Traffic light etiquette. Don't stop in front of me

DonDaddyD

I could have lost my calm with a few cyclist in recent times.

I've overtaken them at speed, they can't keep up, its clear they can't keep up. They tried and failed.

I stop at the lights, I've taken up my position. The person who isn't as fast as me pootles upto me, around me and parks their bike just in front of mine.

Lights go green, they struggle to push off wobbling all the way to a total of 8mph. I now have to struggle to get past them negotiating them, slow speed wobble and oncoming cars.



WHY, WHY DO THIS, WHY!?

CLEARLY I'm faster than you. CLEARLY I'm going to need to overtake you again. WHY WHY WHY MUST YOU WHY!?

Just f*cking wait in the f*cking queue, or beside me. But to park your bike infront of me, I may have to hit you with my carbon soled shoe to point out how rude you're being.

Honestly, its just good manners, surely.

essex-commuter

It's good that you can remain calm and see the funny side of it though

Clever Pun

Did you mention it? if not they wont be aware as they're clearly oblivious

a polite word and they'll get the message

Jamey

essex-commuter wrote:

It's good that you can remain calm and see the funny side of it though

Sewinman

Fact of life - get used to it. You can sit in secondary - as the pootlers normally stay by the curb, so fairly easy to overtake them as soon as the lights change.

holybinch

The only time I do this is when the faster cyclist doesn't take advantage of the ASL.
I don't want to be stuck between the curb and a car, so, if you stop just at the limit, I'll move in the ASL, which could result in me ending up in front of you after we start.
But apart from that exception, I really understand where you come from

Ho hum

Have you ever gone green on your bicycle?

Now that would be an awesome sight!

In answer to your original question though, some people are just ignorant and have no idea about how they are interacting with other people and the world.

gaz545

DDD what do you ride? as i think i go on part of your route, going to remember to stop right infront of you :P

All jokes aside, this really does my nut in. i once overtook two cyclists, next set of lights, one goes infront of me and one sits on my right. lights turn green and they both pull away slowly.. AARRRRGH i have to go even slower and do a double scalp... Next set of lights, they do the same thing. *tears hair out*

Kieran_Burns

Clever Pun wrote:

Did you mention it? if not they wont be aware as they're clearly oblivious

a polite word and they'll get the message

apparently he did have a word.

Reports of the noise are now coming in from regions in Southern France / Belgium / Holland & Western parts of Germany.

The Police are presently trying to talk the cyclists down from the top of the London Eye. Onlookers were amazed at how they were able to clear the structure in a single bound.

Aidy

DonDaddyD wrote:

Lights go green, they struggle to push off wobbling all the way to a total of 8mph. I now have to struggle to get past them negotiating them, slow speed wobble and oncoming cars.

I dunno, isn't your average speed only about 8mph?

Porgy

What's worse are the ones that are slow but think that you're having a race with them. They then go all out to overtake me again - but slow down in fornt so I pass them and they go mental again and overtake me...just and so on. Attempts to get away from them are often thwarted by the fact that these people never stop at red lights and often take horrific risks with the traffic.

Eventually I get p***ed off enough that I summon up the energy needed to attain escape velocity and leave them behind for good.

Bikequin

Aidy wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Lights go green, they struggle to push off wobbling all the way to a total of 8mph. I now have to struggle to get past them negotiating them, slow speed wobble and oncoming cars.

I dunno, isn't your average speed only about 8mph?

I think I just heard DDD explode at his desk. :shock:

Oddjob62

I had a simlar thing this morning... except that she wasn't particularly slow and the view from behind was very nice... i couldn't bring myself to up the pace :P

greg66_tri_v2.0

An off-topic variant on this:

Over lunch I have been out buying a card for Catching Out Forgetful Son's Day. I stand there in the card shop, about 4 feet back, staring at the cards (all shite) trying to choose.

Them some trainee brain donor wanders along and decides that the only place he can stand to inspect the cards is right between me and the rack. I mean FFS, you may be stupid, and you may be rude, but can you really be blind as well?

Tosspots.


Back on topic, I hate this as well. And I hate it even more when some c0ck on a scooter thinks its perfectly permissible to come to a halt at an angle in front of me. God, if I carried a hammer in my bag, I'd be in a lot of trouble by now.

chuckcork

Can't be all bad out there.

The guy on the mountain bike who went through a red in front of me in Hersham this morning, that I caught up with a little down the road, actually pulled in to let me go past.

Not as if I was even going that fast, only about 18mph, but I guess the effort of trying to move at such a speed wore him out. Half a mile later and he was well behind me.

Why of why do slow pokes run red lights? Why don't they just get a proper bike and go fast enough they don't have to?

DonDaddyD

Aidy wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Lights go green, they struggle to push off wobbling all the way to a total of 8mph. I now have to struggle to get past them negotiating them, slow speed wobble and oncoming cars.

I dunno, isn't your average speed only about 8mph?

"Dog, meets bone and falls in love"

An average can be 8mph. Actual cycling speed higher. Why? Time spent slowing down, braking and going slow behind slow moving traffic.

Again, rolly eyes

:roll:

iPete

chuckcork wrote:

Why of why do slow pokes run red lights? Why don't they just get a proper bike and go fast enough they don't have to?

Entertainment, they are great for training

Oddjob62

iPete wrote:

Entertainment, they are great for training

Exactly... I quite like it when people RLJ... gives me a good target. No fun if i can just beat them off the line.

turnerjohn

chuckcork wrote:

Can't be all bad out there.

The guy on the mountain bike who went through a red in front of me in Hersham this morning, that I caught up with a little down the road, actually pulled in to let me go past.

Not as if I was even going that fast, only about 18mph, but I guess the effort of trying to move at such a speed wore him out. Half a mile later and he was well behind me.

Why of why do slow pokes run red lights? Why don't they just get a proper bike and go fast enough they don't have to?

+1 (not in Hersham mind lol) but slow people do this all the time !...maybe they think their safer pootling through the junction slowly...I have no idea lol

holybinch

Oddjob62 wrote:

I had a simlar thing this morning... except that she wasn't particularly slow and the view from behind was very nice... i couldn't bring myself to up the pace :P

Had the same experience on the mall. Fast enough to consider drafting for a while.
A shame she went the other way on Trafalgar Sq.

Kieran_Burns

Greg66 wrote:

An off-topic variant on this:

Over lunch I have been out buying a card for Catching Out Forgetful Son's Day. I stand there in the card shop, about 4 feet back, staring at the cards (all shite) trying to choose.

Them some trainee brain donor wanders along and decides that the only place he can stand to inspect the cards is right between me and the rack. I mean FFS, you may be stupid, and you may be rude, but can you really be blind as well?

Tosspots.

One little teenage scroat did that to me... so I (faux) sneezed into the back of his head.

Only it wasn't so faux.... I'd had this chesty cough... aaaanddd.... well. I kind of cleared my throat inadvertently :shock:

He turned around in shock and in an unexpected display of presence of mind I calmly said "You really shouldn't stand there" (while gasping in quiet horror at what I had just done)

jeepie

OK. I don't live in London. The volume of bikes round by me is low. But I will overtake cycles if they are stopped in the zone of death i.e. inside an lorry or blocking me from using the zone at the front of cars (which is generally free) and allows me to be seen. DD - would you hit me for this?

Oddjob62

Jeepie wrote:

OK. I don't live in London. The volume of bikes round by me is low. But I will overtake cycles if they are stopped in the zone of death i.e. inside an lorry or blocking me from using the zone at the front of cars (which is generally free) and allows me to be seen. DD - would you hit me for this?

I'm pretty sure DDD wouldn't be doing either of those things so you're safe.

MonkeyMonster

okay... so its a busy straight road and clear past the lights for the cars to zoom off into. It has an asl and a cycle lane leading up to it.

You are first in a mini pelaton and there is a van at the front but not in the asl.

Do you go into the asl and infront of the van to let others use the asl or do you stay on the left ready to take off into clear space and not impeed the van but leave that choice to others.

As the 2nd person - if the 1st stays on the left and does or doesn't leave you space to use the asl and also knowing he is faster - what do you do? Go infront of the van in the asl, stay behind the 1st cyclist or go past him and thus get hit by the ddd rule...

suzyb

Greg66 wrote:

An off-topic variant on this:

Over lunch I have been out buying a card for Catching Out Forgetful Son's Day. I stand there in the card shop, about 4 feet back, staring at the cards (all shite) trying to choose.

Them some trainee brain donor wanders along and decides that the only place he can stand to inspect the cards is right between me and the rack. I mean FFS, you may be stupid, and you may be rude, but can you really be blind as well?

Tosspots.


Back on topic, I hate this as well. And I hate it even more when some c0ck on a scooter thinks its perfectly permissible to come to a halt at an angle in front of me. God, if I carried a hammer in my bag, I'd be in a lot of trouble by now.

You don't visit supermarkets very often do you. People loose all common sense and consideration for others when in supermarkets, just like when they're driving tbh.

holybinch

MonkeyMonster wrote:

okay... so its a busy straight road and clear past the lights for the cars to zoom off into. It has an asl and a cycle lane leading up to it.

You are first in a mini peloton and there is a van at the front but not in the asl.

Do you go into the asl and infront of the van to let others use the asl or do you stay on the left ready to take off into clear space and not impeed the van but leave that choice to others.

As the 2nd person - if the 1st stays on the left and does or doesn't leave you space to use the asl and also knowing he is faster - what do you do? Go infront of the van in the asl, stay behind the 1st cyclist or go past him and thus get hit by the ddd rule...

Exactly my point. I move in front of the fan. That's what an ASL is for. They can rev their engine if they want to overtake me. Not a cyclist (though I'm not that hard to pass )

DonDaddyD

Jeepie wrote:

OK. I don't live in London. The volume of bikes round by me is low. But I will overtake cycles if they are stopped in the zone of death i.e. inside an lorry or blocking me from using the zone at the front of cars (which is generally free) and allows me to be seen. DD - would you hit me for this?

1). I do my best not to block cyclists on the inside of a line of traffic.

2). If I'm at the front I move across or forward to allow other cyclist to move ahead of the vehicle - I've gone as far as to tell them to move forward and beside me.

3). Even if they are in the zone they could line their bike beside mine. To plant it directly infront is just rude.

leoccp

MonkeyMonster wrote:

okay... so its a busy straight road and clear past the lights for the cars to zoom off into. It has an asl and a cycle lane leading up to it.

You are first in a mini peloton and there is a van at the front but not in the asl.

Do you go into the asl and infront of the van to let others use the asl or do you stay on the left ready to take off into clear space and not impeed the van but leave that choice to others.

As the 2nd person - if the 1st stays on the left and does or doesn't leave you space to use the asl and also knowing he is faster - what do you do? Go infront of the van in the asl, stay behind the 1st cyclist or go past him and thus get hit by the ddd rule...

Sometimes I stay in primary behind the van, then follow behind it until I'm passed the other cyclists (saves being squeezed past over a junction). TBH I think ASLs are a bad idea in a lot of situatons.

As for why do people do it? Why do they do it to cars?

DonDaddyD

MonkeyMonster wrote:

okay... so its a busy straight road and clear past the lights for the cars to zoom off into. It has an asl and a cycle lane leading up to it.

You are first in a mini peloton and there is a van at the front but not in the asl.

Do you go into the asl and infront of the van to let others use the asl or do you stay on the left ready to take off into clear space and not impeed the van but leave that choice to others.

Depends, if the Van driver looks:
1. Mean
2. Angry
3. Younger than 23
4. Has a skinhead
5. Is listening to music with a tempo faster than the pistons can fire in my car

Then I stay on the left but allow room for another cyclist to line up behind me but infront of the Van. Or beside me and infront of the van.

As the 2nd person - if the 1st stays on the left and does or doesn't leave you space tuse the asl and also knowing he is faster - what do you do? Go infront of the van in the asl, stay behind the 1st cyclist or go past him and thus get hit by the ddd rule...

Ask the 1st person to move forward?

Porgy

increasingly i find myself stopping behind the traffic.

Oddjob62

If it's just a van and he's not turning i'd stick behind him and draft him past the cyclists.