Cycle lane 'psychology'

[gbb]

I commute most days and for the most part, enjoy the mix with the traffic, have a respect of other road users and i am not generally phased by the occasional close pass etc etc
There's one thing i've noticed quite consistently with car drivers...they'll pass you when you're in a cycle lane.....then move INTO the cyce lane when they've passed you then gently move back into the road proper...

Whats all that about then ? It's amazing how many do it !
Is it difficult to steer a correct course. Did i create a vaccuum in front of me and suck them in ...or is it a subconcious 'reclaiming the road from that damn cyclist'

I've often wondered why people do that ? Any theories ?

 

[gavintc]

I have noticed this too. Even when on the road, cars will drift closer to the kerb after passing you and then correct back to the normal position. I wonder whether they think they have moved out for you, but have actually not, then start to move back in again only to realise that they have just moved closer in.

 

[ComedyPilot]

The worst ones are the ones that overtake you, then pull into the cycle lane to block you at the next junction. Pisses all over their chips when you overtake them down the offside and take up pole position in the cycle box at the front. ha ha, mmwwhhaaaa.

 

[Landslide]

Maybe they're giving you an opportunity to draft them?

 

[gbb]

The worst ones are the ones that overtake you, then pull into the cycle lane to block you at the next junction. Pisses all over their chips when you overtake them down the offside and take up pole position in the cycle box at the front. ha ha, mmwwhhaaaa.

Oh yes..i love those
Had a guy in a BMW pass me while in a cycle lane..then..i could see him looking in his mirror as he did it...moved RIGHT into the cycle lane and stopped in stationary traffic, completely blocking my way.

Ha..no problemo. I swooped to his offside and passed him...and said
'nice try..tw@t' with a smile on my face as i went past his open window. Oh the pleasure

 

[John the Monkey]

It's quite common for drivers to block the (non mandatory) cycle lane at one junction on my commute, because in their wisdom, the council have made a perfectly adequate two lane road into a cycle lane plus 1 1/2 lane road. If right turning traffic positions itself correctly, left turning and straight on traffic has to either encroach on the cycle lane or sit behind and to the nearside of the right hand traffic (thus extending the queue of traffic back from the lights).

The overtaking thing is interesting - it's not a pathed road, but I've noticed on Manchester Road (between East Didsbury and Cheadle) traffic will often overtake close, and move out after they pass. I always thought it was because the poor dears aren't terribly good at judging speed and distance.

 

[HLaB]

The overtaking thing is interesting - it's not a pathed road, but I've noticed on Manchester Road (between East Didsbury and Cheadle) traffic will often overtake close, and move out after they pass. I always thought it was because the poor dears aren't terribly good at judging speed and distance.

I often get that quite a bit on quiet country roads.

 

[Origamist]

This US report looks at cyclist and driver behaviour with regard to bike lanes:

http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=58842

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

RE OP


Maybe they are making a point of showing you that they did give you lots of space? I see it quite a lot too – but never really thought about it until now.

 

[LOGAN 5]

Drivers aren't very good at steering round moving obstacles (eg cyclists). I find often they're still moving our whilst overtaking and reach the furthest point away from the kerb about 10 yards after they've passed me! When they steer back in they get that wrong too and go even closer to the kerb before correcting the steering line. It's poor judgement they're displaying.

They're even worse round bends in the road and often get that completely wrong. Believing they've got speed/distance right when they haven't and are mostly too close on the corners or cut in or can't get the overtake completed at all and are half way stranded over the white line round the bend as they're not as fast as they think and "suddenly" something is coming the other way or there's a bollard. A lot of them can't read the road sensibly and anticipate what's happening ahead.

On the other point of drivers deliberately blocking cycle lanes. That's mostly London black cab drivers in my experience. However, occasionally had other vehicles do it on an ordinary road with no cycle lane and I can see the driver looking in his mirror to check he's going to block my path completely. Of course I know what he's going to do (they must think they're the only ones who have ever done this and it will be a complete surprise to the cyclist they do it to which of course it's not) and swoop on the offside passing him stuck on the kerb in his traffic jam looking like an idiot.

 

[John the Monkey]

Drivers aren't very good

I've fixed your post

 

[goo_mason]

I had a BMW driving all by itself alongside me last week: it pulled alongside and them started to veer alarmingly quickly into the cycle lane, so I hit the brakes to fall behind it and stay well out of the way. It continued on towards the kerb, until suddenly a businessman sat upright with his phone clamped to his ear. He'd been leaning over into the passenger area, rooting about in the glovebox whilst talking to someone.

That's the most extreme move into a cycle lane I've seen, but I have noticed the overtake, move into the cycle lane and then move out. But more often I get a very close pass, followed by a move out towards the middle of the road leaving twice the gap they gave when passing me. Why did they pass so close in the first place ? Is it a kind of delayed passing move, where the message from the brain to pull out and give the cyclist room only reaches their hands and feet a few seconds after they pass ?

There's some interesting psychological research in there for someone

 

[domtyler]

I've fixed your post

Apart from me, I like to think I am a very good driver, certainly well above average ability.

 

[domtyler]

I had a BMW driving all by itself alongside me last week: it pulled alongside and them started to veer alarmingly quickly into the cycle lane, so I hit the brakes to fall behind it and stay well out of the way. It continued on towards the kerb, until suddenly a businessman sat upright with his phone clamped to his ear. He'd been leaning over into the passenger area, rooting about in the glovebox whilst talking to someone.

That's the most extreme move into a cycle lane I've seen, but I have noticed the overtake, move into the cycle lane and then move out. But more often I get a very close pass, followed by a move out towards the middle of the road leaving twice the gap they gave when passing me. Why did they pass so close in the first place ? Is it a kind of delayed passing move, where the message from the brain to pull out and give the cyclist room only reaches their hands and feet a few seconds after they pass ?

There's some interesting psychological research in there for someone

To be fair, if he was actually working then you shouldn't be getting in his way on your wee pedal bike.

 

[Origamist]

Apart from me, I like to think I am a very good driver, certainly well above average ability.

Join the club:

"Ask British motorists how good their driving is and they're likely to tell you they're either good or very good. Ask them about the standards of the other drivers on the roads and the results are very different.

That's the picture that emerges from the most recent Royal Automobile Club (RAC) Report on Motoring in which a survey shows 78 per cent of motorists rate their own driving highly whilst few think others are very good behind the wheel."