Cars

Secteur

Why is it, nomatter how fast you're going, no matter what the speed limit, no matter how close to the red lights (which are on red) that you are, no matter how close to the junction, the car behind JUST HAS TO GET PAST??!!

I was doing nearly 40 in a 30mph on my bike the other day (good tailwind, deserted country road) and still the car behind sped up to overtake, then was on the brakes infront of me, holding me up!

Later on, I was cruising up to a set of red lights in the middle of the lane (controlling the trafic for my own safety) to stop, and with about 10 metres to go, a car went into the oncoming lane to get past me, then cut infront of me at the red lights, his car at an angle as there wasnt enough distance to straighten up - just to get infront. Although I didnt show it, I was so irritated, I just backed up and went infront of him, right in the middle of his bumper and waited there.

alan_sherman

I just backed up and went infront of him, right in the middle of his bumper and waited there

So you did to him what he did to you. Did it make you feel good?

Secteur

alan sherman wrote:

I just backed up and went infront of him, right in the middle of his bumper and waited there

So you did to him what he did to you. Did it make you feel good?

Well, I wouldnt *normally* behave like that, but it just seemed the right thing to do! PS, in my defence, I was in one of those green "cycle boxes" that are painted just infront, so it was a technically justifiable procedure rather than "pure" bloody-mindedness or stuipidness!!

;-)

Cleat Eastwood

One scary thing that gets me about drivers is as they are coming out of of a junction they always invariably look to their left. The car that will hit will come from their right, I will approach them from their right.....why look left, I'm never certain they've seen me which causes me to slow down. Thats my grrr over for the day.

on the road

Secteur wrote:

I was doing nearly 40 in a 30mph on my bike the other day

You shouldn't admit that here, you'll get beat up by the thought police

geoff_ss

One thing I find annoying is when a car overtakes just before an obstruction (a parked car, say) when oncoming traffic will mean he has to stop but there's ample room for you to ride through. Even worse if you're on a steep climb and don't really want the faff of a stop and restart, especially on the twicer.

There are some traffic lights at a X roads near us with a cycle lane up the nearside and a advance box at the front. You'd be surprised how many cars deliberately attempt to obstruct the cycle lane. It's made worse that probably 70% of the vehicles in the near side lane (the offside is just for turning right) are turning left but very few signal until they start to move.

rolf_f

I don't think I've yet seen anyone blocking the cycle lane on an approach to an ASL deliberately but do get plenty that think it is OK to cut into the cycle lane in slow moving traffic when someone ahead of them is trying to turn right.

But yes, overtaking and then jamming the brakes on is about the most irritating thing drivers do as far as I am concerned!

MountainMonster

I love Austria. People are so respectful to bikes when driving. Makes everything so nice.

Simontheintrepid

The one that gets me is when there is a parking island or something narrowing the road, the car attempts to get past, bails out and just drives alongside you through the narrow bit. Bellends, all of them.

(That's it, I'm now officially a BR traffic Nazi)

balthazar

Simontheintrepid wrote:

The one that gets me is when there is a parking island or something narrowing the road, the car attempts to get past, bails out and just drives alongside you through the narrow bit. Bellends, all of them.

I'm driving more than cycling at the moment, and I almost can't believe how often I see this. Every time, near enough, I see a cyclist ahead on an island-ed road, at least one of the cars between us will do this exact thing. I spend a lot of time wincing.

Whenever I hold back because I can see an obstruction ahead that the cyclist will obviously reach first, the driver behind turns puce with anger, and expresses that anger by driving very closely to me, revving, and swerving gratuitously as if to show both me and the cyclist how thoughtless we've been with regard to his/her journey.

Seeing a cyclist is transformative: many drivers simply cannot bear to see them on the road, for whichever of the usual misunderstood reasons, and must get past at any cost. Such poor judgment and selfishness makes a depressing reflection of the human spirit.

daviesee

Funny one for me tonight.

Busy, congested road So traffic was only doing 20-30 mph.
I am slotted in the flow of traffic, maintaining speed and in primary - behind an X3.
What happened next was as predictable as laughable.
He looked in his rear view mirror to see it filled with a "lowly" cyclist and proceeded to floor it to pull away from me. Damn near rear ended the car sat in front of him and had to slam on the brakes.
Made my commute that.

tmg

To be fair to the car drivers they are probably trying to get past you to get away from the sound of your squeeky / cracking bike

geoff_ss

daviesee wrote:

Funny one for me tonight.

Busy, congested road So traffic was only doing 20-30 mph.
I am slotted in the flow of traffic, maintaining speed and in primary - behind an X3.
What happened next was as predictable as laughable.
He looked in his rear view mirror to see it filled with a "lowly" cyclist and proceeded to floor it to pull away from me. Damn near rear ended the car sat in front of him and had to slam on the brakes.
Made my commute that.

I know what you mean.

I was commuting home with a friend when we saw the traffic ahead was held up so we pulled out before riding down the off-side. A car caught us and blasted his horn while turning his head and waving his arm about. He should have looked where he was going because he very, very nearly rear ended the last car in the queue; he ended up locking the wheels and at an angle as it was. How we laughed as we rode serenely past

I used to enjoy my commute but I'm glad I don't have to do it any longer. The agro was gradually getting to me.

thesquireofbanwell

Could I just emphasise that it is not 'Cars' but the drivers that are the problem.
They seem to grow horns and a pointy tail when certain ones sit behind a
steering wheel.
I'm sure some would say these drivers also favour certain cars!

Homer J

This is why as well as carrying 2 inner tubes and a pump i have ninja throwing stars to take out their tyres. works everytime and they don't see them coming

Slack

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

One scary thing that gets me about drivers is as they are coming out of of a junction they always invariably look to their left. The car that will hit will come from their right, I will approach them from their right.....why look left, I'm never certain they've seen me which causes me to slow down. Thats my grrr over for the day.

I always look left when turning left at a junction. I like checking to ensure I'm not pulling into the path of an overtaking vehicle.

kieranb

Well, I recently learned to drive (mature learner so not easily fazed) and during my lessons whilst sticking to the speed limit I lost count of the times I was overtaken by other cars, I had to check with my instructor that I was correct in my assumption of the speed limit (i.e. was I still in a 20mph residential zoe?) I was always right. Usually the drivver was either young or male, often both.

kamil1891

These people are just suffering from cyclofobia. They were falling off their bikes too many times and had to use 2 additional wheels to the rear wheel until they reached 15 (then they were able to buy a 50cc scooter with the engine taken from a hoover). Very sad though

geoff_ss

kamil1891 wrote:

These people are just suffering from cyclofobia. They were falling off their bikes too many times and had to use 2 additional wheels to the rear wheel until they reached 15 (then they were able to buy a 50cc scooter with the engine taken from a hoover). Very sad though

Hey! Stop targeting trikies :P

sloppyschleckonds

It sucks to be harassed by assholes in cars while you’re on a bike. It also sucks to drive behind assholes on bikes.

MattC59

I like cars

Homer J

I prefer vans

Cleat Eastwood

I prefer skipping

Homer J

I'm easliy converted

Sirius631

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

It also sucks to drive behind assholes on bikes.

Isn't that called rimming?

Seriously though, can you give an example of what you call 'assholes on bikes', and what they do to prevent you from overtaking in a legal and considerate manner?

Sirius631

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

I prefer skipping

Look, there are too many tits on the road as it is.

MichaelW

Is there a name for this: maybe Overstopping.
My worst case of overstopping was going downhill, accelerating to the speedlimit when a BMW swerves past me, swerves into the curb and braked hard. The door flies open and the guys stolls out..
I has a articulated lorry behind me, fortunately he saw the situation and stopped, as I had to brake and steer out, around him.

Even in my old car I had other drivers overstopping up to red lights. My favourite one was a two lane road where BMW behind, overtakes then screeches to a halt. I just continue driving slowly. As the light changes to green, I now have a 20mph advantage over the BMW so zoom past him and reach the 30mph speed limit.