Women drivers - no aggression just plain stupid!

[llanberispass]

All did was hold my hand out with the palm facing backwards to indicate that there might be a car coming - I couldnt see either and i was on the left of the road! She chose to ignore this message........

As to not hindering other poeples progress - well that beggars belief. Although this is a quiet surburban street (soon turning into a country lane) I often see mothers driving their children to school in the opposite direction. Would you really want that on you conscience? Or are you falling into the trap of de-humanising people because they are in a car?

 

[jasper]

No, fella...I admitted (and apologised) I was scan reading and read your post wrong.

I took held hand up for moving further out & side road as a country lane...don't ask me why.

But I still stand by my original remark which actually has no relevance to this thread.... It's not upto us, whether on bikes or in cars, to obstruct an overtake; no matter how ill thought it is. Just slow down and expect the worst if the insist. This is probably more one for motorist really as they have the size and speed to actually stop them.

I'm just rambling now so I'll say no more on the matter...

 

[Landslide]

Jasper, what if they get part-way through the overtake despite your efforts to dissuade them and there is a vehicle coming the other way? The overtaking motorist has three options as I see it:
1) Brake hard, and hope that they stop before they hit the oncoming vehicle
2) Keep trying to overtake and hit the oncoming vehicle
3) Swerve back into their lane. Where you are.
It's not a case of obstructing someone's overtake, it's a case of valuing your life more than a few seconds potentially shaved off someone's journey.

 

[byegad]

My pet hate is the driver who slows as we approach a choke point and times it so they come through the choke walongside me rather infront (if they hadn't slowed down) or behind me (if they'd slowed a touch more).
The vast majority of these drivers (80% or so I'd guess) are women.

As I now exclusively ride recumbent trikes I try to take the lane at these points so they have to wait or drive over me. So far they've always waited, touch wood!

 

[jasper]

But if they insist on overtaking, they are going to do it anyway. So best to be prepared and give yourself enough room to move left if necessary.

What I was trying to say is in the HC:

168
Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass. Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous. Drop back to maintain a two-second gap if someone overtakes and pulls into the gap in front of you.

169
Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.

 

[BentMikey]

Jasper, this is where I think you show how you've seriously misunderstood the use of primary:

First off, you're supposed to negotiate your way out to the middle of the lane in plenty of time before whatever obstruction/hazard is causing you to need to move out. No unpredictable manouevres required, and no obstruction to drivers behind you. You're simply holding the lane, not preventing them from overtaking you. What is important to remember is that it's not you preventing them from overtaking, it's the pinch point, blind bend, oncoming traffic, etc.

Second, the holding of the palm facing back is to stop the driver behind initiating the overtake.

Third, if the muppet does overtake anyway, the idea is that primary leaves you the room to be able to correct for their mistake.

Fourth, I think we've already covered how it's good manners and responsible behaviour to pull over and let a long queue past you. OTOH, it's quite fair to expect to be able to make reasonable progress yourself, and in most cases primary wouldn't last so long that you'd accumulated that much of a queue anyway.

Is that fair?

 

[llanberispass]

I should add (tho not sure if pertinent)

- as it was slightly downhill I was doing about 23 mph

- the speed limit was 30

- following bend is long straight of 400+ yards

It is all about staying safe I guess. We all do what we think best from years of practice and reading advice on here.

However I think I can safely say that whether you take primary or secondary, hold your ground or meekly give way, you will always have a few incidents due to the utter ignorance and stupidity of a part of the population.

PS I am not referring to women alone!

 

[jasper]

BM, I know what primary is. I was agreeing with you in reply to you when you said:

The overtaking motorist has three options as I see it:
1) Brake hard, and hope that they stop before they hit the oncoming vehicle
2) Keep trying to overtake and hit the oncoming vehicle
3) Swerve back into their lane. Where you are.

If you are in primary, then you have room for error (theirs). This we agree..?

To be frank we are arguing about a non-issue. I mis-read the original post. I thought he said he was in primary, then pulled further out to prevent her from overtaking. Then I went on to say that no road user should deliberately obstruct another's overtake, which didn't happen in the OP's case.

 

[birdie1]

Women drivers!!!

Hold on you guys!!! As a female cyclist both sexes are inconsiderate to cyclists!!! It is sooooo frustrating!!! Im gona strangle a driver one day!!! Any one wana watch???!!!

 

[BentMikey]

I'm staying out of the male vs female driver conundrum, LOL!

 

[jasper]

Aye, and me.

What I was trying to illustrate was the typical situation you get on a country lane (national speed limit) and you go to overtake an OAP doing 30mph and they suddenly take offence and speed up...or the boy racer who thinks it's funny to accellerate as you're overtaking.

Doing so on a bike is downright silly as it will be the bike that will come off worse in most situations. So, no matter whether you are in primary, your right of way, etc. be prepared for the idiots at all times.

Safe riding guys & gals.

 

[wafflycat]

Hold on you guys!!! As a female cyclist both sexes are inconsiderate to cyclists!!! It is sooooo frustrating!!! Im gona strangle a driver one day!!! Any one wana watch???!!!

Quite. Whilst I have sympathy for the OP and what he describes happened to him, his assertion that because he one twuntish driver experience and the driver happened to be female, therefore it's "Women drivers - no aggression just plain stupid" his general attitude towards women appears to be that of an ar$3hole.

But I won't go on to extrapolate from his attitude that all men are the same...

 

[byegad]

But if they insist on overtaking, they are going to do it anyway. So best to be prepared and give yourself enough room to move left if necessary.

What I was trying to say is in the HC:

168
Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass. Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous. Drop back to maintain a two-second gap if someone overtakes and pulls into the gap in front of you.

169
Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.

168 has nothing to say about what you do if it is unsafe for the vehicle to pass you.

169 is hardly relevant as I pull out to 'take the lane' when I can* and only hold the lane until I'm past the choke point.

* This sometimes means stopping short of the choke and waiting for a gap to allow me to proceed safely into Primary.

I do not feel it is unreasonable of me to slow traffic for a few yards to ensure that they don't kill me.

As to the driver insisting they overtake, well, if the driver is going through no matter what I do then they are going to risk hitting me. My method at least ensures that they have taken a concious decision to kill me rather than them merely 'going for a gap' that was not there and taking me out.

 

[fossyant]

I not with the gender thing....

Drivers fall into various categories....

Considerate
Aggressive
Dopey - Auto pilot

The dopey ones you just have to watch out for as they don't look and just drive about without thinking....

 

[J4CKO]

I not with the gender thing....

Drivers fall into various categories....

Considerate
Aggressive
Dopey - Auto pilot

The dopey ones you just have to watch out for as they don't look and just drive about without thinking....

And your behaviour has an effect on the "Floating Voters"