Cyclists apopletic about law being applied to them
- Thread starter Resident
- Start date
Just to echo this sentiment, I was out on a ride on a country lane with hedges lining the side of the road. Someone decides to overtake me round a blind corner
. I could see there was car on oncoming and stuck out my hand to say no, but they proceeded anyway. It almost ends up in a head on collision. The car doing the overtake had to brake hard before swerving back into their lane. The passengers of both cars most likely saw their lives flash before there eyes.
Soldato
You must ride on very different roads to me. It's rarely unsafe for a driver to pass and when it isn't, it's so obvious that there is no gap on a narrow country lane they have no option but to wait. On the handful of occasions I've nearly been taken out, all were on roads with plenty of space. Every time it was driver error. There's no right to moan as a cyclist riding side by side as most other road users simply aren't aware like I say. I'll take the none confrontational option every time.
Just to echo this sentiment, I was out on a ride on a country lane with hedges lining the side of the road. Someone decides to overtake me round a blind corner
I had an incident like this - it was a mess - car coming the other way decided to overtake 2 cyclists on a bend in the dark, cyclists weren't using proper lights - only light between the two of them was single forward facing white light, mostly dark clothing and no high vis, etc. all I could do was pull over to the side as far as possible - didn't even have a chance to brake and the other driver swerved back in very close to the lead cyclist.
Caporegime
Anyone who complains about cyclists should be made to cycle on our roads for a few weeks. Probably a day will be enough. You will have a dozen or more cars pull dodgy overtakes on you, come within a foot of you when overtaking and generally make you feel like you might die at any moment.
I had a skip truck decide to pass me just as we were coming up to a section of road with a bollard in the centre. Quite scary having what was probably a 10+ tonne truck come within a foot of you going at 40MPH. Its OK though because he couldn't have waited the 10s until it was safe to pass.
People in cars who drive like utter ***** don't realise how much the survive on luck and other road users compensating for their ****.
The sort of people who drive like idiots but use the fact they haven't had a crash as proof they are a good and safe driver.
I had a skip truck decide to pass me just as we were coming up to a section of road with a bollard in the centre. Quite scary having what was probably a 10+ tonne truck come within a foot of you going at 40MPH. Its OK though because he couldn't have waited the 10s until it was safe to pass.
People in cars who drive like utter ***** don't realise how much the survive on luck and other road users compensating for their ****.
The sort of people who drive like idiots but use the fact they haven't had a crash as proof they are a good and safe driver.
100% this, said as a driver. I rarely cycle these days but the worst examples of **** poor driving have always been people overtaking me where there just isn’t the space to do so into oncoming traffic. I’ve been clipped a few times and there were very few rides where I didn’t need to take to verges or just full on emergency brake to avoid crashes. Nuts really when you think about it. And yes, before any one asks, I also stopped at lights.
I’ve even had drivers overtake me when I’m in my car into oncoming traffic to get round a cyclist to save those previous 10 seconds. Needless to say, the car ended up stopped on the other side of the road with the driver of the oncoming car on the other side of the road getting out and going full primal on them.
I’m super cautious around cyclists, inexperienced cyclists are very un-predictable, experienced cyclists are often going much faster than a lot of drivers expect.
That said you can spot an experienced cyclist a mile away, their road position is usually very clear and they tend to make very clear shoulder checks before doing anything. The solder check is the give away, particularly when coming up to a junction or obstruction but most people just seem to ignore it and try to put the pass on anyway. Completely ignoring the road ahead.
Soldato
Case in point this morning when I was out walking the dog on a country lane, facing traffic. Woman is driving her car straight at me with no deviation from her line. I had to get her attention because I was worried she was going to hit us. She then slammed her brakes on, reversed back and gave me a mouthful of abuse about how I had "loads of room" and "what was I supposed to do, there could be cars coming the other way?!"
****ing stupid, selfish idiot. Motorists are unwilling to inconvenience other motorists for a second but will treat everyone else like ****. See also, pavement parking.
Clearly.
****ing stupid, selfish idiot. Motorists are unwilling to inconvenience other motorists for a second but will treat everyone else like ****. See also, pavement parking.
Clearly.
Man of Honour
People like that tend to lose wing mirrors more often than none, if you know what I mean
Doing a shoulder check while not deviating from your line is a skill that takes a lot of experience too. It is very easy to put weight on the outside drop bar and cause you to swerve towards the centre of the road. Like this: https://twitter.com/petemorristwit/status/1368017933818028039
Another, '...the driver isn't aware, so it's not their fault...' defence and then victim blaming? They're weak arguments and need to be called out whenever they're regurgitated.
The fact is, the vast majority of safe overtakes require the vehicle to cross the centre white line. It doesn't matter whether you're crossing this line by 50cm or 2m, you're still crossing it and shouldn't do so if oncoming traffic, for example, prevents the safe execution of the manoeuvre. So it doesn't usually matter if there are multiple cyclists side by side, you still have to cross the white line and shouldn't do so if it's not safe (as per the HC and multiple statements to this effect by police forces on social media). You should not eat into the passing 'safety' zone just because there's a car/obstacle coming the other way/ahead of you! I see it all the time, where the oncoming driver has to take evasive action and pull over to the side to allow an overtaking car to pass (this is against the HC).
The flip side of this is the motorist passing too close to the cyclist and even making contact, which has happened to me many times over the years. I've been knocked into the kerb and off my bike more than once. The motorists have never stopped to check on me. Some have slowed down for their passengers to hurl abuse or objects at me. Pedestrians have walked on by, not wanting to get involved. Imagine that being a car on car incident?
It's also never about proving a point. It's about protecting one's life. Literally. Cyclists have been de-humanised. If motorists had to put up with the same treatment and dangers as cyclists on a daily basis, there would be a massive nationwide campaign to stop it.
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Yes I don’t disagree, it’s pretty hard and very much an acquired skill that I can’t say I can pull off all of the time.
That said the car driver was quite clearly in the wrong here, overtaking on a traffic island and wider incident with another rider falling off going in the other direction distracting the person they were overtaking.
Having had a quick across through the replies, clearly the driver doesn’t see they were 100% in the wrong. Typical road user if we are being honest (of any kind).
They were always going to catch the rider in the scope of the traffic island and couldn’t pull out far enough quickly enough to make a safe pass even if the cyclist didn’t slow down for the other rider that fell off.
Caporegime
Thats a prime example of everything that is wrong with drivers and cyclists in this country. As soon as a cyclist makes any sort of wrong move, a huge number of drivers would be quite happy for the driver to swerve into the cyclist and then reverse over them to finish the job "because the cyclist did something unexpected". Thats precisely the reason you should only overtake when its completely safe. Cyclists do unexpected things. Cyclists do things that are completely rational but you have no idea why. Either way, you cannot control the cyclists behaviour so you have to mitigate the risk.
Thats a great example of what I deal with countless times every time I go out on my bike. Completely clear road and the driver still can't wait another 3s to pass safely and tries to get past as soon as possible. I have people who sit behind me waiting to pass and then still pick the worst time to overtake.
This driver was zoned out. Lets assume that the cyclist didn't change their road position; the driver was approaching way too fast. With their speed the only outcomes was either a dangerous overtake or having to brake hard to not hit the rider.
A poor standard of driving and just shows that just because you are driving at the speed limit (or below) doesn't mean you are driving safely.
That cyclist swerving could have been dodging a pot hole or anything.
yea they weren't but it's quite possible, you can't just expect a cyclist to only ever go in a completely straight line, what if there's a strong gust of wind and it causes them to drift slightly by a few feet? etc
motorists just don't think that's the problem
no one ever complains because cars just do that when they're in a hurry, try it the next time your on a busy high street behind a bunch of old biddies or a couple holding hands.
just knock them over like bowling pins, they should know better than to get in the way
yea they weren't but it's quite possible, you can't just expect a cyclist to only ever go in a completely straight line, what if there's a strong gust of wind and it causes them to drift slightly by a few feet? etc
motorists just don't think that's the problem
I do the same in the street if I'm walking down a path and someone is slow or taking up the whole lane I start to make car sounds and pretend I have a steering wheel, then I bash them out the way at running speed.
no one ever complains because cars just do that when they're in a hurry, try it the next time your on a busy high street behind a bunch of old biddies or a couple holding hands.
just knock them over like bowling pins, they should know better than to get in the way
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Soldato
Yep, and driver attempting to start an overtake while there's a traffic island makes it rather difficult to give the prescribed 1.5m minimum distance. If he had been doing so (which would have required him to actually wait until it was safe to overtake) then the cyclist swerving wouldn't have required evasive action.
Anyone with half a brain would have held back until well clear of the island then passed.
Man of Honour
One of my Son in Laws drives big trucks for a local firm and he has to do a Cycling Aware course every two years where him and colleagues have to cycle on the roads.
He always says I've got balls of steel.
Caporegime
Yeah, they should make it law that they have to go out on 10 bike rides with an instructor every few years just so they can have an appreciation for what its like when a 15t truck goes past you within a whisker at speed.
Honestly they should probably do it for all drivers. My helmet might save my life if I fall off my bike but if a truck runs me over and I go under the wheels thats it.
At which point you tell him its actually carbon fibre because steel is too heavy for a serious cyclist like yourself
