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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:
Thread gallery
6
clairemcnam · 31/05/2019 16:33

You do know that older people often carry on calling something the same name even when its name has changed?
So yes I still call it videoing for example.
Disagree with the person's views, but laughing at someone for calling it road tax is not pleasant.

HillRunner · 31/05/2019 16:40

Calling it road tax is one thing... I do that sometimes for ease of understanding (despite the fact that I wasn't around in 1937!). But if people are going to start accusing cyclists of having no right to be on the road becuase they don't pay 'road tax', that deserves some ridicule.

Even if VED was a genuine 'road tax' in the sense that these people mean, cyclists would be paying it a £nil rate, because their emissions are zero (all zero emission vehicles are exempt).

The fact is, they are using the 'road tax' argument to have a lazy pop at cyclists. It's not a lack of understanding about what VED pays for, it's just prejudice against anyone who gets in their way.

boobirdblue · 31/05/2019 16:51

You do know that older people often carry on calling something the same name even when its name has changed?
So yes I still call it videoing for example.
Disagree with the person's views, but laughing at someone for calling it road tax is not pleasant.

To state cyclists should not use the roads because they don't pay road tax is wrong, at least if you're trying to have some level of adult reasonable debate then get the facts right.

Otherwise as the PP has done you look fucking stupid and it makes your argument invalid.

Also stating ALL cyclists is another ridicule worthy comment.

clairemcnam · 31/05/2019 16:52

But you were laughing at them for calling it road tax.

boobirdblue · 31/05/2019 16:53

But you were laughing at them for calling it road tax.

Yes I was, you're correct? What's road tax?

HillRunner · 31/05/2019 17:06

I wasn't laughing about road tax, if you mean me. I called that poster prejudiced because, well, she was.

HillRunner · 31/05/2019 17:13

In response to an earlier point, I'm not sure how many people have their minds changed by threads like this.

Most of the posters who have talked about 'hating' cyclists because they are all terrible wankers etc.. have just posted once or twice, then left the thread. I doubt they are gaining a new understanding and feeling regretful for cutting that cyclist up on their commute this morning.....

Entitled idots who think they own the road because they have a car are not the kind of people who would actually take this stuff seriously. They don't care whether what they are demanding is safe or reasonable.

ivykaty44 · 31/05/2019 17:54

Many cars don’t pay VED as they don’t produce emissions- should they not be on the road either? Holding an opinion on a myth ( that has been repeatedly explain on a thread) is different from being factually incorrect

CassianAndor · 31/05/2019 18:21

They call it road tax and think because cyclists don’t pay it they don’t have as much say as a road-user.

So fair enough to call out that nonsense.

I don’t pay ‘road tax’ because my car has very low emissions. By people like Geo’s thinking, does that mean I have no say? Do electric car drivers have no say - they don’t pay it either.

fairweathercyclist · 31/05/2019 18:50

I'm not sure how many people have their minds changed by threads like this

I have learnt quite a few things from MN. People may not admit it but they might reconsider certain behaviours. I won't give an example because it will derail the thread. However I didn't know about the cyclist clearance issue until I read an article on the Guardian a few years ago (this was before I cycled myself) and learnt why cyclists don't hug the kerb and what "give the same clearance you'd give a car" ACTUALLY means. I did start giving cyclists more clearance after that (and yet more once I started cycling myself).

fairweathercyclist · 31/05/2019 18:51

As for the Boris bikes, I've never been on one. They look really heavy and difficult to ride.

Teateaandmoretea · 31/05/2019 19:06

I do think that some cyclists seem to think car drivers have a vendetta against them, when it is I suspect the same idiot car drivers driving like that with everyone.

Have you RTFT...?

orangeshoebox · 31/05/2019 19:20

the boris bikes are very comfortable to ride.
yes they are heavy and you can't really go very fast, but they are nice to ride.

cyclingmad · 31/05/2019 19:21

At least the cycle hire bikes help relieve some of the congestion in the tube/ buses. And most of central London now has cycle highways making it safer for cyclists. Far rather have people hiring bikes then cramming into the tube.

bluebeck · 31/05/2019 19:25

YANBU OP but the response is fairly predictable Smile

WiltedDaffs · 31/05/2019 19:32

Yes... very predictable that some people express a desire to mow me or my husband down simply because we used two wheels to get to work that morning instead of four.

NotMeNoNo · 31/05/2019 19:41

Today I was a cyclist. I discovered that pedestrians invariably walk in cycle paths even where there is a pedestrian lane.

We were in the Netherlands this week. Nearly everyone manages to cycle without fuss. Proper separate cycle, vehicle and pedestrian lanes, everyone knows the rules and rights of way. Not sure we would be so compliant in the UK!

Viviene · 31/05/2019 19:45

@NotMeNoNo I came to write about the Netherlands. Traffic separation is the way to go!

jasjas1973 · 31/05/2019 19:45

I wish car drivers, when passing not only consider the clearance they give but also the speed.... being overtaken at 60mph with 5 foot gap is disconcerting to say the least.

Would you like it when walking on a lane to have the same thing happen to you?

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 31/05/2019 19:57

You do know that older people often carry on calling something the same name even when its name has changed?

I don't believe any of the people who have posted in this thread about road tax actually learned to drive in 1936.

MinnieMountain · 31/05/2019 20:00

NotMeNoNo that's a pet peeve of mine.

We have a lot of pedestrian/cycle paths split by a painted line in our city. The number of pedestrians who don't look which side they should be on or think they are entitled to walk on both sides should astound me, but given the attitudes on this thread...

NotMeNoNo · 31/05/2019 20:10

Well one of the cycle lanes was wide, flat and open with a narrow, overgrown pot-holed footpath down the back of the verge, that was probably why. Comes back to urban design.

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 31/05/2019 20:10

It's my personal opinion that the chalk marks indicating which side is which are too far apart on the pedestrian side. This is especially true on paths that are going to be used by non-locals.

People need a visual reminder of which side is which as soon as they join the path. If you're cycling, even very slowly, you'll see a mark confirming which side is yours within moments. If you're walking slowly, you'll have got yourself into a rhythm on whatever side you picked, long before you get to a sign telling which side is the pedestrian side.

People don't like changing what they're doing. Whatever it is, however dangerous it is, they resist change. So you need clear signage at the start of the journey, whatever point they join the shared path.

PeachTartLemon · 31/05/2019 20:12

I'm with you OP, the prat in front of me today was cycling middle of the road at dawdle pace because he was TEXTING with one hand! Grrrrr Hmm

I don't mind the 'professional' cyclists who properly observe the rules & who are lit up like a Christmas tree so you can see them.

MinnieMountain · 31/05/2019 20:37

It's funny how rarely one sees a "I hate all car drivers" thread on MN.