Cyclist gesticulating wildly at me

[FrankyGoesToBollywood]

On the school run this morning which involves driving down a narrow winding lane which is always very busy at school run time. The lane is wide enough for two cars but it’s tight. There are three schools on this route and at school drop off and pick ups times it’s busy and congested. It’s 30mph. This morning I was driving along at about 25mph and a man dressed in serious looking cycling gear was cycling. I overtook him with quite a bit of space, definitely more than the 1.5m minimum, and as I was overtaking I could see a car coming towards me so nipped in in front of him- again definitely more than 1.5m from him. My windows were closed but I could then hear him shouting wildly “what the F was that!!” Over and over again and gesticulating. I didn’t indicate. I’m worried he will report me he was going wild, I genuinely thought I was driving quite considerately until I saw his reaction!

I’m now second guessing how close I was to him when I pulled in in front of him, and thinking he will report me and upload footage. If so how likely is it I will hear about it or be prosecuted?

Husband was knocked off his bike by a driver. He is a MAMIL and triathlete. It was a Sunday. It’s pretty scary and he got loads of compensation. Driver got a police caution. She was outraged and refused to cooperate as she needed the car for the kids. I’m sure her premiums shot up as a results. Husbands bike was fixable and his clothing was shredded he broke his fingers, thumb bruising and grazing and cuts all over his body. Had a week of work and 12 hours in A and E.

Drivers don’t realise how fast cyclists are going.

if you needs to “nip in” it means that there wasn’t enough space to overtake in the first place.

he could have been doing 20kmh easily on the flat. And if you are nipping and potentially braking to slow down it is a recipe for disaster.

you need to ensure you have all 4 wheels over the white line and can see far enough in the distance to ensure there are no oncoming vehicles. this is what you problem is

In your defence - Going out in the school rush is pretty stupidly for the cyclist.

Yes it is possible that he had a camera and might report you. I do cycle with cameras and have sent in footage to the police where someone has come dangerously close to me. Without good footage however they can’t do anything. They do take it seriously and do take action if they agree with you. It does sound like you came to close as you moved back in, many people misjudge the speed of a cyclist and think they are leaving more space than they do. The wild gesticulation will be fueled by adrenaline as it’s very scary when someone does misjudge it, as he was the more vulnerable road user you have a duty to take greater care than if he was in a car. Please leave more space next time and check for oncoming cars/ enough visibility to complete your move.

If you read the original post you will see she says she still gave requisite space for the cyclists on this occasion so it isn't the scenario you are describing. It is ridiculous that some people can't accept that some cyclists can be dickheads in the same way some drovers can be.

You overtook took the cyclist where there wasnt a clear view and had to pull in suddently in front of him..That's why he was waving at you. You need to be more careful.

If there are three schools on one road I assume this isn’t a rural area.

This. Wtf OP!

Since when was leaving 1.5m in front of a cyclist when ‘nipping in’ enough space? That’s a split second that you’ve given a cyclist to slam on their brakes. That’s why they were cross.

Was it Jeremy Vine?

I’m worried he will report me he was going wild, I genuinely thought I was driving quite considerately until I saw his reaction!

sounds like you were driving wild rather than him. It's dangerous what you did cutting back in right in front of him esp without indicating. Doesn't sound it's like a good place to overtake if you cannot do it safely. You need to have a think how you are driving instead of complaining about a cyclist whose only crime appears to be to have been wearing 'serious looking cycling gear'. WTF is that even?? I hope he reports you.

She gave enough width from him, but cutting back in front of him with just 1 or 2 meters is too close. And she has to because she overtook when she couldn’t see the road ahead. This is just bad driving. I live in an area with a lot of cyclists and have my share of stories of really shitty cyclist doing stupid things; this isn’t one of those. OP was entirely wrong to have overtaken when she did and in the way she did.

No bitbit could be that the schools are in the one larger town and that people are travelling in from rural areas. Not enough info provided. It could be that OP has to get one kid to nursery after one time, one kid to school after one time and still get to work before one time - the reality of which means she needs to use her car. It always mystified me when people genuinely believe we should all have the exact same life as them! Usually those who have the leisure of being able to walk or cycle their kids to school who can't fathom not everyone can!

You basically cut him up. He probably narrowly avoided ploughing into the back of you or you forced him to slam his brakes on- bikes can be travelling pretty fast and stopping from 20mph or so takes a second or two, especially if you want to stay on the bike. You're not protected by a ton of metal, a seat belt and airbags. You scared him. It's very hard to be sanguine when someone almost injured or killed you. I'm the calmest person imaginable but even I will let my feelings known in this situation. Have a think about if you would have failed your driving test for that. You would have.

I mean I use my bike both to get to work and do the school run (and oh my god, am a woman!). I also have a car. You know what's really going to delay your morning and all future mornings? A dead cyclist.

You do know that some people cycle to work, right?

Yeah I agree with the posters that perhaps you should have overtaken when your view of the road ahead was clear. Sounds like you were going up a hill or a bendy road or one with loads of trees of sorts and your visibility would have been impacted. Also you need to acknowledge that cars can cause wind to blow in the direction of the cyclist and wobble him as well as startle them if they’re going fast and feel they wouldn’t be able to break in time as you didn’t leave enough distance between him and your car when you moved back to your side of the road. I can see how the fear of that would have affected him emotionally.

No. She overtook with a passing distance of 1.5m which is fine. But then pulled in front of him by her own admission only 1.5m in front of him. Which isn’t fine. Not when he’s travelling in her direction. She would have struggled to estimate his speed and I’m guessing he felt in danger of going into the back of her. Bikes have a stopping distance of more than 1.5m.

Sounds like she did a dangerous overtake You shouldn’t overtake where you can’t see far enough in front of you to put yourself in the position of having to nip back in quickly to avoid an oncoming car.

Cyclists like motorists should adapt their cycling to the road conditions. They too can slow down especially in a situation where they too would have seen the oncoming car and know a car was passing them. Unfortunately they often don't. We see too often the same cyclists who scream 1.5 metres squeezing between cars, alongside buses and lorries because apparently it doesn't apply in reverse when it suits them.

God I hate it when cars cut you up like that at close range, it's terrifying.

He wasn't gesticulating and shouting just for lolz - he must have been freaked out, and I can't blame him

How much time will that overtake have saved you, in the long run ? 60 .. maybe 90 seconds ?

I have a cyclist friend who was killed in similar circumstances, just bide your time.

The cyclist was cycling along a road. The car coming in the other direction was in the other carriageway. They didn’t need to adapt their cycling for anything (apart from the appalling driver who cut them up and forced them to slam on their brakes).

Quite the opposite. MN hates cyclists and assumes all of us are dangerous, erratic, red light jumpers. When the stats all show that most cyclists are safe and law abiding, but much like bad drivers like OP, drivers notice the bad cyclists.

A car nipping back in barely ahead of you is frightening. You have to brake to get the distance back, lose momentum, which is much harder to regain on a bike. 1.5m in front of you is too close when you are moving at speed, you cannot see the road surface to spot metal work or potholes. All it takes is the driver to touch a brake as they often do when pulling back in, and you are in the rear window.

Most of the ciclysts are entitled twats.
Someone had to say it.

Okay then. A car pulls out of a side road for example. The cyclists don't have to adjust their cycling they can of course plough straight into the obstruction. Don't be so daft. Every road user has to adjust their behaviour to the conditions of the road and the other users around them.

Report her for what? Not hitting an oncoming car? She pulled in. He was not travelling as fast as her. That 1.5m gap will have only increased.

Op, you said that "The lane is wide enough for two cars but it’s tight." So if it was tight, did you also slow down immediately after the overtake so that you could carefully squeeze past the oncoming car? Or were you able to keep going at a faster speed than the cyclist? If the former then it is fair enough for the cyclist to be angry.

Who’s to say he didn’t do this? He could have been braking hard in order for the OP to be able to nip back in. It’s unlikely he’d have carried on happily pedalling while being freaked out enough to gesticulate afterwards.