I have to drive a very large sprinter through London every day and have noticed lately that the number of bike commuters seems to have increased dramatically. At junctions they all crowd around and sit in front of you even when there is no cycle “area” for them. They also constantly wander through red lights as if they don’t apply to them and lo and behold this week in shoreditch there was a load of them getting nicked by cycle cops. I think it’s just a matter of time until there is a very bad accident or spate of them until cycle commuters start getting policed more strictly, and I agree as they are making the roads a mess. Obviously not all are like this but I don’t see many that aren’t every morning and eve. I think if MTB’s rode this carelessly we would be thrown off most trails !

Cycle commuters are single-handedly saving the planet and as such can do no wrong. All other traffic should get off the roads. Them’s the facts.

Ha I like the humour but I’m thinking about installing cross hairs on my windscreen 😉

I cycle every day through London and have noticed lately that the number of commercial vehicles giving cyclists little room and trying to intimidate them is getting worse.

The only thing we can do it to make sure that we congregate in large numbers at the front of waiting traffic to make sure we are seen.

Hopefully its only a matter of time before the police start cracking down on this aggressive driving.

At junctions they all crowd around and sit in front of you even when there is no cycle “area” for them

They We are still allowed to do it, box or not.

Agree on the red light thing, but it’s not a matter of time until there is a bad accident – it happens all the time.

The fact of the matter is that the roads in London just aren’t big enough to support all the traffic, and that situation is made worse when the traffic is of all different kinds. Not much that can be done about that though so accidents will continue to happen.

The red light thing is a red herring. There’s nothing dangerous about running a red light if there’s nothing coming, and the only reason drivers get so annoyed about it is that they can’t do it themselves.

packer – Member
The red light thing is a red herring. There’s nothing dangerous about running a red light if there’s nothing coming, and the only reason drivers get so annoyed about it is that they can’t do it themselves.

I quite agree.

I hate sitting there in my van, waiting for the lights to change when there’s nothing coming. I think we should all be given the right to ignore red lights when we think it’s OK to go through them,

and I agree as they are making the roads a mess.

What does this even mean?

Mr Molgrips and Packer have just said what I was going to.

Well done gents! 🙂

crispedwheel – Member
and I agree as they are making the roads a mess.

What does this even mean?

Maybe it’s because we don’t line up all nice like wot the cars/lorrys/van and busses do. Single file for all cyclists from now on – maybe in order of size and type of bike ridden as well.

and I agree as they are making the roads a mess.

Are they doing a “paula radcliffe”?

If we are moaning about drivers in London. Part of commute takes me on one of Boris’s Cycle Superhighway, on the section heading west between Bow flyover and Mile End/Burdett Rd junction motorists on the whole seem to toally ignore the Blue line and continually block it, annoys the hell out of me.

OP conversely why do motorists think it is acceptable to wait in the cyclists box for the lights to change?

Imagine how much the OP’s drive through London in his truck sized van would be improved if all the people on bikes did the decent thing and got into cars instead.

It’s part of the British disease to complain about other people who do something we wish we could be doing but are too repressed to do….

OP conversely why do motorists think it is acceptable to wait in the cyclists box for the lights to change?

Here, here. Buses and vans generally seem to think it’s a reserved area for them

Once heard a tremondous argument between a courier & a taxi driver, which ended off with the courier shouting ‘I tell you what, then next time you see a picture of a fat **** painted on the road, you can park on top of that!’

the only reason drivers get so annoyed about it is that they can’t do it themselves

They have as much right to do it as we do.

I cycle regularly around central London and I stick by the rules. As such my journeys are relatively stress free, the only real problems I’ve had have reduced significantly since the abolition of bendy-busses.

MTB’s rode this carelessly we would be thrown off most trails !

Just spotted this gem as well – who exactly, regardless of how ‘carelessly’ you ride, do you think is going to throw you off a bridleway? (usual caveat about staying on the RoW applying).

I stick by the rules. As such my journeys are relatively stress free

define relatively, my (manchester) by the rules road commutes are a whole lot more stressful than the offroad version. Even when I don’t encounter an event that causes me to shout at someone I still get marginalised and bullied around the road. Lots of road users don’t like bikerists and it shows, even if they don’t do something stupid/dangerous.

my road commutes are a whole lot more stressful than the offroad version

I cycle to my local train station and then cycle from Paddington to work at the other end.

The route is fairly quiet by London standard but it still can be stressful not matter how confident a rider you are. If a car were to clip me it could result in serious injury.

To be honest the worse bit is probably the cycle to the local station the traffic is moving faster and there is still a good percentage of drivers who dont give you enough room.