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!

I think I'm going to buy a dash cam today

Please do!

The candid camera effect has already had a significant impact on careless driving, because it turns out people do actually care about being prosecuted

The more of these there are knocking about will lead to many many more prosecutions for dangerous driving

no cyclist is going to hold up a fucking emergency vehicle blue lighting it somewhere, ffs,

Cars do though, regularly.

@jgw1

no cyclist is going to hold up a fucking emergency vehicle blue lighting it somewhere, ffs,

Cars do though, regularly.

And that's the fault of cyclists how?

Going across tower bridge the other day and the only people who could get out of the ambulance way were cyclists. The cars all had to stop in a staggered formation so the driver could zig zag down, took them ages, I hope it wasn't a life or death situation

no cyclist is going to hold up a fucking emergency vehicle blue lighting it somewhere, ffs,

If the emergency vehicle is at the back of a long queue of other motorists stuck behind a cyclist/s then it could easily be held up.

And that's the fault of cyclists how?

jgw1 is pro cycling 👍

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.

Eight miles the other day in a case that I've just read about. That's not a minute or two.

@5keletor

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.

Make sure you get a front and rear cam so your covered from both angles

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

no cyclist is going to hold up a fucking emergency vehicle blue lighting it somewhere, ffs,

If the emergency vehicle is at the back of a long queue of other motorists stuck behind a cyclist/s then it could easily be held up.

Which is far more likely to happen due to cars causing traffic jams.

Cyclists don't cause congestion, cars do. If you are concerned about ambulences getting through you should want more people on bikes.

Just want to respond to some comments about cyclists ringing their bell on country lanes so that pedestrians “are aware” of them...

This has happened to me a LOT and whenever I turn round the cyclist never appears to be slowing down. So it really does seem like an “I’ve arrived and can’t possibly stop, move out of my way”signal.

Some of you cyclists on here know that you ring your bell expecting pedestrians to jump out of the way. Imagine if cars beeped their horns every time they saw a cyclist to “let the cyclist know they were there”, and that it was time to move over! I’m guessing it wouldn’t be a very enjoyable journey for the cyclist!

And to those cyclists saying oh but i wouldn’t be able to stop at short notice if someone walked in front of me .... I don’t think that’s good enough. What if a child or small animal ran out in front of you on a country lane. If you can’t control your speed and do an emergency stop then you shouldn’t be allowed to cycle where pedestrians are (or anywhere).

Cars are expected to do an emergency stop, as are other vehicles. I think there needs to be a limit on how fast cyclist can go so that they don’t injure anyone who steps in front of them.

Oh and I’m not condoning stepping out in front of cars or cyclists by the way. I politely move myself and my children every time an annoying cyclists pings their bell at me (and then speeds past without saying thank you). But sometimes accidents happen and you can’t just cycle around at speed with the attitude of, “I’m a cyclist, if someone steps out in front of me and gets hurt it’s all their fault” in the same way that car drivers can’t afford to think like this.

Imagine if cars beeped their horns every time they saw a cyclist to “let the cyclist know they were there”, and that it was time to move over! I’m guessing it wouldn’t be a very enjoyable journey for the cyclist

Indeed. I hate being "belled" by a cyclist when I am walking. Even more so when I am well over to the left and there is plenty of room to get past me. Why do you need to ring your bell at all?

When I am cycling I only ring my bell if a whole family group is spread across the path and they ignore an "excuse me". Actually I'd quite like a bell when I am out walking and running for those occasions, too.

Well cyclists are certainly going to be causing congestion now if vehicles can't get past.

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

You could argue that it is just as entitled to expect to block a path as a slow-moving pedestrian.

@tintodeverano2

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...

I agree about lights and reflective clothing, but pedestrians should have to wear bright coloured clothing too.

Helmets are neither here nor there though - whether a cyclist wears one does not affect a driver (or pedestrian).

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

Well cyclists are certainly going to be causing congestion now if vehicles can't get past.

Nothing has changed as to whether or not vehicles could get passed a cyclist.

Or are you saying that previously you used to drive dangerously close to cyclists and you are upset that you are no longer able to?

Or are you saying that previously you used to drive dangerously close to cyclists and you are upset that you are no longer able to?

Don't be silly. Cyclists didn't used to ride in the middle of the lane. I've never seen this happening before.

I cycled a total of 62 miles over the weekend (2 separate rides) and feel really lucky that I didn't get any abuse. However, I cycle alone, always wear hi vis yellow jacket, boots and helmet, always cycle defensively and ALWAYS thank drivers that give me plenty of room either by shouting 'thankyou' (if its windy or unsafe for me to take my hand off the handlebars) or raising my hand . Didn't have any problems until I got to a busier road near home with central pedestrian islands in the middle and a BMW X5 decided to pass as we were going passed one. No idea how she didn't hit me! I may have sworn a bit .

However I did witness several groups of 5 or more cyclists (unfortunately nearly all men although I do appreciate they aren't all like this) riding 2 or 3 abreast, blocking traffic, no hi-vis, and not thanking any motorist who passed them safely. Its dicks like this who give the rest of us a bad name and make life so much more dangerous.

I also got a 'thank you for using your bell' from a pair of walkers who were ambling along a single track road and didn't realise I was behind them. I thanked them for moving over! Some walkers and horse riders are just so engrossed in their conversations they wouldn't hear a tank come up behind them but cyclists don't need to be aggressive about it even if it does ruin a Strava segment!

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

Well cyclists are certainly going to be causing congestion now if vehicles can't get past.

It is no different to before. Cyclists will be taking the lane if there is not enough space for a car to pass safely. They've always been allowed to do this. As I've said many many times already on this thread, in this circumstance a car would not have been able to pass safely even if the car had stayed to the left. But, because cars pass cyclists dangerously close on a regular basis, the cyclist is encouraged to take the primary position so the car cannot do that.

It's really really not that difficult to understand...

It's safer to pass a cyclist who is riding on the left. It doesn't mean people are passing too close.

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

Or are you saying that previously you used to drive dangerously close to cyclists and you are upset that you are no longer able to?

Don't be silly. Cyclists didn't used to ride in the middle of the lane. I've never seen this happening before.

Whether cyclists are in the middle of the lane of the left side does not change how a car driver safely passes them.

You could argue that it is just as entitled to expect to block a path as a slow-moving pedestrian

Or equally you could argue that it’s entitled as a slow moving cyclist to block the path of faster moving traffic.

It does appear that cyclists want to have their cake and eat it. When on a road, the slow moving vehicles should be able to hold everyone up for as long as they want. But when on a footpath, the slow moving pedestrians should quickly move out of the way to let cyclists past.

How would the cyclists feel about trailing slowly behind a slow walking family along a long country path, until the family deemed it to be safe for the cyclist to overtake them? Because this would be fair given the new changes.

Rubbish. It takes longer to go into the oncoming lane and go right around than to pass a cyclist who is keeping to the left.

Cyclists have been told to cycle in the middle of their lane at junctions and at any other time when the road is not wide enough for a motorised vehicle to pass them safely for at least 10 years.

Unfortunately, motorists are only just being made aware of this. Hopefully I will now receive less abuse for doing what I’m supposed to be doing

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

Or are you saying that previously you used to drive dangerously close to cyclists and you are upset that you are no longer able to?

Don't be silly. Cyclists didn't used to ride in the middle of the lane. I've never seen this happening before.

The guidance re: cycling positioning has not changed. How many times does this need to be said? There has always been a concept of cyclists taking primary position in order to prevent themselves been squeezed against the curb.

Whether you have seen cyclists actually follow the advice is a different matter. Many don't because they mistakingly think that cycling in the gutter is the safest place to be.

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

Rubbish. It takes longer to go into the oncoming lane and go right around than to pass a cyclist who is keeping to the left.

True, you can save yourself 10 seconds by squeezing past a cyclist rather than giving them the proper amount of space.

Well done you.