To be done with cyclists (as a car driver).

[bluegardenflowers]

Have cycled in the past but now only drive.

I'm a considerate driver and always allow plenty of room when overtaking and am patient in following the cyclist when it's unsafe to overtake and leave a big gap. I take care when left turning. They are more vulnerable on the road.

Yet I've been sworn at be a cyclist and it's pissing me off.

Yesterday on a busy road I saw the cyclist and was busy scanning ahead to make sure I could give him half a carriageways room to overtake. I started my overtake as he was wafting his arm around and looking back. It wasn't a clear right turn signal more a 30 degree flap around before swerving into the part of the road I was on, and swearing at me.

Ffs. If you want to turn right, stick your bloody arm out fully and make a clear signal. No wonder drivers and cyclists hate each other.

But what grinds my gears is when they go out in big groups, and particularly then bunch up into smaller groups, but not at a sensible distance apart (so three cyclists… then a gap of maybe 2/3 car lengths, then another 2 cyclists, then 3/4 car lengths and then another group and so on). It makes it impossible to safely overtake as the gaps are too small, but they are so strung out.

I'm confused by this one.
small groups of cyclists with a gap of 2/3 or 3/4 car lengths between them seems as though they are leaving enough space to safely overtake. We have that all the time round here, hordes of them on Sundays and the only thing to do is to wait until you can safely overtake - in stages if necessary.

Well said 🤣

Never had any issues with cyclists and we get so many around here at the weekends! I find they're really polite and friendly if you don't try to maim them!

Far too many people need to reread their highway code, somebody actually suggested moving into the other carriageway to overtake! I always wondered why the crash barrier is so often knocked down!

Waving his arm up and down like that means "slow down" and sticking it out to the right means he was turning right. He was signalling to you to slow down because he was turning right so moving into the right side of the lane.

If you don't know those signals @bluegardenflowers then you shouldn't be driving.

@Notjustanymum - I agree it’s getting worse. I used to regularly see commuting cyclists just getting on with their commute, stopping at traffic lights etc and calling out the ones who didn’t. Now it feels like every other cyclist thinks they are in the Tour de France and woe betide anyone in their way. I was happy to see a cycling proficiency class in my road the other day though so hopefully future cyclists will be taught better.

Well said 🤣

I do cycle, on my Sit up and Beg, slowly and without recourse to Lycra. MAMILs are often rude to me, on occasions have laughed at my efforts, and often overtake unsafely. They are a menace to other cyclists too.

YABU to say you've had enough of ALL cyclists because you had a bad experience with one. Especially when you have cycled a lot yourself.

Yes, this bloke sounds like a right wnker. There are also drivers who are right wnkers. I they are often very similar types of wannabe alpha males who have a lot more in common with each other than they'd like to admit.

But when drivers start assuming that all cyclists are arrogant arseholes and treating them likewise, and cyclists do exactly the same with drivers, is where we end up with problems that are totally unnecessary.

It's just divisive nonsense. There are plenty of people who are cyclists some of the time and drivers some of the time. We all have to follow the rules of the road, and you don't get to stop following them just because you encountered one idiot who didn't.

I wonder, if you'd been cut up by, say, a white van, would you complain that you are "done with" white vans and will no longer drive safely around them?

Lets talk about pollution from Lycra clad cyclists shall we and destroy that ECO-friendly appearance that you like to brag about!

Production of synthetic fabric like lycra consumes 1.35 percent of the world's oil resources. That is more than Spain's annual oil consumption.

Lycra is a plastic-based fabric, and plastic is resistant to microorganisms that break down materials. will not break down into organic matter and are therefore non-biodegradable. lycra clothing remains intact in a landfill for 100s of years.After years of degradation by sunlight and oxygen, lycra fabric will break into extremely toxic microplastics
Microplastics affect marine life and human health. microplastics are a magnet for toxins, and fish swallow these toxic microplastics. Wind and rain also carry microplastics around, so they end up virtually anywhere. No place is safe.

So no lycra clad fools are not only a danger to our roads but a danger to our planet!

I like cycling, I stick to cycle lanes and cycle paths.

We've just had a road near me with a really lovely raised cycle path each side. It's brand new and lovely to cycle on. The road is a main road into the town. Why on earth do some cyclists still cycle in the road. It's got dropped curbs to get on every so many metres, it's much smoother than the road and yet some cyclists don't use it. Where the road got made smaller and it's busy you can't overtake, so the odd cyclist causes so many more emissions from cars going slowly and holding up traffic, when there's a lovely bloody cycle path adjacent to it. It really annoys me!

I am with you OP.
Some cyclists are considerate, but a large proportion seem entitled.
Racing through red lights, using pedestrian crossing while still riding.
I live in a rural area- weekends are the worst. Narrow winding roads, with groups of twenty or so cyclists in a long stream, leaving little or no opportunity for motorists to pass.

@shootfromthehip145 and cyclists exclusively wear Lycra do they? And Lycra isn’t used for any other purpose like leotards, swimsuits or shapewear?

I was indicating right to go into a car park and was waiting for oncoming traffic to go. An idiot cyclist decided to undertake and go past me on the right as I was about to turn. Riding on pavements, swearing and gesticulating at you when they are in the wrong. Cannot stand the arrogant tossers.

A lot of mamil-type cyclists do seem high on their own moral superiority.

Look at mumsnet and how we know from their wives a lot of them are acting at home. Not surprising many of them are dicks on the road.

He who can do the most damage and all that.

I'm sorry but YABU. If you're not 100% certain they don't want to turn then do not make any manoeuvres that could potentially cause harm.

It really doesn't matter if someone slows momentarily to work out which exit to take, why drive up behind them screaming and beeping?

Probably because you've pretty much come to a stop in the middle of the road with no signal and no discernable reason and nearly caused them to drive into the back of you? If you don't know where you're going, use a satnav, don't just randomly slow right down with no indicators.

Don't even get me started on their behaviour on local towpaths.

@ComtesseDeSpair - I'm right there with you as a proud and fully paid up member of the modified car world (Subaru, wrapped, bags, kit, aftermarket exhaust etc) and honestly, I take so much care whilst driving on the roads. I love my car, have spent thousands on it and don't want to damage it, let alone hurt anyone else!

There are inconsiderate people in every walk and unfortunately that translates over to their favoured mode of transport. I was taught to assume that no-one else on the road knows how to drive and to anticipate the road ahead.

There's lots of idiot, entitled car drivers around. They all seem angry at all cyclists for daring to be on the roads, when did everyone get so impatient and entitled?
Car drivers are by far worse than cyclists! See countless idiot car drivers every single journey I take, rarely a badly behaved cyclist.

You sound like an obnoxious piece of work. I’m currently 40 weeks pregnant, and yesterday cycled to a local beauty spot - I was wearing a dress, does that make it ok, or do you feel the need to spit bile at me too? (Not that it matters, but I was on segregated cycle tracks the whole way there)

That was a reply to @BerryBerryBerryBerry

@NellesVilla "I am currently living in a bit of leafy Surrey where they are infamous in taking over the roads- often riding 3 abreast- and generally being an absolute pain in the neck."

Do you mean using the roads? Cycling is doing us all a favour, either because they are using a bike instead of a car - reducing emissions, pollution and use of non renewable fuels, or because they are exercising and keeping active - reducing risks of heart and respiratory disease, managing weight, maintaining muscles and strength etc. Both reasons help us all as a society and we should be supporting and encouraging anyone cycling and, to be fair, gently applying polite pressure on the opposite direction - all of us who drive should be re-evaluating that for every single.journey.

Eh ?

if he was wafting his arm and looking back- then clearly he was trying to say something. You admit cyclists are more vulnerable- but you thought you would just go ahead anyway? Your spidey senses have told you the cyclist wasnt going straight ahead. You would be culpable if you had knocked and killed / injured the cyclist. So be more cautious.

Cycling are doing nobody favours when they cycle on pavements.