9hrs is all it took!

[Finallylostit]

The new highway code to cause anger!

I went for my morning cycle - no issues did nothing different than I normally do.

Home, shower, jump in car to get food shopping. I live down a country road - wide enough for 2 cars to pass with care, wide enough for a car to over take a cyclist sticking to the left of the lane, with the required space at certain points. Locals all know the places to do it safely.

Today 1 cyclist riding down the middle of the lane - now unsafe for car to pull over to other lane and pass - brilliant

Was he considerate of other road users and pulled over- no.

As on the other side were 8 riders riding two abreast high fiving each other and doing the finger to the motorists. Shouting its the law twats!
Were they considerate of other road users no.

Some of the new laws i think are sensible -
but the ride in the middle of the road, even if there is a cycle lane because you don't feel like it - is asinine

2 abreast packs of mamils hunting on weekends as they venture out of London - when they are generally rude enough as it is - gives those cyclists who are arseholes a legal right to now be an arsehole.

Be considerate and pull over to let cars and vans pass -
that is as likely as Downing Street not having another party in a lockdown!

[quote heartonthetyne]@angela99999 London roads are clogged up because of the number of cars on them. You can't complain about traffic when you are part of the problem. [/quote]
I'm actually complaining about the ridiculous cycle lanes that are being built in west London recently. The chaos resulting from this has meant that pedestrians like me have been having to walk on the road or in amongst the road works as at the moment there is no pavement, a half-built cycle lane, a bus lane in the middle of the road and terrible traffic jams. All to build replacement "innovative" cycle lanes which will doubtless need to be removed again as others have been. You only see cycle lanes in use in the rush hour here, and not much used then.
On Friday a cyclist asked me and my two grandchildren to move out of her way on a pavement so she could ride on it - and no, it is not any sort of cycle lane.

@Frozentoes2

45 seconds!?

Show me just one cyclist who can go down an average stretch of road in just 45 seconds and I’ll happily take it back!

You know some of those busy mums could be driving their children to doctors appointments, hospital checkups you name it. But why shouldn’t they be happy to wait if someone else feels like idling slowly along a road in peak traffic times causing a big queue behind them?

I picked ‘45 seconds’ because it’s the average time it takes me to go down the bit of road on my usual route where I always take the middle of the lane to prevent dangerous overtakes. Some drivers still get grumpy and drive aggressively.

Obviously they, being in cars, are probably busy mums doing busy mum things, while I, being on a bike, am a mum who never needs to get anywhere or do anything important.

You do realise that every minute spent behind someone that's actually moving doesn't add a minute onto your journey right

Let’s say for arguments sake I need to get my child to a and e. It’s not urgent enough for an ambulance (because obviously you should never call one unless needed) but I’ve been told by 111 to drive the child to a and e myself ASAP.

And then let’s say a big group of cyclists are driving slowly in front of me taking up the whole lane, and I’m stuck behind them for ages because there are lots of country lanes where I live, and they are going the same way as me. They could easily pull over at some points and allow me to safely overtake, but you know, they just don’t want to. In this situation, the new law clearly makes no sense.

There are some situations where people have a genuinely important reason not to want to be delayed, and it’s really not fair to make everyone wait you (if you cycle) just because you feel like taking up the road that day.

@GoldenOmber

Ok, don’t project all of your issues on to me, I haven’t said any of those things and you’re being a bit weird.

And just repeating what the revised Highway Code is actually telling cyclists to do, for those who are furious about it but still haven’t actually read it:

“be considerate of the needs of other road users when riding in groups. You can ride two abreast and it can be safer to do so, particularly in larger groups or when accompanying children or less experienced riders. Be aware of drivers behind you and allow them to overtake (for example, by moving into single file or stopping) when you feel it is safe to let them do so”

“1) Ride in the centre of your lane, to make yourself as clearly visible as possible, in the following situations

• on quiet roads or streets – if a faster vehicle comes up behind you, move to the left to enable them to overtake, if you can do so safely

• in slower-moving traffic - when the traffic around you starts to flow more freely, move over to the left if you can do so safely so that faster vehicles behind you can overtake

• at the approach to junctions or road narrowings where it would be unsafe for drivers to overtake you

2. When riding on busy roads, with vehicles moving faster than you, allow them to overtake where it is safe to do so whilst keeping at least 0.5 metres away, and further where it is safer, from the kerb edge. Remember that traffic on most dual carriageways moves quickly. Take extra care crossing slip roads.”

OH THE HORROR.

There are some situations where people have a genuinely important reason not to want to be delayed

Including people on bikes and people on foot. And yet, we still all have to share with each other.

Until the petition reaches 5 it won't go live so you won't see that part it's basically about revisiting reversing some of the changes which frankly just haven't been thought out.
We have seen several crashes locally and a death today which looks like a cyclist has tried to exercise one of the changes without thinking about the consequences on a fast and busy road.
He's now dead!
The committee that decided these changes are all made up of cycling bodies or ramblers etc no motoring organisations were invited to balance out the committee. So no proper government oversight or scrutiny occurred petition before it was passed through Parliament. Also because it originated within a government department, the department of transport who has is Grant Shapps a keen cyclist it was never going to be turned down and came as a recommendation so fate comple!

Glad to hear you don’t have a problem with giving pedestrians priority to cross wherever they like, though, since they might have important things to do that mean they genuinely don’t want to be delayed by drivers slowing them down?

@Whatsr

Until the petition reaches 5 it won't go live so you won't see that part it's basically about revisiting reversing some of the changes which frankly just haven't been thought out. We have seen several crashes locally and a death today which looks like a cyclist has tried to exercise one of the changes without thinking about the consequences on a fast and busy road. He's now dead! The committee that decided these changes are all made up of cycling bodies or ramblers etc no motoring organisations were invited to balance out the committee. So no proper government oversight or scrutiny occurred petition before it was passed through Parliament. Also because it originated within a government department, the department of transport who has is Grant Shapps a keen cyclist it was never going to be turned down and came as a recommendation so fate comple!

Well, can’t you quote I what the petition says? You’re basically asking people to sign something without telling them what they’re signing…

For me I'm as shook as a driver as I am a cyclist that other people seem to struggle so much with decent driving

I spend more time on the road driving, and way more miles annually, and i always find these threads kind of disturbing that I'm sharing a road with people that can't forward plan, that can't abide by a minute or two delay, that get very bent out of shape over nothing

@onetc

Of course not, but getting stuck behind a slow cyclist on a long road is enough to cause a significant delay.

And if the busy mums example has caused such outrage (not sure why on a mums site), how about busy hospital workers, busy carers with someone waiting for them etc.

Lots of people rely on planning their journey without having to add in “cyclist time”. It’s unreasonable to cause everyone avoidable delays.

It’s difficult to predict under the new law how long your journey will take if you live in an area with lots of cyclist, because you don’t know if you will be stuck behind a slow one, a fast one, a couple of slow ones, none at all... It is fine if they are going to be courteous and allow you to overtake when it is safe (just as most pedestrians step to the side and let cyclists overtake them on footpaths). But if cyclists are now being encouraged to just sit in the middle of the road causing a traffic jam it’s going to be a nightmare for a lot of people!

Ah, this country, and it’s pure hatred of anything not car accessible. The problem has always been that there is no real space for anything or anyone but (fast) motorists. Most of you holiday in Europe, I’m sure? But have you not then noticed how cyclists are part of the general traffic? Or were you too busy heading to the beach in Benidorm? Yes, ideally there should be plenty of well maintained cycling lanes everywhere. But it’s exactly due to the lack of them that you ONLY see lycra-men on the roads. Anyone else is just too scared to cycle, despite the “road tax” having been part of the general taxation system since the 1940s (duh, maybe look things up before you post?) which means that EVERYONE is entitled to use the roads. Think a bit deeper about stuff before you just react and vent on a forum where everyone just loves to rant. Have you ever noticed the climate emergency? The obesity crisis? The mental health disaster? No, you were just too busy getting bogged down with trivial pettiness to be able to add it all up. “Entitled” and “CF” are two words the users of this site just love to throw around. I’m wondering if it’s just a lot of projection going on from your own state of minds…

Tis a pickle

We live in a rural area, so have tractors horses etc, but weekend cyclists or just summer cyclists, already make life miserable .

I dread to think what it’s going to be like.

fullfact.org/online/highway-code-changes/?fbclid=IwAR0qDzh7jxqqWr9SlZ3urDtDkghmmZ0AUpzrUPtUeyarmX3C_enH5r2xI34

I have no problems with cyclists driving near he middle. As a cyclist, I was told by an expert not to use the cycle Lane as it’s full of glass.

Frozen toes, motor vehicles cause way more delays than cyclists

I'm a carer btw and you're right it's difficult to predict, so I err on the side of caution and allow extra time. It's very important I get where I'm going in time

But it's the same with road works, tractors, animals, whatever. I don't know if I'm going to encounter one or all. I live on the edge of London and more than once had to sit behind a tractor (in South London wtf ) for miles until there's an opportunity to pass. Closer to where I'm going there's signs warning you they might be moving animals and sometimes you have to wait while that happens (although super rare now) my normal route for my daily commute has been dug up for months. The part just outside London is a super popular destination for group cyclists. None of these things would constitute a valid excuse for being late because they're all so common they need to be taken as a given

Pinkaflowers - 7 days a week motorists make life miserable

Onetc, finally a driver admitting other things cause delays

Everything causes delays, including myself. Drivers sitting in traffic moaning about delays are like people sitting on a beach moaning about how busy it is.

Ugh, the assumed superiority and vanity of some of the pro cyclists commenters on here is excruciating!

Pompously advising posters who don’t agree with you that they should educate themselves, or read the Highway Code, or even to “think deeper” (cringes) is very presumptuous.

It is very narrow minded to assume that everyone who (gasps) disagrees with you must surely not be as educated as you on the subject, must not have read the Highway Code, or be capable of such deep thought as you are. Or (cue faux concerned expression) that other people just aren’t as caring about other motorists or the environment as you.

I mean drivers are allowed to be pissed off that cyclists are allowed to slowly hog the middle of the road, because, let’s face it, it’s really really annoying!

Angela999, so you have eyes on that cycle lane 24/7 to be able to say how much it gets used?

Frozen toes, ugh the entitlement of car drivers is excrutiating. I mean cyclists(and pedestrians) are allowed to be pissed off that cars have hogged the roads for the last 100 years, because let's face it, it's really annoying, dangerous and polluting.