London centirc: Are road users more aggressive in 2011?

DonDaddyD

Cycling to work today - well Liverpool Street station.

Colliers Wood: Motorcycle, big one, in the Cycle superhighway filtering through traffic.

In Clapham between Clapham North tube and Stockwell: cyclists in the bus lane, as always, a guy on his motorcycle beeping his horn for us to, I assume, get into single file. When he passes me he revs, then roars his engine at the next group of cyclists. This was just after the ambulance attending to an accident. Quite sickening really.

Heading towards Oval tube: Same as above but with a moped.

Elephant and Castle: A guy in a Landrover, nearly drives over me as he drifts into the left lane at speed as while going around the second roundabout by heading towards the city.

Approach to London Bridge: Girl on a Condor bike, ahead of me, is overtakinga few cyclists on the right, Moped overtaking givesabout an inch of space while doing it.

Heading towards Liverpool Street station. Guy on a bike riding on the other side of traffic cones. His lane is coming to a deadend, so he decides to comes up on my left and undertake me. As he does this he cuts right in front of me and I nearly end up in a van. I'm still wondering why he and I didn't have 'words'.

Either I'm rusty and I've lost my aggression and assertiveness while cycling or everyone has become very aggressive when using London roads. I wouldn't mind but there wasn't the usual volume of trafficm, everything seemed to flow quite nicely today and the weather was quite pleasent.

I think Mopeds and Motorcyclists are going to be the real problem for cyclists in 2011. Cars are more aware than say 2008.

asprilla

No change on the cars, but I'm seeing a lot more motorcycles / mopeds about and they are being aggressive witht heir filtering.

rjsterry

DonDaddyD wrote:

I think Mopeds and Motorcyclists are going to be the real problem for cyclists in 2011. Cars are more aware than say 2008.

Motorcyclists tend to bring out my awkward side. I've been followed (too close, of course) down the mandatory cycle lane along Victoria Embankment (westbound) many times, and it tends to make me slow right down and ride in the centre of the lane so that there isn't enough room to get past. After a while they get bored and cut back into the traffic.

Your experience is also part of the reason why I've started riding along the Embankment instead of the full length of CS7 - the standard o driving/riding from other road users seems to be slightly higher, and there are fewer side turnings. It's a bit further, but the higher average speeds cancel most of that out.

hatbeard

I got buzzed a few times this morning by motorbikes for seemingly no reason other than their riders were driving like idiots.

it does seem like they are becoming a bigger problem of late, using cycle lane to filter, hogging the asl, sitting just behind your rear wheel at lights so as you set off you instantly get buzzed.

If one beeped at me to move over in a cycle/bus lane as they did DDD though I'd tell them exactly what I thought of thought of them using the full essex vocabulary of expletives.

mybreakfastconsisted

Shoreditch High Street is bad for PTWs cutting into tyhe cycle lane.

sketchley

Not really noticed this morning and I came the same route as DDD, However much more traffic on the roads than last week so that maybe it. I have been hooted at a few times in the last week mainly I think because I'm out away from the kerb a little more than usal due to the amount cr@p in the gutter.

rjcastillo

Today was my first bicycle commute of 2011 (I do ride a motorbike too but I'm a saint!). I agree that everyone's being a numpty this year. In my case SW London car drivers and the ocassional are acting wierd.

CiB

Isn't it because this weekend just gone is supposed to be the worst weekend of the year, being the end of the first week back after Christmas for a lot of people, and it still being the depths of winter etc? Everyone's grumpy. It'll get better.

daviesee

CiB wrote:

Isn't it because this weekend just gone is supposed to be the worst weekend of the year, being the end of the first week back after Christmas for a lot of people, and it still being the depths of winter etc? Everyone's grumpy. It'll get better.

The optimist in me loves that. The cynic in me finds it hard to agree

fastercyclist

It isn't just London. I got it yesterday near Exeter from three drivers. Ride the same roads in summer without any problem. (got lights, helmet, bright neon green jacket etc)

Headhuunter

Yeah I've found motorbikes and mopeds are increasingly using cycle lanes as well as ASL boxes. Not since the start of 2011 particularly but over the course of last year. They used to go round the right of queues of traffic and enter the ASL from the other side, nowadays they're just as likely to buzz up the cycle lane and get in the way because fairly regularly they hit a spot which is too narrow for them to easily get through so they have to stop, put their feet down and "waddle" the bike through which holds cyclists behind up.

Other than that, no difference in 2011 to 2010 so far. Out on a club run in Kent had some @rse driving right up behind me blasting his horn along a narrow country road so it's not just London and thathas happened before, most drivers in London and out in the country are fine but in both places i have encountered tw@ts...

cjcp

What HH said.

notsoblue

I don't think things are getting worse. My personal cycling habits and my route have changed in the last couple of years though. That explains any change in my experiences with motorists.

DECLINE!

georgee

I still feel most motorbikes are pretty ok riders, I agree mopeds are worse (undertaken at speed by one in knightsbridge at speed on Friday night)

But there are plenty of nobber drivers out there i.e. the one beeping me on Priory Lane to get out the way only to hit the queue of traffic that's always ahead.

but still 2010 feels like 2011, I just think we're seeing more new years cyclists about that will die out over the next few weeks. On another note, I saw far more boris bikers than normal this morning not sure why?

Gazzaputt

No same twats as always i found today.

sketchley

Personally I don't think there is much difference in the ratio of good / bad drivers or riders per vehical type. There are muppets in or on every type. However probably come across more Motorcycles and Scooters on a commute than cars, excluding stationary ones that is. What's more 2 wheel motorised vechincal tend the share the same space with me now (bus lanes) so it seems there are more bad ones of them than motorists. I just wish they all knew that cycle lanes (bound by a solid white line) and ASL are not for scooters or motrbikes!

Headhuunter

Sketchley wrote:

Personally I don't think there is much difference in the ratio of good / bad drivers or riders per vehical type. There are muppets in or on every type. However probably come across more Motorcycles and Scooters on a commute than cars, excluding stationary ones that is. What's more 2 wheel motorised vechincal tend the share the same space with me now (bus lanes) so it seems there are more bad ones of them than motorists. I just wish they all knew that cycle lanes (bound by a solid white line) and ASL are not for scooters or motrbikes!

I'm sure most motorcyclists do know that they shouldn't be in ASLs or bike lanes, they just know the police don't enforce them so they can't lose...

tailwindhome

That'll be the effect of the Top Gear Xmas Special.

Headhuunter

TailWindHome wrote:

That'll be the effect of the Top Gear Xmas Special.

Why what happened on the Top Gear Christmas Special?

tailwindhome

Headhuunter wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

That'll be the effect of the Top Gear Xmas Special.

Why what happened on the Top Gear Christmas Special?

Dunno

But it's either that or dem immigrants

mapleflot

Perhaps the motorcyclists have spent Christmas watching Youtubes like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hC84fgyh-c&feature=related

Headhuunter

TailWindHome wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

That'll be the effect of the Top Gear Xmas Special.

Why what happened on the Top Gear Christmas Special?

Dunno

But it's either that or dem immigrants

Oh I see. I had images of Clarkson telling Essex boys on massive motorbikes to use cycle lanes because the police don't care...

johnarran2

I have been in minor run ins with aggressive motorcycle couriers who behave the same way as aggressive taxi drivers. The worst and most dangerous aggression comes from drivers of transit size vans. They tend to drive so badly that they are involved in incidents all the time which they react to with extreme aggression. They are particularly good and overtaking cyclists and then turning left across them. I see such an incident at least once a day cycling from Liverpool St to the West End. Remonstrating with them only leads to confrontation and abuse

sketchley

+1 on the transit van this morning (see rant thread)

Despite my earlier post in this thread. Judging by 4 specific incidents this week in four days I would say more agressive drivers in 2011. Certainly although I got beeped a few time last year I never had people stop and swear at me until this week then 3 in a week including a bus driver, who to his credit did stop swearing when I ask him to and also said I would reporting him to his bus company if he didn't....

Headhuunter

BTW I think I have the answer to the question as to whether motorcyclists and moped riders know that they shouldn't use the ASL. I think they do know. Earlier this week as I approached an ASL at the northern end of Blackfriars Bridge I noticed that bizarrely all mopeds and motorbikes were behind the 1st line and none had moved into the ASL! I was amazed! Then in their midst I spotted a police motorcyclist.... So clearly they all knew that they shouldn't go any further than the 1st line and were on their best behaviour...

hatbeard

I followed a group of 4 police motorbikes down from london bridge to tooley street last week, they were riding in a diamond formation with me drafting behind them.

was excellent because all the numptys along that route all of a sudden snapped into line like a well trained army regiment and behaved themselves admirably. meanwhile I got to follow the bikes at a decent clip all the way up to tower bridge junction with absolutely no hassle from anyone or anything on the road.

they turned right then and instantly the idiots reverted to their usual behaviour and it was wacky races for the rest of the journey home though

I wish I had a police escort all the time...

notsoblue

hatbeard wrote:

I followed a group of 4 police motorbikes down from london bridge to tooley street last week, they were riding in a diamond formation with me drafting behind them.

Love that. Works well along Embankment in heavy traffic when a police car with lights/siren speeds down the center divide.

sketchley

hatbeard wrote:

I followed a group of 4 police motorbikes down from london bridge to tooley street last week, they were riding in a diamond formation with me drafting behind them.

was excellent because all the numptys along that route all of a sudden snapped into line like a well trained army regiment and behaved themselves admirably. meanwhile I got to follow the bikes at a decent clip all the way up to tower bridge junction with absolutely no hassle from anyone or anything on the road.

they turned right then and instantly the idiots reverted to their usual behaviour and it was wacky races for the rest of the journey home though

I wish I had a police escort all the time...

You should tell that story to Petri Hoskins at LBC that's mentioned on the other thread.

EKE_38BPM

notsoblue wrote:

I don't think things are getting worse. My personal cycling habits and my route have changed in the last couple of years though. That explains any change in my experiences with motorists.

DECLINE!

I had forgotten how good Brass Eye was. 'They' should bring it back.

notsoblue

EKE_38BPM wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

I don't think things are getting worse. My personal cycling habits and my route have changed in the last couple of years though. That explains any change in my experiences with motorists.

DECLINE!

I had forgotten how good Brass Eye was. 'They' should bring it back.

Indeed. Liz Jones is like a Brass Eye character. My cats aren't a danger to wildlife... but the power-crazed RSPB is

W1

notsoblue wrote:

hatbeard wrote:

I followed a group of 4 police motorbikes down from london bridge to tooley street last week, they were riding in a diamond formation with me drafting behind them.

Love that. Works well along Embankment in heavy traffic when a police car with lights/siren speeds down the center divide.

It can be quite dangerous to tag onto an emergency vehicle on a run - people will swerve back into the "space" as soon as it's gone past them, straight into you. It can also be a distraction to the driver of the police car too.

Nothing wrong with tagging onto a non-emergency convoy though!