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!

@saygeronimo

That should have said "petulant tit"

I did wonder

Being a pedantic tit why should pedestrians stop and get on the side for cyclists when cyclists don’t stop and get on the side for cars?

Ps I do pass cyclists safely already in my car. Weekends aside it’s mostly tractors and horses round here anyway. I’m just being pedantic because it sounds like some cyclists (looking at you MAMILs at work) now think they’re above everyone in the pecking order, and that everyone- cars, pedestrians, horses the lot- should simply wait for them.

@ifIwerenotanandroid

I slightly despair at being used as a human traffic calming measure instead of a well designed road layout but the law is as it stands

@SockFluffInTheBath so my post had another typo I see...
Cyclists shouldn't ride in the centre of the lane if there would be space for the car to overtake safely giving the required by law 1.5m gap if the bike moved over to the left.

@saygeronimo your typing’s on a par with mine today then I don’t really care about the law change, I was safe before and will continue to be. My DC road cycle and I pass every cyclist as I would like other drivers to pass them. I just object to any group thinking they’re entitled to everyone else stopping so they don’t have to.

@Momicrone

Lovethesun, maybe leave some more time for the trip?

Sadly not always possible as I get paid hourly so costs me money :-(

The issue is the large groups of riders doing timed routes for sport

Time trials are always done solo, so the riders will be set of 1 minute apart and certainly will not be in a group

Just like cyclists should ride in the centre of the lane if they could move over and the car behind could then pass them safely giving them 1.5m space as per the law.

It’s up to you to overtake safely, not the person in front to facilitate your overtake.

There may be reasons the cyclist is riding primary position
They have a better view of the road ahead and can see an issue up ahead. A car on the opposite lane, they may know there are dangerous potholes ahead ( reds cyclist use frequently will be known to them in ways drivers don’t reqister) traffic islands may be ahead etc

[quote Octomore]@FailureToLurk

Are you saying that you will usually cross the path of a cyclist and then turn left right in front of them?

You're a fucking dangerous driver if so.[/quote]
No that's not what the poster is saying.
"Failure" is saying that a car might need to slow down (or be delayed - it might only be for a short period) to turn left and a speeding cyclist might come up the left inside of them and continue straight making the cyclist very vulnerable.
Previously while driving you only needed to be aware of what is in front of you now it seems you need to be aware of what is behind you as well.
Surely no fool would over or under take a car in front of them which is indicating to turn (right or left) but now it their right, so they will do it.
This scenario worries me.

Previously while driving you only needed to be aware of what is in front of you now it seems you need to be aware of what is behind you as well.

You know those reflective things attached at strategic points on your car..?

@jenkel

Bad cyclist should be accountable just as bad motorists are accountable. At the moment it sounds like they are making motorists more accountable and cyclists less.

There is nothing legally to stop anybody from riding a bike if they are riding it in a dangerous way, there is if you drive a car in a dangerous way.

I believe cyclist should have insurance and an ID plate.

Posting a few points as I was recently frustrated while following a small group of cyclists along a country lane. I was driving a 4x4 with trailer full of livestock, I cannot accelerate hard or swing in and out of the carriage way at risk of injuring the animals I am transporting.
I followed this group of cyclists for around 10 minutes travelling in second gear, as we came to a large left hand turn off they could have easily have pulled over to let me pass but they didn't and I had to sit behind them for a further 2 - 3 miles to the main road.
This often happens.

@OneTC

Previously while driving you only needed to be aware of what is in front of you now it seems you need to be aware of what is behind you as well.

You know those reflective things attached at strategic points on your car..?

Amusing. But there are blind spots

believe cyclist should have insurance and an ID plate.

It’s been covered on this thread, the petitions, the reply from government giving the reason why it won’t happen

Lovethesun100 the highway code has always refered to use of mirrors to see what is behind and along side you, it’s not a new rule. Perhaps look at rule159

@ivykaty44

believe cyclist should have insurance and an ID plate.

It’s been covered on this thread, the petitions, the reply from government giving the reason why it won’t happen

Lovethesun100 the highway code has always refered to use of mirrors to see what is behind and along side you, it’s not a new rule. Perhaps look at rule159

"Perhaps look at rule159" Thanks for you guidance

"Amusing.
But there are blind spots"

You were and are required to check your mirrors and blind spots before turning a corner.

Y'know, as part of mirrors-signal-manoeuvre. That thing that's considered a pretty crucial part of driving safely. Ring any bells?

To those moaning about having to give way to cyclists on your left... In slow moving traffic, filtering is perfectly legal. if you are going so slowly that a cyclist can catch up on the inside then you should already be aware that filtering may be happening. If you are going fast enough that it won't class as slow moving traffic then you are unlikely to be 'undertaken' by a cyclist. its so unlikely that this change will cause real problems. If bikes in a cycle lane to the left are moving faster and you wish to cross the cycle lane into a side road then you are crossing an additional lane, and you should always check your mirrors before you cross or change lanes, would you blindly pull across a bus lane?? I doubt it.

Also for those saying about cyclists gloating at you etc when you've not done anything wrong, this is how a lot of normal law abiding cyclists feel. I often cycle just with my DP, just the two of us, often one behind the other but sometimes we will pull two abreast for a chat, and even then we wont be taking up more than half the width of a lane. From my front door I have routes up to 100 miles long that do not pass through a single set of traffic lights so no reds to jump even if I wanted to. I've had abuse hurled at me by drivers as they pass, been clipped by wing mirrors and even had food and drink thrown at me with the usual shouts being 'you dont pay road tax' (i also own a car and drive 20k miles a year, I pay VED for it, plenty of VAT on fuel etc etc, road tax doesn't exist) or 'you jump red lights' (i don't, see above, none on route), and the insurance on my bikes is more than I pay for the annual insurance on my car due to racing premiums (race on closed circuits before you get started). I am fed up of being abused just because I am there.

I welcome some of the highway code changes, but tbh the passing of cyclists should just say if there is a central white line get all four wheels over it when passing. If covid has taught us anything it's that people can't judge 2m when stood in a supermarket aisle let alone when driving at 50mph.

@ifIwerenotanandroid
No filtering, no weaving in & out, no under/overtaking, no sudden love of cycle lanes to enable them to get to the front of the queue & hold up even more people

That’s one of the reasons they put in cycle lanes, often linked to ASLs. The whole point of cycling is that you don’t get held up by the larger vehicles which cause the congestion.

Or perhaps we should rework the rules & traffic lights, so that all cyclists wait when the lights go green, drivers get away first & cyclists aren't holding anybody up because they're allowed to set off by a 'bikes only' green light once a number of cars have had their time to get away from the junction. It won't hold the cyclists up much & it gets them (as the slower road users) safely behind the faster vehicles

We have the opposite here. The green bike signal shows first to allow the bikes to get away before the motorised vehicles!

I live in a state in the US where the rules of the road require you to overtake a cyclist as if the bicycle were a car and leave them the entire width of the lane. It doesn't always work that way of course, but it often does.

There is no need to make occupying the entire lane legal or for cyclists to adopt the in your face approach.

Why are people so inclined to stand on their rights in Britain?

I hate cyclists

@mathanxiety

I live in a state in the US where the rules of the road require you to overtake a cyclist as if the bicycle were a car and leave them the entire width of the lane. It doesn't always work that way of course, but it often does.

There is no need to make occupying the entire lane legal or for cyclists to adopt the in your face approach.

Why are people so inclined to stand on their rights in Britain?

This is also how the rules work in the UK. Except drivers routinely ignore them.

Cycling defensively in the middle of the lane has to be legal (i.e. allowed) because in many circumstances it's the only way the cyclist can stay safe. The new rules are stronger in their endorsement of cyclists using this position. However it is not, and never has been, mandatory.

It won't hold the cyclists up much & it gets them (as the slower road users) safely behind the faster vehicles

But it’s drivers in 10 cities that are slower, not the cyclists
Link was further back in thread

As a motorist, too, if I see a cyclist in front of me wobbling about from side to side in front of me, I sometimes hoot briefly to them to let them know there is a motorist behind them who wants to overtake. Just a quick "toot", obviously, not a rude sustained honk.

Oh wow.

You might be in an insulated metal box, unable to hear traffic behind you, but the cyclist isn't! They know full well that there is a car behind them - they can hear your engine for a start! Beeping your horn will just make you seem aggressive and impatient, now matter how briefly you beep it.

Do they often stick two fingers up at you when you go past?

@ivykaty44

It won't hold the cyclists up much & it gets them (as the slower road users) safely behind the faster vehicles

But it’s drivers in 10 cities that are slower, not the cyclists
Link was further back in thread

Now now, we can't introduce facts to the debate! Everyone knows cars are always faster.

@mathanxiety

I live in a state in the US where the rules of the road require you to overtake a cyclist as if the bicycle were a car and leave them the entire width of the lane. It doesn't always work that way of course, but it often does.

There is no need to make occupying the entire lane legal or for cyclists to adopt the in your face approach.

Why are people so inclined to stand on their rights in Britain?

We have exactly the same rules here. Unfortunately drivers often ignore them. So cyclists are encouraged to take the lane to stop close passes so stay safe. I'm not sure what you're querying in your post?