drivers.
This is the same as saying that all cyclists as a danger on the roads.
It's simply not true.

WhiteDust · 31/05/2019 09:40

Buzz That's better! Thank you! GrinGrinGrin

morallybankruptme · 31/05/2019 09:40

Hill runner the trees also need to be fined for leaving such a mess on the roads

WhiteDust · 31/05/2019 09:41

'are a'

fairweathercyclist · 31/05/2019 09:41

As of 2020 the vehicle tax is going back to be used directly for the roads according to the budget in 2015 so whether it’s called road tax or anything else as of next year that’s going to be it’s purpose again

For motorways only. Which cyclists don't (aren't allowed to) use.

So the principle will not change.

morallybankruptme · 31/05/2019 09:44

@fairweathercyclist as somebody who was previously mowed down by a damn cyclist on a crossing .It fucking hurts!

fairweathercyclist · 31/05/2019 09:47

Yes but if you'd been mowed down by a car you'd be in a wheelchair or dead. I realise that it is no consolation if you are the one mowed down by a cyclist and hurt, but on the whole, drivers are far more dangerous. And I suspect a cyclist hitting a pedestrian is going to come off badly too in most cases.

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 31/05/2019 09:48

(Bold just for you White Grin )

In reply to you hough Buzz, you are attacking all car/van drivers.
This is the same as saying that all cyclists as a danger on the roads.
It's simply not true.

No it's not true, I agree. Yet we have almost set-your-watch-repetitive threads like this where "all cyclists" are a menace; and "all cyclists" do this or that; and "all cyclists" are arseholes ad nauseum. The wanky ones stand out because they are wanky. The rest just go about their day unnoticed. Same as with every mode of transport - you'd remember the single prat who stopped in lane 1 of the M6 over the thousands who drove normally.

But where are the same clockwork threads complaining about the thousands of direct deaths, let alone the hundreds of thousands of injuries and associated secondary illnesses caused by us in our vehicles?

As it happens, I drive about 20,000 miles a year more than I cycle (low hundreds so far this year). But even with that ratio, I am a better all-round driver for having been a cyclist on our roads, and I am not ashamed to say that. It would do us all good to see how the other side experiences the same thing, surely?

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 31/05/2019 09:54

A sobering thought - in just the ten hours of today so far, (statistically speaking) another two people have been killed by a vehicle in the UK. There'll be roughly 3 more deaths today.

And 5 more tomorrow, and 5 more every day after that...

Maryjoyce · 31/05/2019 10:00

This reply has been deleted

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

boobirdblue · 31/05/2019 10:16

So bored of these shit posts and cyclists should pay road tax crap!

boobirdblue · 31/05/2019 10:18

*In the main they seem to be extremely angry people. (I have only been punched once in my life and it was by a cyclist when I stepped into the road without seeing him coming - genuine accident, unlike the right hook which followed).

Agree about riding 2 abreast - no need for it and I suspect it's just done to be provocative. Nobody wants to see swinging balls in lycra (or labia for that matter) in stereo. *

This is fucking hilarious, the reason they advise riding two a breast is so that they are more visible. So silly fuckers don't walk or pull out in front of them!

HillRunner · 31/05/2019 10:24

I'm also curious about how that poster could actually see the balls/labia.... normally the cyclist would be sitting on them!

NicoAndTheNiners · 31/05/2019 10:25

@maryjoyce That’s 5 more bikes of the road then

One of the nastiest things I've ever seen on MN.

Hope one of your loved ones is never killed in an accident. If they are how would you like it if someone said "another driver/pedestrian off the road then".

spam390 · 31/05/2019 10:26

I agree that cyclists have as much right as drivers to be on the road, and I have no issues at all in waiting to pass safely, giving cyclists plenty room.
What I DO have issues with are the rogue cyclists who refuse to use a designated cycle path (for who only knows what reason, as it stays on exactly the same path as road) and then drivers are held up because of them. Also the CF's who cycle on the road, then at a red traffic light, simply cycle across the road as if they were a pedestrian !
But I also get frustrated when car drivers behave like idiots, It's not about the mode of transport, it's about rude, selfish and stupid people, who think there needs outweigh anyone else's on the road. I also really, really, hate the pedestrians who push a buggy/pram into the road (usually between parked cars), so they can see down the road to see if it's safe to cross! Evidently their child's life is of little consequence to them :(
Basically, there's idiots and selfish people wherever you go, and they don't stick to one single mode of transport, do they ?
I don't let an encounter with one of them ruin my day :)

whothedaddy · 31/05/2019 10:26

@Maryjoyce

You are a horrible, horrible person. Totally desensitised in your metal deathtrap on wheels.
Making a mockery of people being killed purely because you see a group of vulnerable people an inconvenience.

ivykaty44 · 31/05/2019 10:33

Totally agree, the level of ignorant hatred on this thread is appalling. I can't believe posts in which people joke about mowing cyclists down have been allowed to stand by mumsnet

I wonder if it was another group of people being joked about mowing down with a car as a weapon it would be deleted ?

WhiteDust · 31/05/2019 10:33

Buzz Easy to slip into the 'all cyclists are a PITA' / 'all drivers are inconsiderate bastards' frame of mind. The same happens on horses on roads threads. Too few see both sides. I'm neither a horse rider or cyclist but believe me, the fear of running into either is enough for me to hang back and not take any chances.

ivykaty44 · 31/05/2019 10:34

Spam

Some, not all cycle paths are death traps - literally and it’s safer to ride on the road

WhiteDust · 31/05/2019 10:35

Maryjoyce
You have a problem. Get help.

swingofthings · 31/05/2019 10:42

Whitedust, I do understand your position. In fairness, I too wouldn't pass a bike in a totsly blind zone on the say of a cyclist I don't know. I too am happy to wait. The problem is that many cars are not happy to do so. They accelerate close to you, then slam the breaks when they decide not to risk passing, then try again, until most of the time, they end up passing you close and then pulling right in front of you. That behaviour behind you, when all you have to go by is sound rather than sight is intimidating at best, very scary at worse. That's why cyclists can appear overly keen to wave to get you out of their back.

boobirdblue · 31/05/2019 10:46

@Maryjoyce you sound like this bloke, luckily he's locked up now.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.smh.com.au/national/nsw/ben-smith-jailed-for-eight-years-jail-over-death-of-cyclist-steven-jarvie-20170703-gx3bhd.html

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 31/05/2019 10:47

Buzz Easy to slip into the 'all cyclists are a PITA' / 'all drivers are inconsiderate bastards' frame of mind

Yes, it's so polarised - as the fragrant Mary so delightfully showed! And actually this thread (and just yours and mine minor ding-donging) has shown that underneath it all, we generally think the same and all just want to go about our days and for everyone to make it home safe and well.

Flowers for being a good sport!

HillRunner · 31/05/2019 10:48

I see mumsnet have deleted that post. Will they be deleting the other posts in a similar vein?

Maryjoyce
the bus driver in London had the best way
Keep driving

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