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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I didn’t do anything wrong

31 replies

mummabear1967 · 10/08/2020 15:50

Was driving to work today. On a 60mph stretch of road. The road is quite wide but was on a bend in the road and there was a cyclist in front of me so I slowed down to about 15mph to give them room and didn’t overtake until I got round the bend.

Anyway, the car that was behind the one behind me, was starting to edge out as I could see him in my wing mirror. When I got round the bend, I overtook the cyclist as the road was clear on the other side. I don’t think the car was even on the other side of the road when I overtook but he was edging out and in, when I had completed the manoeuvre, I was back onto the correct side of the road and he goes flying past me on the other side of the road (carrying out his overtaking manoeuvre) and blasts the horn at me.

I don’t think I did anything wrong, he sped on away ahead of me and then further on down the road he was behind another car and I saw him edging out behind it then overtaking. Maybe he was just impatient.

OP posts:
MsHighwater · 10/08/2020 15:53

Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. Other driver sounds impatient and not happy that you didn't pass the cyclist earlier, even at the cost of endangering cyclist or yourself.

hellsbellsmelons · 10/08/2020 15:53

He's a twat.
There are many of them on the roads.
Ignore it.
You did nothing wrong.
Always slow right down for cyclists and make sure you have plenty of room to give them plenty of space when you pass.
You did just that.

mylittlesandwich · 10/08/2020 15:54

He shouldn't have really been trying to overtake the whole lot.
You should have checked which side of the road he was on before you overtook though.

growinggreyer · 10/08/2020 15:54

Just another rude tosser in a car. You were driving with respect for all the other road users and he was only thinking of himself.

Finfintytint · 10/08/2020 15:56

If you saw the car begin to make an overtaking manoeuvre then you should have let him go. He’s clearly impatient but I’d rather he was in front of than behind.

RowboatsinDisguise · 10/08/2020 15:59

Sounds like an impatient arsehole. Get a lot of them around here. I take great delight in being overtaken by such wankers and then seeing them stuck behind tractors.

PlanDeRaccordement · 10/08/2020 16:21

You did right to slow down and give plenty of room and the car behind you was on the wrong to be so impatient and blare the horn.

However, slowinh down to 15mph on a 60mph road is too slow and actually dangerously slow for other traffic. You were probably just barely going faster than the cyclist as a road bike can easily clock 20mph without much effort. You should pass at no lower than same speed as you’d pass a pedestrian in a built up area, or around 30mph.

mylittlesandwich · 10/08/2020 16:23

@PlanDeRaccordement she slowed to 15 mph to stay behind until she was past a bend.

FudgeBrownie2019 · 10/08/2020 16:28

YANBU. We live quite rurally and there's always some titwank wanting to overtake when you slow down for a cyclist or pedestrian.

A few weeks ago a man tried to overtake me on a blind bend to be confronted with a fucking great tractor with a 20ft trailer coming at him on the opposite side of the road. How he didn't crash I'll never know - it was like watching it in slow motion and there must have been someone watching over him that day. He still drove like a cunt two minutes later, though, because arsehole drivers are always arsehole drivers.

ZooKeeper19 · 10/08/2020 16:32

@mummabear1967 I cycle with a baby in front so the driver cannot see him until he is overtaking us. (not on such busy roads, but in London still). You did the correct thing, and went for safety before speed. That is really nice of you. Wish there were more drivers like you on the roads.

Original poster
mummabear1967 · 10/08/2020 16:34

@PlanDeRaccordement

You did right to slow down and give plenty of room and the car behind you was on the wrong to be so impatient and blare the horn.

However, slowinh down to 15mph on a 60mph road is too slow and actually dangerously slow for other traffic. You were probably just barely going faster than the cyclist as a road bike can easily clock 20mph without much effort. You should pass at no lower than same speed as you’d pass a pedestrian in a built up area, or around 30mph.

I had to slow down to 15mph. If I had been any faster, I’d have wiped the cyclist out
OP posts:
bluejelly · 10/08/2020 16:37

You sound like a good, safe driver.

Original poster
mummabear1967 · 10/08/2020 16:39

Thanks everyone. Yes I’m by no means perfect when I’m driving but I do my best to ensure that I’m safe, my passengers are safe and that other road users are safe in my presence.

OP posts:
stovetopespresso · 10/08/2020 16:40

it takes strength to stand up to road bullies well done you did great

Babymamaroon · 10/08/2020 16:41

YANBU. Sounds like you were the safe driver and he's an accident waiting to happen sadly.

Original poster
mummabear1967 · 10/08/2020 16:52

@stovetopespresso

it takes strength to stand up to road bullies well done you did great
Thank you! Yes it is very intimidating. I always stick to the speed limits and I am very strict with them. If I am entering a zone with a higher speed limit, I will not speed up until I have passed the speed limit sign. I’m always tailgated for sticking to the speed limit.

It is very uncomfortable but I just never break the speed limit to suit impatient people. If I had got a fine/points or speed awareness course because of someone who was impatient, I don’t think it would be worth it

OP posts:
Original poster
mummabear1967 · 10/08/2020 16:55

@Babymamaroon

YANBU. Sounds like you were the safe driver and he's an accident waiting to happen sadly.
Yes definitely. People like him scare me. I think he was pissed off that I was just driving so slowly behind the cyclist and not attempting to overtake.

But it was because It was a bend. If it had have been a straight piece of road and nothing was coming the other way, I’d have overtook right away but I would never even think of overtaking on a bend. Don’t even want to think about what could happen

OP posts:
PlanDeRaccordement · 10/08/2020 16:57

[quote mylittlesandwich]@PlanDeRaccordement she slowed to 15 mph to stay behind until she was past a bend. [/quote]
Oops. I missed that part. English fail.

cringeworthit · 10/08/2020 17:05

You did absolutely the right thing. The other driver was a tosser.

SarahAndQuack · 10/08/2020 17:07

Don't worry, he was definitely being a tosser.

He was cross you slowed down for a cyclist, as he imagines he would either have magically erased such an annoyance, or crushed the cyclist into the gutter by passing within four inches of him.

Kaiserin · 10/08/2020 17:15

You did the right thing. I used to commute by car A LOT before lockdown.

It's always better to drive in the way that makes you comfortable, and learn to ignore stupid impatient drivers.

Many times I trusted my instinct ("is it safe to pass?... no, not enough visibility, let's wait") and mentally patted myself in the back as a yet-unseen obstacle would suddenly appear on the other side.

A few times (when I was new to driving, and cared more about "what would the other drivers think"), I yielded to "peer pressure", and put myself and others in danger as a result (near miss)

You did the right thing. The other driver is an idiot.

scoobydoo1971 · 10/08/2020 17:32

I live in the South West...narrow bendy roads, tourists, caravans and lots of cyclists. You did the right thing but there are a lot of idiots on the road who are not used to rural driving conditions who make the strangest and most dangerous drivers. I had one beep me the other day when he was coming around a bend on a hill on the WRONG side of the road...I assume he took the bend too fast. I was slowly climbing the hill and he beeped me to get out of the way in the wrong lane! Just ignore them and think of how expensive their insurance must be...they must hit something some of the time!

Original poster
mummabear1967 · 10/08/2020 17:50

Just a thought..

When I overtook the cyclist, I accelerated back up to 60mph as it was a clear straight road with no hazards in front of me.

Did I maybe make it harder for the car to overtake me? Should I have eased off the accelerator until he had overtaken me and got back onto the correct side of the road?

I’m not quite sure

OP posts:
RowboatsinDisguise · 10/08/2020 18:24

Did you overtake the cyclist without moving onto the other (wrong) side of the road because it sounds like there was a point where all three of you were in a horizontal line? That’s a complete no no as far as I’m concerned. If you’re overtaking a cyclist, particularly at 60, you should be as far away as possible.

oakleaffy · 10/08/2020 18:54

If it was a narrow stretch of road, and you couldn't overtake safely , you had no option but to slow..
There are some very ''poor'' cyclists about, who wobble and are not ''at one'' with their bikes, and these I do give a wide berth to..
It is easy to tell a ''poor cyclist'' by their cadence and riding style ..give especial distance to these...{Plus, the poor ones shoot red lights a lot!}
In cities Cyclists undertake a lot, so dangerous, especially when cars are turning left.

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