....to tell you that negative comments about cyclists can cause issues...

[alittlequinnie]

I cycle to work - every day that I'm working in the office.

This morning I was cycling - wearing high viz, a helmet - two red lights on the back and two white lights on the front.

I'm going to try to upload a picture of where I was - the road is really really narrow - so no matter where I position the bike if you want to overtaken me you are going to have to go over the centre line.

This morning only me and a car coming up behind me on the entire road. I'm pretty much bang on centre in the lane. Nothing coming towards me or the car behind me.

Car behind overtakes - really really close and then pulls in too quickly in front of me - causing me to swerve.

Few meters up the road catch up with them at the lights. Knock politely on the window and ask her "why on earth did you do that - there was plenty of room?"

She responds that it's my "own fault" I was "riding in the middle of the road" I "do it on purpose" and she see's me "every morning" - then calls me a stupid cow.

I say "really? you did it as a punishment?" - she then repeats that I shouldn't be in the middle of the road.

No point arguing with stupid so I remind her that it's a good idea to read the Highway Code - she tells me I need to read it and then calls me a cunt.

I feel this all the time on the bike that all the comments that "all cyclists" do red light jumping and pavement cycling etc means that there is just such a HATE for cyclists - wherever and however they ride.

Imagine what this is like for me - this woman has told me she sees me all the time and she did it on purpose - so she's bound to do it again - it's really frightening.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to achieve by posting this - just think carefully before spreading the sort of venom for cyclists that I see on here and other sites?

...and that the driver cou easily have overtaken in the opposite lane as there was no oncoming traffic.

Anyone who can look at that picture and think a cyclist should be anywhere other than in the centre of the lane is an idiot. I'm starting to think some people genuinely haven't got the sense to realise that a parked car is always a potential hazard and you'd be a fool to cycle too close to one. You never know when someone is going to open a door without checking.

The thing to remember with this is that the HC says to move over "if it is safe to do so"

That safety margin is your own personal decision. And often as the leading vehicle and being the most vulnerable you're going to have a different view of what's safe compared to following, relatively invulnerable vehicles.

I've moved over in the instance you described to only have to stop because following traffic wouldn't allow me to rejoin, and if you're going as slow as you describe and it's it's a really steep hill then you're possibly not getting going again and then you're pushing a bike up a hill, which is actually more knackering than riding it.

Fair enough. You, and the others who answered, have given me a bit of food for thought. It's much easier to understand why it happens of there's a reason other than just 'can't be bothered and don't care'. Unfortunately it's not just on the hills but on the flat too, but the flat is generally easier to find a place to overtake at some point. I haven't ridden for years and I don't think I'll get back to it again. The hills around here, and even some of the less remote roads, strike me as really dangerous as a cyclist. I'm not sure I'm game.

I've looked at the photo and she drove dangerously - not only to you but also overtaking on a bend where there is no visibility of traffic coming round the corner

Once you've got your GoPro (why not ask for your Xmas present early? , my teens do if it's something urgent) ask for one with audio

Then record it and knock again in her window next time she does this

If she says she did it On Purpose you don't only have evidence of dangerous driving but you also have evidence of attempted GBH or worse & threats to harm - to give to police

Put in a statement and send them copy of video

If they fail to take action or prosecute as a victim of a crime you have right to challenge their decision.

Agree, it does baffle me that some drivers don’t appear to clock this, it’s not as though road positioning which takes into account parked cars as hazards is only applicable to cyclists: I got a minor fault in my driving test for not moving to the centre of a residential road so as to keep an appropriate distance from parked cars, and it was one of the first instructions my instructor gave me when learning.

I think if you were in the middle of the lane athen she was obviously wrong thinking you were cycling inappropriately and you just write it off as a difficult person. Nothing to do with anyone else but her.

Motorists are required to be tested, licenced, and insured. They are still absolute menaces, and worse are in charge of two tonnes of metal.

This is spot on, I had forgotten about this for some reason and was cycling along, very visible when someone flung their car door open the other day and I had to swerve a lot and narrowly avoided ending up being hit by her door or ending up on the floor. She was very unapologetic too. She must have been parked up for awhile before getting out as hadn't seen her pull up. Has reminded me to stay well away from any parked cars. The vitriol for cyclists is so upsetting. Yes there are bad cyclists but there are also bad car drivers, and pedestrians and lorry drivers. Most cyclists just want to get from a to b without getting mown down. Its like saying all white van drivers drive dangerously and should be banned when most are just normal drivers. We should all just be kinder to one another.

If you want to, pretty much get away with killing another human being.. kill someone in a traffic accident.

Harry Dunns killer gets a 8month suspended sentence and a 12m ban... yes thats an odd case but a young woman cyclist mowed down by a uninsured and unlicensed lorry driver got 3 years not so long ago.... out after 18months... free to to move on and enjoy his children and grandchildren.

Just show some remorse...and the UK justice system will do the rest.

This is why drivers really don't take driving a car seriously.

I'm a fellow cyclists too and you will be on a hiding to nothing posting that on here. As per PP 'you can't argue with stupid'. get a camera on your bike as she is likely to do it again.
I was out riding the other day and had to catch up with two cyclists who blatantly ignored red lights to remind them that the HWC also applies to them, then on my way back, a school mini-bus driver nearly took off my right arm. I phoned the school and reported him.
I'm getting a bike camera for Christmas as I've had a tit full of it.

Oh and I forgot to mention...local cyclist in her 40's was killed at 7am this morning on her way to work.
Drivers have no idea how vulnerable we are.

And before any other cyclist haters comment...I pay road tax for two cars and am a fully insured cyclist.

That’s so sad and completely needless. Our paperboy died in my mums arms outside our house when I was a little girl - this was in 1979 when there were probably a third less drivers on the road. It’s not just volume of traffic - drivers just need to be more careful - especially nowadays.

I visited London last week. It struck me that everyone (cyclist/pedestrian/motorist/e-scooterist) was a lunatic. Where I live, most pedestrian crossings are zebra crossings which means that pedestrians are the priority. In London everyone just crossed on the red man and left things to chance. Cars and bikes also took a liberal approach to the lights.

I've also spent some time in Germany recently. The pedestrian lights will go green while the traffic light is also green to let cars out of a side road, only with a flashing yellow light with a stencil of a person to remind cars to look out for pedestrians. That took some getting used to, it's hard enough remembering to look the right way before crossing.

It is too sad. I love cycling and cycle mainly for fitness and do many miles every week and bloody enjoy being out there....however I got taken out on a roundabout by a driver who 'didn't see me'. I was battered and bruised and my bike was damaged...police couldn't be bothered with it.
Every time I come back from my ride and pull in to my drive I breathe a sigh of relief that I made it back alive.
It shouldn't have to be like that.

Astarsheis, I'm not sure policing other cyclists achieves anything

@astarsheis

Stay safe and get that camera

It really shouldn't have to be like this. The provision for cyclists and motorists to be on the same roads and roundabouts is failing massively.

It is as if cyclists have got used to being injured by being hit by motorists. This is wrong. You even know your life is at risk, judging by this post.

Drivers are human beings. I don't drive, but most people do. They are parents, doctors, teachers. They would purposefully try and injure somebody. If they did so dangerously, their names would be in the paper; they would feel guilty and traumatised. What you are describing is a carelessness on drivers' part, which seems to be a part of being human.

Passing a driving test hasn't served as a guarantee that motorists won't make mistakes or be careless . So the test is a failure, from the point of view of keeping cyclists safe. A big fail. I am vulnerable as a pedestrian: cars don't stop when I step two paces on to a crossing, yet I have never been hurt actually physically. You have, though.

. How do you put up with physical injury and knowing the road system in the UK is failing and that cyclists are not safe there?

Instead of counting the money you save on petrol and train fares and crossing your fingers, shouldn't you do what is logical and sensible and accept that the roads are not safe for motorists and cyclists together, and that the government needs to get a grip.

If the worse happens, knowing that you are attentive and the driver who hit you isn't, won't be consolation or relevant when your life and your children's lives have been affected by your serious injuries.

And blaming posters on forums for pointing out that the force and weight disparity makes cars next to bikes a no-no, isn't the answer. Anything that pressures councils into building and extending safe cycle paths is good.

And cyclists need to take off their rosy coloured glasses and stop thinking that we are heading for a Utopia in which every journey will be made on bike, public transport or on foot. Thinking that you are pioneers of a new way of living isn't it.

There is a lack of attention by the authorities to what happens on the roads. It's unbelievable that those swerving, veering electric scooters are doing it, when the law states that they illegal on either road or pavement. Who is checking? Nobody. It is a joke. But don't put yourself at risk as a cyclist when the system is failing to keep you safe.

@Diverseopinions read your post back and then tell me how you square that with the behaviour of the driver in the OP, and of the countless other drivers mentioned in this thread who have acted either through stupidity OR on purpose in a way that could / did endanger cyclists.
As a pedestrian, do you "accept" that every time you (or your kids) cross the road your life is in danger because the poor drivers aren't able to drive safely because of rubbish driving tests and infrastructure?
More victim blaming. Pathetic.

I don't think anyone believes or wants that all car journeys will be eliminated but a lot of short trips could.

Cyclists don’t really have the ability to complain about drivers doing short trips without being hypocritical though. Not with the amount of hobby cyclists taking up space on the road and forcing cars to waste fuel by waiting behind them just so that they can have their fun and go home again.

cyclists are helping the environment when they switch real journeys that they need to make from a car to a bike, but when they’re just doing their hobby, they are actively contributing to more emissions on the road than there needs to be.

It isn't victim blaming it is government blaming. But, even if you are in the right, re your road sense, you do need to take responsibility for whether or not you put your health and life in danger.

Read back the posts about a cyclist getting physically hurt and the bikes bent and made less roadworthy and then the admission that, on returning home, the cyclist feels relieved to be alive.

This is a wrong way to live.

Most cyclists are grown adults. You are able to take a decision, which you know you shouldn't have to take, but which you are still going to have to take: and that is to keep yourself safe and stay off the main roads.

If you don't experience dangers as a cyclist, then you are probably living in an ok place for biking, with quiet roads or ones well-designed for safety.

I know that cycling on the roads isn't like the teenage craze for tomb-stoning into deep waters or taking laughing gas. I know that, ostensibly, the law allows cycling on the road, so it's legal and someone in an office somewhere has decided that it is safe enough.

But it isn't, is it?

It's normal to expect to get hit.

If cyclists are actually getting hit and hurt by cars, then it isn't a safe activity.

Don't make yourself victims in the name of a political cause.

I don't drive

Yep, you can tell @Diverseopinions. That was a lot of wayward text for someone who doesn't sit behind the wheel.

A car has a big clear thing at the front (windscreen) so you can see everything in front of you as you move along. It's not carelessness if you approach a cyclist and fail to give adequate space or act impatiently. And a lot of people hate cyclists so much they will punish them by purposely brushing against them when passing.

The roads are fine and perfectly adequate for everyone to share the space we have. The solution isn't segregation but simply better driver training. Yet no government is really interested. Instead were moving towards 20mph limits and more restricted cities, which is another solution I guess and safer for everyone.

What about the health benefits? time and time again we hear that we need more preventative health measures... i can't run, due to a knee issue but i can cycle and keep my weight down and fitness up.

Also, what exactly is the difference between a keen gardener travelling (round trip) 45miles to a garden centre (their hobby) and me going for a 45mile cycle?

Cyclists meeting up at a cafe etc would otherwise meet up using cars....

@Diverseopinions let's look at victim blaming shall we? Why don't you replace "cyclist" with "woman in a short skirt" and "Road" with "dark street at night". It's perfectly legal for a woman to wear short skirts and walk down dimly lit streets at nighttime. But it's not safe sadly, because those damn sexual predators and rapists aren't able to follow the laws of the and and human decency.
If a driver is unable to drive their 2 tonne metal box safely, or control their anger when they perceive they have been slighted by a cyclist, they shouldn't be driving. Just like a man with uncontrolled urges to attack vulnerable woman shouldn't be allowed out at night (or day).