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Cyclists on the road

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  • Would like to use a cycle, but, living in London I think its too risky.
    As a white van man I would like to say that the majority (NOT ALL) cyclists don't seem to think the red traffic light is there for them.


    most cyclists know to flee in any direction when in the vicinity of `white van man'
  • I've been driving for 50 years and have never had an incident on the road with a cyclist...I think watching Youtube idiot cyclist videos can warp your view.
  • Oh one other thing that hasnt really been mentioned.

    Pot holes, man hole covers and drain covers. Every single one of them is a potential killer. Thats why we sometimes have to take a wider line when the roads are narrow.

    Never mind cycle boxes - some of the bollocks you have to put up with in general is laughable. I did 75km on Sunday - from Reigate out through Dorking, down to Horsham, round Little Beeding and back up through Dorking again. During that ride, I was almost sideswiped by an imbecile doing around 80mph on the inside lane of the dual carriageway near Holmwood, had a total c*** in a BMW (quelle surprise) rearwheel me for about a quarter of a mile up a hill outside Mannings Heath, someone overtake me on a single-lane roundabout (saving himself literally three seconds and almost totalling another car using the roundabout correctly) and had a pedestrian step out into the road at random on Dorking High St, causing me to swerve - if there had been a car alongside me at the time I'd have been a goner.

    It's just as bad when you're driving - but I think it's just far more noticable when you're a cyclist because you're at much greater risk of death!

    Another fav of mine is the driver sitting in stationary traffic who leans across to open the passenger door to chuck some rubbish out. Cycle lane on Ha Ha Rd last Friday, I'm cruising up to the lights, van door fly's open just as I go past, empty drink bottle fly's out. 2 seconds earlier I would have been hit by the door, 2 seconds later I would have ridden straight into the door. When I asked whether the van driver had looked before he did it he had the cheek to have a go at me.

    Spine Rd Thamesmead 18 months ago. Hacking along at 30mph Vauxhall Corsa slows down and lobs a full 500ml bottle of coke at me, hit me on the helmet and very nearly knocked me off.

    Thames Pathway going towards Charlton 2-3 years ago. Full glass milk bottle thrown at me, hit me in the chest. Completely winded and left with bruises. Reported it to the police as I knew the house where the kids were - response "did anyone else see it?"

    For every poor rider there are an equal or greater number of numpty's who are quite happy to injure a cyclist.

    Your coke incident is the exact reason I bought a helmet cam. I had a can of coke thrown at me on Blackfen Road. Managed to take a picture of the registration number but the police didnt want to know. Also had an incident on the North Cray Road where a car passenger leaned out of the window to physically grab my handlebars. My whole life flashed before my eyes at that point and thought I was a goner. Thankfully managed to keep my balance whilst I gauged his eyes with my fingers.

  • We have cycle lanes where I live, a lot of them, the Council spent a fortune putting them in.......why don't the f*cking cyclists use them?
  • When we are talking about educating people to observe certain rules and etiquette we should not forget pedestrians. In particularly the correct rules regarding the use of a zebra crossing. Unless the rules have changed my understanding is that the pedestrian should stop at the zebra crossing and wait until the traffic stops,( if there is traffic) before stepping onto the zebra crossing. I have had two run ins with pedestrians recently where I have shocked myself with the vitriol I have shouted at the top of my voice and to the people around me I must have seemed like just another aggressive cyclist!

    In the first instance I was cycling along the cycling super highway that goes from Tower Bridge to the top of the Isle of Dogs. At Shadwell there is a zebra crossing outside the DLR station with a fence that means pedestrians can only cross on the zebra crossing itself. As I approached the zebra crossing I could see this guy suddenly quicken his pace to try and get to the zebra crossing before me and make me stop. I was virtually on the zebra crossing as he stepped out without hesitation and then shouted some comment about the fact he thought I should have stopped rather than hold him up for a nano second (even though I new he was simply trying to engineer his daily contretemps with a London cyclist). I was enraged and must apologise to any pedestrians who heard my response to him. A few days later I was approaching another zebra crossing where the oncoming traffic was stopped as two or three young blokes were half way across. I estimated I hardly needed to slow down as they would be across before I reached the crossing. But one of them looked up and saw me approaching and suddenly slowed right down simply to ensure I came to a stop. Well I didn't and as I went past I deliberately brushed against his rucksack with my arm and said ' Take all the time you want you f**king twat!' This is not my normal behaviour but it is happening more and more (maybe it is the adrenalin created while exercising that makes cyclists so aggressive?).

    As a cyclist who always stops at red lights I can understand people's general hostility to cyclists who don't but I find the attitude of pedestrians who think they can step onto zebra crossings and expect all traffic to immediately come to a screeching halt equally annoying. When I am a pedestrian and I approach a zebra crossing where the traffic is moving not only do I wait until the traffic stops but if I see a large lorry I will deliberately step back from the zebra crossing so that the driver driver does not have to stop. Also, never in my life have I caused a cyclist to stop at a zebra crossing, even before I became a cyclist myself. I either step back or cross and am quite happy for them to pass in front or behind be whilst I am still on the crossing.
  • D_F_T said:

    We have cycle lanes where I live, a lot of them, the Council spent a fortune putting them in.......why don't the f*cking cyclists use them?

    We've got a doozy of a cycle lane near me. The underpass from Blackfen up towards Welling. Stretch of cycle lane no more than the length of the underpass itself but painted onto the pavement rather than the road. So they've narrowed the road and widened the pavement directly opposite the exit from a supermarket car park and just after a traffic island. What muppet thought that was a good idea? Not to mention that there are no drop kerbs at either end of the cycle lane so the cyclists have to bump up and down the kerbs.

  • Rizzo, the cycle lanes where I live are purpose built and really good. Portchester Road is a dual carriageway and has a cycle lane in each direction but some cyclists, normally the "pros" in all the top gear won't use them. Is it degrading for a top cyclist to use a cycle lane or something? I have had so many rows with them along there as the nearside lane cars can't overtake the cyclists and it causes traffic jams, I got out at of my car to one of them who banged on my window because I went "too close' to him and he fell off his bike, it was so funny I just burst out laughing and all the car drivers were very amused. Not the ideal situation causing friction but if the cyclists used their lanes it wouldn't happen.
  • edited July 2013
    Thankfully managed to keep my balance whilst I gauged his eyes with my fingers.
    Good for you mate!
    It's such a cowardice act to attack a cyclist like that, I think I'd react like you did if that ever happens to me when I'm out on a ride..

    How much is a decent helmet cam? I'm after one myself but wouldn't know where to start looking.
  • Jarman said:

    Thankfully managed to keep my balance whilst I gauged his eyes with my fingers.
    Good for you mate!
    It's such a cowardice act to attack a cyclist like that, I think I'd react like you did if that ever happens to me when I'm out on a ride..

    How much is a decent helmet cam? I'm after one myself but wouldn't know where to start looking.

    I didnt have much choice. I held on for dear life with one hand and done what I could with the other to try and escape. If I'd lost my balance, I'd been under the wheels of the car and probably not here to tell the tale.

    I bought a Contour ROAM, its waterproof and records 1080HD. With a cheap 32gb miniSD card, you can record 8-9hrs footage although the battery only lasts about 3hrs. On the commute, you can just plug it into a USB port for a top up with a cable.

  • When we are talking about educating people to observe certain rules and etiquette we should not forget pedestrians. In particularly the correct rules regarding the use of a zebra crossing. Unless the rules have changed my understanding is that the pedestrian should stop at the zebra crossing and wait until the traffic stops,( if there is traffic) before stepping onto the zebra crossing. I have had two run ins with pedestrians recently where I have shocked myself with the vitriol I have shouted at the top of my voice and to the people around me I must have seemed like just another aggressive cyclist!

    In the first instance I was cycling along the cycling super highway that goes from Tower Bridge to the top of the Isle of Dogs. At Shadwell there is a zebra crossing outside the DLR station with a fence that means pedestrians can only cross on the zebra crossing itself. As I approached the zebra crossing I could see this guy suddenly quicken his pace to try and get to the zebra crossing before me and make me stop. I was virtually on the zebra crossing as he stepped out without hesitation and then shouted some comment about the fact he thought I should have stopped rather than hold him up for a nano second (even though I new he was simply trying to engineer his daily contretemps with a London cyclist). I was enraged and must apologise to any pedestrians who heard my response to him. A few days later I was approaching another zebra crossing where the oncoming traffic was stopped as two or three young blokes were half way across. I estimated I hardly needed to slow down as they would be across before I reached the crossing. But one of them looked up and saw me approaching and suddenly slowed right down simply to ensure I came to a stop. Well I didn't and as I went past I deliberately brushed against his rucksack with my arm and said ' Take all the time you want you f**king twat!' This is not my normal behaviour but it is happening more and more (maybe it is the adrenalin created while exercising that makes cyclists so aggressive?).

    As a cyclist who always stops at red lights I can understand people's general hostility to cyclists who don't but I find the attitude of pedestrians who think they can step onto zebra crossings and expect all traffic to immediately come to a screeching halt equally annoying. When I am a pedestrian and I approach a zebra crossing where the traffic is moving not only do I wait until the traffic stops but if I see a large lorry I will deliberately step back from the zebra crossing so that the driver driver does not have to stop. Also, never in my life have I caused a cyclist to stop at a zebra crossing, even before I became a cyclist myself. I either step back or cross and am quite happy for them to pass in front or behind be whilst I am still on the crossing.

    You are right about pedestrians responsibilities but the Highway Code applies to cyclists too.
    It says, generally, "always give way if it can help to avoid an incident". (Note "incident" not "accident") Specifically for Zebra crossings: "As you approach a zebra crossing look out for pedestrians waiting to cross and be ready to slow down or stop (my emphasis) to let them cross."
    Funnily enough, what it does not say is pedal more quickly to beat the pedestrian to the crossing so that you don't get held up by the inconsiderate bastard!


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  • The Old Bill have been out in force in the City a couple of times lately, nicking cyclists who jump red lights. Wish they'd try the pedestrian crossing outside my office occasionally too though. Prime example this morning of all the motorised traffic managing to stop for the red light but some stupid doris on a bike just thought she'd weave through the pedestrians as they crossed. And we're talking rush hour here, so not just 1 or 2 pedestrians! Times like that make me wish for a golfing umbrella to stick between the spokes of their front wheel and laugh as they catapult headfirst over their handlebars.
  • D_F_T said:

    We have cycle lanes where I live, a lot of them, the Council spent a fortune putting them in.......why don't the f*cking cyclists use them?

    Probably because they didn't consult cyclists and just whacked them in with no thought of how they might be used, because they're full of glass etc as mentioned earlier in this thread.
    Until the law changes cyclists have a RIGHT to use the road even if there is a cycle lane.

    I would imagine it's a long time since you've cycled = give it a go and see how useful and useable those lanes are.

  • Cyclists should need a licence. End of!
  • Yes they need lights, that's a no brainer. But they should have lights that don't flash as it is very distracting when it's flashing. Particulally in your mirror at night. Thet should be still lights. One cyclist one had a miners torch on his helmet and that was blinding. I want to see them lit but not be blinded either.
  • I always wear mine, never had an accident where it would have helped. My son whacked his forehead the other day wearing one, which didn't help either..
  • Yes they need lights, that's a no brainer. But they should have lights that don't flash as it is very distracting when it's flashing. Particulally in your mirror at night. Thet should be still lights. One cyclist one had a miners torch on his helmet and that was blinding. I want to see them lit but not be blinded either.

    The flashing lights work then - you see them. Constant lights on a bike - unless you have the really expensive ones can be lost in the other road lights and are not so good.

    I have a flashing and a constant light front and back.

  • Cyclists should need a licence. End of!

    Needs a bit more thought behind it than just that. There's over a million car drivers without licences, how are they going to enforce it on cyclists?
  • edited July 2013
    Outside Charing Cross station is a nightmare. Hundreds of people crossing the road, big set of lights, yet some bike riders still go straight through them. So dangerous.


  • In the first instance I was cycling along the cycling super highway that goes from Tower Bridge to the top of the Isle of Dogs. At Shadwell there is a zebra crossing outside the DLR station with a fence that means pedestrians can only cross on the zebra crossing itself. As I approached the zebra crossing I could see this guy suddenly quicken his pace to try and get to the zebra crossing before me and make me stop. I was virtually on the zebra crossing as he stepped out without hesitation and then shouted some comment about the fact he thought I should have stopped rather than hold him up for a nano second (even though I new he was simply trying to engineer his daily contretemps with a London cyclist). I was enraged and must apologise to any pedestrians who heard my response to him. A few days later I was approaching another zebra crossing where the oncoming traffic was stopped as two or three young blokes were half way across. I estimated I hardly needed to slow down as they would be across before I reached the crossing. But one of them looked up and saw me approaching and suddenly slowed right down simply to ensure I came to a stop. Well I didn't and as I went past I deliberately brushed against his rucksack with my arm and said ' Take all the time you want you f**king twat!' This is not my normal behaviour but it is happening more and more (maybe it is the adrenalin created while exercising that makes cyclists so aggressive?).

    You seem to have a lot of anger issues. Too aggressive.


  • Curb_It said:



    In the first instance I was cycling along the cycling super highway that goes from Tower Bridge to the top of the Isle of Dogs. At Shadwell there is a zebra crossing outside the DLR station with a fence that means pedestrians can only cross on the zebra crossing itself. As I approached the zebra crossing I could see this guy suddenly quicken his pace to try and get to the zebra crossing before me and make me stop. I was virtually on the zebra crossing as he stepped out without hesitation and then shouted some comment about the fact he thought I should have stopped rather than hold him up for a nano second (even though I new he was simply trying to engineer his daily contretemps with a London cyclist). I was enraged and must apologise to any pedestrians who heard my response to him. A few days later I was approaching another zebra crossing where the oncoming traffic was stopped as two or three young blokes were half way across. I estimated I hardly needed to slow down as they would be across before I reached the crossing. But one of them looked up and saw me approaching and suddenly slowed right down simply to ensure I came to a stop. Well I didn't and as I went past I deliberately brushed against his rucksack with my arm and said ' Take all the time you want you f**king twat!' This is not my normal behaviour but it is happening more and more (maybe it is the adrenalin created while exercising that makes cyclists so aggressive?).

    You seem to have a lot of anger issues. Too aggressive.


    You are not the first person to make that point to me!
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  • It's perhaps unlikely but the CPS web site indicates that cyclists committing an offence, could get banned from driving. (But not get points on their driver's licence.)
    Here's the extract:
    Section 146 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.

    Any court may disqualify an offender from driving on conviction for any offence, either in addition to or instead of any other sentence. Somewhat surprisingly, perhaps, it is not a requirement of disqualification that the offence is connected with the use of a motor vehicle: the power to disqualify under s. 146 is a general power.

    So, be careful out there you cyclists otherwise you might find that you'll be cycling much more frequently than you actually wanted to!
  • cafcfan said:

    It's perhaps unlikely but the CPS web site indicates that cyclists committing an offence, could get banned from driving. (But not get points on their driver's licence.)
    Here's the extract:
    Section 146 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.

    Any court may disqualify an offender from driving on conviction for any offence, either in addition to or instead of any other sentence. Somewhat surprisingly, perhaps, it is not a requirement of disqualification that the offence is connected with the use of a motor vehicle: the power to disqualify under s. 146 is a general power.

    So, be careful out there you cyclists otherwise you might find that you'll be cycling much more frequently than you actually wanted to!

    As the only weapon for trapping offending motorists is camera's I doubt us cyclists have much to worry about. With no number plate to identify the bike you would need a real copper to nick you and seeing one of those on the street is as rare as a Charlton striker.
  • The road tax/VED debate is now invalid as there are now cars that are VED-exempt due to their low emmisions.
  • Ross said:

    The road tax/VED debate is now invalid as there are now cars that are VED-exempt due to their low emmisions.

    Its been invalid since 1937.
  • I am not a cyclist but quite a lot in the City do give the breed a bad name .As said before surely a no brainer to have lights,helmet and high vis clothes! I see quite a few people on Boris Bikes (who may be using them for novelty/recreational value) and frankly some seem very unprepared (clothing and training wise)

    My big grouse is the arrogance of some who feel the road now belongs to them and the highway code doesnt apply.Surely as a Pedestrian I am the priority.I can see why people use Helmet Cams but is there a legal issue though ?

  • Curb_It said:



    In the first instance I was cycling along the cycling super highway that goes from Tower Bridge to the top of the Isle of Dogs. At Shadwell there is a zebra crossing outside the DLR station with a fence that means pedestrians can only cross on the zebra crossing itself. As I approached the zebra crossing I could see this guy suddenly quicken his pace to try and get to the zebra crossing before me and make me stop. I was virtually on the zebra crossing as he stepped out without hesitation and then shouted some comment about the fact he thought I should have stopped rather than hold him up for a nano second (even though I new he was simply trying to engineer his daily contretemps with a London cyclist). I was enraged and must apologise to any pedestrians who heard my response to him. A few days later I was approaching another zebra crossing where the oncoming traffic was stopped as two or three young blokes were half way across. I estimated I hardly needed to slow down as they would be across before I reached the crossing. But one of them looked up and saw me approaching and suddenly slowed right down simply to ensure I came to a stop. Well I didn't and as I went past I deliberately brushed against his rucksack with my arm and said ' Take all the time you want you f**king twat!' This is not my normal behaviour but it is happening more and more (maybe it is the adrenalin created while exercising that makes cyclists so aggressive?).

    You seem to have a lot of anger issues. Too aggressive.


    You are not the first person to make that point to me!
    Never mind pedestrians. It's super sports cars that are the real problem.

  • We're trying to retrofit roads that were designed for cars smaller than many of today's, and make them useable for bikes. As a non-biking driver, I find it bizarre that cyclists think they can make it around safely. That's not a criticism - I wish we all cycled. I want to cycle. I just think it's naive to trust the plethora of douchebags, who are handed licences to drive, to not smash you with a ton of steel at 60mph. A chip on the shoulder or sense of road-belonging does not protect cyclists from steel juggernauts basically.

    But as a driver I steer well clear of cyclists, and only get annoyed if they cycle two deep or bring them on trains during rush hour (fold ups get me in the knees too).


  • JiMMy 85 said:

    We're trying to retrofit roads that were designed for cars smaller than many of today's, and make them useable for bikes. As a non-biking driver, I find it bizarre that cyclists think they can make it around safely. That's not a criticism - I wish we all cycled. I want to cycle. I just think it's naive to trust the plethora of douchebags, who are handed licences to drive, to not smash you with a ton of steel at 60mph. A chip on the shoulder or sense of road-belonging does not protect cyclists from steel juggernauts basically.

    But as a driver I steer well clear of cyclists, and only get annoyed if they cycle two deep or bring them on trains during rush hour (fold ups get me in the knees too).



    All totally well said

    Before I got a driving licence I cycled everywhere and since I bought a bike a few months ago I've been out a lot. Following a fourteen year break!

    I've always looked out for cyclists when I'm driving but think some of them need their heads examining the way they operate! Cyclepaths that are clear and a sensible size are fine, the ones in the road are outright dangerous. There is a national limit road on one of the routes I take and there is not enough tea in China to get me off the footpath onto that, he footpath is also a cycle path but I see cyclists on it every day and it is fucking scary as a car user let alone a soft fleshling on a metal frame!

    This country will never accept cyclists like Europe has, if anything it has gotten worse or the standard of car user has rapidly deteriorated.
  • Carter said:

    JiMMy 85 said:

    We're trying to retrofit roads that were designed for cars smaller than many of today's, and make them useable for bikes. As a non-biking driver, I find it bizarre that cyclists think they can make it around safely. That's not a criticism - I wish we all cycled. I want to cycle. I just think it's naive to trust the plethora of douchebags, who are handed licences to drive, to not smash you with a ton of steel at 60mph. A chip on the shoulder or sense of road-belonging does not protect cyclists from steel juggernauts basically.

    But as a driver I steer well clear of cyclists, and only get annoyed if they cycle two deep or bring them on trains during rush hour (fold ups get me in the knees too).



    All totally well said

    Before I got a driving licence I cycled everywhere and since I bought a bike a few months ago I've been out a lot. Following a fourteen year break!

    I've always looked out for cyclists when I'm driving but think some of them need their heads examining the way they operate! Cyclepaths that are clear and a sensible size are fine, the ones in the road are outright dangerous. There is a national limit road on one of the routes I take and there is not enough tea in China to get me off the footpath onto that, he footpath is also a cycle path but I see cyclists on it every day and it is fucking scary as a car user let alone a soft fleshling on a metal frame!

    This country will never accept cyclists like Europe has, if anything it has gotten worse or the standard of car user has rapidly deteriorated.
    Could that possibly be in part due to the number of foreigners now driving on our roads?
  • Carter said:

    JiMMy 85 said:

    We're trying to retrofit roads that were designed for cars smaller than many of today's, and make them useable for bikes. As a non-biking driver, I find it bizarre that cyclists think they can make it around safely. That's not a criticism - I wish we all cycled. I want to cycle. I just think it's naive to trust the plethora of douchebags, who are handed licences to drive, to not smash you with a ton of steel at 60mph. A chip on the shoulder or sense of road-belonging does not protect cyclists from steel juggernauts basically.

    But as a driver I steer well clear of cyclists, and only get annoyed if they cycle two deep or bring them on trains during rush hour (fold ups get me in the knees too).



    All totally well said

    Before I got a driving licence I cycled everywhere and since I bought a bike a few months ago I've been out a lot. Following a fourteen year break!

    I've always looked out for cyclists when I'm driving but think some of them need their heads examining the way they operate! Cyclepaths that are clear and a sensible size are fine, the ones in the road are outright dangerous. There is a national limit road on one of the routes I take and there is not enough tea in China to get me off the footpath onto that, he footpath is also a cycle path but I see cyclists on it every day and it is fucking scary as a car user let alone a soft fleshling on a metal frame!

    This country will never accept cyclists like Europe has, if anything it has gotten worse or the standard of car user has rapidly deteriorated.
    Could that possibly be in part due to the number of foreigners now driving on our roads?
    Words fail me.

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