It me or do SUVs alway drive to close

[squeaker]

I find it odd that 4x4 drivers who lumber towards me on narrow country lanes never want to pull over on to muddy verges so I can get past.

Like other drivers they expect me to get out of their way and get just as annoyed when I don't.

Why don't they use the off-road capabilities of their pride and joy?

Maybe 'cos they don't want to trash the grass verges (well they used to be grass...). Sussex drivers show seem to show no such inhibitions, IME.

[Ben@Forest]

I don't find SUVs (not all of which are 4x4s) the worst culprit. Though it's hard to generalise I think young women driving small cars are among the worst. They're driving Nissan Micras or Fiat 500s but they give little space if overtaking and (a big one for me as a lot of my riding is on single lane roads) don't slow down or move across the road at all if approaching. A small car shooting past at 45mph+ is no fun when you have no confidence in the driver understanding what it's like to be on a bike.

And I think that's the problem, women like this have not ridden since their pink Barbie bike with training wheels since they were six. No comprehension.

[Psamathe]

I don't find SUVs (not all of which are 4x4s) the worst culprit. Though it's hard to generalise I think young women driving small cars are among the worst. They're driving Nissan Micras or Fiat 500s but they give little space if overtaking and (a big one for me as a lot of my riding is on single lane roads) don't slow down or move across the road at all if approaching. A small car shooting past at 45mph+ is no fun when you have no confidence in the driver understanding what it's like to be on a bike.

One aspect to the single lane roads and oncoming vehicles that don't use passing places is that they force you to pull into the edge (that or end-up spread over they bonnet) and round me that means moving into the lose gravel and potholes and that is worrying as I feel a lot less in control riding past a (fast) moving car that is close and I can't properly steer or brake ... On a few occasions when I've had enough visibility to see the oncoming vehicle (after they wizz past the passing place) I just stop in the middle of the road blocking them, forcing them to stop at which point I will slowly ride round them.

Ian

[tyreon]

Cycling thru Scotland was particularly nerve-racking. Am not sure if it was the road surfaces,but the big monster cars with the extra width tyres you could hear from 100 metres away. You'd hear them approaching 'minutes' before they over-took. Approaching at speed you had to get ready for wipe-out,and say your last goodbyes. Awful. The lack of roads in the country dictated that 'the monsters' were all funnelled thru what roads did exist.

In my own car(more Miss Marple than Terminator),I am sometimes amazed and 'enthralled'(dunno if that's quite the term to use) to occasionally espy very small people/or very low seating,drivers sunken down so low that it appears they are looking through their steering wheels,not over them! Am not sure if these drivers have 'blocks' attached to their accelerators or braking mechanisms(do such like contraptions exist?). Quite an amazing sight.

FWIW the amount of drivers I now see texting or telephoning whilst driving has reduced. At crossings, whilst waiting for lights to change,I pass time by looking at motorists.

Repeated: Lorry driver once told me the most remarkable thing he had seen whilst driving his lorry was a woman driving down the motorway whilst breastfeeding her child. Remarkable!!

[Mark1978]

https://goo.gl/maps/701Rk came along this lane yesterday, my normal 1 hour route. A car approached from behind and another approached from in front, all they both met each other at the same time as they met me.

I pulled over and stopped just before the passing place. And looked over to the car behind who was an old fellow sitting there open mouthed. I gestured to the passing place, nothing. Then I had to explain in basic sign language YOU, AROUND ME, INTO THERE.. he finally got it and everyone was on their way!

[The Mechanic]

I find it strange that cyclists are so biased towards certain makes and types of car. I suspect they may be a certain amount of exclusivity creeping in. Where I live, there are any amount of BMWs, Audis, Mercs etc and well as 4x4s of all types. I imaging that in some areas of the country they are less common. This may lead to people noticing them more. I notice that there is a distinct lack of evidence on this thread to back up peoples perceptions. However, I would like to point out that I am a cyclist, have 5 bikes and also drive a 4x4, and it is a BMW! What does that make me? A murdering mania one minute and a complaining cyclist the next? I don't think so. I like to think that I am a courteous road user no matter which mode of transport I am using.

[Flinders]

Of course, my cycling experience is local. But my experience of driving is a national rather than a local one, as I do a fair bit of long distance driving. And as a driver, I do find that large SUVs and 4 x 4s, audis, and BMWs are over-represented in the 'what the hell is that one doing' stakes compared to their proportion on the roads.
Just my 2ps worth of course.
Farm-style muddy 4x4s where I cycle are common, and in general are fine. Squeaky clean SUVs loaded with schoolchildren are another matter. In general they do seem to be badly driven, and inconsiderately driven.

But there are of course exceptions. A lady driving a large and clean 4 x 4 a while back was so careful and considerate that I'd give her 10/10. But I think it's significant that I actually noticed how good her driving was....

[danhopgood]

It's generalisation. It's easy to think because some cyclists ride through red lights and on pavements and are generally a menace therefore ALL cyclists are a menace. similarly for car makes and driving styles.

When I first explained to my girlfriend of the time (some years ago) that all BMW drivers are psychopathic maniacs who are doing their best to wipe out cyclists, she hadn't thought about it and quite rightly said I was barmy.

My now wife, having monitored the situation for some time, now has the view that there is a higher percentage of aggressive / careless driving behaviour amongst said vehicles than the general car pool.

I also ask myself, insurance costs are based on risk, so why is it that the bottom of the range BMW 116 has a Group 17 insurance rating? (!)

[reohn2]

I find it strange that cyclists are so biased towards certain makes and types of car. I suspect they may be a certain amount of exclusivity creeping in. Where I live, there are any amount of BMWs, Audis, Mercs etc and well as 4x4s of all types. I imaging that in some areas of the country they are less common. This may lead to people noticing them more. I notice that there is a distinct lack of evidence on this thread to back up peoples perceptions.

Last three close passes on the bike were two SUV's and a VW Tiguan or Touran(?) two out of the three were very close with a speed differential of 30mph+
An attempt to bully me along or out of his way on Saturday by an idiot driving a 'Barbarian' crewcab pick up 4x4 but I was driving my Ford Cmax at the time.

However, I would like to point out that I am a cyclist, have 5 bikes and also drive a 4x4, and it is a BMW! What does that make me? A murdering mania one minute and a complaining cyclist the next? I don't think so. I like to think that I am a courteous road user no matter which mode of transport I am using.

No one's blaming all SUV drivers but claims that a higher proportion of such vehicle IME cause me grief by bullying in one form or another.
I suspect some drivers of such vehicles are a touch sensitive about the issue,on a thread in the Tea Shop three forum members tried to belittle me with their attempts at humour some time ago,when I brought up the same issue.
The vast majority of SUV/4x4 drivers give me no trouble at all,but the minority of badly drive SUV/4x4's is higher than most other car classes,despite their numbers being less.

[Mark1978]

I find it strange that cyclists are so biased towards certain makes and types of car..

Everyone is, not just cyclists. You'll find that people saying Audi and BMW drivers are bad is pretty universal.

[mrjemm]

Last three close passes on the bike were two SUV's and a VW Tiguan or Touran(?) two out of the three were very close with a speed differential of 30mph+
An attempt to bully me along or out of his way on Saturday by an idiot driving a 'Barbarian' crewcab pick up 4x4 but I was driving my Ford Cmax at the time.

My folks have been up this weekend... in a Tiguan. One trip as a passenger makes me wonder if that was him! Half the time aghast, half the time suggesting the indicator may help, etc. After that I made sure we were in my car each time. Hope it wasn't him. Don't think any worse than with their previous cars, but it is chunkier, which could count for something.

Noticed a few 'Barbarian' branded crewcab jobbies the other day on a long trip south and back, and those were often more agressively driven than the usual car that style, but those were perhaps shinier ones than their working cousins. One though, was a 'discreet' emergency services one I guess, rushing down M6 with blues flashing behind grill, so seems it was a sneaky bobbymobile or such.

I maintain that the most inconsiderate are generally the 'entitled' (mature and seemingly wealthy), whilst the most agressive are Deutsche status brands, both types of which can and often do overlap. Around our way though, there are a lot of very entitled in 4x4 beasts- the landed gentry hooning around the Forest of Bowland and such places, in convoys, lamps often mounted on the Landies amongst them, all other cars Range Rovers or similar valued 4x4s. Those lot show no regard for others what so ever. Guess they own the land, so they must assume they own the roads also.

[pete75]

It me or do SUVs always seem to drive to close. More then half of the cars that do so are 4x4.
I don't seem to have the same problem with minivans, which is strange I consider them more
or less the same type of car.

The minivan was tiny being only 11 ft long and about 4ft wide. Stopped being made in the early eighties so few about now.


This bias against trucks seems to be a town v country thing.
What do they expect someone who has to use muddy farm tracks, tow heavy trailers filled with 2 or 3 beast to market, use on shoots where there's often lots of rough ground to cover,drive over fields etc. A 4wd drive truck is generally bought as a working vehicle.
BTW how do you know they are 4x4 - many of the townie type vehicles that look like a 4wd are actually 2wd.

[toomsie]

More minivans now then they used to be, loads of ex-cabbie ford around on the use market. I am going to buy a Vauxhal Zafera 7 seeter. Its much better then an urban 4x4, 2x4 and takes corners very good and very cheep.

[pete75]

More minivans now then they used to be, loads of ex-cabbie ford around on the use market. I am going to buy a Vauxhal Zafera 7 seeter. Its much better then an urban 4x4, 2x4 and takes corners very good and very cheep.

The minivan was made by BMC then British Leyland not Ford or Vauxhall. The name is now owned by BMW. If anyone else was a vehicle they call aminivan BMW would have taken them to court over use of trade marked name.

[mrjemm]

Need I explain that minivan is the American name for people-carrier?