AIBU Cyclist Twats

[TractorAndHeadphones]

Walking down lovely canals with DP. Supposed to be romantic - but every 5 minutes we were interrupted by a cyclists whizzing along! Some had the courtesy to ring the bell but even so they rode straight at us instead of around us.

This really boils my piss because cyclists always complain that cars overtake dangerously and that’s it’s their god given right to hold up traffic. But cyclists can ride straight through pedestrians?

There was enough space for a cyclist to ride alongside us if they’d been slower ; even so you don’t expect people to walk in single file on canal roads which are meant to be enjoyed slowly! There were families in front of us, mothers with prams etc. Thé cyclists were probably scared of swerving into the lake but if you can’t control your bike then dont bloody ride!
It really ruined my day.

This has also happened on pavements with people whizzing along in the middle. Even if the road is dangerous there’s no need to go that fast.
AIBU to think that cyclists are twats and should be licensed?
People often complain that cars are rude to cyclists but IMO people in general are twats. Cars can do more damage but they’re not behaving worse than cyclists.

@FloconDeNeige Unless they are cycling on the wrong side of the road, cycling several abreast (or even daring to wear Lycra) is not dangerous and unacceptable behaviour.

Statistically trucks are far more dangerous, but you direct your vitriol at cars.

@PattyPan

Cycling several abreast at low speed on winding mountain roads where passing is difficult at the best of times, for mile after mile, and knowingly blocking other road users, is both unacceptable and dangerous.

I literally just described such an incident that led to a serious accident.

You described a poor choice by a motorcyclist primarily

@FloconDeNeige You described an incident where a motorbike decided to do a dangerous overtake that it shouldn’t have done. The motorbike was in the wrong there, not the cyclists. Vehicles can perfectly legally travel at any speed below the speed limit that they like and indeed may need to in many instances not limited to cyclists such as road conditions, visibility, towing or speed limitations on the vehicle (such as lorries limited to 50mph).

There would have been no poor choice to make in the first place if the cyclists hadn’t been deliberately blocking the road for miles

God all those cars blocking the road, I wish they'd just get out of my way NOW

There would have been no poor choice to make in the first place if the cyclists hadn’t been deliberately blocking the road for miles

Yeah but the motorbike could have just sat back and whinged about it like everyone else who survived the incident unscathed

The motorbike was in the wrong there, not the cyclists

Nope, the cyclists were fined for their dangerous behaviour, not the motorcyclist.

And the Swiss government are looking to raise fines for cyclists to the same level as motoring fines as this is such a problem.

@LarryVeest

Car drivers are utter pigs. Lardy, lazy wankers, congesting the roads, polluting the environment, killing thousands of people every year, and damaging the road surfaces that I pay for with with my council tax. When I see them sitting in traffic jams, in their sad "fat person" clothes, one per car, belching out fumes, I just want to slash their tyres.

Too funny I'm a size 10 myself and have two jobs (both of which involve ferrying equipment I couldn't carry on a bike, even if I wanted to), but if it makes you feel better to think that then crack on.

@FloconDeNeige how can I put this any clearer? The cyclists have JUST as much right to be on the road as any other vehicle. Travelling on the road does not constitute blocking it. If the motorcyclist had been stuck behind a slow moving tractor he’d have had to just deal with that too.

At least highway code revisions are going in the right direction for more vulnerable road users

People should operate in the same way as skiers do. If you are coming from behind someone, it’s your responsibility to pass them safely, not their responsibility to move out of your way. Always they haven’t seen or heard you and that they may veer into your path unexpectedly. It’s a shared path, not a racetrack. The same goes for runners, if you earn uninterrupted running or cycling go out really early. There are many amblers out at 5am!

You don’t need to clarify anything because your argument is bollocks. Every road user has a responsibility to behave reasonably and in a way that does not endanger others.

Traveling at low speed in a group does constitute blocking it. Which is both unreasonable and dangerous. It’s also wholly unnecessary. Clear now?

Are all those car journeys 'necessary ', depends on ones needs

[quote PattyPan]@FloconDeNeige how can I put this any clearer? The cyclists have JUST as much right to be on the road as any other vehicle. Travelling on the road does not constitute blocking it. If the motorcyclist had been stuck behind a slow moving tractor he’d have had to just deal with that too.[/quote]
Having a right to be on the road doesn’t devoid anyone of being considerate to other road users.

Flocon even pointed out in her post that there are signs on that road telling cyclists to keep right and ride in single file.

@Macncheeseballs

I hope MAMILs note point number 1 from your HC excerpt.

[quote FloconDeNeige]@SusieBob

The fucking stupid stuff came from you; talking about people deserving to get killed and then some nonsense about chopping hands off.[/quote]
It was a reaction - taking the piss - to your idiodic "they deserve everything they get" comment.

HTH.

Oh was it? It just looked like bullshit to me. HTH2.

@FloconDeNeige

Oh was it? It just looked like bullshit to me. HTH2.

Yes, it was. Sorry if that was unclear, I tend to find people who post bollocks online have difficulty understanding other points of view.

The way that some cyclist advocates post here gives you an insight into the ways they ride ... and why the OP wrote her post in the first place :)

@FloconDeNeige

You don’t need to clarify anything because your argument is bollocks. Every road user has a responsibility to behave reasonably and in a way that does not endanger others.

Traveling at low speed in a group does constitute blocking it. Which is both unreasonable and dangerous. It’s also wholly unnecessary. Clear now?

They are not endangering others though, they are just cycling along. Others are endangering themselves by dint of their own decisions as to how they choose to deal with travelling behind them.

@ripples101 cyclists don’t set out to annoy other road users. Indeed they are aware that annoyed motorists pose a greater risk to them. Probably they were riding in a block to try to deter people from unsafely overtaking which obviously didn’t work in this case.

cyclists don’t set out to annoy other road users.

Some of them absolutely do.

@PattyPan

So they were riding in a way that signs on that road prohibit then?

I can’t understand why some people are falling over themselves to justify unreasonable and dangerous behaviour by some cyclists.