Dave Davenport
Guru
- Location
- Hampshire
Anyone who cycles regularly in the New Forest will not be surprised that whilst riding with a mate today, the driver of a 4x4 shouted at us to get in single file as he passed, you probably wouldn't be totally surprised to hear that when my reaction was to give him a look that implied he was a plonker and carry on as we were, that he pulled onto the verge about a 50 yards up the road and hung out of his window to remonstrate with us. What might surprise you is that said driver was a police officer in a police 4x4. The road in question is the roughly 1/3rd of a mile stretch of the B3056 between the Beaulieu motor museum and the right turn towards Ipley cross, fairly wide, centre line markings and a couple of bends, we were doing about 25mph (tailwind!).
The conversation went like this;
Me; What's the problem?
Him; The law says you can only ride two abreast where it's safe to do so and it's not safe on this road
Me; No it doesn't, the highway code says you shouldn't ride more than two abreast and single out on narrow roads
Him; Well you shouldn't be two abreast on that section of road, I couldn't get past you because you were
Me; What does the HC say about overtaking cyclists
Him; Give them 1.5m
Me; Well not exactly
Him; You were stopping me being able to overtake
Me; I have been close passed on that section of road on several occasions and believe it's safer to force drivers to wait until they can overtake safely, I'm a pretty experienced cyclist and qualified national standards instructor so I do have an idea what I'm doing
Him; Qualified by who?
Me; I'm registered with the department of transport and deliver their approved training under contract to Hampshire CC
Him; Yea but who say's you're qualified or approved?
Me; Err.. the DoT....
Him; But what proper body says you're qualified or approved? (he than spouted a few acronyms that I didn't recognise)?
Me; Err... the DoT, anyway do you think it's ok to shout at us as you overtake?
Him; I was only shouting so you'd hear me. OK I get why you think you ought to ride two abreast there but you're antagonising drivers and they could take it out on another cyclist, do you want that to happen?
Me; Shouldn't you be more concerned with a dangerous driver than cyclists riding legally?
Him; I am, I'll deal with it if I see dangerous driving
He then said something about me not wearing a helmet
Me; What's my not wearing a helmet got to do with it, are you implying that it's evidence that I'm reckless or something?
Him; No, I'm just stating a fact, you aren't wearing a helmet are you. Anyway, I think we're going to have to agree to differ
Me; Yes, we are
I then shook his hand and we carried on our way (two abreast)
My past dealings with Hampshire police when reporting dangerous drivers etc. have been far from satisfactory from my point of view, today's experience hasn't changed my opinion of their attitude to cyclists.
The conversation went like this;
Me; What's the problem?
Him; The law says you can only ride two abreast where it's safe to do so and it's not safe on this road
Me; No it doesn't, the highway code says you shouldn't ride more than two abreast and single out on narrow roads
Him; Well you shouldn't be two abreast on that section of road, I couldn't get past you because you were
Me; What does the HC say about overtaking cyclists
Him; Give them 1.5m
Me; Well not exactly
Him; You were stopping me being able to overtake
Me; I have been close passed on that section of road on several occasions and believe it's safer to force drivers to wait until they can overtake safely, I'm a pretty experienced cyclist and qualified national standards instructor so I do have an idea what I'm doing
Him; Qualified by who?
Me; I'm registered with the department of transport and deliver their approved training under contract to Hampshire CC
Him; Yea but who say's you're qualified or approved?
Me; Err.. the DoT....
Him; But what proper body says you're qualified or approved? (he than spouted a few acronyms that I didn't recognise)?
Me; Err... the DoT, anyway do you think it's ok to shout at us as you overtake?
Him; I was only shouting so you'd hear me. OK I get why you think you ought to ride two abreast there but you're antagonising drivers and they could take it out on another cyclist, do you want that to happen?
Me; Shouldn't you be more concerned with a dangerous driver than cyclists riding legally?
Him; I am, I'll deal with it if I see dangerous driving
He then said something about me not wearing a helmet
Me; What's my not wearing a helmet got to do with it, are you implying that it's evidence that I'm reckless or something?
Him; No, I'm just stating a fact, you aren't wearing a helmet are you. Anyway, I think we're going to have to agree to differ
Me; Yes, we are
I then shook his hand and we carried on our way (two abreast)
My past dealings with Hampshire police when reporting dangerous drivers etc. have been far from satisfactory from my point of view, today's experience hasn't changed my opinion of their attitude to cyclists.
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