Cyclist bad manners?

[Hagridy]

There were roadworks on my journey today which kept us waiting for 20 minutes so quite a few cars waiting. Just before we were allowed past a cyclist came up behind us but decided to pass us all and wait at the front. Once we were past the roadworks the road is very windy so it took a couple of miles before I could safely pass never mind all the other cars he had pushed past.
AIBU to think it was bad manners for the cyclist to whizz past us all and keep us all waiting. Most cyclists seem sensible but every now and again I come across a complete idiot who seems to think the road belongs to him.

Roads are a socialist concept where we all pay tax for their upkeep through council tax and PAYE for motorways and then they are free at source to use, for whatever reason we choose and we all get access regardless of the nature of our travels.

people drive a mile to the shops to browse clothing stores, or drive 4 miles to see aunty Edna or other non essential journeys.

the only vehicles that get priority over others are police, fire and ambulance and the only toll motorway is M6

Note that the Highway Code already required that overtaking was only done when safe and where possible to provide sufficient space

Illogical, because had i gone through first, they 'd still be 10 cars behind me, the later 10 cars would be at the red light!
You ve lost this particular argument i'm afraid!

Look i get thats it frustrating for car driver s and i certainly do believe that cyclists should, where safe to do so, allow queuing traffic to pass but car drivers do not have a right to expect this either.

YABU and unnecessarily provocative. Why are cyclist always hated. Most of us also drive, but make the choice to benefit the planet and our own health sometimes where it’s possible

Yes, we've established it's their 'right', nobody is disputing that. It's more about being a decent person and not holding up a queue of cars when you can let them pass. It's my 'right' not to let the person with a small basket of shopping go in front of me at the checkout when I'm doing my weekly shop. It's my 'right' not to let another driver pull out of a side road as its my right of way. Its my 'right' not to give up my seat on the train to a pregnant woman. Decent people just do the right thing occasionally.

I agree with you @OoooohMatron

I also believe that if more cyclists started to do this, we might reduce the anger towards cyclists... too many are killed/injured by stupid and very dangerous driving and an impatient driver is a dangerous driver.

Oh give it a rest, as if cyclists don’t have enough to contend with. Your views do put cyclists at risk because as a PP has said it all foments anti cyclist feeling to the point that when someone marches up to one aggressively and shoves them into the road causing their death, half the commenters go ‘ah well they shouldn’t have been there anyway’. Dan Walker posts on his own social media about being knocked off his bike and knocked out and people accuse him of attention seeking. It’s actually sick. But some victim blamer upthread probably thinks that’s ok because some cyclist was a bit arrogant once so all of us lose our right to respect and safety.

No, I haven't lost any argument. I wasn't having an argument. I was looking for the facts & logic behind the idea that cyclists are automatically safer if they're placed in front of faster-moving vehicles the drivers of which have been held up & want to get on with their journey. I wondered if it was true.

You've raised a point which is worth considering. However, I think the problem with your approach is that you're only looking at one particular instance of this problem. There may be no more cars behind the cyclist. There may be fewer than 10, in which case there would be fewer vehicles trying to overtake them. And they would hold up fewer vehicles, so win-win. If there are 10 or more, well that's where we started, so no difference there. On average, though, over many journeys, surely both the cyclist & other road users would get less hassle & be safer.

It's your general mindset. I believe that if you're driving around with this attitude it could impact on how you behave around cyclists.

Maybe when i started cycling, your pov would hold good but nowadays, the cyclist, no matter what they do, will always find themselves ahead of faster traffic and lots of it.

A road near me, i used to ride on regularly in the 80s would have so few cars on it that "holding up traffic" was an impossibility, i could cycle on A roads with no issues at all, but now that road (and most others) are extremely busy, used as a cut through to get to the A30, rather than use the A388 to Launceston, i would never use the A388, during the week, its a death trap, often closed due to cars crashing into each other (they aren't accidents, its stupid driving)

I get where your coming from, i do but i just think its impractical, all, imho, a cyclist can do is use quieter roads and let cars pass if safe to do so.

If one doesn't understand that an individual shouldn't sweep majestically past a queue of people who've already been waiting for 20 minutes, push in at the front & then inconvenience every single person in the queue for some time afterwards, is one even British?😂

An analogy might be a queue of people waiting for a shop to open. They've all lined up nicely & some have been there overnight. Just as a staff member starts to open the door, someone rushes across the road & pushes in through the door shouting, "Me! I have to go first!" & then proceeds to block the aisle with their shopping trolley & a couple of pushchairs so nobody else can get in & buy anything until they've got what they want. The other shoppers just have to wait.

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As for mindsets & attitudes, it's perfectly possible for humans to let off steam when it's safe & appropriate to do so, about people, attitudes & behaviours - or simply to discuss & question such things - & still treat people decently when they're face to face with them.

It’s not an obligation. All obligations are marked ‘must’ in the Highway Code.

As you use the word "majestically" i think it shows which side of the argument you are on... you re not really impartial in all of this.

As i tried to explain to you, whatever the cyclist does, there will be a point at which they will be at the head of the queue, at the lights and will inevitably delay people, just as i get delayed by a tractor or in the summer, caravaners.... its the way it is.

@Alexandra2001 I think the road system in this country fails cyclists these days, & a lot of the 'improvements' for cyclists being made (round here at least) are useless & make things worse for everybody. That's another topic entierly, but you have my sympathy.

I was being lightghearted. You just lost a bit of my sympathy.😂

Of course cyclists should go to the front , it's safer. The majority of traffic jams are caused by sheer weight of traffic, not the odd 'annoying' cyclist. if I had a pound for every time my cycle commute was slowed down by a driver doing some kind of dangerous manoevre infront of me (usually without indicating), I'd be rich. Motor vehicles are the main problem on the roads

It's nothing like that though.

It's more like there's a queue and some people have to queue because they're in a car that's physically unable to filter because it's a car and not a bike

@ifIwerenotanandroid

Like i said, in the scenario of the roads works and traffic lights, the cyclist, whether they filter or not, is going to delay motorists.... it will just be a different set.

But as i said at the beginning of this thread, the thing to do is, once past R/W's let the 10 cars past when its safe to do so.... not quite sure why you have a problem with any of this but as in RL, no pleasing some people.

What if it isn't safe to do so from the POV of the cyclist, but the car thinks it is safe?

This is very, very common

It’s not an obligation. All obligations are marked ‘must’ in the Highway Code.

an obligation is a should, as in should I for fill this obligation
mandatory is a must

and not holding up a queue of cars when you can let them pass

you mean those same drivers who where waiting at the next traffic lights, you catch them up and cycle past as they hit congestion.

Drivers hold other drivers up, its just your false perception that its a cyclist 26 drivers just sat going nowhere, at least one driver had some passengers - the rest though had empty seats

You mostly don't get anywhere quicker than the car in front.

The same can't be said for bikes

Bloody cars are always holding me up

@DingDongDenny I didn't say you shouldn't be allowed on roads.

But doing less than 10mph on narrow country roads (which they obviously are if you are holding traffic up) just isn't safe. For you or other road users.

In the nicest possible way, you need to either get quicker or stick to wider more open roads.