To be sick of cyclists making pedestrians feel unsafe

[OptimismvsRealism]

Life is so much worse than it was ten years ago in cities precisely because of this

Well, drivers pay road tax as well as council tax. So yes, they need to contribute to the put the infrastructure for better cycling routes.

I don’t cycle but my friend is an avid cyclist and went through a phase of every day being overtaken by the same truck who would loudly honk his horn just as he overtook her, just for fun.

I've had cyclists zoom past me on the pavement with inches to spare who only start ringing the bell and shouting "coming through!!!" As they're about a foot away.

So yes the truck driver was a dick. And as you said anyone can be a dick. Cyclists can be dicks.

I work in central London and the area I commute to is horrific for pedestrians at rush hour because of cyclists. There are banks of them going so fast, running red lights (at least once a day I witness this), going up on pavements when it suits then. It’s so dangerous. Nothing is done, ever.

I'm more than happy to pay the same amount of road tax for my bike as any other low or non emitting vehicle.

Which is....£0. Where do i send the cheque?

Not forgetting ved is not ringfenced for the roads.

As a pedestrian, I disagree. Car drivers are far more entitled and dangerous than cyclists. My daily walk to work generally involves at least one pedestrian crossing blocked by stationary car, at least one car jumping red light, several refusing to acknowledge pedestrian right of way when crossing side road and many parked on the pavement.

The basic truth is that PEOPLE can be prats. Their method of transport does not make them any better or worse

I got hit by a cyclist in Hyde Park this week. Then he shouted at me, for standing on the grass at the edge of the path, where he wanted to overtake some other cyclists, along with other pedestrians waiting to cross. While I was facing the other way, waiting for my friend.

Then he asked indignantly if I hadn't seen him.

So just fuck deaf people then? Not everyone hears you shout!

I tend to find people with disabilities take in their surroundings when travelling around and don’t just walk into the road with no warning. Young children don’t tend to be out by themselves and most parents teach their children to be aware of their surroundings or at least look out for their children to keep them safe and to stop them doing anything dangerous.

It’s not all pedestrians are inconsiderate in the same way that not all cyclists go through red lights and cycle on pavements. And not all divers are bad either. But as a cyclist I have far more problems with pedestrians than I do as a pedestrian with cyclists.

These kind of threads never go well with everyone getting angry with everyone else. We all need to be aware of our surroundings and be considerate of other people

Yes, in some areas cyclists have far too much priority over pedestrians and it is full of entitled aggressive city wankers riding furiously, probably the same way they drive when they get behind a wheel. There are far more people on foot in most locations and traffic and bikes should be kept further away from pedestrians on specific routes, and should certainly have to give way.

Pretty sure a deaf person would look before they step out onto the road to make sure nothing is coming

This is completely untrue. Cyclists can and do get fined for cycling n pavements, jumping red lights etc. As with speeding/dangerous driving by motorists, it depends how much resource the police choose to dedicate to this.

The police might take a risk-based approach to enforcement, and it would be understandable if they devote more resources to tackling bad motorists as they are responsible for hundreds if not thousands of deaths each year. Cyclists are typically responsible for around one pedestrian death each year (you’re more likely to die being struck by lightning).

Cyclists can be held legally accountable for deaths and injuries they cause - the fact bikes are not insured or licensed and there is no specific offence of “death by dangerous cycling” doesn’t mean there is no recourse.

Obviously there are idiot cyclists about just as there are idiot cars and pedestrians, but of the three they are statistically most vulnerable. Mostly due to poor cycling infrastructure and bad driving.

Sadly I have to disagree...I've faced the following this week. Teenage school girl wandered out into the middle of the road and got upset when I shouted a warning, I just managed to serve around her. Young women walking in the middle of a shared pavement/cycle path staring at her phone. I stopped and she walked in to my front wheel. Dog darting into the road to attack me, thankfully the lead was short.
Brushed by a motor home on a fairly wide a road. Car overtaking me on a blind bend, I haven't a clue how there wasn't a crash.

I cycle for fitness and to get from a to b. I am never in a rush and pull over to let trucks especially past..but if there is a clear build up of traffic I stop.

Cyclists are better for the environment, pollution, congestion, road safety and life in general than motorists.

These threads are annoying - assuming all cyclists are the same, that cyclists aren't pedestrians too & also no consideration for how it may feel to fear for your life on a bike due to behaviour of motor vehicles drivers who can kill you in a moment. Then of course the tax arguments get surfaced, with loads of misinformation.

I cycle to work daily in London & also use my bike for other errands. Cycling in the capital has become a lot safer in recent years with more segregated infrastructure, 20mph on almost all roads & more cyclists (safety in numbers) but I still experience regular close passing (which is incredibly scary), drivers blocking the advanced cycle box and a lack of giving way to cyclists going straight on at junctions by drivers who want to turn (sometimes it's as if the drivers simply do not see you).

Like all other cyclists I am also frequently a pedestrian and do sadly experience some poor behaviour of cyclists. On one crossing en route to my kids school, cyclists often jump the lights, and I've had some hairy moments there when my kids have nearly been hit by a bike. I often shout at these cyclists and a few of them act so entitled, that they are in the right when they clearly aren't. HOWEVER, while many cyclists jump these lights not all do. I never run red lights when I cycle and always give way at zebra crossings (I go over one on my route to work and witness cars not giving way far more frequently than cyclists).

Now let's get onto tax. There is no road tax, money for road maintenance comes from general taxation so cyclists like everyone else contributes. VED & Fuel Duty are charged (at a far too low rate IMO) as a way of getting drivers to pay for the massive externalities caused by driving (ie when you drive a car you pollute the world around you, impacting on others, you should pay to mitigate against this).

No drivers don't

How many more times do people need to be told. There is no such thing as road tax!

It's always been bad, but all the food delivery ones are insanely dangerous. We desperately need some police on foot again to stop and prosecute them.

Cyclists have not changed much.

Car drivers have, or enough of them, that is the real issue. Police have less resources, the courts listen to bleeding heart stories once the cases actually get to court, and SUVs especially are driven by people who are unfit to drive them.

A dickhead is a dickhead regardless of which mode of transport they use.

The difference is, is that it's much easier to hurt or kill someone in a car than it is on a bike.

These people are not deaf. They are listening to air pods or whatever. Deliberately defeating yourself to the world around you and then being arsey with people you are surprised by because you choose not to listen to the world around makes you quite the dick. .

Though actually. Even if someone was deaf, being abusive as I carefully edge past because they are surprised by my existence would also make them an arse. What am I supposed to do? How many miles as I expected to travel at ambling walking pace on a canal path? You should surely expect that if you are deaf, that sometimes people will come up from behind you without you knowing they are there, and that is not the fault of the person behind you.

Though actually. Even if someone was deaf, being abusive as I carefully edge past because they are surprised by my existence would also make them an arse. What am I supposed to do? How many miles as I expected to travel at ambling walking pace on a canal path?

But when car drivers get annoyed because they are stuck behind cyclists going very slowly up a hill for miles they get told they just have to be patient and the cyclists have just as much right to use the road and no the cyclists don't have to pull over if they don't want to and they're fully entitled to cycle in the middle of the lane and tough luck just be patient and leave more time for your journey.

Car drivers can pass when it is am safe to do so, which is exactly what I am doing on my bike.

So sorry, your point does not stand.

That is not the whole story though tbf. Cyclists in the road have to use a bell to warn pedestrians they are aporoaching in Germany. Here in the Uk it appears that it is a babyish thing to do. I get a load of abuse every time l shout 'use your bell' as they sail past.
I have a son who lives in Oxfordshire, and we had a conversation about this sort of thing (as well as the amount of runners there are now). He said he only ever sees this in cities, presumably London/Surrey.
Sorry, but l dislike the lycra clad cyclists with a passion.

As a cyclist I have had verbal abuse for using my bell! 🤷‍♀️

You just can’t win!

Motorists are far worse than cyclists.