Road Users From Hell.....

shoulder_of_orion

I've seen a lot of ranting here about other road users, peds, RLJers, delivery drivers and bus drivers all come in for a bit of stick. But who do you think are the worst offenders of all?

For me it's a close run thing between lorries and white van drivers. But at the end of the day, I have to hand it to the white van man - he seems to view the cyclist with a pathological hatred.

NB - In my view there are good and bad in all walks of life and I have seen eejits using all manner of transport to create havoc. Likewise I have seen responsible and considerate white van drivers etc

I have distinguished between "white" vans (not always white) and delivery drivers as the latter are professional drivers who do nothing else whilst the former are normally using the van to get to and from work. I have had to combine motorbikes & scooters cos it will only allow me so many option and I did want to include "other"...

always_tyred

Where is "teenage Nova drivers"?

lost_in_thought

I was really torn between Scooters, Private Cars and Buses. I chose buses because they cause me the most bother, but that's in part because I'm sharing a lane with them a lot.

Sewinman

I find buses ok, and even white van men are not too bad. I went for taxis.

Clever Pun

It's the person not how they travel

flamite

I find the worst on london's streets are those tourist double decker buses, they dont seem to have the same training as tfl, and are constanly cutting me up/trying to kill me.... esp when they are driving to/from work along embankment sans pax....

chuckcork

I go for peds, while less likely to take me out than many a dangerous driver I've come across, I've had way to many assume that they didn't need to take any notice of me and thereby step/wander/run out into a road in front of me, as if my crashing into them at 20mph wouldn't hurt. A lot.

Feltup

Where's the School Run Mum option? I get cut off by them frequently as they drive in their own little world.

Tempestas

Feltup wrote:

Where's the School Run Mum option? I get cut off by them frequently as they drive in their own little world.

+ 1 for them, I am still seething from the mum in her BMW X3 with a row of baby seats and on the phone, who drove head on into me forcing me off the road on Wednesday. Then driving off and leaving me there after stopping and having a look!

Rich158

I had a white van man shouting abuse at me yesterday on Greenwich Park Hill for not being in the cycle lane. I was going up the hill, he was coming down, and there was a huge line of traffic going up the hill, nobody had to move to get arround me, and his journey wasn't affected in any way and still he felt the need to wind down his window and shout abuse at me just for being on the road :shock:

To make things worse as iIturned to give him some abuse back and the finger, there sitting right between us was a colleagues car, and the hot Polish girl who had been telling me how goood I was looking lately just 1/2 hour earlier. They took the full brunt of my ire, blissfully unaware of wvm's antics :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: Still it did cause much amusement this morning

woodyonthebeach

I us private cars a lot. Takes the hassle away from having to us the tube and trains and gives me chance to read paper.

However on a couple of occasions the driver has been warned not to try and intimidate cyclist and stop being a t*** and drive properly.

Furbes

Ha ha ,it just goes to show you rich , you never know who's watching !
in all my years cycling , i've only ever been knocked down twice , both were vans & one of them was white - (he didn't see me , he was going too fast-his words) :!:

always_tyred

Busses for me. Its "mirror-signal-manouever", guys, not "manouever-signal".

Also, be so kind as to finish passing me before cutting back in. If you are cutting back in to stop, you probably could have got away without overtaking in the first place. Oh, and when you are stationary and I'm already in the process of passing you, do you think you could let me finish? Cheers.

il_principe

Always Tyred wrote:

Busses for me. Its "mirror-signal-manouever", guys, not "manouever-signal".

Also, be so kind as to finish passing me before cutting back in. If you are cutting back in to stop, you probably could have got away without overtaking in the first place. Oh, and when you are stationary and I'm already in the process of passing you, do you think you could let me finish? Cheers.

+1 happens all the bloody time.

pintoo

Buses are bad - especially the London bendy buses. White vans are bad, too - and they're now in the lead on the poll. For me though - black cabs all day long. Worst. Road users. Ever.

I realise this is a very London-centric take, though.

AndyOgy

I spent 5 years working as a white van man. I'd honestly say it's the case that 10% of WVM make the other 90% look bad. But those 10% really should be taken off the roads. In fact, I'm going to vote WVM as soon as I've typed this just because that 10% really are that bad.
In their defence, a lot of their problems come from the massive blind spot that vans tend to have. But this doesn't completely excuse them as there are changes that you can make to your driving style to be sure that you're always aware if something enters said blind spot.
Oh, and the van I used to drive was an LDV Maxus. Now I knew that I must never fill the tank right up because this particular model of van had a slight diesel spitting problem when the tank was full. If you look out for this model of van, you will notice the trademark diesel spill stain under the fuel cap. Most van drivers aren't aware of the problems that diesel on the roads can cause for us cyclists.

wgwarburton

Taxis

I'm sure most of them are OK (one waved me out this evening) but I hate the way they hog the ASL boxes and cut you up....

Cheers,
W.

zero303

Couldn't pick one - similar to the the WVM said above - 10% of each category makes all of the above look bad.

Yesterday it was school run mum, day before it was a ped, this morning it was WVM, on the way home tonight - god knows...

kieronymous

Driving Instructors!

Had a learner passing me on a clear, straight road the other day, no oncoming traffic for the next several hundred metres. Bless 'er heart, the learner moves over the centre line to give me room. Instructor matey promptly grabs the wheel and moves back across to squeeze past, 'scary close'. Cheers buddy.

Gave chase towards the next lights to thank learner for her excellent intuition and advise her to get a new instructor. Dammit but the light stayed green |: (

Other than that, +1 to bus drivers AT. London buses that is.

girv73

Buses get in my way a lot along certain routes at certain times of the day, but they're generally well driven (yay Translink!). Same goes for other drivers around Belfast, they all tend to give me a wide berth. The worst problem I have is with inattentive peds stepping out in front of me...

lost_in_thought

jashburnham wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Busses for me. Its "mirror-signal-manouever", guys, not "manouever-signal".

Also, be so kind as to finish passing me before cutting back in. If you are cutting back in to stop, you probably could have got away without overtaking in the first place. Oh, and when you are stationary and I'm already in the process of passing you, do you think you could let me finish? Cheers.

+1 happens all the bloody time.

+1

alien

Rich158 wrote:

I had a white van man shouting abuse at me

this is what has happened on each of the last 2 sunday rideouts I've been on with a friend.

1st - verbal abuse just on the approach to sloane square, skinhead in white van 'get off the bleep road' then attempting to cut me up and the same verbals. annoyingly couldn't get the camera phone out in time

2nd - we're on patch of green stuff checking maps etc south of Sutton and as they're going past obscenities yelled out of the window. utterly laughable tbh..

must be something in the water.

roger_merriman

Always Tyred wrote:

Busses for me. Its "mirror-signal-manouever", guys, not "manouever-signal".

Also, be so kind as to finish passing me before cutting back in. If you are cutting back in to stop, you probably could have got away without overtaking in the first place. Oh, and when you are stationary and I'm already in the process of passing you, do you think you could let me finish? Cheers.

could i also add could one pull fully into the bus bay so rest of traffic can pass....

APIII

I voted for WVM, purely as a consequence of this mornings ride, which was somewhat spoiled by the anus in the white van who whilst heading towards me on an open road, took the time to cross into the opposite lane (mine) and drive straight at me forcing me to take evasive action onto the verge.
Still, I'm sure the story will have impressed all his goon mates in the pub this evening :roll:

sean65

+1 for 'It's not the mode of transport, it's the person using it".

There are dickheads using all modes listed in the poll including cyclists but to answer the question my answer has to be

Dickheads on mobile phones

Young dickheads who've just passed their test.

Take it easy out there, these dickheads are getting everywhere!

downfader

...well this wont help the bus driver's reputation:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090313/tuk ... dbed5.html
:?

shoulder_of_orion

someone has voted for cyclists. c'mon, explain!

NGale

Police Cars!!

they have something against us cyclists down here in Devon, especially those of us who dress in ambulance service uniforms!


I am something of a 'James Bond' cyclist these days...i.e I chase everything with the intent to kill if required. and taxis have been my worst nightmare in Exeter. They like to drive at cyclists as much as they can and will sit on your back tire in the bus and cycle lanes, there have been a number of times when I have kicked out at taxis for practcally wiping me out.

I have to say the bus drivers in Exeter are on the whole very good, but then most of them are cyclists themselves as that is how they get to work so they are a very aware bunch.

chuckcork

Not related in the vote, but I did have a guy on an overloaded motorbike try and shout through his helmet at me and a small group I was with that we should have been in the cycle lane while going around Epsom/Horton Park....he had more than enough room to go around us, we were well over to the left, every other bit of traffic was passing us on the ratherw ide road without a problem.

The "cycle lane" that we could have been using was there, fair enough, but not we are not obliged to use one in the first place, it also stops and starts going on and off the road at various intervals, takes wide diversions around the many roundabouts, and to top it off, we were doing about 25mph and up to 30mph in the bargain, far too fast for a cycle lane, fast enough we just about caught up with him half a mile later.

Only "incident" in the entire club ride, you would have thought that our fellow two-wheeled road users would have some sympathy for us as they face the same problems as we do with road safety, but as noted, its the 10% that make the other 90% look bad.

Cycling Dave

I've never had a driving lesson in my life. Can those who have driving licences answer a question for me?

When you're learning how to drive, how much are you taught about cyclists/motorcyclists and awareness of your responsibility to these vulnerable road users?

Because it doesn't seem enough. I think that the best wy to improve safety on our roads is to inform drivers of their duty towards cyclists, and what it means to be vulnerable on th road.

edmellor

In all honestly there is practically nothing taught about awareness of cycles etc, but I do believe that the problem is that driving instructors teach you how to pass the test as opposed to teaching you how to drive.