Flinders wrote:mjr, having had the misfortune to drive in Cambridge last year for the first time in years, I've never in my life seen so many mad, suicidal, inconsiderate, and downright incompetent cyclists- often in packs- some of them would be dead in a week round here. (A local cyclist Mr Ortho was on a course with down there said the same, she was very frustrated by it; she put it down to people going there to study and riding a bike in the city when the last time they rode one was when they were about 8 and in a local park.)
I suspect that sot of behavior would have an impact on drivers, in that they would assume the worst and give all cyclists a lot of space and time. It gave me the serious willies, and I'm a very careful driver.
I learnt to drive in Cambridge many years ago. The only way to get around Cambridge is really by bike though, the roads are so narrow. However, as you said, the standard of cycling is not great, a vast majority of the bikes probably don't cost much more than a few quid, and the main reason they ride in packs is because there are so many of them. How many other places have upwards of a couple of thousand bikes parked outside the train station?
The main problem there is there is no space for proper infrastructure but once you get used to driving round there, it is actually one of the best, yet worst, places to be a cyclist because drivers are always aware of them but there is nowhere more evident of the "war" with cyclists than there.
Having said that though, I was on a coach last week which went through London during the rush hour and I couldn't believe the standard of some cyclists there, so much worse than I ever saw in Cambridge. In the space of about half an hour, I saw more near misses, many of which were actually the fault of cyclists, than I see in the space of a couple of months here. Is it any wonder that drivers can be so militant when they are greeted with such bad behaviours from some cyclists?