Biggest Threats to Cyclists?

Lamb86

jaqui59 wrote: »

NOBODY on the road wants to slow down or stop ... This is the main reason why accidents happen. It seems that everyone is in the most terrible rush to get wherever they are going!

Completely agree with this. I don't cycle but I do horse ride, and the amount of motorists who do not care how close they come to me (my foot has actually clipped the wing mirror of a car before because said motorist insisted on driving as close as possible to me and then stopped car and proceeded to rant at me that it was my fault), or speed past, or sit behind me and beep at me is, quite frankly, very worrying.

I always pull over when I can to let cars pass, ride on grass verges when I can and always make sure to be polite and thankful to everyone who does time the time to slow down.

jaqui59

Lamb86 wrote: »

Completely agree with this. I don't cycle but I do horse ride, and the amount of motorists who do not care how close they come to me (my foot has actually clipped the wing mirror of a car before because said motorist insisted on driving as close as possible to me and then stopped car and proceeded to rant at me that it was my fault), or speed past, or sit behind me and beep at me is, quite frankly, very worrying.

I always pull over when I can to let cars pass, ride on grass verges when I can and always make sure to be polite and thankful to everyone who does time the time to slow down.

Yep, its never their fault is it :mad:

A few weeks back my car decided to have a problem with its auto gearbox going up a very busy hill at commuting time. It stopped dead, and there was nothing I could do but sit there and wait for somebody to offer their help with a push off the road ... Well, I couldn't believe it, car after car after car squeezed by me, and nearly every driver or their passenger shouted abuse at me or laughed. I wound down my window and began to shout to these horrible people that I had broken down, but did it make any difference? like s**t it did!!

In the end I sorted it out myself, and with turning the engine on and off a few times, the fault cleared.

I was FUMING !!!

Norman_Castle

I know the speeds because when a cyclist is going down the hill and is in the middle of the road, all everyone else can do is wait behind them, since they don't feel they need to pull over to let others through.

At 30-40 mph you're not really being delayed.

DomRavioli

I work in city centre manchester. The main threat to cyclists is them not following basic road rules. Just today a cyclist was hit by a bus when the cyclist went through a red light.

I almost got hit by a middle aged idiot on a bike on Friday who decided that again, the red lights didn't apply to him (the green man was on for pedestrians to cross). Needless to say, I gripped the moron and advised them of the highway code until the police arrived and took him off, imagine if there was a lorry coming the other way, he would have been dead.

They are their own worst enemy, and from my 5th floor window I have seen far too many near misses, and even a few get hit by 15 feet tall bright yellow trams because they think they are invincible!

If I had my way, they would be removed from the bloody roads unless they can prove they are safe, I don't want to end up injured because some muppet, on a form of transport they either don't understand or just can't handle decides to act like a maniac, and I'm sure 99% of cyclists are safe people, but some are just idiots, and they need to be stopped.

myusernamehasgone_2

I always think this video gets a point across quite well
http://youtu.be/wzL0Kyk4m-8

Norman_Castle

I almost got hit by a middle aged idiot on a bike on Friday who decided that again, the red lights didn't apply to him (the green man was on for pedestrians to cross). Needless to say, I gripped the moron and advised them of the highway code until the police arrived and took him off, imagine if there was a lorry coming the other way, he would have been dead.

This is interesting. Please tell us more. What did the police say about his cycling and your actions?. How long did they take to arrive?. What was he charged with?. Why did the police "take him off"?.

Norman_Castle

jaqui59 wrote: »

NOBODY on the road wants to slow down or stop ... This is the main reason why accidents happen. It seems that everyone is in the most terrible rush to get wherever they are going!

Me and other drivers managed to avoid being hit by another car which was tailgating, lane hopping and undertaking stupidly which then turned into Mc Donalds. Some people have strange priorities.

Cycrow

Norman_Castle wrote: »

At 30-40 mph you're not really being delayed.

its a shame most drivers dont realise this thou.
all they see is a cyclist and get annoyed for being delayed.

theres a road near me thats only a 20 limit, and i can easily do 20 on the road, and often upto 25. But still you get angry drivers trying to push past, honking all the time, or swearing at you for hold them up.

despite the fact that i couldn't even go any faster as i was following the car in front.

WiggyDiggyPoo

Biggest Threat? Its still lack of common sense....

I always fail to understand why a driver behind me wants to go past me on my bike, despite the fact neither of us can get past the car on front?

A mile or so of road near is frequently backed up from lights at the end, its very slow moving traffic and I happily sit behind the car in front for the 10 mins or so it takes to get past that section.

Yet every time at least one driver tries to overtake at a particular section on this stretch as its slightly uphill and a bit of a gap has opened, despite it being on a blind bend with no visibility of what's coming.

Only last night I had to stop someone from doing this by stretching out my arm as I could see the HGV that would have hit them, the alternative being they pull back in on me as there is no time to make the pass.

geri1965_2

DomRavioli wrote: »

I almost got hit by a middle aged idiot on a bike on Friday who decided that again, the red lights didn't apply to him (the green man was on for pedestrians to cross). Needless to say, I gripped the moron and advised them of the highway code until the police arrived and took him off, imagine if there was a lorry coming the other way, he would have been dead.

Well, no, because if the lights were green for pedestrians then a lorry wouldn't be coming the other way.