Rant: London Driving - Cyclists

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This weekend I went down to London to help my sister move houses from Ealing to Chiswick (I think, **** knows. London sucks.) and this involved 4 trips back and forth in a LWB Van.

I've driven in London loads over my life, no issues. I've never really cared for it simply due to the traffic and queues but no biggy usually, and luckily there was hardly any traffic over this weekend.

What there was, however, were quite possibly the most arrogant and stupidest cyclists, and daredevil moped riders I've ever encountered.

Previously I didn't care one way or the other with cyclists, but after the weekend I've seen the light and now can join in with the hate.


The majority of cyclists there didn't seem to care for any road laws, they don't seem to understand blindspots of vehicles (this was my biggest gripe!), they definitely don't understand right of way, and I'm pretty sure the majority have absolutely no idea what a red light means.

I'm happy to wait behind a cyclist, no problem as I treat them the same as a motorbike or whatever. They, on the other hand, don't give a **** and will simply squeeze into any gap they can without consideration for vehicles turning or merging or whether they're going to get squashed between a van and a parked car.


Now for the Moped riders there... wow, these guys should be in the RAF! Not a care in the world. To be fair, they weren't too bad with spacial awareness of the van etc. and I think I'd actually like to give it a go bombing round on a ped in London at times, it did look fun.


This weekend really made me appreciate living in the Midlands. I'm in Englands second city and it is a million times better than its first, for a whole host of reasons.



I've no idea the point of this thread. Carry on.
 
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grudas said:
pretty much. Sooner you learn to ignore all types of idiots on the road the better :)
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Usually I do, I'm pretty much the chillest driver going, but when it's a case of losing view of a cyclist who was on your inside when going around bendy, tight roads it's more to do with not wanting to kill someone as opposed to ignoring their idiocy.

Scania said:
This is nothing to do with London more just cyclists in general, the vast majority seem obsessed with a self entitlement to death or serious injury….
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Perhaps, I just never noticed their suicidal behaviour when in a car. Although I drive vans around Birmingham and never had the same issues but it could be more due to volume of cyclists vs road sizes.
 
Feek said:
By riding two or three abreast, the cyclists are forcing the issue and it's effectively safer for them.
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What they're actually doing, however, is reducing the amount of opportunities there are to overtake them, thus causing traffic to build up behind them fueling the hatred.
 
Feek said:
No they're not.

If the following car driver treats a single cyclist the same as he would another car (ie gives them a decent amount of space), then it makes no difference whether there's one, two or three cyclists there. When I'm overtaking bikes, I go as wide as I would if I was overtaking a car because we know how the stupid things like to swerve out without any notice.
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I disagree. You don't need to be in the other lane to allow a cyclist or even a motorbike enough room when overtaking, however you do when overtaking a car or truck.
 
Feek said:
If you're not crossing the white line when you overtake a cyclist then you're too close to the bike, it's as simple as that.
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OK perhaps I should have said "completely" in the other lane, of course you'll cross the white line a little.

In my mini I would barely cross the white line much at all.

But if you need to go into the other lane completely you need more time to assess and maneuver, meaning less opportunities to overtake.
 
jpaul said:
OK - so we've finally met someone who will squeeze past(overtake) with the minimum possible distance,
on my commute it is mostly older drivers in lower powered cars that have that strategy - it is some kind of cardinal sin to be on the other side of the road ,
well as soon as they legislate the minimum distance rule , and maybe regular eye tests the better
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If you're referring to me, "squeeze" past is a bit sensational from what I posted, no? Why do you need to be completely in the other lane to overtake a cyclist? If that is the case, then why do cyclists filter on the inside of a queue at traffic lights, shouldn't you be waiting in line?
 
Alibaba99 said:
It's because of drivers with an attitude like yours that cyclists need to cycle two abreast. What happens if the cyclist has a wobble because they caught in a gust of wind, or have to move to avoid a large drain or debris on the road? Or what happens in the car coming the other way has to move across slightly to avoid something in their lane? The cyclist now has no room.
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I'm sorry, did I say I pass with a hairs width? Cycle lanes are only ~2m wide, use your brain a little because I can't be bothered to explain further than that lol

Alibaba99 said:
As for riding up the inside of a line of stationary traffic, well if the traffic isn't moving there isn't much danger from it.
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But traffic does then move when the light turns green, no? Unless you just go straight through the red light...
 
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In a similar vain - perhaps they should only allow cyclists who have driving licenses to cycle on public roads to ensure they understand the highway code?
 
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