Cyclists and car drivers

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Pikeman

Active Member
What goes on between the two? Both use the same road, both need to get somewhere, both complain about each other and I suspect a large proportion of cyclists drive a car too. What's the issue?
 

subaqua

What’s the point
Location
Leytonstone
I am retiring to a safe distance donning fireproof overalls , and collecting some popcorn on the way too.
 

Pauluk

Senior Member
Location
Leicester
You nailed it sidevalve, people can't wait 10 seconds anymore, they have to barge through even when its not their 'right of way' and if anyone causes a few seconds delay in their passage, well its too much for them to bear. Even a simple look now can get you a blast from the drivers horn.

Unfortunately its behaviour not just reserved for those driving motorised vehicles. I see cyclists on shared paths going too fast, cyclists going up the curb and then using a pedestrian crossing because they can't wait 2 minutes or so stopping at a red. Cyclist going across a pelican crossing against the red light when peds are crossing etc etc.

I'm afraid its the human condition.

That being said I guess not all cyclists and car drivers get an attack of bad manners when out on the road.
 

Crosstrailer

Well-Known Member
The reverse is not true: hence the gap in understanding.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^

What I would say is that in my very humble opinion the vast majority of car drivers who I have seen do something stupid exercise poor judgement in calculating the speed of the cyclist they are in contact with on the road (not literally I hope) which leads them to think they can either pull out or overtake in time and in the space provided. Thats not to say there are some morons around who need to speed past whatever the cost because there undoubtedly are. I have on several occasions seen people execute such a hugely wide overtake to make sure they are not putting me in danger they have endangered themselves and cars coming in the opposite direction. Often drivers hesitate so much they make a complete balls of the overtake.

Today while cycling along a busy provincial town high street a car which overtook me perfectly safely nearly hit the bus in front which had stopped because they were concentrating too much on passing me. You see similar poor judgement around horses from some drivers.
 

Davehateshills

Senior Member
Location
Bury, Lancashire
I tend to think that examples of bad driving are not quite as common as some people would have us think. I see so many examples of good driving where car drivers hang back when the gap narrows and let me turn across traffic etc. There are always going to be examples of bad driving however I would like to say that my glass is half full on this subject.
 
Location
Pontefract
Just got to agree with the above, I am not very fast but can chug along sometimes between 16-20 mph on a flat piece of road, had one car yesterday think he could over take me going down a 8% approaching a bridge that is traffic controlled because it narrows to a single carriage way, well I am going down this hill about 28 mph, he really had to apply the brakes.
 

I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
I tend to think that examples of bad driving are not quite as common as some people would have us think.......... I would like to say that my glass is half full on this subject.

I have commuted for over 2 years with very little in the way of incidents but on 2 commutes last week I experienced maybe half a dozen poor or ignorant maneouvers that ignored the fact there was a cyclist present(ME!). So on the whole, I agree, examples of bad driving are not common and if you choose the optimistic, glass half full view then the roads are actually quite a good place to be and I am happy to prefer that view of the world so ignoring the lack of respect and being optimistic suits me thank you very much :thumbsup:
 

sidevalve

Über Member
Only one thing to say really I said everybody and I meant everybody, the disease if rife. To those that carp on and on about motorists how many RL jumping cyclists do you see in a big city, how many almost bust into tears if they have to, horror of horrors, use their brakes. I'm not trying to make any excuses for stupid people just pointing out that the "must get there yesterday" thing really is almost completely universal.
 
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