Does this annoy anyone or just me?

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old_windbag
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Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by old_windbag »

Whilst on the roads I see many examples of selfish driving or driving on autopilot oblivious to other road users, tunnel vision. Today I encountered an example that happens all too often nowadays, it annoys me as I feel it puts the cyclist in an unnecessarily vulnerable position. So here it is:-

I'm on a single carriageway( medium width ) road travelling eastbound at reasonable pace. On the opposite side, westbound, is a car approaching and travelling at a speed that the driver following it wasn't happy with. They immediately overtook into my carriageway and came flying at me and past me at around 70mph. The car being overtaken blared their horn( even they weren't happy with the driver ), I sat up shook my head and put my hand up as in "Why?". About 300 yds further up the road for them is 1mile of 30mph zone through a very large village. This happens often nowadays on the single carriageway national speed limit roads where I cycle, personally I think you should overtake when the opposite carriageway is empty and if a cyclist is present don't overtake until they've past. Treat them like a car coming towards you.

Anyway as the car came flying at me I realised it was someone who lives a couple of doors away :shock: , so I'll not be popular :) .

Just before this I had a car overtake me in the 30mph zone into a pedestrian refuge, so they cut in to avoid it, then they put their indicator on to turn right and braked to a halt :evil: . Absolutely clueless.
Phil Fouracre
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Phil Fouracre »

What are you complaining about? All normal activity! Had one a while ago, overtook, and didn't even see the pedestrian refuge and almost hit it!
Please bear in mind that if, as the stats claim, 13% of the population have an IQ of less than 75/80 that means that one in eight people on the road really are stupid :-)
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DaveP
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by DaveP »

And one of the others is on the phone...
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dylanharrison85
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by dylanharrison85 »

Usually texting
Vorpal
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Vorpal »

Phil Fouracre wrote:What are you complaining about? All normal activity!

Just because it's normal doesn't mean it's right.
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Paulatic
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Paulatic »

If he's only a few doors away I'd be down there asking him why?
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Postboxer
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Postboxer »

Any idea what speed the overtaken car was doing, it doesn't excuse the poor overtake but sometimes you get stuck behind someone doing 40, who carries on doing 40 through villages, sod's law the best overtaking places are just out the other side of the village, but you can't overtake them there because they've pulled ahead as they sped through the village, you then catch up with them just as the road starts bending around again up to the next village.
kwackers
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by kwackers »

I think my favourite is definitely the person who overtakes yards before they want to turn left or right or even stop behind a queue of traffic.
On Thursday I had a bus overtake as it's braking for the traffic at the lights and then swung back to the kerb forcing me to both brake hard and move hard over to the kerb.

It's either mindless or vindictive to the extreme, difficult to say which really.
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Lance Dopestrong
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Lance Dopestrong »

I see enough cyclists riding like fools to not get especially het up about motorists. A bad road user is a bad road user, and should be discouraged/punished/banned as appropriate.
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Samuel D
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Samuel D »

Lance Dopestrong wrote:I see enough cyclists riding like fools to not get especially het up about motorists. A bad road user is a bad road user, and should be discouraged/punished/banned as appropriate.

Not really. Being a fool on a bicycle is usually just being a fool; being a fool in a car is additionally very dangerous. The two are in no way comparable.
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Vantage
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Vantage »

Crap and selfish driving is becoming all too often now.
Only the other week I'd returned home from a ride so angry and frustrated because of drivers that I told my fiancee I was giving up cycling.
I've since calmed down. But I'm more and more looking to take the bike as far away from roads as I can these days whereas at one time, I'd happily ride anywhere.
Bill


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Lance Dopestrong
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Lance Dopestrong »

Samuel D wrote:
Lance Dopestrong wrote:I see enough cyclists riding like fools to not get especially het up about motorists. A bad road user is a bad road user, and should be discouraged/punished/banned as appropriate.

Not really. Being a fool on a bicycle is usually just being a fool; being a fool in a car is additionally very dangerous. The two are in no way comparable.


Riding at night with no lights isn't dangerous? Overtaking large vehicles up the inside on the approach to junctions isn't dangerous? Plenty of people sadly end up as strawberry jam because of their own foolish behaviour on 2 wheels.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Paulatic wrote:If he's only a few doors away I'd be down there asking him why?


I agree. I did this a few months back and my 6YOD who was on the back of the bike, was there too. It didn't half emphasise what tragedy he almost caused. If you choose your approach carefully it can be a very positive demonstration of showing someone you have a right to use the road in safety too. I for one believe he will remember that day forever and be a better driver as a result of my visit.

Trouble is, when you are enclosed in a tin can, you think you are untouchable. Funny how the tables turn when the driver isn't in his vehicle anymore [emoji48]
old_windbag
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by old_windbag »

I may have a quiet word with "her" when I see them. One problem in small close knit communities is you become "oh you know what that grumbly bloke over there said" :) . I'm not afraid of cars, lorries etc but since taking up cycling 19 years ago I've seen a big increase in generally selfish, thoughtless driving. As another poster stated they felt like "giving cycling up", it makes you feel like this when driving standards are falling and road surfaces are left to decay and even when repaired are bodged to bug**ry.

With regards overtaking "into" a cyclist I'd have thought the advice on overtaking in the highway code would still apply, i.e if you cannot give them a car wide space( clearly 1 bike plus 2 cars in an overtake isn't ) then you should simply wait to perform the manoevre. Sadly its only advice.

We have just had a road reopened in rothbury, the main feed road to the village. A section collapsed due to a landslide in 2012( heavy rain ) and has taken 3.5 years to reinstate :shock: . Apparently it was a complex situation to reinstate it? Somehow, however complex( as the road did already exist ) I simply don't buy our apathy and complacency to road repair on a major route. Take note Cumbria, lets hope they pull their finger out for your damaged roads..... meanwhile crossrail is ploughing on successfully. Not sure how we ever won a world war and created so many new aircraft, tank and ship designs plus repaired bombed buildings and infrastructure in a 6 year period when we cannot even repair our roads in good time today. There really are a load of slackers in our public services, sadly those right at the bottom tend to face the publics anger.
Phil Fouracre
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Re: Does this annoy anyone or just me?

Post by Phil Fouracre »

Vorpal wrote:
Phil Fouracre wrote:What are you complaining about? All normal activity!

Just because it's normal doesn't mean it's right.


Totally agree, I'm afraid I said it with a sad face, becoming depressingly more and more commonplace
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
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