AIBU to bloody hate cyclists

[FortyAndFlagging]

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?

Maryjoyce must be a deeply unhappy individual. I just hope for her sake she never loses a loved one in a traffic/cycling accident and has to find out the hard way why her post was so unforgivably disgusting.
I lost someone very close to me recently, who was an avid cyclist. Not on the road but in a similar unexpected and traumatic way. He’d spent his life campaigning for better cycling infrastructure. I’ll never get over his death.

Maryjoyce you are a disgrace.

Morning all,

We've had a fair few reports this morning from MNers who feel this thread isn't in the spirit. It's completely fine to strongly disagree with one another, we just ask that TGs are kept in mind when doing so.

If there are any posts that people would like us to look at in particular, please do hit the report button.

Thanks

I've just reported @Maryjoyce initial post too. She needs to be kicked off MN for her disgusting posts.

I don't even know where to start. The pride in such ignorance is baffling.

See your unnecessarily rude and combative attitude does provide some insight into the root of the conflict.

*Given you are clearly such a perfect driver, I'm sure you are aware of the Highway Code, yes? Including the part where is says you can overtake something travelling at

How about when pregnantonpurpose stated that she 'could have and should have' killed a cyclist? Is that in the spirit.

Not a single cyclist on this thread has wished injury on drivers, or expressed anything approaching the level of vitriol that is coming the other way

Private domestic driving in london should be discouraged

some cyclists are idiots

No some PEOPLE are idiots. They are not idiots because they are on bikes, they just aren't very bright.

To say you 'despise all cyclists' - you might as well say you despise all immigrants - it's nothing more than small minded bigotry

@HouseName

"No, I wasn't hoping to squeeze by, I would have needed to be well over onto the opposite carriageway to be certain to avoid them weaving around on the crown of the road"

Yes that's right. To overtake a cyclist safely you should be over on the other carriageway, as, as the HC states, you need to give cyclists the same space you would give a car. Hence the HC saying riders can ride two abreast. If they are in a single file line, you'll be over the other side of the road for longer, which is more unsafe.

Cyclists are entitled legally to take up as much space as your car. You do not have more right than them to be one the road.

as the HC states, you need to give cyclists the same space you would give a car

I think this is part of the problem actually but the government is consulting on amending the HC to make it clear. I never quite knew what it meant - do they mean you have to give the same clearance you give a car or behave as if the bike is as wide as a car and give it that much clearance. The latter provides a lot more space and is the right thing to do, but the HC's wording could be understood to be leave as much clearance as you would when you pass a parked car, which is often not very much.

I now go right onto the other side of the road when I overtake a cyclist. I find that the cars following me will do the same 90% of the time, although you'll always get one who leaves about 5cm clearance.

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

If you think London's bad, you should see central Amsterdam. It's an absolute nightmare, they come at you from every direction (yes, on pavements, pedestrian areas, squares etc) and completely ignore traffic lights etc. If that's the future without cars, then forget it, I'd rather have cars than huge numbers of crazy cyclists. They even cycle onto ferries, railway platforms, etc. without getting off their bikes and make it quite clear you need to get out of their way. On one particular train, there were bikes blocking all the doors and even down the central aisles. Be afraid, be very afraid! Funny thing was, outside the towns, there were cycle lanes everywhere you looked, but they were virtually empty and unused, yet the roads outside the towns were heavily congested with cars, lorries, etc. It was a real eye opener as we're constantly being fed how wonderful Holland is due to their love of cycling and provision of cycle facilities, but in reality, it was pretty awful.

I reported this this thread at 5.18 yesterday evening. It was perfectly obvious where it would lead then. What did you expect, SophieL from a thread celebrating hatred for cyclists?

Private domestic driving in london should be discouraged

Aren't stupidly high car parking charges and congestion charges supposed to discourage driving in London?

Private domestic driving in london should be discouraged

I always wonder why people drive cars in zone 1 (and some areas of zone 2)
why would you do that to yourself?

I'm not in the uk and here they make it very difficult and expensive to keep private cars.
cycling and public transport are safe and comfortable.
motorists are by default at fault in a collision with cycles or pedestrians. fines for parking in cycle lanes are high and enforced.

we are a lot fitter now than when we lived in the uk

but the HC's wording could be understood to be leave as much clearance as you would when you pass a parked car, which is often not very much.

Do you not see this as a problem also? What if someone in the car opens the door while you are passing closely?

Someone will not be opening the car door if the car is moving.

And in plenty of roads with parked cars, the traffic would be unable to move at all if cars moving gave parked cars a lot of space.
I had always thought the Highway Code thing about giving cyclists as much space as you would a car, meant not overtaking closer to a cyclist than you would a car. In reality nearly all car drivers I see give cyclists much more space than they would a car when overtaking.

And you can only overtake a vehicle going less than 10mph, crossing a fixed white line, if it is safe to do so. I once had a group of cyclists trying to wave me to overtake them when it was simply not safe to do so. The road was windy with lots and lots of bends. I appreciate they maybe did not want a car stuck behind them for miles on what was a quiet road, but I need to know it is safe before I overtake. And to do that I need to be able to see what could be coming.

Someone will not be opening the car door if the car is moving.

Don’t be so obtuse. What if someone in ONE OF THE PARKED CARS opens a door?

If you are on a narrow road and having to squeeze past parked cars, do you do it slowly and carefully? Do you wait until the road is free of oncoming cars? Or do you sail past, knocking off wing mirrors as you go? One would hope you give the same consideration to a cyclist as you do a parked car.

Buzz: 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.

This is true. I live near too many accident black spots up here. (
A628, A537, A57, A621
I'm hyper aware of what goes wrong when both sides lose their cool or get it wrong.
Too many people rushing others along .
The poster who said 'people behave like twats' (not 'cyclists, bikers, car, van, lorry drivers' ) has got it spot on.

Nearly forgot back at you buzz.
Happy cycling!

Userx I am laughing at the idea of waiting until you can overtake parked cars on roads. Many roads would grind to a halt if that happened. Every road I drive on in my way to work has parked cars, and busy roads in both directions. It would be impossible to drive if I took this approach.
I was taught by my driving instructor to be alert and be aware that someone may suddenly open a car door without looking. But that was about being alert and being prepared to do an emergency stop.

In the near future we will HAVE to walk, cycle and use public transport.

That'll be me virtually housebound, then (arthritis makes it painful to cycle or walk long distances and Menieres makes it dangerous to cycle). And I'll have to give up work, as I'm an essential car user who has to see clients across 2 counties and a small city.

The 3 or 4 buses a day we get just won't cut it.