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?

Or maybe he’s just trying to get to work like everyone else?

Why would he have had to ‘slam in his brakes’?

I wondered that. Nipping back in combined with rapid braking would certainly illicit such a response

@Spirallingdownwards of course one would avoid a collision if one could, but the car in a collision would be in the wrong. DP had a very hefty insurance payout from a driver who thought that she could pull out in front of a cyclist, suspect her morning was somewhat wrecked while the police and an ambulance came. Cyclists are soft. Cars are hard.

And the more of us cycle, the more room overall!

And who is to say he isn't just a knob jockey twat who doesn't like a car had the audacity to pass him like SOME cyclists are.

DH uploads footage of 4-6 dangerous drivers (around cyclists) a week. Around half would be on narrow lanes. He gets feedback on each one - I’d say 50% are no action, 40% are “had a word” and 10% are progressed to prosecution.

I live in a town well known for having a large cycling continental including 4 members of my own family. For this reason I knkw there are some real dickead cyclists and some real dickhead motorists. The default does not always need to be that it is the motorist that is in the wrong. And that a cyclist gesticulating doesn't automatically make him the one in the right.

There is a big difference between a cyclist filtering past a bus/lorry in a slow moving/ stationery queue of traffic and a bus/ lorry passing a cyclist at 30-50mph with less than 1.5m. I can’t see how the cyclist is putting the bus driver in any danger.

But the taking over isn’t something to adjust to, in a scenario where the other oncoming car didn’t appear, the cyclist wouldn’t have needed to adapt anything, OP would have taken over and that’s that. When you’re taking over another car, you don’t expect them to change their speed, only to maintain it. Neither OP and cyclist saw the other car coming (especially the cyclist since OPs car would have probably blocked it from his view) therefore this argument that this cyclist should’ve ridden any differently is silly.

No what I am saying is they choose to put themselves in danger when it suits them.

He could also be going to work, so "choosing" to cycle instead of the Bentley 😂

You know what assuming does - don't you?

25 miles on country road to our nearest SEN school. Primary & Secidary also in same country road.

even if you lived within 2 miles, you'd need a death wish to walk it.

I would never have chosen to overtake a cyclist on a road like that - op describes it as tight and winding and busy. To give 1.5m she would have had to go right out into the opposite side of the road, just as you would to overtake a car. A bike isn't significantly slower - especially if it's your typical mamil in all the gear, they could well be doing 20mph.

Madness, clearly.

1.5 metres??? That's less than my height... I'd have been absolutely terrified if a car travelling at 25mph was that close when they "nipped in".

I really dont understand why so many people think that anyone on a bike is a lesser human being than someone in a car or on foot.

Yes you don't expect to but you do adapt to what happens around you - to the child that runs out, to the car on a motorway that brakes because there is a queue ahead, even to a traffic light changing. Every road user adapts to the circumstances around them - although some cyclists seem to believe they shouldn't have to - as evidenced by this thread.

1.5m is the distance you need to leave when moving past, it's nowhere near enough distance infront or behind!!! If that cyclist was a car you'd get the same reaction because you cut in without leaving anything approaching a safe stopping distance for the vehicle behind.

You are meant to leave at least 1.5m to your side while overtaking a cyclist. Allowing 1.5m when you cut back in is not very much, considering he is also moving forwards and would have had to slam his brakes on.

I share your frustrations at how difficult it is to encounter cyclists in a narrow lane, I don't think slow traffic and fast traffic should share the same roads, they are fundamentally incompatible leading to frustration on both sides. But these are the roads we have got....

But pulling in front of him at 1.5m isn't allowing safe space, it's cutting him up.

as I was overtaking I could see a car coming towards me so nipped in in front of him-

YADBU

OP knows it, hence the fretting that she was filmed driving recklessly.

My point is that the level of danger is not comparable and the cyclist makes that judgement for themselves based on the road conditions at the time and their own experience. If they get it wrong then yes they are to blame but they are not putting others in danger unlike in a close pass.

She cut him up probably, sure, but why would he have to slam his brakes on? That makes no sense - she was overtaking because she was going faster, so yes, the draught could have caught him, but neither of them had any reason to slow down.

She overtook, she didn't drive in front of him and slam her brakes on to a stop.

I drive on hilly, twisty country lanes, much beloved by cyclists to get my kids to school every day too. Most cyclists are absolutely fine - they even pull over into the side/a driveway when they know they've been holding up a queue of traffic. Maybe 1 in 20 is a bit of a jerk though, and will ride out in the the middle of the lane, preventing anyone from passing even in the safe spots, or ride side by side, or in a long queue with no room for a car between them so we're all stuck going 10kph (if we're lucky) behind them up the hill (on a 60kph road)

Op, your the reason why I don't use roads for my cycling any more.
I have had 1 to many terrifying near misses.
Roads aren't just for Chelsea tractors. We all pay our taxes to use the roads.

1.5m in front is very tight! It would have taken a second for the cyclist to collide if they hadn't slammed their breaks on, so that would have been terrifying for the cyclist. The cyclist shouldn't have had to change their speed at all to compensate someone "nipping" in front of them.
My DH cycles in Lycra in the morning rush hour as he has to get to work an hour away so has to change clothes.

Whilst I agree to this in general, in this specific scenario, 1.5m is not enough stopping distance for the cyclist to slow as slamming on the brakes would make them go over the handles. It’s not as controlled as slamming the brakes on a car.

She may not have slammed her brakes on and come to a stop but with an on coming car and being on the wrong side of the road it’s highly likely that she did slow down suddenly as she ‘nipped in’ without indicating and at the same time blocking the view of the cyclist who wouldn’t be able to see the oncoming car and therefore can’t react as quickly.

Op isn't coming back and this is just going to descend into drivers vs cyclists

Op, from your description alone and not making any other assumptions, it does sound like you cut him up. Cyclists are vulnerable, please be more careful in future