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

How do you suggest people who don’t drive get around then @WereYouListeningToTheDudesStory ?

Why do cyclists say this like they have no other responsibility? If a cyclist causes a crash or any other accident, and somebody is badly hurt by a car driver, including the cyclist at fault - or some other cyclist, or a pedestrian - the driver is at the very least in a state of shock and may well suffer horrible enduring trauma.

In some cases a cyclist may cause death to car drivers by other cars.

All road users have a duty to everyone on the road, legally and morally.

I once had a cyclist run a light very fast and I just avoided hitting him as I turned across the lane. If the cyclist had been hit it would have been very nasty and his fault; but what about the effect on me? I wouldn’t - and driver’s generally don’t - just shrug and go “oh well, a cyclist’s just been catastrophically injured in an incident with my car, but he caused it, so no probs”.

And police hardly ever prosecute dangerous cycling or any other traffic offence by a cyclist - because they can’t trace them.

Police: our funding, pay and conditions are awful, criminals get away with horrible crimes
Irate drivers: I saw a cyclist jump a red light once, leave the serious crimes and sit by the side of the road/manage a system of cameras in case a cyclist is naughty
Cyclists: we're afraid of being killed by drivers who feel contempt for us
People with lung disease: please can you reduce the number of cars on the road
Irate drivers: why don't they pay road tax

We can't sustain this amount of motor traffic on our roads, surely more cyclists is a good thing - look at the bigger picture, not just individual needs

I mean, pedestrians can easily also cause crashes, should they be insured too?

I don't really see how licensing and a potential fine would be a stronger motivation to good behaviour in a cyclist than keeping your brain in your skull. Some cyclists are reckless, I'm not sure whether insurance and fines etc would address it.

If you cycle in countries with far higher rates of cycling, behaviour is better because the infrastructure is better, drivers anticipate what cyclists might do, other cyclists tell you off for misdemeanours and you might just be jumping a red light in front of your aunt/boss/girlfriend on the bike behind. More bikes are the answer, not putting people off them with fines and licensing.

fearfuloffluff · Today 14:42
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The consequence of being a dick on a bike is, sooner or later, likely to be a fall and injury. If you ride into pedestrians you're likely to be injured yourself. The police can prosecute dangerous cycling.””

Apologist bollocks. A delivery cyclist ignored the red light at a crossing near the Natural History Museum when we were last there around a year ago. A motorcyclist legally turning at the junction had to swerve to avoid him, ended up on the pavement on his side, coming to a stop only when he hit a shop frontage. God only knows how he didn’t clip any pedestrians. Wouldn't be surprised if I wasn’t the only person on MN to have seen it, countless families buzzing around.
The cyclist pissed right off and was soon nowhere to be seen.

nothing is set in stone, the more we campaign, the more likely we are to get finally a fair resolution. Legislation changes all the time, look how much the rules have changed for cars in a fairly short time.

Having anonymous, irresponsible, ignorant, unaccountable cyclists on public road is more than "annoying", someone will wake up one day and realise we can't carry on like that.

There are too many accidents involving pedestrians, that will have an effect.

More bikes are the answer, not putting people off them with fines and licensing.

again, if being made accountable for your bad driving is putting you off cycling, then it's a very good thing, you don't belong on the road.

That’s not a very sensible answer.

Pedestrians don’t jump red lights across junctions. Or come down your left at speed before you turn, even though you’ve been indicating well before. Or ride in packs on both sides of your car. And so on.

Sure, pedestrians should be careful too. And road users should be be alert to pedestrians and always give them right of way - which goes for cyclists too, though plenty of cyclists regard pedestrians as a nuisance to be ridden around and shouted at, especially on crossings. And cars don’t generally drive along pavements or footpaths.

Taxi or bus

It's not about being accountable.

Most people learn to cycle as children - how do you approach that if you need licenses and insurance etc? Then ride as teens when driving isn't an option, and might keep it up for fitness/enjoyment/commuting later on.

It's very common for people to fall out of the habit, if you needed to go through several administrative hurdles with costs attached, many people would never cycle past adolescence. Especially if they thought a small error could result in a big fine.

We're trying to reduce air pollution, carbon emissions, lung disease, traffic, obesity, cost of living. This means a shift away from cars to active transport like bikes, walking, scooters.

I would like for there to be a way to hold cyclists accountable and make them easily identifiable to police, if needs be.

I had a cyclist almost run into the back of my car (slowed down then stopped for a pedestrian, I assume cyclist wasn't paying attention as was a long way away when I checked rear view mirror). He got off, then started battering the side of my car, literally screaming and swearing. I drove off and he followed, only turned away when I purposely went up a steep hill! Police couldn't do anything as they agreed he was in the wrong and it was a public order offence, but couldn't trace him on description and colour of bike (which is all I remembered). At least if he had been a driver I could have taken his reg.

Alika · Today 15:34

I would like for there to be a way to hold cyclists accountable and make them easily identifiable to police, if needs be.

I had a cyclist almost run into the back of my car (slowed down then stopped for a pedestrian, I assume cyclist wasn't paying attention as was a long way away when I checked rear view mirror). He got off, then started battering the side of my car, literally screaming and swearing. I drove off and he followed, only turned away when I purposely went up a steep hill! Police couldn't do anything as they agreed he was in the wrong and it was a public order offence, but couldn't trace him on description and colour of bike (which is all I remembered). At least if he had been a driver I could have taken his “

Get yourself a dashcam.

Pedestrians cross on red, step out between parked cars, etc. They're vulnerable road users who should be protected but are also capable of causing collisions.

Licensing and taxing of cars is justified by the national cost and potentially huge damage they can do. The same isn't true of bikes.

If you wanted to reduce bike related accidents, there are many measures you could take before investing a huge amount of public money in putting people off cycling.

As a horse rider my experience is that drivers are far, far more inconsiderate than cyclists. I've never had a cyclist actually clip my stirrup or try to overtake while I'm turning right to leave the road forcing me to wrench my horses head round to avoid him being hit.

Yes, pedestrians can cause accidents. So can out of control dogs and falling trees.

But this thread is about cyclists. And lots of people have experience of piss poor cycling on the roads.

To be clear, I will always give the fullest consideration to cyclists. I recognise that they’re more physically vulnerable than I am in a car. I don’t care if I get honked at by a car behind me if I’m being careful behind a cyclist.

I just expect cyclists to show the same regard for other road users. Including obeying traffic signals, making themselves visible at night, not tailgating, not ignoring my indicators and not riding at my side in a way that makes us all vulnerable to horrible accidents. It’s not much to ask.

@MrsSkylerWhite Probably still little chance of identifying him and therefore being able to find his address (the police, that is). Unless he was already known to them so they recognised him straight away, the only extra info a dashcam would give is possibly his make of bike, if it was clear enough.

I agree, cyclists should behave well. Most do. Some are idiots. Sometimes it's drivers who don't know the rules of the road, sometimes it's because the road layout presents risks to cyclists.

What would you propose then? Licence plates like cars have? They'd have to be big to work with the existing system. Those cameras are currently at many junctions so would catch people jumping red lights, it wouldn't stop the other things you mention unless there were cameras everywhere, all the time and cyclists were prosecuted/pursued much more stringently than motorists.

Ultimately it would be pointless, expensive, and put people off cycling. When we actually need more cyclists and fewer cars.

I don't deny cyclists can be irresponsible and annoying, but the 'let's clamp down' approach isn't very sensible. Positive things like training programmes and better infrastructure would be more effective.

Eg I live in a city with rental scooters. People are colossal idiots on rental scooters, much worse than cyclists. It's annoying but I just go slowly and expect them to be erratic.

Most people learn to cycle as children - how do you approach that if you need licenses and insurance etc? Then ride as teens when driving isn't an option, and might keep it up for fitness/enjoyment/commuting later on

My kids primary state school has a week cycling course, when they are taught road safety, rules etc. It's not difficult. If they are doing it, I am surprised if it's not a common thing, there's nothing special about the school.

What stops anyone from making insurance mandatory for teens? All of my kids have mandatory insurance for their sports, it's easier to regulate as you just don't allow uninsured members, but the difficulty of regulating it is never a valid excuse not to do something.

More than a 100,000 drivers were caught without insurance, the estimated real number is much much higher, doesn't mean we should just scrap insurance for everyone else.

we actually need more cyclists

that's debatable 😂

We actually need more cyclists

I could very happily do with far fewer................

Air pollution causes over 30,000 premature deaths a year in the UK. Even electric cars release particulate matter.

Buses and walking are never going to be a complete answer.

I don't think it is debatable, we need more cycling instead of driving. Urgently. To cut carbon, to cut obesity, to reduce disease, to support wildlife, to avoid the death of the high street. Disease and death resulting from car use causes misery, whereas bikes are good for health and the environment. And they're fun.

Yes, there are a few idiots on bikes but you have to look at the bigger picture.

No road users pay road tax. It isn't a thing. Hasn't been since it was abolished in 1937.

I don’t know if it’s true that most cyclists are good road users. They certainly don’t need any test to be on the road. But I’ll accept it.

I don’t propose anything. (Although I do find the idea of bike plates, or compulsory, numbered, hi-viz jackets appealing.)

I just want cyclists to recognise their responsibilities, stop being so self-important and stop making excuses for inconsiderate and dangerous behaviour.

In an ideal world, we should have properly maintained, entirely separate cycle lanes that allow cyclists to get to their destination without endangering themselves or causing a huge amount of inconvenience to others, and also, where possible, get them there a lot more directly than a car would.