Britain’s Angriest Cyclist

[katiewlx]

Personal belief is that one way to make cycling safer for everybody is getting more cyclists on the streets.Having somebody like Vine who seems dedicated to convincing all potential cyclists how dangerous it is "out there", how it's an unending "life in your hands" avoiding drivers with no purpose beyond hitting you, hardly encourages anybody.

Whilst at the same time his frequently contrived "events" do nothing to make drivers reflect on how vulnerable cyclists are, it just gets their backs-up and contributes to the "us and them" situation battling for space on the roads.

So to me the net result of his "contributions" is to make things harder for cyclists.

there are plenty of times on rides where Ive totally felt it is just an unending "life in your hands" avoiding drivers with no purpose beyond hitting you experience.

I had a tipper truck last week give me no more than 2ft of space, supposedly in a 30mph limit but it seemed to be going abit quicker than that as their aerodynamic wash pulled me towards their rear tyres, one of those supermarket delivery vans got even closer, I had a car dive through into a gap that was barely big enough just before a pedestrian refuge, and then took the very next immediate left anyway and that was just from one week. I had one just before Christmas the driver bailed out last second and went round the pedestrian refuge the wrong side into oncoming traffic...they gave me space I suppose.

and I could go on and on and on with examples just like that including every kind of vehicle and driver, including learners, you can think of, close passes, more like near flipping misses, and I do ride away from the kerb, noticeably further away than other riders who I see ride in the gutter, and I still get treated by drivers badly because you get a double dose from them, as you get the how dare you position your bike so I cant overtake you pass combined with the get out of my cyclist pass.

when I looked at Vines videos, when he was churning them out, Id be thinking, my rides Im often sort of like Furiosa dealing with stuff around me, and this guy is getting worked up because someones just pulled out abit onto a cycle lane 200 metres away with ample time to react, he isnt sitting there thinking Im glad I got home in one piece,, and not in the back of an ambulance, oh well got to do it all again tomorrow.

 

[PaulSB]

As it happens I find most couriers good, I suspect they realise a report to their company or the police could result in them potentially losing their job.
Worst by far for me are tractors and the general public in their cars. Couriers and lorries usually very good.

Tractors have always bothered me as has anything towing a trailer, caravan etc. Most drivers don't appreciate their length in relation to our speed. Since being hit by a tractor trailer at +/-35 mph if I hear one and there's an opportunity I dive into a refuge.

I'm 100% with your assessment. There are individuals within certain "categories" of driver who are a very real danger. Busy parents on the school run are amongst the very worst, I hate to say it but often women driving large 4 x 4s.

It's taken my whole cycling life but recently I've been forced to adopt some changes. The A road from my home to Chorley is now so busy I've completely changed my route to our meet point. To my surprise despite being 3.2 miles longer it's only three minutes more ride time. One set of lights against five and far less traffic. My route home often forces me to ride on this A road, I use the pavement as much as possible.

The traffic situation I find most worrying is walking on a pavement beside a 50 limit A road with vehicles approaching from behind. Bizarrely I feel safer, perhaps more in control, on my bike.

 

[Binky]

Tractors have always bothered me as has anything towing a trailer, caravan etc. Most drivers don't appreciate their length in relation to our speed. Since being hit by a tractor trailer at +/-35 mph if I hear one and there's an opportunity I dive into a refuge.

I'm 100% with your assessment. There are individuals within certain "categories" of driver who are a very real danger. Busy parents on the school run are amongst the very worst, I hate to say it but often women driving large 4 x 4s.

It's taken my whole cycling life but recently I've been forced to adopt some changes. The A road from my home to Chorley is now so busy I've completely changed my route to our meet point. To my surprise despite being 3.2 miles longer it's only three minutes more ride time. One set of lights against five and far less traffic. My route home often forces me to ride on this A road, I use the pavement as much as possible.

The traffic situation I find most worrying is walking on a pavement beside a 50 limit A road with vehicles approaching from behind. Bizarrely I feel safer, perhaps more in control, on my bike.

With tractors it's oncoming ones on small back roads that concern me the most. I've had to literally dive into a hedge to avoid being hit by a tractor steaming through without slowing or moving over, really worrying as if you get hit by a car it's bad enough, a tractor then it's game over.
Worse than overtakes from them.

For anyone riding I really recommend a camera on bike to record rides. It won't stop incidents happening (although I suppose if a driver spots a camera it might make them think twice) but at least you have evidence if needed.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

With tractors it's oncoming ones on small back roads that concern me the most. I've had to literally dive into a hedge to avoid being hit by a tractor steaming through without slowing or moving over, really worrying as if you get hit by a car it's bad enough, a tractor then it's game over.
Worse than overtakes from them.

For anyone riding I really recommend a camera on bike to record rides. It won't stop incidents happening (although I suppose if a driver spots a camera it might make them think twice) but at least you have evidence if needed.

The thing that worries me most about tractor is the trailer

In some cases it is off centre - and there you have to worry if the driver has remembered that the bit at the back - with all the sharp cutty things - is sweeping a path to the right of the actual vehicle he is sitting in

 

[PaulSB]

With tractors it's oncoming ones on small back roads that concern me the most. I've had to literally dive into a hedge to avoid being hit by a tractor steaming through without slowing or moving over, really worrying as if you get hit by a car it's bad enough, a tractor then it's game over.
Worse than overtakes from them.

For anyone riding I really recommend a camera on bike to record rides. It won't stop incidents happening (although I suppose if a driver spots a camera it might make them think twice) but at least you have evidence if needed.

I'm OK with the oncoming tractors as I have time to do something - I'm likely to see it before I hear it. Like @ebikeerwidnes those approaching from the rear with a trailer are the scariest.

I feel tractors have become a much larger, literally and figuratively, problem in recent years. I think this coincides with the growth of contractors being used on even the smallest farms. They all seem to drive the huge John Deere series 6155. These are hugely powerful machines. At harvest time we often meet them thundering down A and B roads at speed as the contractor will be paid by the job. Often these machines are driven by lads hardly old enough to be out of school.

 

[blackrat]

Many times. Really nasty ones are generally couriers and I take the view the underlying issue is the pressure on drivers from the company seeking ever more deliveries in ever less time - so on occasions I'll call the company concerned (or depot) and highlight the issue and have had some very positive reactions from managers. One courier company depot manager recognised the issue and decided he'd raise the importance of safe driving round cyclists at their next weekly driver meeting.

Correct positioning yourself on the road does make a massive difference in reducing close passes. I wonder if people recently (re)starting cycling might be more nervous about traffic and that discourages them to hug the kerb to "stay out of the way" rather than position further out to avoid. And Vine repeatedly pushing how dangerous it is cycling our roads is only going to make nervous cyclists ever more worried.

Correct positioning yourself on the road does make a massive difference in reducing close passes. I wonder if people recently (re)starting cycling might be more nervous about traffic and that discourages them to hug the kerb to "stay out of the way" rather than position further out to avoid. And Vine repeatedly pushing how dangerous it is cycling our roads is only going to make nervous cyclists ever more worried.

I suppose my attitude is that I do not want to be in the way and so I do tend to stay close to the side rather than 'take the lane'. I also feel that if some twit is not paying attention or is feeling particularly aggressive, I could fall off the road rather than end up under a car. I do tend to ride defensively and try to make any drivers aware that I am out for pleasure and not wanting to be a prat. It has worked so far for me.
I do recognize that by making myself smaller I am inviting some drivers to believe the road is their God given right to use as they wish and I am incidental to their onward progress. However, as those of us who have taken the Advance Driving Test will remember and attest; always looking for an escape route is de rigueur. My escape route whilst I am cycling alone on a narrow winding country lane is the soft verge on the side of the road - and I am not afraid to use it.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Where I ride depends on the road conditions
There is a road leading out of Widnes North that is a normal town A road - one lane each way no central reservation or anything

but along it are quite a few central refuges so people can cross the road easily

I tend to "take the lane" approaching those places so any car behind cannot try to pass when there is no room
then as soon as I am past I move closer to the kerb so that the car behind can see I am making an effort to allow them to pass

normally seems t work
but - as expected - I have had a couple of morons who scream past as soon as I move in and leave as little room as possible

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I almost always claim the lane (aka use primary position). Sometimes it annoys motorists, but my safety's more important than their convenience.