Rant: London Driving - Cyclists

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Scania said:
Same here, no issues with them in my car but when I’m in a 55ft artic they seem hell bent on putting themselves in extreme danger around it!
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It isn't any different with a bus either although I don't have the benefit of a full force emergency brake, doing so will likely cause injury to upto 80 people vs one cyclist. Needs of the many....

Feek said:
What, you only leave 0.5m gap when you overtake cars? Seriously? Good luck when someone opens their door without looking.


We have another one.
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In my work vehicle I often have no choice, even fully in the oncoming lane the gap between my N/S and the vehicle I'm overtaking is 0.5m or less at times.

If someone opens a door without looking then that's on them not the overtaker. Highway Code simply tells the overtaker to go as wided as possible in anticipation of the door moron.


I drive buses which means lots of urban and town/city driving. In my experience MOST cyclists that I come across REFUSE to follow HWC/road laws and seem to have an entitlement that they can do as they please. This is mainly, but not limited to ignorance of traffic signals/signs/one-way and pedestrian zones (signed with NO VEHICLES, which includes cycles).

I have made peace with the fact that at some point during my career I will come into conflict/collide with a cyclist whom has decided that they do not have to follow the rules of the road and put themselves in harm's way.

I think these new "hierarchy of the road" rules are a massive step in the wrong direction and will be mis-interpreted by MANY vunerable road users as licence to further distance themselves from their personal responsibilty for their own safety.
 
Resident said:
It isn't any different with a bus either although I don't have the benefit of a full force emergency brake, doing so will likely cause injury to upto 80 people vs one cyclist. Needs of the many....

In my work vehicle I often have no choice, even fully in the oncoming lane the gap between my N/S and the vehicle I'm overtaking is 0.5m or less at times.
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Do you have a dashcam to (somewhat) protect parties.

yes - ok, a parked car leaves you at 0.5 overtake,
(doubt you meant this) but a cyclist shouldn't be taking up as much road though - school bus goes past me most days at about 1.5m, which is fine.
 
What I guess, annoys me (is that the right word) and not about cyclisits but more about the planning side of things.... is there are some roads around here that are narrow to begin with but which have footpaths that are quite spacious. And may have large grass verges as well. Yet planners insist on putting the cycle lane in the already restricted road. I guess in my opinion it would make more sense to take away some of the footpath / verge / kerb side and put in a nicely paved cycle lane. Pedestrians are still safe, cyclists are safe, and importantly every mode of transport (walking, cycling, driving) can get by smoothly. Just seems the default place for cycle lanes is to take away space from the road side and not the footpath side, which often have the most space available. But I guess it is easier (cheaper) to slap some paint down in the road, than it is to remodel a section of paving.

Thankfully I have had only a few near misses with the odd cyclist. One recently in the car, and being a coupe, it doesn't have the best visibility out of the small rear quaters. Turns out one day I had a cyclist sitting in my blind spot. Obviously I hadn't seen them, only knew they were there when I heard a loud voice and I thought where is that coming from?! They were on my drivers side so I guess they had been filtering down the centre of the road. I do sometimes think some cyclists don't have a clue about positioning (not all of course). The other encounter was when I was on foot at a crossing. Cars both ways stopped. I started to cross, waved thanks, and a cyclist just bombed between them. Another foot or two and I'd have been wiped out. Crossing was also on a hill so they were really travelling! Totally oblivious. The most common thing I see whilst driving though is when a cyclist hits a red light, they then go on the pavement to get around the red light, then pop back on the road the otherside just so they don't have to wait.
 
jpaul said:
Do you have a dashcam to (somewhat) protect parties.

yes - ok, a parked car leaves you at 0.5 overtake,
(doubt you meant this) but a cyclist shouldn't be taking up as much road though - school bus goes past me most days at about 1.5m, which is fine.
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On my work vehicle, At least 6 exterior cameras & several interior cameras that will provide a limited exterior view.
 
Firegod said:
Thankfully I have had only a few near misses with the odd cyclist. One recently in the car, and being a coupe, it doesn't have the best visibility out of the small rear quaters. Turns out one day I had a cyclist sitting in my blind spot. Obviously I hadn't seen them, only knew they were there when I heard a loud voice and I thought where is that coming from?! They were on my drivers side so I guess they had been filtering down the centre of the road. I do sometimes think some cyclists don't have a clue about positioning (not all of course). The other encounter was when I was on foot at a crossing. Cars both ways stopped. I started to cross, waved thanks, and a cyclist just bombed between them. Another foot or two and I'd have been wiped out. Crossing was also on a hill so they were really travelling! Totally oblivious. The most common thing I see whilst driving though is when a cyclist hits a red light, they then go on the pavement to get around the red light, then pop back on the road the otherside just so they don't have to wait.
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One of the things I really like about my pickup is aside from through the A pillars there is great all around visibility, one thing I don't like about the newer models is the smaller mirrors reduce how much you can see. (One of the reasons I drive it a lot even when I don't have to actually).
 
I used to work in London and it is pretty bad, especially the red light thing. It's kind of like they have their own traffic light GP thing where they want to get a headstart (maybe something to do with taking a corner before there is a car alongside them, but illegal nevertheless).

It works both ways though, the nature of traffic in London means cyclists are quite at risk and maybe some of them just decide it's a free for all rather than letting themselves get bullied and cornered too much.
 
I was watching a video the other day (Wanderizm) of riding a bus around where I used to spend time when living in London - so many cyclists jumping reds.
 
You should consider that it’s the air your vehicle pushes out of the way when it’s moving that is the problem. The faster the vehicle is going, the bigger the volume of air and the more easily you can destabilise a cyclist.

When your vehicle is still, your not going to destabilise a bike, nor are they going to have any impact on you.

Also no cyclist is overtaking you at 20mph in traffic, how fit do you think these people actually are? :p

Most people would struggle to get up to 15 mph on the flat without collapsing in a puddle of sweat after a few minutes.

It’s pretty rare to find me out on the bike these days, I’d sooner walk and be late than end up being squashed. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve come very close to being taken out by vehicles overtaking me into oncoming traffic on a normal two lane road. Wing mirrors brushing my elbow is just not on.

Lots of posts in this thread pretty much reinforce the point home that drivers who don’t also cycle just don’t understand why leaving no space when overtaking is such a big issue.

Perhaps they should make part of the driving test a riding a bike with other traffic :p
 
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?
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
You should consider that it’s the air your vehicle pushes out of the way when it’s moving that is the problem. The faster the vehicle is going, the bigger the volume of air and the more easily you can destabilise a cyclist.

When your vehicle is still, your not going to destabilise a bike, nor are they going to have any impact on you.

Also no cyclist is overtaking you at 20mph in traffic, how fit do you think these people actually are? :p

Most people would struggle to get up to 15 mph on the flat without collapsing in a puddle of sweat after a few minutes.

It’s pretty rare to find me out on the bike these days, I’d sooner walk and be late than end up being squashed. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve come very close to being taken out by vehicles overtaking me into oncoming traffic on a normal two lane road. Wing mirrors brushing my elbow is just not on.

Lots of posts in this thread pretty much reinforce the point home that drivers who don’t also cycle just don’t understand why leaving no space when overtaking is such a big issue.

Perhaps they should make part of the driving test a riding a bike with other traffic :p
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I’m overweight and can easily maintain 20mph on the flats easily, it really is no problem at all but I do ride a road bike. Doing 20mph on a mountain bike on the road is quite a bit harder I admit.

I never normally filter past cars, in fact I purposely don’t do certain things on a bike even though it’s perfectly legal because I know it annoys the **** out of drivers and there is enough hate for cyclists as it is. Saying that, the strange logic that drivers use to make some sort of equivalence of the close pass to filtering shows clearly the ignorance of the issues of cyclists that drivers just don’t understand. Firstly the cyclist filtering is passing slowly comparatively when compared to the close pass. The cyclist when filtering is in control of the pass and can choose to stop if there are any drains, potholes or debris on the road.

In comparison, when a driver close passes a cyclist, it is as you say, the speeds are considerably higher (I’ve been close passed at 60mph+). This as you say causes a considerable gust of wind which destabilises the cyclist, not only that it makes you jump out of your skin. On top of that, it doesn’t give the cyclist any room to avoid drains which sometimes stupidly have the slats going the wrong way, potholes or debris like road kill, broken glass etc. You hit a dead badger or deer on the side of the road and you are coming off.
 
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Le Clandestin Brun said:
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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There is a serious point that many drivers just don’t realise how much danger their driving puts the cyclist in and if drivers were made to ride either a bicycle or even a moped, it would give the driver some idea of the genuine issues that cyclists have to consider which most drivers seem completely ignorant of and perhaps would drive more thoughtfully. It is no guarantee of course as I’ve been close passed by people towing a horse box, people with bicycles on the roof of their car and even a driving instructor and all three should know better.

For sure, the jokers on bicycles (usually adult males on POS mountain bikes) riding on pavements, jumping red lights etc. should take responsibility for their stupid behaviour.
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
Also no cyclist is overtaking you at 20mph in traffic, how fit do you think these people actually are? :p

Most people would struggle to get up to 15 mph on the flat without collapsing in a puddle of sweat after a few minutes.
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exactly that

like cars as cyclists go faster they need more margin anyway, 20mph past a stationary/slow car at 50cm. - yeh

I think with bigger/wider cars per se. and reversing cameras, lower visibility(a/b/c pillars) car drivers are less able to judge the distance off of their front wing.
 
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….

I find Cambridge the worst place for suicidal cyclists on my travels…
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Tourists on Boris Bikes FaceTiming home whilst wobbling around Parliament Square takes some beating, but Cambridge takes the biscuit for crazy local cyclists.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
You should consider that it’s the air your vehicle pushes out of the way when it’s moving that is the problem. The faster the vehicle is going, the bigger the volume of air and the more easily you can destabilise a cyclist.

When your vehicle is still, your not going to destabilise a bike, nor are they going to have any impact on you.

Also no cyclist is overtaking you at 20mph in traffic, how fit do you think these people actually are? :p

Most people would struggle to get up to 15 mph on the flat without collapsing in a puddle of sweat after a few minutes.

It’s pretty rare to find me out on the bike these days, I’d sooner walk and be late than end up being squashed. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve come very close to being taken out by vehicles overtaking me into oncoming traffic on a normal two lane road. Wing mirrors brushing my elbow is just not on.

Lots of posts in this thread pretty much reinforce the point home that drivers who don’t also cycle just don’t understand why leaving no space when overtaking is such a big issue.

Perhaps they should make part of the driving test a riding a bike with other traffic :p
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As someone who cycled to and from work on and off from being 18 till my 30's i've experienced my share of idiotic drivers. I've had to cycle through main roads for 90% of journeys.
As for the 20mph cyclists, they are normally the ones who mount the pavement to get around traffic lights then aim head on to pedestrians, also have flashing headlights that blind everyone else.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
Tourists on Boris Bikes FaceTiming home whilst wobbling around Parliament Square takes some beating, but Cambridge takes the biscuit for crazy local cyclists.
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And more recently, the hire scooters seen around some towns. They go much faster than the average cyclist can and way easier to faceplant on one.
 
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