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 Frozentoes2]@OneTC

You do an important job.

I get that other things on the road cause delays, drivers included, but I think it’s the avoidable delays that are really irritating.

I personally would feel much less irritated being stuck behind a tractor than a cyclist who COULD let me overtake but chooses not to because the tractor delay is unavoidable. I get stuck behind a fair few tractors too.

Also where I live I am always being pinged by cyclists on footpaths to get out of the way. It can be a bit annoying when you’re trying to have a nice country walk with young kids and you’re constantly having to quickly move to the side.

It kind of feels like a double standard to me. It’s annoying that on footpaths the cyclists near me are so entitled that they just ring their bell and expect you to move so that they don’t have to brake or slow down, but that on the road faster vehicles should be expected to slow down and travel at the slower cyclist pace, without being able to safely overtake.

Anyway enough ranting from me, I have an early start tomorrow and had better get up ejected earlier and factor in some extra cyclist time![/quote]
As a cyclist myself, I often ring my bell when I'm approaching pedestrians from behind! This isn't to harass them, it's to alert them that I'm behind them and approaching, as they have a habit of randomly wondering around from left to right on the path. So I politely ring my bell to let them know I'm there...

@Momicrone

As for going for walks with kids in shared spaces, I get that bikes can be annoying, however, in this green and pleasant land, there are plenty of lovely places to walk where no vehicle of any kind can reach

Sorry, what? We should not be able to walk on the paths near our home so that cyclists can have the running of them? I would need to drive to get somewhere else for a start... and sometimes walking on a path is better than through a muddy field. I wasn't expecting that reaction to my post, makes it clear cyclists need their own way in all circumstances! Why not suggest working together?

It’s annoying that on footpaths the cyclists near me are so entitled that they just ring their bell and expect you to move so that they don’t have to brake or slow down
As already said, it's not about entitlement and not wanting to slow down, it's about safety. Kids particularly but adults too get distracted and will walk from one side to the other without thinking. Kids suddenly start running or suddenly stop. As a cyclist, even if I slow down, I can't always stop if a kid suddenly humps in my way. The bell is just to warn.

Sadly, the issue is that non cyclist don't have a clue what it is like to be cycling and see it all from their own perspective only. I only took out cycling about 10 years ago and it's been a huge eye opener. I had never before appreciated how vulnerable you feel on a light slim bike with people who only see you as a nuisance.

The behaviour I've experienced despite always making sure I don't make it worse for drivers has been really scary at times. I wish everyone got on a road bike for a few weeks to see what it's like.

My pet hate are drivers who pass you at great speed to then brake harshly to turn left so that you going straight have to break hard to avoid them.

Drunkpanda, massive misinterpretation of my post. I never said you should not walk on shared spaces, I merely pointed out there are lots of beautiful places for walking without bikes. I have kids, I walk on shared spaces with them, I hate cyclists ringing their bell, but at least I know there are some places i can walk where no cyclist or car can come near me. But in the meantime I'll share the shared space.

They should've changed the law so cyclist HAVE to wear helmets, reflective clothing and have proper lights on their bikes too.

Saw so many out over the weekend, blocking roads (well country lanes) that were riding so irresponsibly and it's not going to be long before lots of cyclists will be hurt...

@vivainsomnia

It’s annoying that on footpaths the cyclists near me are so entitled that they just ring their bell and expect you to move so that they don’t have to brake or slow down As already said, it's not about entitlement and not wanting to slow down, it's about safety. Kids particularly but adults too get distracted and will walk from one side to the other without thinking. Kids suddenly start running or suddenly stop. As a cyclist, even if I slow down, I can't always stop if a kid suddenly humps in my way. The bell is just to warn.

Sadly, the issue is that non cyclist don't have a clue what it is like to be cycling and see it all from their own perspective only. I only took out cycling about 10 years ago and it's been a huge eye opener. I had never before appreciated how vulnerable you feel on a light slim bike with people who only see you as a nuisance.

The behaviour I've experienced despite always making sure I don't make it worse for drivers has been really scary at times. I wish everyone got on a road bike for a few weeks to see what it's like.

My pet hate are drivers who pass you at great speed to then brake harshly to turn left so that you going straight have to break hard to avoid them.

I do the same when cycling, I ring my bell to warn pedestrians that I'm approaching from behind. This is as much for their benefit as mine, but they still sometimes get annoyed & think I'm harassing them!

I think that cycling in inner cities is the way forward, anything to make it safer IMO is good. Outside, on country roads, each should consider the other. Deliberately holding up traffic because now you can is not really sportsmanship or clever. It’s dumb behaviour. How would a weekend cyclist feel, when having to make a car journey get’s stuck behind a group of lane hugging cyclists feel, would they be understanding or cursing!

I only took out cycling about 10 years ago and it's been a huge eye opener.

Same, my first road bike was bought during the Olympics because we now had to have our business staffed 24 hours a day and there were road closures and public transport issues so I bought a bike to commute the 15 miles each way.

Prior to this I'd always wondered why cyclists in London seemed so fucking angry and stressed all the time. Then I tried cycling in London as a commuter and found out why, it's because you nearly die about 5 times every time you make the journey through one of South London's busiest routes into London

I've been hit by multiple cars, have had people pull out on me, had pedestrians step into the road a couple of metres ahead while looking the other way, had people drive straight at me intentionally, have had people make a left immediately after overtaking me causing me to crash into them. 2 of the cars didn't even stop, although credit to one of them it might not have been obvious. With the other one it was pretty obvious because I was lying on their bonnet a minute before they sped off. I stop at lights, give way to pedestrians, I have a brightly lit, brightly coloured bike, I indicate, I don't ride on paths. I'm risk averse in reality so it's not my crazy riding that's causing this.

(I also accept I've been really unlucky, and lucky in a strange way)

As a comparison I've done X times as many miles in a car, spread out over 20+ years and had one minor accident

They should've changed the law so cyclist HAVE to wear helmets, reflective clothing and have proper lights on their bikes too.

You do have to have proper lights on your bike

It's similar to telling people not to use their phones when driving though, many people will flout the law. I mean didn't they have to update the rules on phone use just recently because people were still playing candy crush, looking at play lists and taking photos whilst they're meant to be driving

www.gov.uk/government/news/any-use-of-hand-held-mobile-phone-while-driving-to-become-illegal

I don't for one second think that's all drivers though but sheesh, people escaping prosecution by saying I wasn't making a call actually I was playing candy crush, and that was okay

How would a weekend cyclist feel, when having to make a car journey get’s stuck behind a group of lane hugging cyclists feel, would they be understanding or cursing!

As someone who does alot of both I don't get stressed by people doing what I might be doing at another time because I'm not a massive hypocrite and a good forward planner

@Momicrone

It is a ridiculous combination. Cars are such dangerous killing machines, they should be separated off.

Cars are only "dangerous kiling machines" in the hands of twats who can't drive.

Everyone else manages just fine.

I dread cyclists being ahead of me on the road, if there is traffic behind me, because I sense the expectation from behind that I will get past that cyclist asap

Same. No doubt the men who are shouting gesticulating and hooting their horns if I don't think there's room to overtake a cyclist will carry on doing that. More public awareness would be a good starting point, I think these changes have been handled really badly.

I don’t think you’re making it up but you we’re obviously being aggressive. I’m not a huge fan of some cyclists but we’re all road users, it’s the law now and it’s been done so vulnerable people are kept safe. However I’m not sure all cyclists have understood that means pedestrians are more vulnerable than them and in turn they have to make space and give way 🤷🏼‍♀️

@OneTC I agree London is a dreadful place for cyclists. That said if a pedestrian steps out they’re just as likely to get hurt as you, your speed dictates the level of injury to a certain degree- they’re the vulnerable ones in that situation not you.

I think it's going to be interesting to see how male drivers react to male cyclists being dicks by refusing to pull over.

I'm concerned about the increased pollution caused by being forced to drive in a lower gear, increased petrol consumption for people who can't afford it and people like carers or emergency vehicles being held up on essential journeys, stuck in a tailback by John and Mike from accounts who insist on asserting their 'rights'.

We're both pretty vulnerable in a collision. Once I came off worse and once the other person came off worse and they had to go to in an ambulance. People in certain areas of London, often tourists, either don't recognise the cycle lane or treat it as an extension of the pavement and only do their proper look after they've stepped into the lane. I'm (nearly always) happy to give way to foot traffic, and in London I don't find myself often with much choice about doing so. But there's nothing you can do when someone steps out on you arms distance away. One of these I was moving at 20mph in fairly solid traffic that was doing the same speed, riding in primary position and the guy just sprinted into what he thought was a gap between buses except I was in that gap. I almost got run over by the bus behind me

Just come on here to add that while driving through town, a small van stuck behind a group of cyclists (one riding in the centre of the road) decided to overtake last minute and near crashed into me. Almost had to mount kerb.

I didn't do anything wrong, but I would have been in an accident due to the driver being annoyed and making rash decisions and a cyclist unwilling to be sensible enough to let a car past.

I think this is madness. It just encourages people who are dicks to battle with each other more, putting people like me at risk. I can't see it improving road safety at all.

But you understand only the van was at fault there right?

Yes, I was saying that the driver was being a dick, but the guys in front were weaving about in the road, not riding particularly fast, so it's likely that the driver became frustrated. My point is that both cyclist and driver's acting like dicks affect other sensible road users.

Cyclists and drivers need to be respectful of other road users. If you are a cyclist holding up traffic (wasn't a queue in this case) you need to let the cars past. I've seen this many times when even when cyclists kept to the left on narrow, weaving hilly roads. If they can ride in the centre now, it just makes things worse and us likely to cause more road rage and incidents like what I experienced yesterday. I'm not saying the rule change in wrong, but there needs to be a clause where you are expected to go single file when hiding up traffic to avoid bad overtaking manoeuvres.

@3Daddy31982

Let's wait till summer when families are off. A bike offers zero protection. I know as I lost a schoolfriend in 1990. She was her parents only child. She's in the cemetery now. 3/4 lives destroyed by an archaic mode of transport

How can you call cycling an archaic form of transport?! It's truly awful what happened to that girl, but there are also thousands of people in cemetery's following car accidents / children who have been run over.

Increasing the number of people cycling is absolutely the future for the health of us and for our planet. The fact that you see the opposite just beggars belief really.

I think I'm going to buy a dash cam today, I imagine they'll be more commonplace now. I regularly have to drive to a busy area, and I'd say at least 70% of the time pedestrians walk into the road beside the car park without looking, and either fail to notice cars already in the process of turning at all, or smirk as they purposely walk in front of the car mid-turn, prompting an emergency stop. I always stop there before turning due to this, but it's not even safe to do that in rush hour traffic and I really don't want to get the blame if another motorist or cyclist crashes into me because I've stopped on a busy main road to avoid knocking someone down.
I am careful anyway, don't speed and check more than really needed when turning, but there are times when you can only do so much before it's overridden by others' carelessness.

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

I think it's going to be interesting to see how male drivers react to male cyclists being dicks by refusing to pull over.

I'm concerned about the increased pollution caused by being forced to drive in a lower gear, increased petrol consumption for people who can't afford it and people like carers or emergency vehicles being held up on essential journeys, stuck in a tailback by John and Mike from accounts who insist on asserting their 'rights'.

And I'm concerned about pollution caused by people jumping in their cars to drive a mile down the road because they're too lazy to walk. We need to make things safer for cyclists and pedestrians so people are then more likely to cycle and walk.

Page 25 and the same point is still needing to be made

“ xpected to go single file when hiding up traffic to avoid bad overtaking manoeuvres.”

If you can’t overtake safely - as in pull into the oncoming carriageway then you can’t overtake. Squeezing past a cyclist while in the same lane as them is unsafe. The cyclist is in the middle of the lane to make this point extra clear to drivers

The cyclist is not choosing to not let you overtake when in the middle of the road. You never could overtake. What you were doing was dangerous. Now the cyclists road position is spelling this out. If cars had been overtaking properly then there would be no need for the new rules.

I won’t have to change my behaviour as a car driver because of these changes because I already overtake bikes correctly- it’s people who where doing it wrong before who are going to have to change.

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

I think it's going to be interesting to see how male drivers react to male cyclists being dicks by refusing to pull over.

I'm concerned about the increased pollution caused by being forced to drive in a lower gear, increased petrol consumption for people who can't afford it and people like carers or emergency vehicles being held up on essential journeys, stuck in a tailback by John and Mike from accounts who insist on asserting their 'rights'.

The only people who are going to need to driver slower and use more fuel are those who were driving dangerously before.

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

I think it's going to be interesting to see how male drivers react to male cyclists being dicks by refusing to pull over.

I'm concerned about the increased pollution caused by being forced to drive in a lower gear, increased petrol consumption for people who can't afford it and people like carers or emergency vehicles being held up on essential journeys, stuck in a tailback by John and Mike from accounts who insist on asserting their 'rights'.

I think it's interesting that people don't realise that the rules around cycling in primary have not changed so statements like this are utterly ridiculous.

Pollution is caused by cars, not cyclists riding defensively, no cyclist is going to hold up a fucking emergency vehicle blue lighting it somewhere, ffs, and if the rising cost of petrol is a concern getting stuck behind a cyclist for a minute or two s not going to make a difference to that.