To wonder why some people are twats towards cyclists

[Apacheshadows]

I’ve lost count of the number of times a car has driven past me and people (usually grown men) have screamed/shrieked at me out of their window, shouted obscenities etc.
Beeped at and then they drive on laughing
Today I had a teenage boy deliberately try and jump in front of my path on a road, this isn’t the first time someone has done that.
I had another teenager try to intimidate me by pulling out in front of me on his own bike, forcing me to quickly swerve

It’s putting me off cycling really, there are some absolute pricks out there.

Also, the number of people who have to comment on how small the bike is. It’s not one of the mini fold up bikes or a children’s one, it’s a bit smaller than average but suits me fine, but people have to comment on it constantly which is weird.

Anyone else had this when cycling? I’m responsible, use lights and wear a high vis and go slowly

It's a shame it's not practical to make more cycle lanes tbh. If there were I'd cycle more but I wouldnt feel safe on the roads near me.

I do wonder what numpty at my county council was responsible for designing some of the local cycle lanes. Sadly provision is woefully badly thought out in many areas, just plonking blue signs (possibly with a white line) on pavements for one example (stopping and starting at every side road), another is the narrow lanes you see down the gutter of the highway.

If they did it properly, they'd close an entire lane of the road (making the street one way if necessary) and putting a pair of proper width cycle lanes in its place. But I supposed that entitled motorists would quickly be whinging to the Daily Mail about the council spending money on sustainable transport.

It is awful.

We’ve had a very major roundabout mostly closed for 3 months, work is being done to make it safer for cyclists. So of course parents who drive have been very vocal at the gates about how it’s ‘pandering to cyclists’ and majorly disrupting their lives.

The abuse cyclists get is abhorrent, as for the comments about cyclists using roads at busy times. Why do you get priority in a car over someone cycling to commute?

@JammyRedRooo

I'd never abuse them (or anyone!) but I do find them irritating to be honest. The odd one or two is fine but sometimes there are hoardes of them riding 2/3 abreast and its impossible to get past. They never seem to tuck in to let the massive queue of cars go past them either. But I just silently seethe about it!

It's a shame it's not practical to make more cycle lanes tbh. If there were I'd cycle more but I wouldnt feel safe on the roads near me.

Riding side by side makes it quicker to overtake. If you can’t overtake two cyclists then you didn’t have space to overtake one either, as you have to enter the other lane.

Everyone is entitled to use the road, obvs. But in my experience (as a car driver):

Other car drivers are generally ok , you get a few twats obviously

Horse riders are generally very careful and considerate, presumably because they care about their horses

Tractor / other large vehicle drivers don't have much choice - they have a slow large vehicle and have to get from A to B, it's difficult for them to pull over and let you pass

Solo / commuting type cyclists - usually pretty considerate of other people (other than the angry shouty ones who wear a go-pro and assume all drivers are deliberately out to kill them and get abusive if you get anywhere near them), . Mountain bikers (we get a few round here on their way to various tracks), also pretty considerate

Lycra clad / pack mentality cyclists - absolute pain in the arse. Riding 3 abreast so no-one can overtake, determinedly cycling at very low speed up an incline / on a narrow road for fucking ages whilst a big queue of traffic builds up behind them, when they could easily pull over to let people past. They give all cyclists a bad name!!

Some people are absolutely twats to cyclists - the examples you give are awful!

Some cyclists are twats - to motorists and pedestrians, and fellow cyclists

Some drives are twats to other drivers and some pedestrians to each other and the other groups. There are a lot of twats around!

But also members of all those groups who are also men can be absolute dicks towards women in all of the groups simply because highway are women!

@loopyapp

Tractors pay road tax and insurance so if their occasional presence on the road while their drivers are providing the nations food cause an accident no one is out of pocket.

I'm not condoning screaming out of a window or berating anyone to be clear.

If as a cyclist you cannot fathom why other road users, including tractors wish you wouldn't then that there is half the problem.

Tractors do not pay road tax , neither do cars. There is no such thing. Roads are paid for by the taxation of everyone, including cyclists , pedestrians and the housebound. Its this arrogance that gives motorists the belief they can abuse others road users

This needs to be displayed in every car until people stop moaning about cyclists cycling side by side

Because some cyclists (not all) are selfish dickheads who force drivers of cars to make dangerous manoeuvres that should not be done in moving traffic. They must also be aware that every vehicle stuck behind them are forced to travel at the same speed as a bicycle. Many of those people are in cars for the precise reason they need to be someplace quicker. Some cyclists are gracious enough to use alternate routes with cycle lanes or stop or briefly move onto the sidewalk if there are no pedestrians to allow traffic to pass. However the real dicks will hold up traffic for miles knowing that the alternative is to force vehicles to overtake them in unsafe conditions.

Nobody in this situation is forcing you to do the wrong thing, you're choosing to

@Apacheshadows

Can't answer this without getting a ban on here to be honest.

@TuftyMarmoset

This needs to be displayed in every car until people stop moaning about cyclists cycling side by side

Yes, I don't cycle with a group but this is right. If there are a group of cyclists together you have no hope of overtaking them if they are cycling one behind the other. If they are in a group it is easier to find an opportunity to overtake.

@ButterBiscuitBase

Because some cyclists (not all) are selfish dickheads who force drivers of cars to make dangerous manoeuvres that should not be done in moving traffic. They must also be aware that every vehicle stuck behind them are forced to travel at the same speed as a bicycle. Many of those people are in cars for the precise reason they need to be someplace quicker. Some cyclists are gracious enough to use alternate routes with cycle lanes or stop or briefly move onto the sidewalk if there are no pedestrians to allow traffic to pass. However the real dicks will hold up traffic for miles knowing that the alternative is to force vehicles to overtake them in unsafe conditions.

No one is forcing motorists to do dangerous overtakes. It’s a choice that they make. If there isn’t a safe opportunity to overtake then they will have to suck it up, same as if speeds are held up due to an accident or a tractor or traffic or any other reason. They have every right to travel on the road.

@Pennguin

I don't think it's because you're a cyclist. It's because you're a woman. It's misogyny.

You've not read all the anti cyclist threads on MN?

Flipping heck, the vote on this is pretty depressing!

@Pennguin

I don't think it's because you're a cyclist. It's because you're a woman. It's misogyny.

I agree with this.

I've noticed it's men who shout at women running in public, women cycling, women on electric scooters... It's not because you're a cyclist, it's because you're a women daring to do it in public.

Cyclists should be identifiable just like car users.I always get shot down when I suggest they should have number plates but I still stand by that it's a good idea.

@TuftyMarmoset

This needs to be displayed in every car until people stop moaning about cyclists cycling side by side

And while we're on the subject of road space occupancy, those whinging about being delayed by cyclists would do well to remember just who causes traffic jams:

www.flickr.com/photos/carltonreid/6440857817

Many of those people are in cars for the precise reason they need to be someplace quicker. Some cyclists are gracious enough to use alternate routes with cycle lanes or stop or briefly move onto the sidewalk if there are no pedestrians to allow traffic to pass

You do realise that many cyclists are also cycling to ' get some place quicker?' That their bike is their mode of transport, (rather than a leisure hobby), just as your car is for you? Why do you think you should not be slowed on your trip, but cyclists should by having to stop for every car that is travelling on the same road as they are? Why do you think you are more important?

Where I used to live, cycling was quicker than car or bus for my commute, as cars got more caught up in the traffic (because it is motorised vehicles which slow other motorised vehicles, by causing congestion, far more than bikes do. Each cyclist is a car that is not in that traffic jam ahead of you).

'Alternative routes' tend to be for leisure cyclists who are not in a hurry rather than people who are using their bikes as transport, and are in a hurry.

@MintyGreenDream

Cyclists should be identifiable just like car users.I always get shot down when I suggest they should have number plates but I still stand by that it's a good idea.

This thread is about the attitude of drivers to cyclists, which is poor. It's not about bashing cyclists, you can add to one of the many cyclist bashing threads on MN for that.

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. My DH cycles and has to put up with similar bizarre behaviour.
I do think the extreme drivers who swerve in front of you are probably knobs in all areas of life though - I bet most of them are abusive to other cars, pedestrians, horses and probably generally rude even when not behind the wheel.

@TuftyMarmoset

This needs to be displayed in every car until people stop moaning about cyclists cycling side by side

No, this only applies to dual lane roads. Where I live, there are a lot of country lanes where two cars going opposite directions can squeeze past if they both slow down. If there are no other cars, I can easily pass a single cyclist safely, but not a posse riding 3 or 4 abreast.

FWIW, I’m a driver and a cyclist. About 75% of the cyclists I encounter act like they are the only people in the world - they run red lights on the road, they zoom along walking paths nearly knocking my toddler over, they travel in huge groups blocking the lanes and yelling to each other (annoying if you’re walking OR driving - bonus!).

It’s lovely to see on the thread today that we have some samples of the 25% gooduns. Thank you to all of you that have insurance, drive safely, and respect the Highway Code. But allow the rest of us to have a quiet British grumble at your less considerate fellow cyclists, as long as we don’t behave aggressively or dangerously (which is worse than being a twatty cyclist, obv).

@BobLemon

Flipping heck, the vote on this is pretty depressing!

Its hard to know what people meant when they voted though. If you reply just to the thread title, voting YANBU may mean ' yeah, its totally understandable why people think cyclists are twats - cos they are!' But if your read the post and vote YANBU, this may mean, ' yanbu to point out that people are really horrible to cyclists, and they shouldn't be.'

I don't shout abuse but will happily admit I can not abide cyclists, I live rurally and they are an absolute pain in the arse.

No problems with Horses or tractors.

I don't drive and absolutely hate cyclists with a passion. I always wait at pedestrian crossings....100% of cyclists do not. From fucking basket on their front bars like a kiddie bike middle aged women to in full cycling gear fit blokes!