Group of cyclists not letting cars past- is this legal?

[Serenity674]

Interested in whether this was legal. Was driving to my parents this morning, they live remotely so it was a single track country road, although not narrow, with wide verges on either side.

i came up behind a group of circa 20 cyclists, probably doing about 15-20mph and ended up stuck behind them for about 10 mins. Round the bends was fine and they actually went faster than I would have gone in my car but there were several very long straight stretches of road where I could have got up to 30-40 mph (it’s a NSL road) but they wouldn’t move to let me past, just rode 2 or 3 abreast taking up the whole road. They definitely knew I was there as the ones at the back kept looking behind at me.

i know the law says cyclists can ride 2 abreast and it’s actually safer as it means cars overtake them properly but surely this doesn’t apply regardless of the road? Were they just doing the safe thing or should they have let me past?

I am a horse rider so i am always on the side of passing more vulnerable road users safely but this just seemed like a bit of a dick move- or were they actually doing this for a reason I’m unaware of? If I was riding my horse on a road like this I would ride 2 abreast until the car slows down then move into single file to let them past.

Found the obnoxious cyclist....
Ten minutes is a long time if you have kids to collect....and why be purposely obstructive anyway? 🙄

Seems cyclists have the right to ride on public roads, and drivers must respect their space. However, cyclists should not intentionally block traffic or obstruct other road users.
Cyclists should be mindful of their impact on traffic and allow others to pass when possible.

So you want them knocked off?

Regular cyclist here. Cyclists will ride away from the kerb in primary position if it is unsafe (from the cyclist's perspective) for motorists to overtake. Where it is safe to overtake, they will move into secondary position. On narrow country lanes, it is rarely safe to overtake a cyclist so sometimes you will have to deal with waiting behind them. That is a feature of driving on minor roads and is no different to being stuck behind a farm vehicle, horse riders or a nervous driver who thinks their car will explode if they exceed 20 mph. If anyone tries to complain to me personally about holding them up, I will suggest they use the parallel primary A road or dual carriageway if they want to go fast, rather than rat-running along B and unclassified roads.

Having said this if there are in a group, they should break up and leave gaps when it is safe for drivers to overtake. I used to do this when I was out with the local cycling club. I agree there are thoughless bastards out there who go around with a ladedadedadeda-nooneelseexistsbutme-ladedadeda mindset and wouldn't notice if a hand grenade exploded next to them, frequently found in SE England. These are probably the same people who drive at 40 mph everywhere even where the speed limit and road conditions allow for NSL. Since giving such gormless people a slap is illegal, we unfortunately are stuck with the externalised inconvenience.

Leave time for delays surely

Why would they be deliberately obstructive? What possible gain do they have by being deliberately obstructive? Just stop and think about it for a minute please. If you haven't got 10 minutes padding in your day to account for minor delays, get out of bed earlier, sort your time management out, or stop dawdling yourself during other times of the day.

What do you mean, it “seems” they have the right to ride on public road? Cyclists have always had this right, from before cars were even invented. Moreover, unlike driver’s, they don’t need a licence to do so.

I have this a lot - I live rurally and tow a horse trailer and often get stuck behind huge groups of them for 20/30minutes as its totally impossible to overtake them doing 10mph up hills with such a long vehicle with precious cargo. On one occasion i was trying to get to the vet with a very serious horse emergency, think life or death situation I wound down my window tried to call excuse me but they don't give a flying fuck. It aggravates me beyond belief, its very selfish. Yet when I am riding my horse out on the roads they will happily whiz past at great speed scaring the poor thing half to death screaming at each other about their speed. For me road cyclists on racing bikes are the worst kind of road user i experience as an equestrian mountain bikers (all call out to let us know they are coming) car drivers, motrocyclists, lorry drivers on the whole all treat our horses with great respect and we always make sure we move out of the way for them.

Precisely. There are a lot of drivers that try to squeeze past if they go single file even if it’s unsafe due to the conditions of the road (specifically the road being too narrow / single track).

which is probably why they’ve developed this „tactic“.

and as pp said: could have just as well been a tractor or similar.

As ops have said, the Highway Code is quite clear on this and I think it’s more about considerate road use and courtesy. Not a road, but I was running down a wide-ish tarmac track the other day (well used by runners, dog walkers etc) and 4 Lycra clad cyclists came along in the opposite direction. None of them made any effort to move over to let me past and I ended up having to run on the verge - they even smiled and waved at me as they sailed past me scrambling through the brambles! Some cyclists are sensible and courteous but some definitely have an entitled approach to their hobby!!

"You can ride two abreast and it can be safer to do so, particularly in larger groups..."
So, they were right to ride 2 abreast (20 is a larger group).

"Be aware of drivers behind you and allow them to overtake (for example, by moving into single file or stopping) when you feel it is safe to let them do so"
There were 20 of them. They'd all have to move to single file, which is hard to coordinate. And, if they had done, they'd form a line c. 50 m. long. This would take around 45 seconds to pass at 30mph (assuming the cyclists were doing 10mph), 37 if they stopped (even harder to coordinate). I'm guessing the road was winding (single lane country roads usually are). There would, I'm guessing, be few or, more likely, no stretches of this road where a car could zoom past at 30 mph for 45 seconds and be sure that a vehicle wouldn't come from the opposite direction before they'd passed all the cyclists. If one did, the OP would have had 3 options:

1. Brake furiously and hope the tail of the cyclist group passes them (allowing them to pull in) before the oncoming car hits them;
2. Accelerate furiously and hope they pass the head of the cyclist group before the oncoming car hits them;
3. Pull in to the group of cyclists before the oncoming car hits them, hoping the cyclists can dodge out of the way before the OP hit them.

None of these fall under the Highway Code's injunction of "safe to let them do so"

Cyclists are aware of these things. Most car drivers don't have a clue.

Did you actually read the OP.? It was a single track country road there is no other side. The clue is in the phrase “single track”. “Single” meaning “one” 🙄🙄🙄

I agree road users need to be respectful. Just because its not illegal to do something doesn't mean you should and hold up traffic. In fact the HWC is set out to facilitate traffic flow.

Some cyclists just like some motorised vehicle drivers are AHs.🙄😡😬

🙄 yourself! Have you seen the photo? Two cars can pass, they were being dickheads!

Do cyclists pay Road tax?

It shouldn’t need pointing but those who want cyclists knocked off just remember they are someone’s Mum/Dad/Son/Daughter/Partner etc. They may even be someone who helps you and your family (Doctor, Nurse, Teacher, supermarket staff etc). Try to look at it that way and remember it’s quite rare to encounter a truly horrible person who actually wants to ruin your day or make you late.

Yeah but... It's pretty common to refer to 'road tax' and everyone knows what they mean, so I think you're being pedantic. I think almost everybody says they need to 'tax' their car.

Nope nor do horse riders. There isn’t an option to.

There’s no such thing as road tax. Do pedestrians pay a pavement tax? The cost of roads and pavements is met from general taxation, which nearly everyone pays. It’s also worth noting that most cyclists also own a car, so are already paying the vehicle excise duty.

This, Fairly typical I’m afraid.

but they cycle for miles and a country lane isn’t 20 miles an hour it’s 60. A tractor doesn’t drive miles it drives to the next field. What a stupid comment. You obviously don’t live in the countryside.

Cyclists do not pay road tax or need insurance .

These cyclists are usually in cycling clubs and do it on purpose. They're a pain in the arse!!!!

That logic suggests that road users in general should only be allowed to use the road for urgent reasons. That seems somewhat OTT. The chances that a driver is on their way to a dying parent are pretty low, surely... much more likely that they're on their way to the shop.

As a cyclist and driver, I maintain that cyclists have the right to cycle in a way that maximises their safety. That does not mean hugging the gutter and stopping every time a car appears on the horizon, it means being confident in your legal right to be on the road.

It is very concerning, the number of drivers here basically threatening cyclists that "if you get in my way it'll be dangerous for you". But yes, cyclists are the entitled ones, whereas all car journeys are essential and urgent. Got it, thanks.

These arguments and threads never actually get anywhere do they

Lets just remind ourselves of the injury statistics, quick google:

”An average of 2 cyclist deaths and 83 serious injuries occur weekly”

Do any of the bad, impatient and uniformed drivers want to contribute similar statistics re death and injuries committed by cyclists upon drivers…

Fwiw the last dangerous incident involving a cyclist and driver I was involved in was just a week ago. I approached a bend on a good NSL road doing around 45-50. Suddenly, in my lane approaching at around 30 mph (so a closing speed of 80mph!!!) was a Land Rover that had decided to blindly overtake a cyclist on the entrance to the bend

Thankfully I’m alert as a driver, fit good tyres to my car and it has good ABS. My ds afterwards said he thought we would have a head on collision but thankfully slowed enough. Do you know what the (woman with kids in the back of her Land Rover) did?

She lsughed as she scraped infront on the cyclist.

This is the reality of selfish motorists in this country.