AIBU to find cyclists annoying

[MumOfTheNorth]

This probably is unreasonable but I just find cyclists so annoying. Not saying every cyclist does every one of these things. It just seems to happen a lot. Am I the only one that gets this irrational irritation?

What I find annoying...

• Taking up the whole road so you can't leave enough space to safely over take
• Weaving in and out of traffic
• Walking around cafes or the office in sweaty lycra with their click clacky shoes
• Running red lights when I'm trying to cross on a green man
• Cycling on the pavement
• Not tucking in on small country roads once in a while when there's a massive que of traffic behind them
• Having no lights or helmet on in the dark
• And most of all... talking to me about cycling

That'll be all of those pesky cyclists I suppose, inconveniencing the noble motorists on the M40. How selfish of them.

Where I work they all cycle on the path and expect pedestrians to move out of the way

Why do you think this is? Are there a lot of them?

Possible reasons I can think of:
the road does not feel safe because of the layout or surface
the road does not feel safe because of driver behaviour
they lack confidence as cyclists so avoid the road
the road has many barriers and obstacles that make their route take longer, eg traffic lights and junctions, that the path does not have
they are unpleasant people and enjoy conflict with pedestrians

See - the last reason is not impossible, but it's what people tend to jump to and I just don't believe it's usually the main cause. The other ones are much more likely.

Cyclists are rational beings who look at all the available options and choose one that carries the least risk and inconvenience. Slowing down for pedestrians and being at risk of either a collision or other conflict with them is both a risk and an inconvenience. But it must still be preferable to being on the road. Why?

Typically it comes down to road design not allowing space for cyclists, and if you have to jostle for space with someone, you'd be better off doing it with pedestrians than cars and HGVs.

Where it's a shared use path (these are dumb) then yes, I suppose cyclists do expect pedestrians to move out of the way, otherwise you'd have a column of cyclists moving at walking pace.

............otherwise you'd have a column of cyclists moving at walking pace

Yes. Very frustrating for them, not having any red traffic lights to sail through.

Someone has been whinging on Tiktok that they were following some cyclists for four miles and unable to overtake without breaking the speed limit.

Let me get this straight, you're complaining that the cyclists are doing the speed limit?

I was talking about shared use paths but fine...

If you do a bit of googling, apparently around 1 in 10 cyclists jump red lights.

About 20% of motorists admit to jumping red lights. Just over half of cyclists say they have ever jumped a red light.

There is also debate about whether jumping a red light in some circumstances is safer - Paris changed the law to allow cyclists to jump red lights. For example, when pedestrians have finished crossing and the lights are about to change, arguably it's safer for cyclists to start off a few seconds earlier than the motor traffic around them. Some junctions have traffic lights that go green for cyclists before they go green for cars, because of this.

So some cyclists jump red lights. Sometimes this is a rational if illegal thing to do. The majority don't. I know you were trying to be witty but really, this absolute contempt for cyclists is dangerous when it informs the way drivers react to cyclists on the road.

The roads are largely designed for cars. I'll sometimes be at a t-junction, waiting to go straight ahead. No cars joining from the right, no pedestrians around. If I move off and jump the light, even if a car does come from the right, there would be space enough for us both. If I wait and obey the light, I start off with a load of traffic behind me, which is much riskier, especially when they're impatient to get past me. I don't jump the lights but it would be rational and arguably safer for everyone if I did so.

Anyone could have an accident at any time. I've worked in accidents and breakdowns. Mechanical failure is a risk. Other vehicles are a risk. Road conditions are a risk. Inclement weather is a risk. Cyclists are a risk. And so on.

It's extremely short sighted to think it won't happen to you because you're too good at driving.

Oxford and the surrounding countryside is where I've experienced the most issues with cyclists.

I used to wonder why cyclists seem to take up so much space in the middle of the road making it difficult to over take them. Then I started cycling myself and realised it's the only way to stay safe. If you are squeezed into the side of the road some crazy drivers will try to overtake you even if there's oncoming traffic on the other lane, pushing you further to the side (or worse). If you are slightly more in the middle of the road drivers need to wait till the opposite lane is actually free before they can overtake you, which makes it much safer for everyone but especially the cyclist.

A cyclist doing 20mph in a 30 area is going to take a while to get past at 30 - granted 4 miles at 30 instead of 20 isn’t that different in time taken though.

Actually just remembered - in Oxfordshire this year, I saw a cyclist standing up with his bike in the middle of a junction on two B roads messing around with his phone. Literally in the middle of the road. Absolute madness.

@WereYouListeningToTheDudesStory

You were specifically worried about killing a cyclist. Get off the road.

If you genuinely believe you'll never have a crash in your lifetime because you're too good at driving or cycling, you should get off the road because I've spoken to many, many thousands of people who have had a very nasty unexpected experience, and that could very well be you one day. None of them thought they were going to end up having an crash that day either.

Where did I say that?

But nor am I genuinely concerned that I may harm a more vulnerable road user. I'm perfectly capable of dealing with them. I am one, most of the time.

And what if your tyre blows out one day and you happen to go barrelling into a vulnerable road user like a cyclist in lycra on a little bicycle? How are you perfectly capable of ensuring that your tyres will always stay inflated? How are you perfectly capable of steering a vehicle that is out of control? How are you perfectly capable of preventing your vehicle from rendering flesh?

These things happen.

Why does this only affect cyclists though?

what if you blow a tyre and barrel into a pedestrian? A child crossing the road? Or another vehicle and kill one of the occupants?

why do cyclists need to get off the roads because motorists might hit them and feel terrible, but everyone else can crack on?

Gosh, in Norfolk this week, I saw a motorist stop in the middle of the road, just past a blind bend, messing around with his phone. Literally in the middle of the road, engine running. Didn’t even put his hand brake on. Absolute madness

I don't usually see children or pedestrians on national speed limit roads. I do see cyclists though. Typically merrily holding a bunch of people up to boot.

🙄

eh?

you can kill a child at 30 or 40 mph. Deaths can and do occur on roads other than national speed limit roads. Typically they are holding up motorists at pedestrian crossings as well.

do you never see motorcyclists or other cars on NSL roads either? What if you had an accident and killed one of those? motorcyclists in particular are more vulnerable as they can also reach faster speeds.

why is it just cyclist road deaths that are such a problem?

@WereYouListeningToTheDudesStory

Yep, that would be you.

This is the most incoherent argument I've ever seen on a cycling thread

What does that mean though? Cyclists who ignore red lights tend to cycle through them, often from stationary, because they believe that there’s no traffic coming and they have the ‘right’ to do so. When motorists run red lights it’s almost always because amber is showing and they could, but don’t, stop.

As I said earlier in this thread, I’ve seen a cyclist run a red light at speed well after the lights changed. In 35 years of driving I’ve never seen a motorist do that. As I’ve also said, just a couple of days ago I saw a pack of cyclists completely disregard a temporary red light. I have never seen drivers do that either.

It does make me laugh that you argue that shared pathways hold up cyclists and that’s bad: pedestrians should get out of the way. But when roads are shared between cyclists and cars, drivers should stoically wait. (I don’t deny the much greater risk from powered vehicles; but the entitlement cyclists seem to feel over pedestrians is a bit comical.)

Dishwasher, I see cars going through red lights after amber every day