To ask cyclists to follow the rules!!!

[summeriscomingsoon]

Nearly hit by a cyclist going through a red light again as I was crossing the road. We have numerous offenders doing this.

Also going on the pavement to avoid traffic jams.

Cycling has increased so much since lockdown and great health benefits but some of them make me mad!!!

Aibu to expect them to behave as if they were a car on the road and stick to the rules.

Not in UK - Just seen a bloke on an electric scooter, looking at his phone, go through a red light at a cross-roads.

Two before 11am and still time to post on MN!

You spend a lot of times at junctions and traffic lights @summeriscomingsoon

@NailsNeedDoing

So all 3 types of users break some rules but cyclists seem to be the most hated group. Why is this?

Because they cause the most inconvenience to other people. I’ve never had to wait up to ten minutes for a motorist or pedestrian to slowly do their thing without any consideration for the people stuck behind them, but I have had to wait for cyclists plenty of times. They have the option of moving aside or stopping when they know they are on roads that mean they can’t be overtaken, and they choose to carry on anyway, because they are selfish. That is why they deserve the most hate. Although personally I wouldn’t choose the world hate, I just choose to give a fuck about them as little as they choose to give a fuck about anyone else.

Oh do fuck off. They choose to carry on because they are going somewhere and they owe you nothing.

I won't lie, I do pull in occasionally to let cars past where appropriate, but that's because I think it's polite. Not because the driver behind deserves it.

And of course you've waited for more than 10 minutes for cars. It's called a traffic jam.

I’ve never had to wait up to ten minutes for a motorist or pedestrian to slowly do their thing without any consideration for the people stuck behind them, but I have had to wait for cyclists plenty of times.

Yeah, I can see now that holding you up for up to 10 minutes makes cyclists far worse than the drivers who kill 400 people and seriously injure over 20,000.

Out of interest, have you never been held up in a traffic jam? You know that’s down to drivers not cyclists, right?

@Blockedoff

Two before 11am and still time to post on MN!

You spend a lot of times at junctions and traffic lights @summeriscomingsoon

I was getting my vaccine today, actually, so out and about in a large city.

Oh do fuck off. They choose to carry on because they are going somewhere and they owe you nothing.

The same as motorists owe other motorists nothing, yet they often wait for others to go first to leave a junction or whatever.

Cyclists owe me nothing, you’re right, but you can’t be surprised when their self obsession with not stopping even for a few seconds is seen as selfish and inconsiderate.

And of course I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam, but the difference there is that none of the other motorists have the power to do a tiny thing that would cost them less than a minute that would solve the problem. Cyclists on the other hand, are often one or two people causing a problem for many more, and they do have the power within them to solve the problem that they’ve created, by doing a tiny thing that would cost them mere seconds. Yet they choose not to use that power by doing a nice thing for someone else, instead they choose to put themselves and their few seconds over the needs of everyone else nearly every time.

@NailsNeedDoing

Oh do fuck off. They choose to carry on because they are going somewhere and they owe you nothing.

The same as motorists owe other motorists nothing, yet they often wait for others to go first to leave a junction or whatever.

Cyclists owe me nothing, you’re right, but you can’t be surprised when their self obsession with not stopping even for a few seconds is seen as selfish and inconsiderate.

And of course I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam, but the difference there is that none of the other motorists have the power to do a tiny thing that would cost them less than a minute that would solve the problem. Cyclists on the other hand, are often one or two people causing a problem for many more, and they do have the power within them to solve the problem that they’ve created, by doing a tiny thing that would cost them mere seconds. Yet they choose not to use that power by doing a nice thing for someone else, instead they choose to put themselves and their few seconds over the needs of everyone else nearly every time.

Of course motorists can do something about it. Drive less.

And it's not a few seconds. It's a few seconds every time a car comes behind you as a cyclist. And the roads aren't always wide enough to pull over safely.

I don't know what kind of roads you're having these problems on, but your blanket approach to thinking all cyclists are dickheads because they don't jump out of the way as soon as a car comes behind them is atrocious.

I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam, but the difference there is that none of the other motorists have the power to do a tiny thing that would cost them less than a minute that would solve the problem.

Except left the car at home of course. Some journeys require a car to be practical but an awful lot of car use is just for the driver’s own convenience over short local runs. Selfish, right?

Yet they choose not to use that power by doing a nice thing for someone else, instead they choose to put themselves and their few seconds over the needs of everyone else nearly every time.

Has it ever occurred to you that cyclists might be more inclined to put themselves out for drivers’ convenience if drivers didn’t keep treating them as a homogeneous mass of lycra clad, red light jumping selfish twats? I don’t know about you, but when someone insults me, dismisses concerns for my safety and supports people whose behaviour puts my life at risk, I don’t feel hugely motivated to do nice things for them.

If cyclists are happy to ride side by side to hold up traffic behind them, presumably they'd be happy to wait behind a couple of OAPs walking slowly on a shared path? There's no difference. Yet, many cyclists have whinged about being stuck behind pedestrians on shared paths! A road is a shared place too. There's no difference. However, cyclists expect pedestrians to get out of their way, but don't apply to same logic to vehicles they hold up by riding side by side on a road!

@Kazzyhoward

If cyclists are happy to ride side by side to hold up traffic behind them, presumably they'd be happy to wait behind a couple of OAPs walking slowly on a shared path? There's no difference. Yet, many cyclists have whinged about being stuck behind pedestrians on shared paths! A road is a shared place too. There's no difference. However, cyclists expect pedestrians to get out of their way, but don't apply to same logic to vehicles they hold up by riding side by side on a road!

Riding side by side is irrelevant if the road is not wide enough to safely pass a single cyclist in the same lane.

You're obviously right that cyclists being held up by pedestrians is the same as cars being held up by cyclists. What's your point?

On my (drive) daily journey I have to go through a section of single carriageway, 50mph. It's not got great opportunities for overtaking but it's a road that you can easily drive at 50mph, even in a sloppy old vehicle like mine. Routinely sit behind people who never go faster than 30mph for the whole road and it's a long old road. But I can't really imagine being so self important that other people's right to use a road would bother me

And of course I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam, but the difference there is that none of the other motorists have the power to do a tiny thing that would cost them less than a minute that would solve the problem.
They could stop using their car for short journeys and use a bike instead. The few minutes of extra time it takes to cycle is made up for in not having to find a parking space half a mile from your destination and walk the remainder of the way to the shops. There would then be no traffic jams so everyone is a winner. But no, they're too "selfish" as you put it to think of the effect that their choice to drive has on other people.

Start-stop cycling is hard work. It's not just a case of dumping a lead foot on an accelerator, it takes a lot of energy to get going again after a stop. So when on a hill I will be very particular about where I stop to avoid unnecessary hill starts. When cycling through town, if I see someone approach a zebra crossing I prepare to stop - sure, it's hard work to get going again but in a civilised society I respect the need to stop at zebra crossings. Cars? Oh no, they'll avoid stopping at zebra crossings unless Doris is actually in the middle of it, god forbid that they lose a few seconds of time waiting for her to get her zimmer frame across.

The last part of my journey home from work involves a single-track country lane, about 300m without passing places. I was about half way along last night when I saw approaching headlights. No problem, I move over to the side and leant on the hedge so that the van could pass with hardly any loss of speed. Now if I had been driving a car, one of us would have had to reverse up to 150m so that we could pass. Therefore me being on a bicycle hugely reduces disruption to other road users. Funny that.

I don't know what kind of roads you're having these problems on, but your blanket approach to thinking all cyclists are dickheads because they don't jump out of the way as soon as a car comes behind them is atrocious.

They are very long very windy country roads, with plenty of places to pull over safely, but with very few places to safely overtake. I don’t expect cyclists to immediately jump out of the way every time, on every road, but I do think it’s pure selfishness when a cyclist knows that they cannot be overtaken for more than five minutes, knows that there are cars building up behind them, and still chooses not to stop for a few seconds.

Has it ever occurred to you that cyclists might be more inclined to put themselves out for drivers’ convenience if drivers didn’t keep treating them as a homogeneous mass of lycra clad, red light jumping selfish twats? I don’t know about you, but when someone insults me, dismisses concerns for my safety and supports people whose behaviour puts my life at risk, I don’t feel hugely motivated to do nice things for them

Wow, it’s amazing how these cyclists automatically know the opinions of those they are choosing to inconvenience every time, just by cycling in front of them. Impressive!

@Kazzyhoward

If cyclists are happy to ride side by side to hold up traffic behind them, presumably they'd be happy to wait behind a couple of OAPs walking slowly on a shared path? There's no difference. Yet, many cyclists have whinged about being stuck behind pedestrians on shared paths! A road is a shared place too. There's no difference. However, cyclists expect pedestrians to get out of their way, but don't apply to same logic to vehicles they hold up by riding side by side on a road!

If it's not safe to pass two cyclists then it probably isn't safe to pass one of them. You should move fully into the other lane anyway, just as you would for a horse or another car.

@NailsNeedDoing

I don't know what kind of roads you're having these problems on, but your blanket approach to thinking all cyclists are dickheads because they don't jump out of the way as soon as a car comes behind them is atrocious.

They are very long very windy country roads, with plenty of places to pull over safely, but with very few places to safely overtake. I don’t expect cyclists to immediately jump out of the way every time, on every road, but I do think it’s pure selfishness when a cyclist knows that they cannot be overtaken for more than five minutes, knows that there are cars building up behind them, and still chooses not to stop for a few seconds.

Well then I'm in agreement with you: that's dickhead behaviour. But as a cyclist, I've very regularly been beeped at and close passed after less than 1 minute of someone following me, when I'm travelling at over 20mph on a 30mph road. This is distressing and dangerous and is much more serious dickhead behaviour. So when people say they expect cyclists to get out of their way and say they couldn't give a fuck about cyclists, I get pretty defensive.

@NailsNeedDoing

Has it ever occurred to you that cyclists might be more inclined to put themselves out for drivers’ convenience if drivers didn’t keep treating them as a homogeneous mass of lycra clad, red light jumping selfish twats? I don’t know about you, but when someone insults me, dismisses concerns for my safety and supports people whose behaviour puts my life at risk, I don’t feel hugely motivated to do nice things for them

Wow, it’s amazing how these cyclists automatically know the opinions of those they are choosing to inconvenience every time, just by cycling in front of them. Impressive!

No, we go by what people like you tell us.

But you impressively know what every cyclist who you drive behind thinks, right?

@NailsNeedDoing

Has it ever occurred to you that cyclists might be more inclined to put themselves out for drivers’ convenience if drivers didn’t keep treating them as a homogeneous mass of lycra clad, red light jumping selfish twats? I don’t know about you, but when someone insults me, dismisses concerns for my safety and supports people whose behaviour puts my life at risk, I don’t feel hugely motivated to do nice things for them

Wow, it’s amazing how these cyclists automatically know the opinions of those they are choosing to inconvenience every time, just by cycling in front of them. Impressive!

Not that amazing, just scrolling through this thread tells us what sort of attitude is held by the people who might be in the car.

YANBU. Selfish wankers.
Couldn’t have put it better.
Do you remember writing the bit in bold? Highlights from other posters on this thread include:

Grown men in lycra riding round on children's Christmas presents...

sanctimonious cyclists who now use it in large peletons —because they have tiny dicks

Nailsneedsdoing, I get it, you're a busy person, every minute counts, your time is extremely valuable, you just sound a bit cross and impatient is all

Not that amazing, just scrolling through this thread tells us what sort of attitude is held by the people who might be in the car

Who might be in the car. Not who is in the car.

But you impressively know what every cyclist who you drive behind thinks, right?

No, I don’t have any idea what they think, I just judge selfish actions as selfish actions when I see them.

Nailsneedsdoing, I get it, you're a busy person, every minute counts, your time is extremely valuable, you just sound a bit cross and impatient is all

Honestly, I do feel cross and impatient in the morning when I feel like I should be getting to work with an extra ten minutes to make a coffee or do whatever else before it gets busy, and then that is taken away because a selfish cyclist decides that their few seconds are more important than my ten minutes. Because it’s irritating, that’s all. I’m not cross or impatient the majority of the time.

I generally don't have any issue with commuter cyclists. The worst ones are the hobby cyclists on Strava who are hell bent on getting a good rank on the leader board or a PB. Usually men, always inconsiderate pricks.

@MonochromeMinnie

I generally don't have any issue with commuter cyclists. The worst ones are the hobby cyclists on Strava who are hell bent on getting a good rank on the leader board or a PB. Usually men, always inconsiderate pricks.

I cycle for fun. I go fast. I even, shock horror, wear lycra. Glad to know I'm an inconsiderate prick.

Who might be in the car. Not who is in the car.
I agree, we shouldn't generalise. But then I see posts going on about "all cyclists" and I think "tit for tat".

Arseholes, the lot of them

You could just leave ten minutes earlier Nails on the basis that you know your route is shared by cyclists on long windy country roads. Do you get that stressed about tractors?