Cyclists

yer_averagejoe · 22 May 2011 at 23:28

I'n a cyclist. If I caused damage to a car through fault of my own, I would both pay up and eat my own hat. I follow all the rules and more yet I've had too many close encounters to count. I can only think of one of those being my own fault.

I hate most cyclists too. I really hate it when I'm patiently waiting for a light to turn green and some idiot flies past me on his bike. Even worse is more often than not, he'll be one of these types who goes totally over the top on luminous safety gear. whats the ****ing point of wearing high visibility gear if you're going to put yourself in such danger anyway?

J1234 · 22 May 2011 at 23:32

AndyOcUK said:
I hated the one that put my 9 month old daughter at risk, yes!

and thats exactly what he looked like when the ambulance men were pulling lumps of my windscreen out of his ass

To be fair, I didn't read the OP and just wanted to use that image

Haha at his face looking like that

AndyOcUK · 22 May 2011 at 23:34

Justin said:
To be fair, I didn't read the OP and just wanted to use that image

Haha at his face looking like that

lol

either that or he's been tied to a chair and forced to watch justin beiber videos on a loop

Sagalout · 22 May 2011 at 23:39

As a cyclist (and car driver and biker) I can agree that some do ride like idiots, and I won't condone pavement jumping or going through red lights. It's fair to say though that some drivers are incredibly impatient and get themselves into a right old state if they are delayed 10 seconds by a cyclist. It's also amusing (when not dangerous) how cars feel they must overtake a cyclist no matter what speed they are doing. I get overtaken constantly in 20 and 30mph zones when doing over that on my bike, only for the cars to then slow down with me having to brake to avoid going into them.

Also another point about riding side by side. I go out on a club run twice a week. There will be between 10 and 20 of us. Now, we could string out down a country lane about 50 meters, but as the roads are often too narrow to fit a bike and 2 cars, you'll actually be waiting a fair bit longer than if we're in a compact 2 bike wide formation, ie 5 bikes in length rather than 10. Obviously if the roads are too narrow for 2 bikes and 1 car we will single out.

Phil99 · 22 May 2011 at 23:51

Sagalout said:
As a cyclist (and car driver and biker) I can agree that some do ride like idiots, and I won't condone pavement jumping or going through red lights. It's fair to say though that some drivers are incredibly impatient and get themselves into a right old state if they are delayed 10 seconds by a cyclist. It's also amusing (when not dangerous) how cars feel they must overtake a cyclist no matter what speed they are doing. I get overtaken constantly in 20 and 30mph zones when doing over that on my bike, only for the cars to then slow down with me having to brake to avoid going into them.

^This. Also cars cutting T-junctions is as much of a problem as cyclists doing it round here. There's a lot of awful lot of incompentant drivers as well as cyclists.

The lack of MOT equivalent and insurance is arguably a fair point as some of the bikes I see around campus don't even have functioning brakes :rolleyes:

AndyOcUK · 22 May 2011 at 23:52

Sagalout said:
As a cyclist (and car driver and biker) I can agree that some do ride like idiots, and I won't condone pavement jumping or going through red lights. It's fair to say though that some drivers are incredibly impatient and get themselves into a right old state if they are delayed 10 seconds by a cyclist. It's also amusing (when not dangerous) how cars feel they must overtake a cyclist no matter what speed they are doing. I get overtaken constantly in 20 and 30mph zones when doing over that on my bike, only for the cars to then slow down with me having to brake to avoid going into them.

Also another point about riding side by side. I go out on a club run twice a week. There will be between 10 and 20 of us. Now, we could string out down a country lane about 50 meters, but as the roads are often too narrow to fit a bike and 2 cars, you'll actually be waiting a fair bit longer than if we're in a compact 2 bike wide formation, ie 5 bikes in length rather than 10. Obviously if the roads are too narrow for 2 bikes and 1 car we will single out.

Some fair and sensible points there mate.

I am not one of those impatient drivers

And I do unnderstand your side by side in a bunch theory. My mate rides club and there are times when its safer and easier for everyone. I'm referring to the two old sods in high vis kit on their way to work smoking and chatting, oblivious completely to their surroundings.

Nice ZX12 BTW

Phil99 said:
^This. Also cars cutting T-junctions is as much of a problem as cyclists doing it round here. There's a lot of awful lot of incompentant drivers as well as cyclists.

The lack of MOT equivalent and insurance is arguably a fair point as some of the bikes I see around campus don't even have functioning brakes

Totally agree. My point is, if that car hits you....blame can be allocated by the police/ insurance companies. Cyclists seem to be exempt.

yer_averagejoe · 22 May 2011 at 23:57

Sagalout said:
It's also amusing (when not dangerous) how cars feel they must overtake a cyclist no matter what speed they are doing. I get overtaken constantly in 20 and 30mph zones when doing over that on my bike, only for the cars to then slow down with me having to brake to avoid going into them.

This is one of my main gripes and seems to be the most common and dangerous form of behaviors that I see. There is a particular stretch of road on my commute on which the speed limit is 30mph and I can reach that, since it is downhill. Almost every day, I'll be ahead of traffic, going 30mph and some idiot will try to overtake me, not realising how fast I am going and so can't get around me quickly and usually being faced with on-coming traffic, putting himself, myself and the oncoming vehicle in huge danger. I used to think i could solve it by asserting myself and cycling in the middle of the lane (after all, I could just as well be another car) yet this only seems to make them more aggressive! "I AM IN A CAR, HE IS ON A BIKE I MUST OVERTAKE! VRROOOOM!"

Jonny ///M · 22 May 2011 at 23:58

Sadly a lot of spazzymongos ride bikes and I have to deal with them every other day. Most of the naughty ones are in the city centre where it's all students on fixies/single speeds who ride with no helmet and have a courier bag.

Judgeneo · 23 May 2011 at 00:02

yer_averagejoe said:
This is one of my main gripes and seems to be the most common and dangerous form of behaviors that I see. There is a particular stretch of road on my commute on which the speed limit is 30mph and I can reach that, since it is downhill. Almost every day, I'll be ahead of traffic, going 30mph and some idiot will try to overtake me, not realising how fast I am going and so can't get around me quickly and usually being faced with on-coming traffic, putting himself, myself and the oncoming vehicle in huge danger. I used to think i could solve it by asserting myself and cycling in the middle of the lane (after all, I could just as well be another car) yet this only seems to make them more aggressive! "I AM IN A CAR, HE IS ON A BIKE I MUST OVERTAKE! VRROOOOM!"

Bloody motorists :s

Psymonkee · 23 May 2011 at 00:04

AndyOcUK said:
At the time, I had my 9 month old daughter in the car.....whole lot of stuff to sort out. The windscreen was totalled and car undrivable as the glass was completely crazed over. I called the police and did the breath test and the lad on the bike went to hosopital via ambulance. (Just cuts and bruises) Couldn't believe the breath test....8:30am with a baby in the car.... By the time I got the nipper and the car to my mother & father's in Stoke, called Autoglass etc, it was 11am. I work in telford so hardly worth the trip.

Fair enough then

weescott · 23 May 2011 at 00:12

Jonny ///M said:
Sadly a lot of spazzymongos ride bikes and I have to deal with them every other day. Most of the naughty ones are in the city centre where it's all students on fixies/single speeds who ride with no helmet and have a courier bag.

dude, I know what your bad habbits are and you probably know what mine are too. So lets not make it any worse for us cyclists yeah?

As a cyclist and a motorist I would like to see proper cycle lanes and driver education and awareness like they do for motorbikes.

At the end of the day we are all just trying to get somewhere.

eddiemcgarrigle · 23 May 2011 at 00:17

Idiot drivers far outweigh idiot cyclists. I was knocked off my bike by a driver who failed to look left as he sped through a roundabout, his passenger then sprinted 100 yards up the road before running back down and claiming to have witnessed the whole event.

The Police turned up and he claimed that the driver had been toodling along at 30mph, minding his own business when I aggressively overtook him on my bike and then slammed on my brakes right in front of his van and was thereby knocked from my bike. Just a shame that three pedestrians had also witnessed the event and relayed the true story to the Police. Cyclist passes through roundabout, driver approaches at speed and turns left, straight into the cyclist (me).

I have a car and HGV license so I regularly witness the antics of fellow drivers. While on my bike I never run red lights, I never ride on the pavement and I always observe the rules of the road. Cycle lanes should be available on every main route, if not just to keep us safe from impatient drivers.

AndyOcUK · 23 May 2011 at 00:25

eddiemcgarrigle said:
Idiot drivers far outweigh idiot cyclists. I was knocked off my bike by a driver who failed to look left as he sped through a roundabout, his passenger then sprinted 100 yards up the road before running back down and claiming to have witnessed the whole event.

The Police turned up and he claimed that the driver had been toodling along at 30mph, minding his own business when I aggressively overtook him on my bike and then slammed on my brakes right in front of his van and was thereby knocked from my bike. Just a shame that three pedestrians had also witnessed the event and relayed the true story to the Police. Cyclist passes through roundabout, driver approaches at speed and turns left, straight into the cyclist (me).

I observe red lights, I never ride on the pavement and I always observe the rules of the road. OP, jog on.

Jog on?

You been watching the football factory too much

did you read this whole thread mate? Not denying there are idiot motorists, just than when its a cyclists fault, they rarely compensate (or have to compensate) the motorists for damage to motor vehicles. There are idiots everywhere mate....this is about responsibility and liability for our actions.

grudas · 23 May 2011 at 00:30

cycle for a week and you'll see just how bad drivers can be to cyclists

then you'll get back into car and you'll understand exactly how it feels when a stupid driver in his metal cage drives by at speed, causes you to brake, ignores you competelly on the road... etc etc.. this is just another thread about driver hating cyclist the conclusion as always is

there are a lot of bad drivers causing a lot of problems for cyclists be it bad or good

there are a lot of bad cyclists causing a lot of problems for drivers

there's also pedestrians who not only ignore cyclist but at the same time rage at them..

weescott · 23 May 2011 at 00:32

AndyOcUK said:
just than when its a cyclists fault, they rarely compensate (or have to compensate) the motorists for damage to motor vehicles. There are idiots everywhere mate....this is about responsibility and liability for our actions.

I know! It's terrible when someone walks/runs into the road without looking (you know like a kid or something), it's obviously their fault if they hit you but you have to pay for it! They should pay tax too!

Ahleckz · 23 May 2011 at 00:38

Cyclists, on the country roads are a right pain. They are going too slow, not even trying to get up small hills a lot of the time, are riding two a breast and weaving all over the place, back up traffic. A right pain.
Then you get the ones who think they are above the law and fly about everywhere with no consideration for anyone.
I'm sure you get some OK cyclists but the ones that I remember seeing are horrendous and there are plenty of them. Stick to the roads, pull over to let faster traffic past, don't ignore the Highway Code and just show a bit of courtesy and we'll get along fine.

Oh, and if you're 20 stone please don't feel the need to get dressed up in a gimp suit when you go cycling.

Marshstyles · 23 May 2011 at 00:42

Are you aloud to drink and ride?

Ive been looking thru the laws and i dont see that there is a limit. All i have found is 'you must not be a danger to other people or to yourself'

Sorry if this has been answered else where

Judgeneo · 23 May 2011 at 00:44

Marshstyles said:
Are you aloud to drink and ride?

Ive been looking thru the laws and i dont see that there is a limit. All i have found is 'you must not be a danger to other people or to yourself'

Sorry if this has been answered else where

As a cyclist you have to obey all of the laws of the road, that includes drinking and driving.
I cycled in hung over the other week, in hindsight, it was a very stupid thing to do, I don't even remember the journey :s

Energize · 23 May 2011 at 00:44

Why would a bike need an MOT? :confused:

People are quite capable of maintaining a bike without professional help and they have no emissions.

Sometimes riding two aside is necessary because there is not enough room for a car to safely overtake.

Ahleckz · 23 May 2011 at 00:45

Marshstyles said:
Are you aloud to drink and ride?

Ive been looking thru the laws and i dont see that there is a limit. All i have found is 'you must not be a danger to other people or to yourself'

Sorry if this has been answered else where

Nope, Section 30 RTA 1988 -

"A person who, when riding a cycle on a road or other public place, is unfit to ride through drink or drugs (that is to say, is under the influence of drink or a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the cycle) is guilty of an offence."

Further to that, you could also be arrested under the Licensing Act (forget what year) for being drunk in a public place.