Why does the UK hate cyclists?

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Look at these selfish cyclists causing all this congestion and jumping red lights.


Oh wait, my mistake, that'd be the cars!
 
I've recently come back from Berlin where I've never seen so many bikes. I got talking to two taxi drivers and one Hop On Hop Off coach driver about them and none of them had a problem with cyclists even though I witnessed jumping lights, riding on the pavement etc. I also never heard car drivers peeping their horns at them like I do here.
One taxi driver said he was glad of the cyclists because if they all drove cars he wouldn't get anywhere.
I thought I was in Heaven or I dreamed it.
 
It occurs to me that this thread and the antics contained within are like a microcosm for GD as a whole. It has everything: drama, idiotic opinions, humour, uncalled for aggression, smooth brain posters, and sex.

9.5 stars out of 10 :)
 
Sadly this thread seems to mirror the increase in inconsiderate and impatient driving I've experienced lately. Since when did people on bikes stop being human beings with families and loved ones?
 
String said:
Aye, good comeback. ;)
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About as good as yours in response to points raised earlier.

Now where we? Ah, yes. You were telling us how you don’t understand how you’re supposed to drive on country roads and then you got sidetracked by your irrational fear of Lycra. Please, go on...
 
Over the course of my lifetime, the UK has lost its way as regards transport, almost the polar opposite of Holland's approach.

Governments welcomed car making factories to our shores and encouraged the Utopian dream of families having two cars, so both "parents" had the convenience of getting from A to B... Initially quicker than before! This was no doubt great for the economy, but it was awful for our environment and the health of the nation, turning us into a nation of "couch potatoes" that put increasing strain on our NHS. Life expectancy is now dropping.

And in time, the number of car users reached critical mass, resulting in crazy rush hour jams which not only slowed down car journeys but also public transport... Encouraging less and less to use buses.

The road system design often cannot cope now, with some diabolical bodges where local councils have tried to create cycle-friendly paths eg. cycle lane "islands" every ~10 metres, while the tarmac quality is dropping and is more than likely to be dug up again in the near future for a utility or ten.

I only had a car from 2005 to 2012 and while it was great for visiting far away places and bulk food shopping, I'm so much happier without it. I didn't "need" a car, it was a tool of convenience (most of my trips were easily under 10 miles) that guzzled money, it really didn't sit well with my middle-aged eco-warrior hippy ethos.

It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the resentment towards cyclists is because they can often still, albeit more hazardously than before, get from A to B at a fairly brisk pace (dependent upon health)... A concept that used to be "promised" when UK car ownership was introduced.
 
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In true GD fashion for myself ..... I hate cyclists because of the strong connection between cycling and socialism, anarchy and so called 'progressive' movements.....

'the bicycle powerfully enabled the expansion in the geographical, social and political horizons of both feminists and socialists at the turn of the twentieth century. In contrast, within environmentalism and anarchism since the 1960s,'

One only has to look at the decline both in stature and numerically of cyclists in china as the countries economy has become more capitalist in reality to see the relationship......

Margaret Thatcher probably didn't label bus riding, male, 20 somethings failures but in any event she should have saved her ire for lives real losers..... 30—40 year old, lycra wearing, red light jumping, non VED paying male cyclists.....


/saracsm

In then real world I used to cycle regularly when I lived closer to work. Doesn't stop me getting annoyed when you come across some 'leisure' cyclists cycling two abreast round my way on the narrow country lanes or when I was in London and saw some particularly egregious examples of poor grasp/ adherence to the highway code on the part of the (extensive) cycling fraternity down there
 
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Caracus2k said:
Doesn't stop me getting annoyed when you come across some 'leisure' cyclists cycling two abreast round my way on the narrow country lanes
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We're perfectly entitled to ride like that, safer for us and you, believe it or not.

There's some truly shocking attitudes in this thread, I hope I don't come across some of you when cycling to work!
 
i think every motorist should experience cycling 20 miles in the cold, wet, dark winter. Maybe that would help balance the anger.
 
As both a car driver, and motorcycle rider, I have a bit more of an awareness of road positioning etc - simply off the back of riding a two wheeler and knowing how **** the road condition can be. But I do have my frustrations about cyclists, as do many other road users.

The usual bits and bobs, probably already listed in many other posts before me - running traffic lights, not wearing protection, riding two-three abreast when it really isn't safe or fair to, not being insured, etc etc.

Touching on just two of these frustrations - no insurance... my wife got hit by a cyclist, whilst driving my company, car years back. The guy on the bike basically failed to yield to traffic at a roundabout, regardless of the fact a number of cars had stopped for her - he flew out onto the roundabout and caused several thousand pounds of damaged to the [then] brand new Golf. His reasoning for not stopping was that "it's hard when you have momentum". He rode off, and all she had was witness statements! Thankfully my employer sorted it, but it was a mark on her driving record, and one that she has had to continue paying for; in increased premiums.

As for riding X abreast - I know it's legal, and it's probably the same sort of frustration car drivers have, when I filter through traffic on my motorcycle. But I believe that the actual HC states that it's only legal, where safe, and not on busy roads - and in my 16 years of driving/riding, I have seen countless times where cyclists have simply chosen not to abide by the caveats of the HC rule. Cars then get stuck behind lycra-clad wallys doing 20-30 mph, and are forced to create congestion, or take risky overtakes.

But hey ho - we all like a moan, the roads are **** these days, everyone is impatient, and there's no solution - so be happy it's Christmas soon :D
 
Scort said:
His reasoning for not stopping was that "it's hard when you have momentum"
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That's no excuse, especially if you're using fitness as one of your reasons for wanting to rid a bike (because surely you'd want it to be more effort). I presume this is the excuse that'd be toted by the ones that run red lights/fly across junctions blind (as was the case with a recent motors thread).

it's worrying though that conserving momentum seems to be more important than conserving your life
 
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