Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

Yeah we joined on to the road from a different one and as I say the van had already started to pull around when we got to it.

when you got to the road or the parked van? If the latter, the van driver should have waited. The former does not sound like it could actually happen. How could you get to the junction, turn into the road and cycle up the road all while van driver was overtaking unless the junction was right next to the parked van?

You seem to be missing the point that even if the van driving was shit, the other cyclist should have waited instead of riding through a small gap which they couldn't see past and consequently hitting a pedestrian.

Even if initially the van should have given way, once it has begun the maneuver and is in the gap, you no longer have priority

Sorry where is this rule? Also, not saying cycling into someone and berating was great (although in say filtering you go through narrow gaps and someone could walk out without looking- obviously you slow to accommodate that but also people should look properly too).

It’s just funny that people immediately attack the person cycling and defend the van driver who parked by coming up with lame excuses. I guess cycling on the pavement/jumping lights if it is safer is fine in people’s eyes here too?

Honestly I’m tired of drivers parking dangerously and I’m tired of drivers bullying their way through- I would certainly stop them from going through if I can, or at least slow them down- so I’m floored that people here find it acceptable and are completely blind to it and instead attack someone who probably is also sick of dealing with that shit.

Bow down to your car overlords.

Not attacking anyone, and I don’t believe it is a rule, it’s just common sense.
You’d fail* a driving test if you drove into a gap seeing full well that there was already a car coming the other way in that gap and you met head on/had to stop.

This thread is to call out bad cycling. Which includes riding through too small of a gap towards oncoming traffic and hitting a pedestrian who was crossing. “They should have looked” or “the van should have given way” are not relevant excuses. The Van’s being there in the first place is not the matter up for discussion.

*at least get a minor fault

Cycling into someone? Not good. Cycling into a “narrow” (they still fit) gap and stopping a driver from bullying? Who cares? You’d also fail a driving test for doing what both van drivers did. Why waste time calling out bad cycling when the actual danger due to it is far less than the simultaneous bad driving?

I am pretty sure I’d fail a driving test for stopping on a narrow road with a car behind me because the driver was tailgaiting to tell them to stop doing it and subsequently cycling really slowly because they refuse, but I have done this while cycling.

I can honestly say I have continued to cycle many times when drivers try this and it forces them to slow down/stop. They should not get the satisfaction of bullying their way through.

And assuming the diagram is accurate, both parties went through at a similar time.

This example is similar: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oxaRZdSS0mI

Failed driving test, I guess. Oh wait, no. The the driver was punished and not the cyclist.

I'd probably defer to the person who actually saw it, rather than some imagined situation where you need to be right.

Narrow is subjective tho..

It’s worth noting van drivers (and car drivers) are often aggressive to everyone, drivers and cyclists, especially in London. Sometimes it’s not targeted to a cyclist it’s just the way they drive. As bad as that is.

I know aggressive riding is often a response to negligent and aggressive drivers, and part of asserting yourself on the road, but I makes me really anxious when I see cyclists do things that are obviously just bad for a well functioning traffic mix. Stuff they can (physically) do but definitely shouldn’t. I saw 2 cyclists come up the inside of a white van immediately before a left turn they wanted to take, by clissold park, with railings on the edge of the pavement. It was so so tight like obviously so dangerous and would have benefitted them single digit seconds. The van late indicated and the lead cyclist was lucky not to get crunched.

I’ve done stupid stuff just in the interest of saving time because I could nip through, cutting inside cars to turn left and the like, and it’s not really an excuse, and I’m not being a good road user. So I guess I’m calling myself out and trying to do better

It’s a bit like roundabouts - you might have right of way but if someone on your left is already on the roundabout you don’t have the right to blast into/ past them. It’s just good driving/ riding.

You ride a motorbike don’t you? I’d imagine that also really makes you tune into the defacto if not written rules

I don’t see how the roundabout example is comparable. Of course you can’t blast into/pass people on your left. That’s just straight up wrong. If you extended the radius of the roundabout to infinity you pretty much end up with road rules, where you can’t blast into people already on your left and you give way to your right.

In the previous example, if chicken is being played the person without priority is wrong.

Fyi, when I said I asserted myself I don’t think I was doing anything particularly dangerous. At the end of the day better to stop than to be in a crash.

I know that some drivers are bad to everyone but people cycling are disadvantaged. That’s why they are more likely to be targeted as they are more likely to yield.

I was in a situation similar to the video where a van driver essentially claimed that I should stop and move out the way because he is in the larger vehicle. I don’t doubt many drivers have this bizarre interpretation of the rules and not instead by who has priority based on road layout.

Yeah I got over the whole thing and stopped caring yesterday. Couldn’t be bothered to continue explaining the situation I saw.

Why is it always those in hi-vis, full lycra and a pannier on the back that love to suck your wheel then shoot past without even a call as you approach a light

I know it's been a tough few months weather wise and a few Sunday club runs have been cancelled, but this is the commute, not the peloton

A little 'on your right' would be enough

Don't get passed. Drop 'em.

I will simply spend all weekend on the turbo in anticipation for revenge on Monday

It would be nice if I saw another cycle on a commute out here. I dont so this thread is a moot in Suffolk.

My OH told me her brake blocks were a bit worn.

Calling myself out for not checking them lately.

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So new wheel time too?

Most likely, yes.

Edit: if I can source a rim of same type the swap job will pass a couple of hours once self isolating.

First world problems I know but jesus... every day I see people on the road that either haven't got their helmets on properly or shouldn't even be on the road as they haven't got a clue how to ride a bike. I see a guy every day who never wears a helmet... and I swear he's got like 4 lovely bikes... maybe get rid of one and invest in a lid ya knobber!

Yeah fuck off with that whole helmet thing.