What annoys car drivers most about cyclists?

[beanzontoast]

I'd have to say IME it's moving to the head of a stationary queue of traffic, including being able to use bus lanes in the rush hour. Some drivers really don't like that. (Got windscreen washer sprayed at me as I passed a van driver who was stuck in a queue the other day. He found it hilarious - laughing to his mate as I looked back. Nice.).

Or maybe them being held up by a cyclist in primary position when they are desperate to overtake. I see that quite often.

(I'm not suggesting all drivers get upset by cyclists, but it's interesting to think about which are the actions that seem to set the odd ones off!).

 

[4F]

I think it is the fact that they see you moving when they are queuing for lights, rab's, accidents and this for some reason winds them up. They also think they have a god given right to be on the road because they mistakingly think they have paid a road tax rather than an emission based tax.

 

[magnatom]

A legitimate question beanz, but I think we need to balance it with what annoys cyclists most about car drivers. I honestly think we are all as bad as each other. Some cyclists red light jump, pavement cycle etc, some car drivers speed, tailgate etc.

The problem is that the law breaking that cyclists take part in is more visible, i.e. it happens at junctions where the drivers are sitting watching them. It is more difficult to definitively say that a car driver is speeding for instance or tailgating, unless you are driving in the same direction as them, even then it is more subjective.

Just my 2p.

 

[Terminator]

They can wish they own the road although I try to keep out of the way of cars as they can be an offensive weapon sometimes.

 

[User482]

We're fitter, healthier & faster. And better in bed.

 

[girofan]

We're fitter, healthier & faster. And better in bed.

Tell them that if they refuse to believe this, to ask their wives!

 

[Cab]

Anyone have a link to the relevant TRL report handy?
Edit: Here it is, sums things up very well:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=trl+cyclist+perceptions&meta=

 

[Rhythm Thief]

The thing that annoys me (as a driver) about cyclists is the habit some of them have of wobbling about in the gutter, rather than claiming their road space. That, and their habit of waving me past. I'll decide when it's safe for me to overtake, thanks.

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

I definately think that what cheeses them off the most is that we don't have to pay a fee to the government to cycle on the roads but they have to pay a fee to drive on them (see how clever I am in trying to avoid the road tax argument!!)

When I am driving I can't think of what a cyclist does that would cheese me off - I definately would get annoyed if they red light jumped though as I don't like other cyclists doing this.

 

[Terminator]

When I am driving I can't think of what a cyclist does that would cheese me off - I definately would get annoyed if they red light jumped though as I don't like other cyclists doing this.

Same here TRC.

 

[Cab]

I definately think that what cheeses them off the most is that we don't have to pay a fee to the government to cycle on the roads but they have to pay a fee to drive on them (see how clever I am in trying to avoid the road tax argument!!).

Naah, thats just a dumb ass rationalisation for the anger they're displaying towards us.

They're angry to begin with. They're sitting there, burning expensive fuel in a vehicle that is depreciating by the minute, going nowhere fast. They're tetchy, they're irritable, they're easily upset. They see a cyclist doing something vaguely different, and their view isn't at all about what the cyclist is rationally doing wrong or what there may be that makes a real difference between a cyclist and a motorist, they simply vent their frustrations towards thoe who they perceive to be different.

And so many people are thus angry, tetchy and irritable in their cars all day that we've got a sort of national acceptance of bad road behaviour as the norm. It is expected that people will get angry at others who are different, its even tacity encouraged by referring to incidents of thuggish abuse as 'road rage'; people say 'Oh, I totally road raged at him...' as if yelling obscenities from a car window is just one of those things.

We are, as a nation, gripped by a sort of mass hysteria; get a car, drive around, conform, conform, CONFORM! And it is so pervasive that for many people mistreating cyclists is viewed as totally normal.

Its rather like racism 35 years ago. Its respectable to hate cyclists. And it has to change. And we don't change it by giving any credibility to the insane, out of proportion, snivelling criticisms from motorists.

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

Blimey! I suppose if you put it like that...

Should put a sign on my back saying "At least I'm not a tractor" I think they are the only thing hated even more.

 

[4F]

"At least I'm not a tractor" I think they are the only thing hated even more.

Horse boxes Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Tynan]

every time I hear

rlj
riding on the pavement
no lights


otherwise being on the wrong end of their stupid accident

 

[Eat MY Dust]

What annoys car drivers most about cyclists?

I've always found that scratching your keys along their paintwork annoys them!!! (only kidding!)

I think it's the perception that cyclists are holding them up. I had a mate moaning at me that he had passed the same cyclist 15 times, it wasn't until I pointed out to him that the cyclist must have passed him at least the same number of times did he understand that they were pretty much traveling at the same average speed!