Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

Myself this morning;

Well my behaviour anyway. A woman in a small 4x4 drove too close. Then completely cut me up. No Danger as it was all slow, but I dont think she even saw me. Completely oblivious.

So once the traffic moved on and i over took her as she was taking a fork left I wacked her right wing mirror really hard and it went into the flipped position.
I felt good.
Then she stopped at the lights and opened her door and was pointing at it .
I told her to ' wake up '.
I dont think she realised it just flips back into position.

Not good cyclist behaviour. I blame the Monster PMT.

Heading to the bottom of Rye Lane this morning from Peckham Rye I was riding along and noticed a man in loads of fluoro and with a union flag helmet on who I had been ahead of previously steaming along the pavement and joining the road ahead of me over a zebra crossing. "He's in a hurry" I thought to myself. As we approached the traffic lights, which were red, a little old lady started to cross. This buffoon carried on at full speed and gave the lady a terrible fright. She was obviously shaken up. I shouted after him that he was an idiot and apologised for his behaviour. Hopefully she'll remember the two good cyclists who stopped at the lights and not the utter moron who nearly hit her.

^wac

yup. utter bell.

How do you know how ignorant they were?
And what exactly is the problem with 7 cyclists in front of you moving at different speeds?
Were they in your way or something?
Were you unable to pass?
Good job you only do this one day a year.

In all my days of cycling i havent seen that many people overtake / pull out without looking first... ignorant, foolish, whatever...

1. no problem with 7 or 20 cyclists in front of me moving at different speeds given i do that every day myself
   
2. i was trying overtake as i was travelling faster than they were but couldn't as they were blocking the road making it unsafe for me to pass
   
3. i was unable to pass
   
4. indeed it is given i have been cycling in London for 20 years!
   

Maybe you should be thankful to those 7 cyclists for not being 7 motorists holding you up for even longer...

i am indeed thankful however not when they risk their lives by pulling out / overtaking without looking almost with complete disregard for what's behind them...

1. no problem with 7 or 20 cyclists in front of me moving at different speeds given i do that every day myself
   
2. i was trying overtake as i was travelling faster than they were but couldn't as they were blocking the road making it unsafe for me to pass
   
3. i was unable to pass
   
4. indeed it is given I have been cycling in London for 20 years!
   

1. So why the post?
   
2. Why were trying to overtake? seems like someone was impatient.
   
3. Yeah, tough that, other people on the road, if they were 7 people in seven cars would it have bothered you?
   
4. We agree on something
   

1. So why the post?
   
2. Why were trying to overtake? seems like someone was impatient.
   
3. Yeah, tough that, other people on the road, if they were 7 people in seven cars would it have bothered you?
   
4. We agree on something
   
   

1. i consider the actions of those cyclist to be "bad" hence the title of this post.
   
2. so i guess you wouldnt overtake a fellow cyclist if you were travelling faster then them?
   
3. you're missing the point, its not the number, its the actions.
   
4. indeed we do
   

It's not your god given right to overtake cyclists when you're driving. I drive in London 25% of the week, on routes with a lot of cyclists, you've clearly fallen in to the trap of being a bad driver.

If I come across a tractor on a B road, I don't expect him to plough the nearest hedge so I can overtake because I can and want to travel faster than him, same with HGVs, and so the same with cyclists! Just because you can and wish to travel faster than a vehicle in front of you, does not mean they have to move out of your way!!

How hard is that to understand?

A cyclist overtaking a cyclist is much easier and safer, hence why the two are not a comparison. If you can't leave a car's width between you and the cyclist(s) you are wishing to overtake, don't overtake. That's not the cyclist's fault, it's your impatience making it an issue. Often when driving I come across a milk float, or a refuse collection vehicle, I wait until a safe opportunity to overtake. How is it any different when wanting to overtake cyclists?

I can't believe you'd come on here and make such stupid statements.

1. i was trying overtake as i was travelling faster than they were but couldn't as they were blocking the road making it unsafe for me to pass
   
   
   

That sound exactly right, so what was the problem?

i give up!

You can't overtake because it wasn't safe, is that what you're saying?

when i tried to overtake, when it was safe, a cyclist pulled out in front of me without looking, and this happened for the best part of 300m. i have absolutely no issues with cyclists in front of me, taking up the road etc.

the issue i had is cyclists pulling out without looking putting themselves and other road users at risk. as i stated, i am a cyclist through and through and its these actions which aggrevate drivers and in turn cause them to take unnecessary risks...

I understand, they can be frustrating, but what else can you do beside driving in a safe manner?

Such action shouldn't have aggravate drivers in the first place, if it does, they really need to take advanced driving course or get off the road.

ed, the sad thing is there are more drivers on the roads who dislike and are frustrated by cyclists. in my opinion what we shouldnt be doing is taking unnecessary risks fuelling that pot of frustration..

Now now, everyone.

Pechacheli's point, albeit perhaps badly illustrated, is:

cyclists pulling out without looking putting themselves and other road users at risk.

Which in itself is a perfectly reasonable grievance.

let's leave it be now.

thanks whatok... i've never been good at illustrating my point clearly :)

If that's the point, I missed it, and I can understand that. It's the worst when in the middle of overtaking, everyone's nice and safe, then someone does exactly that and all of a sudden that nice car width has been halved and you look like a dick for overtaking unsafely.

That's what it sounds like to me, not he was trying to force his way past and fucking cyclists were all up in his grill. More he was waiting to overtake and making attempts to do so safely when a charming fellow cyclist behaved irrationally and unsafely by pulling out towards the metal death box without considering where it might be.

Can a mod change the subjec when this thread descends into pointless arguments instead of being about calling out cyclists?

Subject, jesus, you fucking awful cyclist.

Probably title anyway.

thanks whatok... i've never been good at illustrating my point is

I make you right, if folk aren't looking where they're going and taking up more space than is necessary. However did you try and say anything like "hello" to grab their attention?

cue lionel ritchie posts

However did you try and say anything like "hello" to grab their attention?

With his car horn? Hope not.