Cyclist at Pedestrian Crossing

[grumpypedestrian]

First off I’m all for people cycling, it’s a great mode of transport.

Ive had yet another close encounter and narrowly avoided being hit by a cyclist. Is there an unknown rule that cyclists can go full speed through pedestrian crossings?

Ive experienced nearly being hit by cyclists going through red lights too.

Cyclist was wrong to go across and nearly hit you, but I wouldn't use the incident to generalise about cyclists. There are good ones, bad ones, as with any road user. I've had far more 'incidents' with cars going across pedestrian crossings.

I don’t think it’s intended as a general hate thread. But it happens on the regular, and I’ve only been driving since May, im a bit dismayed at it tbh, it’s been an eye opener. I’m also very respectful of cyclists and obviously as a new driver I ain’t no rule breaker and still continuing to educate myself more. I am more and more shocked at the behaviour of both drivers and cyclists. I was clearly naive before taking up driving 😂

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Your point? I can do this all day.

@MNHQ I'm sorry, what? Why was that removed? That's utterly ridiculous and can only assume you are as ill-informed as the poster I was responding to.

Yes are you one of "those" drivers. Not Are You A Driver Grrr

Absolutely no question that cars doing this is very dangerous, but it is easier to catch car drivers and hold them to account due to them having number plates that can be tracked. There is literally no way to track a cyclist committing similar dangerous acts so they have no motivation to stop.

Where I live it is actually very unusual for cyclists not to ride straight through crossings and red lights so we just have to jump out of the way. Now seems to be the unofficial accepted norm. Doesn't seem to be anything that can be done about it.

It's also easier for cyclists to just ride away. It's much harder for a car to drive off after hitting someone. (Not saying they don't ever do it. Obviously hit and runs do happen). But on a busy London road for example the car wouldn't get more than about 2ft before being stuck in traffic or at traffic lights or people could even block the road and it would be a very stupid person to drive over them. Cyclists can just swerve round cars and hop up on the pavement or cycle down alleys or pedestrian only areas. Plus they can just push anyone blocking their way away. And after all that there's no way to trace them. If a car did run and someone got the number plate they'd still be caught.

Cyclists can and do get caught when they commit offenses in the same way that anyone who isn't driving a car (and so, doesn't have a handy registration plate around their necks) gets caught for breaking the law.

Not to mention it's not exactly hard to clone/fake a license plate so it's hardly a foolproof method.

How anyone can watch a video of someone intentionally mowing down an older lady and have absolutely zero empathy is terrifying.

THIS. This is why people think all cyclists are bad.

It's exceptionally rare for a cyclist to be "caught" since there's no register. Police wouldn't even look unless a cyclist had killed someone or committed some other very serious crime, and the resources it would take to hunt someone down from a few seconds of CCTV with no licence plate (assuming there even is CCTV) would be immense.

That's why so many cyclists feel they can treat people with impunity and get off scot free, hit people and not even pause to glance behind them.

Only someone who's already involved in the criminal world and is actively going out to commit a crime (eg robbing a bank) would go to the effort of "cloning" a licence plate, it's hardly something you'd do just on the off-chance you were in a rush and didn't fancy pausing at a red light and accidentally hit someone.

Just a weird comparison - let's not have any practical way to identify cyclists who knock people over just because the odd car driver might be a serious criminal.

I am one of those people who can neither drive nor cycle, combination of dyspraxia and no peripheral vision in my left eye. So I have to walk everywhere and OP's post was something I had been wondering about.

It's because I could have sworn I read something on here about cyclists being legally allowed to go through red lights as it is deemed safer than stopping next to a car or a bus or something? Is there a provision for that?

@ISaySteadyOn

It's because I could have sworn I read something on here about cyclists being legally allowed to go through red lights as it is deemed safer than stopping next to a car or a bus or something? Is there a provision for that?

According to the Highway Code, all road users must follow the rules of the road, so no, cyclists should not go through red lights.

Thanks. It's bothered me for ages wondering if I have been doing something wrong as a pedestrian. Makes no sense but there it is.

@ISaySteadyOn

As a pedestrian, you should have priority. There should be no question about you having every right to be able to safely cross at a pedestrian crossing. Sadly, that is not always the case, hence the point of this thread, but it should be!

My point? To point out the sheer arrogance and horrific attitude to other road users that so many (not all) cyclists possess. The irony being that when the tables are turned they're only too quick to cry victim.

But the point being that cyclists face this shit every day, and nobody cares.

Not that i don't care about bad cyclists, for fuck sake.

Saw this video of this cyclist in London the other day who thought it was a good idea to squeeze inbetween the blind spot of a bus & vehicle. 🤦‍♂️

https://x.com/MrJman09/status/1701142097477140554?s=20

@TheGhostofLoganRoy That's why so many cyclists feel they can treat people with impunity and get off scot free, hit people and not even pause to glance behind them.

The thing is though, a cyclist hitting a pedestrian is likely to also fall from their bike and risk injury. Possibly falling into the path of other vehicles, depending on the situation. And likely to be falling at greater speed than the pedestrian.

You'd have to be cavalier about your own safety as well as the pedestrian's safety. I.e an idiot, not your average cyclist.

I don't think cyclists are going around hitting people deliberately. I think the aggressive ones just expect people to leap out their way. And that's why they get so angry when they do have an accident. They blame the pedestrian for getting in their way and hurting them rather than realise they caused it!

And yes they may well be idiots! But there's a lot of idiots then!

Perhaps they'll think twice next time but I somehow doubt it.

Unfortunately cycle paths are expensive to provide and drivers hate them.

There are plenty of cycle paths where I live, but over 50% of cyclists still ride on the pavement in preference. I walk to work and I feel really unsafe multiple times a day.

As a somewhat disabled pedestrian, I'm afraid I have had more frequent negative experiences at pedestrian crossings with cyclists and scooter-ists than with drivers. Of course, drivers can do much more damage on average if they do ignore pedestrians - though I did know an elderly person who died as a result of being knocked down by a cyclist. And I don't think it's a matter of cyclists being more fundamentally inconsiderate than drivers. I think it's more that cyclists are more likely to assume that pedestrians will be able to manoeuvre around them and co-ordinate our movements with theirs (not the case for those with even mild mobility or visual impairments), while it's obvious to drivers that we can't. (Some drivers, however, have the same unrealistic expectations of cyclists' co-ordination abilities that some cyclists do of pedestrians.)

Well today as I sat at a red light on one side of road and the police car other side. Pedestrian crossed. And without waiting said cyclist just zoomed on through the red light. Police.. did nothing. Me n car def would've got points or ticket and rightly so but annoyed me so much to see thy they seen it and just let him go literally in front of them