Why are cyclists so hated by motorists in the UK?

[daveinzambia]

Oh how that rings true.

I live in London & commute 14km each way to work each day. If I had a pound for every red light running & unlit cyclist I encounter I'd be able to retire.

Each time they do that in front of motorists they tar us all with the same brush. Drivers perceive cyclists as above the law, and as such not protected by the law.
11 years ago I was rammed by a Mercedes driver at almost 50kmh. I was lucky to survive and keep my foot. 2 plates & 10 pins & zero cartilage were my present that day. I cannot ride as I used to & running is an absolute no no. What did I do? Nothing. The driver, when dragged out of his car, said "it's only a cyclist, they all run red lights & go the wrong way down one-way streets".

it is just selfish car drivers. this morning saw a car turn at traffic lights while people were crossing, people had right of way and green man was flashing. car decided it could make turn in front of people and tried to squeeze through. unfortunately did not see push chair in front of them. luckily hit it very slowly and 2 kids in it were not hurt but then was totally shocked that woman in car refused to admit she had done anything wrong. Faced with an obviously very angry dad, and to be honest pretty angry witness, she was confused why anyone was shouting at her, and then just locked all her doors as if we were the ones in the wrong.

She was just in a hurry and though that the 30 seconds she could now spend in the queue for the next lights were worth risking peoples lives for. I see this continually as a pedestrian, as a cyclist and as a driver.

is nothing personal against bike riders, it is focused on everyone else on or near the roads.

Also after seeing complaints about riders jumping lights i have been keeping count and on average in my 1 hour walk to and from work i see 6 cars drive through a red light each day. that is not counting the cars that jump through the orange lights when they really should have stopped but cars driving through fully red lights.

 

[42x16ss]

it is just selfish car drivers. this morning saw a car turn at traffic lights while people were crossing, people had right of way and green man was flashing. car decided it could make turn in front of people and tried to squeeze through. unfortunately did not see push chair in front of them. luckily hit it very slowly and 2 kids in it were not hurt but then was totally shocked that woman in car refused to admit she had done anything wrong. Faced with an obviously very angry dad, and to be honest pretty angry witness, she was confused why anyone was shouting at her, and then just locked all her doors as if we were the ones in the wrong.

She was just in a hurry and though that the 30 seconds she could now spend in the queue for the next lights were worth risking peoples lives for. I see this continually as a pedestrian, as a cyclist and as a driver.

is nothing personal against bike riders, it is focused on everyone else on or near the roads.

Also after seeing complaints about riders jumping lights i have been keeping count and on average in my 1 hour walk to and from work i see 6 cars drive through a red light each day. that is not counting the cars that jump through the orange lights when they really should have stopped but cars driving through fully red lights.

Welcome to Australia

ps: Australia post vans drive like this frequently (without hitting ppl)

pps: Did you call the police? I imagine there were plenty of witnesses.

 

[daveinzambia]

Welcome to Australia

ps: Australia post vans drive like this frequently (without hitting ppl)

pps: Did you call the police? I imagine there were plenty of witnesses.

Did not call the police, the parents decided not too but gave them my details in case they changed their mind.

 

[RedheadDane]

I think the worst "light-jumpers" are these really slow people. You overtake them (because laws-of-physics dictate a certain amount of speed on a bike... those people seem to break those laws...) get to a red light, stop and then they just go right past you...

Whenever that happens I'm all "Oh! Gee! Now I'll just have to get past you again!"

And it doesn't help that those types take up and insane amount of space...

 

[Fus087]

I know these people too.

In Denmark with its huge cycling population, they appear to be more numerous. And annoying. They seem to think they own the road, and cars, pedestrians, other cyclists etc. have to yield to them.

 

[Jonny7c]

After the last couple of weeks commuting in awful weather I thought i'd add my views to this debate...

Twice this week i've passed unlit cyclists on mountain bikes that then passed me back by jumping on the pavement at the first red light we encountered. This has to be one of the number one reasons why cyclists (particularly commuters) get such a bad press. The problem is trying to educate that type of rider is almost impossible - in the past i've chased after them to make my point but the message always tends to get lost as this sort of discussion always seems to end up with raised tempers and irrational shouting.

My second problem this week involved approaching my house downhill in the wet at about 30mph. A bus approaching in the opposite direction started to pull out into the oncoming traffic (me) to avoid parked cars but at the last moment stopped and sounded his horn (I presume to indicate that he felt I was in the wrong). I probably couldn't have stopped if I wanted to and surely had right of way given that I was on my side of the road and the road was not clear for the bus to pull onto the opposite side of the road? I gave the bus driver a mouthful as i passed only to then be berrated by an elderly dog walker who insisted that I should be on the path where I belong?? I stopped to 'speak' to the man but he plainly felt that as a cyclist I had no rights on the road and wandered off up the road still chuntering.

Both these issues point to the fact that both cyclists (particularly occasional cyclists) and other road users need to be educated. The press could use their position to offer some education as part of the stories they run but more often than not they just want a victim and somebody to blame without offering up solutions or a reasoned (both sides of the story) look at the cause of incidents (the cycling press can be as bad in these cases).

Ultimately we all have to share the road. More emphasis on cyclists should be included in the driving test. That would still leave a need to educate cyclists but I'm at a loss as to how that could be done without introducing tests or licences for cyclists which would be fraught with difficulties.

 

[RedheadDane]

I know these people too.

In Denmark with its huge cycling population, they appear to be more numerous. And annoying. They seem to think they own the road, and cars, pedestrians, other cyclists etc. have to yield to them.

Yeah! The worst are girls in high heels and wearing skirts. Riding on those weird "granny bikes", their purse in the basket at the front. Often riding in large groups making it almost impossible to get past them.

Or people with shopping bags on the handlebar.

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Anyway, maybe those people hating us are just jealous. Because they are too lazy to ride their bikes.

 

[jamiephillips]

If they run me over it's hopefully going to ruin their christmas as much as mine!!

 

[daveinzambia]

Yeah! The worst are girls in high heels and wearing skirts. Riding on those weird "granny bikes", their purse in the basket at the front. Often riding in large groups making it almost impossible to get past them.

Or people with shopping bags on the handlebar.

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Anyway, maybe those people hating us are just jealous. Because they are too lazy to ride their bikes.

or the BoB thread as it is otherwise known

 

[RedheadDane]

or the BoB thread as it is otherwise known

Yeah. But in the BoB thread the girls are clearly just posing. Around here it's actual cyclists. Who, I know, have just as much right to use the roads as I do. They're just so slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!

Something I think is funny is when you guys talk about commuters being the most hated group. Here commuters are the most common kind of cyclist. We don't actually call them commuters though. Why put a special term on something (almost) everyone does?

 

[Spare Tyre]

Yeah! The worst are girls in high heels and wearing skirts. Riding on those weird "granny bikes", their purse in the basket at the front. Often riding in large groups making it almost impossible to get past them.

Or people with shopping bags on the handlebar.

---

Anyway, maybe those people hating us are just jealous. Because they are too lazy to ride their bikes.

Are these high-heel-and-skirt-wearing slow-riding types the kind of women who end up on the pages of Copenhagen Cycling Chic?

 

[RedheadDane]

Are these high-heel-and-skirt-wearing slow-riding types the kind of women who end up on the pages of Copenhagen Cycling Chic?

I don't think so. Most of them are just people getting to work and class and stuff, generally getting around. They probably just feel as if they're in a bit of better time than I tend to feel I'm in.
Also they somehow defy gravity. I can't really keep my bike upright if I go too slow...

 

[sublimit]

The posts on this forum just crack me up, kind of uplifting comments from cyclists concerning the celebrity chef James Martin and a piece he wrote for a newspaper in Britain a couple of years ago.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread29463.html

 

[Dalakhani]

http://www.lfgss.com/thread29463.html

I love post #17 in that thread. Ho, ho.

Steve

 

[stainlessguy1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2-oXSd2Id0&feature=player_embedded

I think people like that are a major part of the reason why cyclist are more and more hated.

Yes ++1 on that video.

This video is disturbing, very disturbing. I had almost forgotten about that lot until i viewed the video.
I guess when many motorists see this on a daily basis then its a no brainer as to their reaction and stereotyping of all cyclists. The average Joe motorist cant really distinguish between a cyclist in training, or a commuter or a bunch of bike messengers vs. idiots whose elevator dont quite go to the top.
( alot of those guys are bike messengers and general rebel-rausers) It seems more like a bunch of kids that grew older and exchanged their skate boards in for a lighter faster 2 wheeler so they could get a larger playground.

I dont even know what to say after viewing that video.