Are cyclists hated in your country?

[boyl99]

I am in the UK, and cyclists are subject to hatred, both generally and in the media.

Any cycling infrastructure plans are attacked as being "anti-motorist", we are all inconsiderate scum who clog up the roads, jump red lights, etc.

Is your country equally anti-cyclist?

They hate fat bikes in the Netherlands. Some towns are trying to ban them.

I wish people would not generalise about cohorts of people. It makes no sense. I am a cyclist in London, a driver, a
Pedestrian, and the other most hated group, a dog walker. And you know I refuse to lump a negative label on someone unless I have a bloody good reason to!

So most cyclists I see are fine, but I do see idiots cycling way too fast past pedestrians, or zooming over roads where drivers would never see you until they hit you, they seem to be on a suicide mission. But equally I have drivers who give me no space when overtaking me, once the wing mirror clipped my arm. I have also been screamed at by pedestrians for cycling on a shared path that they clearly did not realise was one! I showed them the blue sign!

As a pedestrian I get annoyed with cyclists who don’t ring their bell when coming up from behind, yet when I ring my bell I get yelled at. But then I also get pissed of at pedestrians who walk in the middle of a shared path with headphones so can’t even bloody hear my bell so I have taken to using flashing lights on my bike so they might see that… but I imagine many drivers hate my flashing lights.

We all hate idiot drivers but not all drivers are idiots just the same with cyclists, we’re not
all total idiots arseholes on a death wish!

In Amsterdam, I once saw a man riding a bike with a dog under his arm, smoking a gigantic joint. Something I have never forgotten.

Its not rubbish. I grew up in oxford, a very pro cycling city. Then lived in Manchester, London, and now Brighton.
The anti cycling rhetoric over the last fifteen years has been eakping up. Driven (haha) initially by that Top Gear twat and then perpetuated by that strange algorithm that turned antivaxers into anti- cycle lanes/eanti- environmentalist and then Reform lovers (Basicially led by the Russians who gathered gathered all the gullible people).

I slammed into the back of a car (while cycling) because he overtook me when he couldn't see if there anything coming towards him. Unfortunately there was a lorry coming that went over the central line. So the car weaved back in front of me and then braked hard. I slammed into him, got some nasty injuries and he drove off.

There was also a man living in my road who I used to start driving towards cyclists and at the last minute he would swerve to avoid them.

Well no and I dont hate cyclists. Fine if you're travelling to work but I think what pp is referring to is getting stuck behind a group of cyclists on a long windy road which is the only route, thereby taking far longer to get to work.

Yes exactly.

I have been overtaken by cars quite a few times when I have been (on my bicycle) stopped at red light.

I also Iive by a car park thar has traffic lights at the entrance for cars making a right turn into it. I go over this crossing daily. Most days. I see cars going over that red light. Maybe the green is very short? Either way, he's dangerous.

I mean tractors are also annoying but they tend to turn off and not travel too far on main roads

I used to cycle a lot but I never cycled in a pack in Lycra taking up the entire width of road. That seems to be pretty much always men. They are the only ones I hate.

OP, I don't see that. I'm in the UK, in a rural area, about 5 miles outside the nearest town.

We cycle for fun and to work, and haven't experienced any aggression so far.

We have some cycle paths locally, farm tracks, canal tow paths and footpaths that allow us to avoid main roads.

We are considerate of other road users and pedestrians, and we don't do daft stuff like jump red lights.

I know London is horribly aggressive but our area of the country to be generally sane.

Cyclists are dangerous to pedestrians so it's hard to imagine anywhere really loves them

Based on last year's figures, around 27 pedestrians have been killed by motor vehicles since the beginning of the year. That's more than cyclists kill in a decade. Why do you think cyclists are especially dangerous to pedestrians?

Why do you care what clothes people are wearing?

Do you not understand how what you are doing is picking some completely innocent characteristic and using it to demonise a whole bunch of people? So many people go on about cyclists in lycra and that turns into people seeing someone on a bike in lycra and hating them when the poor bugger hasn't done anything wrong

Live in a village, minimal street lights,DH went to the shop yesterday at 5.30, almost hit a cyclist,no lights,dressed in black. We used to cycle a lot,both for pleasure,he cycled to work 6 months of the year, 25 miles. Did the London to Brighton for the BHF. I went to local town recently, pedestrianised shopping centre, spent so much time jumping out of the way of bikes,both manual and electric..there are cycle tracks along the main road, cyclists don't use them. I am shocked when I actually see a cyclist stop at a red light.

Bikes on busy roads in rush hour do not actually increase your journey time significantly I think. They cause a temporary slow down in one direction on a carriageway, and the once you do overtake you tend to make up the lost time fairly quickly as you have empty road ahead of you until you catch up the traffic again. If it's rush hour there isn't much catching up to do anyway. It just feels like you lost more time than you did.

People stopping in cars at the side of the road to do drop offs, pop to a shop or whatever cause much longer delays when it means two cars can't pass. Or trucks doing longer drop offs etc, but that's just a necessary part of life sometimes.

People in cars are generally impatient and dislike anything that slows them down, or wants to go faster than them. I still get annoyed by bikes in the moment, or by people driving 38mph in 50 zone etc, but I know it's not actually costing me much time at all.

We can’t ban slow vehicles from the roads though - yes they slow down journey times and you have to wait until it’s safe to overtake, but it’s part of driving. Lots of other things slow down journeys (eg temporary traffic lights or traffic jams) - you have to be able to manage delays as a driver.

Club cycling is a harmless hobby, that benefits rural tea shops. Lycra is a very commonly used fabric and Lycra sports leggings seem to be rather fashionable at present. There’s really no reason to “hate” any of this - they are just normal people.

I’m in Australia and notice this. I’m not a cyclist. It’s a very driving-based culture - I’m amazed at how many people on MN don’t drive, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t and everybody ‘very rural’ (which means something very very different here than in most of the UK) drives from a very young age.

There are certainly cyclists acting like idiots but I see far more drivers doing so, both as a driver and as someone who works at a trauma centre.

And if you'd been wearing a camera, or if it had been on cctv, or if someone had witnessed it, you would have had their registration number and they would have been easily traced.

I live in a rural, coastal village. Our lanes are very narrow, steep and winding. There’s the odd cyclist, horse rider, tractor etc. As a driver I expect and accept that. It’s not annoying.

What is annoying is the packs of MAMILS on racing bikes that arrive here in the spring and summer taking racing lines down hills and generally being aggressive road hogs. They are dangerous to be around and seem surprised that the tiny winding coastal lane they are madly racing down also happens to be our main road, and you will meet cars, vans, tractors, horses, runners and massive double decker buses. These cyclists behave like everyone else is the problem and I do wish they would fuck off back to London or wherever the hell they come from.

These cyclists behave like everyone else is the problem

As opposed to you who believes that cyclists (or from your point of view, 'everybody else') are the problem.

There are plenty of arseholes around; on bikes, in cars, walking, driving white vans. I don't believe cyclists are more likely to be arseholes than anybody else on the road - and I believe that if you think they are then you are the problem.

We all have to share limited space and we use that space in different ways. You may be in a hurry, I may be dawdling along. I have a right to dawdle and you need to put up with that and behave safely.

Cyclists get blamed (as you do here) for being too fast. And they get blamed for being too slow. People complain when they ring their bells and then complain when they don't ring them. They can't do right for doing wrong.

We have to share the roads and those in motor vehicles need to be aware that they are the most dangerous road users, and the least vulnerable and we all need to act with more consideration for our fellow humans

We have to share the roads and those in motor vehicles need to be aware that they are the most dangerous road users, and the least vulnerable and we all need to act with more consideration for our fellow humans

Now substitute roads for paths, those in motor vehicles for those on bikes, dangerous road users for dangerous path users - and I will agree wholeheartedly.

I’m in the UK and while I get irritated by inconsiderate cyclists who jump lights, ride 3 abreast (when there’s a long trail of cars behind them), I still don’t ‘hate’ them. No matter how irritated I get, I don’t make stupid manoveres which could endanger life. I just have to give them a wide berth and grit my teeth.

Well, we've agreed on something then - even though, obviously, the danger to a cyclist (or pedestrian) from a car is multiple factors greater compared to that posed from a cyclist to a pedestrian.

I don't understand people who get het up about cyclists. I think they're like people who raise funds and awareness for more NHS wart removal services. The NHS is short of funds and people are dying of cancer and heart disease. Yes, we can agree that having warts can be horrible, but it's so trivial compared to the bigger stuff

@MeouwKingI see your dog and raise you a goat, which was clearly not enjoying the experience and bleating like mad. The farmer wasn't smoking a joint though.
I've also seen people clutching a clothes horse, an ironing board, and a car battery.

Yes, I agree with you that there are cyclists on paths which are shared with pedestrians are absolute morons. Far too many of them are completely ignorant of our Scottish Outdoor Access Code which includes a section for cyclists -

"On narrow routes, cycling may cause problems for other people, such as walkers and horse riders. If this occurs, dismount and walk until the path becomes suitable again. Do not endanger walkers and horse riders: give other users advance warning of your presence and give way to them on a narrow path"