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@hoefla
I was chatting to my mum, mentioned how more people were cycling in London now, in a pleased kind of way - she immediately says "London cyclists are awful. So rude and aggressive." and tells me a couple of stories of the last time she was there:
Crossing at a raised crossing in Hyde Park - cars stop, she crosses, cyclist comes through at speed, shouts at her to look where she's going. Mum seemed especially put out that it was a woman.
Someone shouting "OI!" as her friend is crossing at a pedestrian crossing - red man but clearish road. She couldn't clarify whether she was in the way or not, said "it was a clear road - there were no CARS", i'm not sure what really happened.
Anyway, that kinda burst my bubble as i'd been feeling pretty happy after pootling about the city over the weekend. Tried to explain that the "OI!!" might not have been rude, might have just been a look out, and that a lot of pedestrians have a sort of cyclist-shaped blind spot. Tried to explain that bikes should be treated like other vehicles and you don't assume they will or should stop for you (if there isn't a red light/ green man). Got the usual - "but they are so rude to pedestrians, they don't follow any rules, think they own the road" etc. What's depressing is not just that mum know i cycle, but that she is a regular cyclist - just not in London.
The first scenario - if traffic slows down to allow pedestrians to cross, whether they're at a crossing point or not, I really feel that cyclists should do so as well. It's just polite. Nicer for everyone. Like when peds cross on the blinking green man - generally cars don't rev and barge through but just wait a few more seconds - it would be seen as excessively aggressive - but i've often seen cyclists shout at, swerve past or just cycle straight through as soon as the lights change, sometimes forcing pedestrians to stop halfway across the lane. A couple of weeks ago this happened - someone still crossing after the lights had changed, I'm waiting, a car's waiting, another cyclist overtakes between me and the car, swears at the pedestrian as she swerves around him - she would have clearly seen what was happening in front, even a bit of slowing down would have meant she wouldn't have come close to the ped, and therefore it was a deliberate "assertion". I kinda hate that.
What do other peeps think? Bad cycling or absolutely right?
I do find i cycle a bit differently in Cambridge and London - there's a different pace, different expectations of and from other road users, i have to sort of flick a little switch when i get off the train, but i enjoy both. I just wish people could be a bit nicer to each other, y'know, learn to share.