Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 66 total)
  • **** car drivers
  • Onzadog
    Free Member

    I know any rant here is preaching to the choir but why, in a society, where it’s unacceptable to treat people differently because of race, creed or colour, do people think it’s perfectly acceptable to try and kill cyclists?

    Two of today’s stand out events were an old bloke who is probably a perectly lovely grandad to someone, a man who I’d probably pass the time of day with while walking the dog. Just because I’m slogging up hill on a bike and he’s had to wait a few seconds for the overtake, he feels justified in crawling past slowly, pointing at the footpath then waving insulting hand gestures at me.

    The second was on a dual carriageway, two lanes in either direction. Couple of cars come past closer than I feel comfortable with given the windy conditions, so a quick shoulder check and I move into a more commanding lane position. Moments later, some bellend passes me me less than two inches between my elbow and his wind mirror. Thing is, given my position, he wasn’t squeezing past in my lane, nothing could pass in lane 2, he was just being a cock.

    Don’t suppose anyone has the answers but I just need to vent. Wondering if a letter to the chief constable and my MP might not go a miss.

    neilnevill
    Free Member

    🙁

    zippykona
    Full Member

    Treat all car drivers as **** and you’ll never be disappointed.

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    dannyh
    Free Member

    I refer you to my thread about white bmws ‘guess the car’.

    It’s a **** Saturday for gods sake, who feels the need to gain an extra ten seconds by nearly killing people? Or why are some peoples lives so empty that they have to be the big’un by buzzing cyclists?

    It all really boils down to one thing. These people are bell ends. Satisfy yourself that they probably live dull little lives that make them feel the need to act like bell ends.

    aa
    Free Member

    There’s too much terrible behaviour by drivers.
    The other day i had to wait maybe 15 or 20 seconds until it was safe to overtake a cyclist. The moron behind me obviously took exception to the wait and missed a head on collision with oncoming motorist by inches. Because she didn’t want to wait any longer.
    what is it with people….

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    It’s not just the drivers. I frequently get evil glares from the passanger seat as well. Why do we suffer such hatred and what can be done about it?

    gonetothehills
    Free Member

    It’s a **** Saturday for gods sake, who feels the need to gain an extra ten seconds by nearly killing people?

    ^^this.

    I don’t get it either. Sure, cyclists seem to be Public Enemy #1 at the moment, but I see it in the car too. You rather hope these characters are a bit more personable outside their metal boxes, but fear not.

    aa
    Free Member

    Onzadog,

    i wish i knew, i work for a local authority and many people know me as the guy who rides. Sometimes people will come over to have a wine about some perceived injustice they’ve received at the hands of a cyclist. “WHAT YOU SAW TWO RIDING SIDE BY SIDE?”. Bastards deserve prison…ooh, actually its legal

    IanW
    Free Member

    If the Police,CPS and Judiciary did the job their paid to the problem would end.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    I used to work in traffic management for a local authority as well. Cycling and cyclists were not well regarding. Cycling facitities were an after thought and a box ticking excercise on most schemes.

    I don’t want to become a flag waving cycling campaigning bore, but I can see why people do. I just want to go out for a ride without any bother. Go out for a couple of hours near a large conurbation and if not a case of if there’s bother, but when and how often.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    pointing at the footpath

    … which it’s illegal to ride on.

    I think fundamentally, the problem is that cyclists are still a minority. That is to say, people aren’t accustomed to seeing them as commonplace on the roads. Cycling seems to be on an upward trend though so I think – hope – this will improve as we become a more common sight. So they barge past as they don’t know what else to do.

    It does baffle me though how some people will follow a slow moving vehicle – a tractor say – until the heat death of the universe, but when faced with a stationary obstruction or a cyclist will cheerfully throw their vehicle onto the opposite carriageway and expect oncoming traffic to just scatter.

    IanW
    Free Member

    aa – barely a ride passes when I don’t see our group getting ” punishment passes” for riding two abreast.

    A public information ad on that alone would I bet save countless incidents.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Two abreast when it’s not safe to pass is perfectly fine, sensible even.

    Two abreast when you’re just holding up traffic for giggles is nobbish.

    aa
    Free Member

    I get a bit anal about it. Admittedly i live in a medium sized village/small town and bike/drive commute along 8 miles of dual carriageway so don’t see many cyclists (and the bad habits the town cyclists apparantly have. BUT, i sometimes count how many law breaking cars i see on my commute and its **** hundreds daily opposed to maybe 30 cyclists breaking the law each year.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    It worries me how easily “punishment pass” has entered into the vocabulary of people, and not just cyclists. It almost makes it seem acceptable to people.

    lightman
    Free Member

    I don’t know about anyone else, but its starting to get me down when I know things like these will without a doubt happen whenever I take my bike on the road.

    Just last year alone when cycling along and keeping up with the traffic, I have had drivers pull along side me, turn into me and force me out of the road!

    wordnumb
    Free Member

    OP – They both probably had important things to be doing and you were in their way. You should learn from the experience and try to be more important, like what they are. First lesson: important people don’t ride bikes. Ever. Forget all those stories you’ve heard about surgeons riding to work because they understand the health benefits – these are lies circulated by unimportant people. Surgeons drive monster trucks and crush anyone that gets in their way because surgeons are important people who save the lives of important people who have been injured behind the wheel in collisions caused by cyclists.

    And anyway, if it’s illegal to cycle on the footpath why can’t they ride their bikes in the sewer?

    jerseychaz
    Full Member

    Don’t get me started – what is it about spatial awareness or the lack of it possessed by a certain genre of women? Out for a quiet ride, approaching a junction and this t~*t decides to pass me and then pull in to turn left causing me to brake sharply – it’s a junction with good visibility to the right and uphill so I usually keep my speed on until the last minute. Then she sits there waiting for the imaginary traffic to pass before pulling out…..then there’s the one who sits right on my wheel missing a whole load of passing opportunities before proceeding at my speed +1mph in to oncoming traffic FFS. I’ve taken to riding in the middle of the lane to spite them all!

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    loving the way the profanity filter doesn’t change the actual URL

    Pete-B
    Free Member

    Just noticed that – effin hilarious!

    Singlespeed_Shep
    Free Member

    Its simple all driving needs to be improved, not just for cyclist but for everyone.

    Most days i’ll be sat in my car driving too or from work because of a accident.

    brooess
    Free Member

    Self-driving cars are the only thing which will properly resolve the nastiness passed out to cyclists.

    There’s a road sign on our regular club route which has been put up by a blind corner saying “caution, cyclists” and someone took the trouble to stop, get out and write a the c word on it…

    Mind you drivers get bullied and harassed as well – it’s quite interesting driving at 30 in a 30 limit…

    We just need to get people out of cars, it’s not physically or mentally healthy to isolate yourself in metal box…

    mrmo
    Free Member

    can i suggest NEVER read the daily mail, in fact it should be banned, the problem is that those who comment and some of those that read have there beliefs constantly reinforced.

    Little things like road tax, drivers keep on with they pay for the roads, purely ignorance though, ask them why councils fix the pot holes and it goes over their heads.

    Other things like reps and the attitude to “nice” cars, it is car it is a tool to do a job. Who gives a F*** if your M3 is limited to 155, the speed limit is 70mph!!!!

    taxi25
    Free Member

    For a bit of perspective, I think cyclists focus on the negative encounters with motorists. It clouds our view the same as it does for motorists. Out for a ride yesterday, nothing but curtsey from everyone I met. One steep climb Iin a narrow lane had a couple of cars waiting in passing places for me to crawl past. They all gave positive response’s to my wave of acknowledgement. Even had a woman pull alongside side me and give me a thumbs up after she witnessed my feeble attempt at a power climb KOM 🙁

    brooess
    Free Member

    On a positive note, get yourself the Bikeability training – usually free from your local authority. Even with 36 years of experience I learnt loads from my day. Not least looking behind you very very frequently.
    a) it gives the drivers a sign you’re observant
    b) it humanises you – showing your face makes it harder to treat you like an object and tailgaters will pull back when you do
    c) you’re not surprised by the close pass – as you’re more likely to see it coming and if you’re primary you then have space to pull into and therefore avoid the scare.

    There’s more you can do than you might realise to deal with the idiot psychology of a lot of drivers…

    user-removed
    Free Member

    When I used to cycle tour with my girlfriend, I found a good deliberate wobble would see drivers giving much more space than usual. Does mean staying vigilant and as above, constant backwards glances. Works every time.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    There were some courteous people out today, a smile and a wave thanked them. I’m grateful for drivers like those but it doesn’t make up for the bellends.

    I’ve done the bikeability and I agree, it was useful. I’ve also spent several years as a motorcycle instructor teaching people similar things. Even when you take those measures, it’s still bloody annoying when it happens.

    petrieboy
    Full Member

    Not a cycling story but when I was out for a run yesterday I was on the pavement next to a 40 limit road approaching a very large puddle that went all the way across the road. A gentleman in a well driven Volvo saw that I was going to be next to said puddle by the time he got to it so he slowed and stopped just before it to let me pass. This upset the **** in the white Audi behind him who accelerated hard so he could pass the (now stationary) Volvo as quickly as possible. I couldn’t have been happier when he lost control on the water and twatted both drivers side wheels very hard into the opposite kerb. Gave me a lovely glow for the rest if the run.

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    Don’t take it personally, it’s nothing to do with cyclists necessarily, it’s just a case that there are too many tossers out there in command of a car. I see terrible and inconsiderate driving every time I’m behind the wheel of my car. You’re just so much more exposed on a bike.

    If the police stopped focussing on people making marginal infringements on the speed limits and focused on poor driving then we might start to see some improvement. Traveling too close to the driver in front, lack of use of indicators and general aggressive behavior to all road users are all behaviors that need to be tackled but so far are being ignored in favor of collaring some old dear creeping a few mph over the speed limit.

    IanW
    Free Member

    Two abreast when you’re just holding up traffic for giggles is nobbish.

    What if I’m having a chat, is that ok with you?

    taxi25
    Free Member

    Have to agree with Wobbliscott.

    brooess
    Free Member

    Two abreast when you’re just holding up traffic for giggles is nobbish.
    What if I’m having a chat, is that ok with you?

    Exactly – making assumptions about why cyclists might be riding 2 abreast or primary and instantly judging them as nobs is YOUR problem – YOUR ignorance – there may well be very good reasons for it and often are.

    I remember Boris correcting Vanessa Feltz when she interviewed him after the horrible sequence of dead cyclists in November claiming that cyclists “ride 6 abreast”. She was too thick,it appeared, to realise that may just be 6 people who’ve never met who aren’t riding together, but riding at different paces and just trying to get some space to ride safely in…

    We’ve 20 mph winds forecast tomorrow so 2-abreast is going to be pretty essential on our club ride to be able to make any progress. Besides – cyclists have been riding through and off for most of the 20th century for reasons of efficiency – there’s no good reason on earth why that should stop just because cars are so prevalent now is there?

    OCB
    Free Member

    I had a chap in a Vectra estate give me as much room as he could possibly squeeze out of his side of the lane yesterday, passing me (from behind), slowly and carefully, and going right up the hedge on his side. I thanked him, he made eye-contact in his mirror, waved back and we both carried on.

    Ten minutes later and an elderly woman in a 307 missed me as much by accident as anything else – she appeared oblivious to my being on the road, and only missed me by inches. For entertainment, she then also only missed oncoming traffic by inches, as she clearly had no idea of the width of her vehicle, and no real idea of how the controls worked (especially brakes and steering).

    I didn’t feel bad for hoping she’d have clipped (gently enough of course) the van coming towards her, as they couldn’t go anywhere else (having already slowed to a crawl and gone up their side of the hedge) – other than that it might have put the guys out of work for a few days whist their van got fixed.

    This kinda nonsense happens when I’m driving my truck too, so it’s not just cyclists that car drivers have trouble with.

    Has the driving test got easier?

    jameso
    Full Member

    On a positive note, get yourself the Bikeability training – usually free from your local authority. Even with 36 years of experience I learnt loads from my day. Not least looking behind you very very frequently.
    a) it gives the drivers a sign you’re observant
    b) it humanises you – showing your face makes it harder to treat you like an object and tailgaters will pull back when you do
    c) you’re not surprised by the close pass – as you’re more likely to see it coming and if you’re primary you then have space to pull into and therefore avoid the scare.

    There’s more you can do than you might realise to deal with the idiot psychology of a lot of drivers…
    I should have done bikeability years ago then : ) couldn’t agree more, all techniques I’ve learned over the years that I do think have some positive effect.
    You’re right on the psychology point too, I do think it’s a split-second unthinking thing, anything that causes a pause or a moments rational thought in the driver works in your favour – 99.9% of people who drive badly are careless or acting and not thinking, rather than actually malicious.

    Bunnyhop
    Full Member

    I’ve tried chatting to non cycling friends or customers who all think we shouldn’t be on the road.
    A lady in the hairdressers the other day was saying how dangerous it is for people to cycle with their children to school in those chariot things. Arrgghh,no it isn’t! She needs to get used to it because there are going to be more of them on the roads in the future.

    As always if everyone who rides a bike anywhere for any purpose went back to using a car, every road would be blocked up.

    jameso
    Full Member

    A lady in the hairdressers the other day was saying how dangerous it is for people to cycle with their children to school in those chariot things.

    Did she ask herself why at any point.. Some people are just too stupid to have opinions : )

    singletrackmind
    Full Member

    Re the looking at drivers coming up behind you . I dont think it turns you miracously into a person as opposed to a cyclist . Most people ( not all ) are not that dumb. They know its a person on a bike that is causing them to have to make a conscious input to the daily drive.
    I am gradually comming to the conclusion its more ‘ Oh hes seen me about to do something stupid so now I won’t do it ‘. Very much like the way a small child will creep up behind you and you have to pretend they aren’t there , then they push you and run away …ish

    One day I am going to be behind someone who puts a cyclist in danger and will struggle to not put in a block pass and instruct them on the error of their ways whilst the aggreived cyclist turns up to add their veiws on the subject.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    I don’t believe that the majority of dangerous driving is actively dangerous – that is, the driver doesn’t mean to be dangerous, it’s just that most people are too daft to realise the risks that they are putting others in. Sheer unthinking stupidity.

    The vast majority of drivers are doing regular routes – commutes, picking the kids up from school, going shopping. Journeys they do every day and it becomes second nature, they know (or think they know) every bit of it and they drive on autopilot. Suddenly there’s something there that’s not normal. Some roadworks, a cyclist, a diversion. They simply can’t cope with the extra thinking required to deal with this abberation. It’s why you get people arguing with police when they’ve closed the road to deal with a collision, they can’t deal with there being something different about their journey.

    That said, I’m astonished by the fact that, as Cougar says, people will patiently wait behind a horse, slow moving tractor etc but show them a cyclist and they just have to get past NOW. Immediately, no matter what the cost, no matter if there’s a queue of traffic 100m ahead. 🙄

    vincienup
    Free Member

    I’m struggling to see how you feel that drivers on autopilot because they feel they don’t need to concentrate are not actively dangerous?

    Please don’t get me wrong – Personally I think as cyclists demonising drivers is not even slightly helpful although at times quite understandable.

    Standards of understanding of the Road and definitely tolerance of all other users are sadly lacking in far too many road users. Cyclists, car drivers, horse riders, tractor drivers and plant operators, truck drivers – we’re all guilty and slinging mud isn’t a solution, improving standards is. If that means the Police get to hand out record fines for a few years, so be it. Everyone will be safer. Just so long as the safety initiative isn’t milked like cameras often are – so funds should go to Central and time for safety patrols should be ringfenced and mandatory – and exempt from whatever statistical modelling of performance goes on.

    dannyh
    Free Member

    The whole ‘everyone could do better’ thing is all well and good, but there also has to be some care given by people in half tonne metal cages to people who are not. You have to realise when you drive a car that if you hit a cyclist if someone is injured or dies as a result 99% of the time it is the cyclist. Same as riding a MTB down a bridleway, I can do more harm to walker than they can do to me, so I take care.

    There is a cumulative thing going on with me at the moment. At some point I am going end up kicking out at a car as I am being passed dangerously at least every other ride. If the driver wants to stop and make something of it, then I’ll stick one on them. People just will not learn.

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