Driving instructor

markyone

As my mate and I were out riding on sat morning side by side just poodling along, when all of a sudden a driving instructor pulled alongside us put his passenger window down and started to shout about riding in pairs and get over.
Its in the highway code and your not allowed to double up :roll: bloody cyclist everywhere pain in the ass he ranted, then drove off.
Well i have been shouted at by motorist before but never a driving instructor :shock:

ugo.santalucia

although it is perfectly legal, I find many cyclists abuse of the rule often riding two abreast on busy roads, in practice slowing the traffic and causing long queues. It's a matter of being sensible, there are occasions where it makes sense to ride two abreast and others where it's best no to. Would you like to spend 5 minutes behind a couple of horse riders who like to have a good chat riding side by side?

markyone

ugo.santalucia wrote:

although it is perfectly legal, I find many cyclists abuse of the rule often riding two abreast on busy roads, in practice slowing the traffic and causing long queues. It's a matter of being sensible, there are occasions where it makes sense to ride two abreast and others where it's best no to. Would you like to spend 5 minutes behind a couple of horse riders who like to have a good chat riding side by side?

The road was not busy and I was just about to pull behind my mate anyway as that's what we always do when cars are behind.

Bobbinogs

Yeah, we get abuse in one way or another most weeks on club rides from all types of drivers and pedestrians. I have become fairly sanguine about the whole thing...single file/double up/primary position/secondary position, none of it really matters for many. Just being on the road is enough to annoy a lot of drivers. They get narky about cyclists, horse riders, oh, and other drivers.

bikes`n`guns

All car driver are wankers ! unfortunately that includes me .

Sutton_Rider

Rule 66 - A driving Instructor should know better.

awavey

Bobbinogs wrote:

Yeah, we get abuse in one way or another most weeks on club rides from all types of drivers and pedestrians. I have become fairly sanguine about the whole thing...single file/double up/primary position/secondary position, none of it really matters for many. Just being on the road is enough to annoy a lot of drivers. They get narky about cyclists, horse riders, oh, and other drivers.

yeah I had one of those at the weekend, Id just stopped at a red light on a t junction, looked up and as soon as this guy who was stuck in the middle of the junction, waiting to turn down into the road I was on, saw me, went completely insanely awol nuts at me :shock:

he was pointing fingers, making "v" signs, middle fingers, and Im sure he wasnt inviting me over for a cup of Nescafe either, the full works and he was ranting so much it was like some rabid dog trying to escape, in fact I think he was so obsessed with ranting at me from 20 or 30ft away, he missed half the gaps in traffic he could have gone for.

so Im just standing there thinking, mmmkay, Ill just wait here till the lights go green for me and pretend there isnt a lunatic in a couple of tons of metal over there.

anyway he eventually finds a gap, and its wheelspin tastic away but now hes remembered he has a car horn, so hes on the horn as well and still at it as he draws level with me and then almost crashes into a parked car and has to screech to a halt before flooring it again.

light goes green I cycle off Ive no idea what any of it was about at all,what set it off, or anything, never seen the guy before afaicr & certainly hadnt had any issues with cars on the road till then :?

have to admit I felt abit wary the next mile or so wondering if he might come back round for a repeat performance.

diy

Pretty poor show from an ADI who should be a lot more chilled.

ugo.santalucia

Since I moved out of London, I have not been abused or beeped at or shouted at once. That is not to say that in the midlands everybody is a role model, but seeing as I no longer need ro RLJ, I seem to coexist fine with motorists.

crescent

I have experienced abuse from drivers and it is annoying as it is borne out of ignorance rather than any genuine grievance. However, I consider myself to be a very courteous person in general and I have recently made a concerted effort to try to maintain this when I am out riding. So far, it seems to be working: acknowledging when a driver has held back from passing, waving a car through when the road is narrow, pulling over even to let them pass on single track roads. This is no great hardship on my part and is acknowledged and appreciated usually be a wave or toot of the horn. It's much less stressful than effing and blinding at each other. Not always possible, I admit that, but try it, it makes a ride much more pleasant. I'm not trying to be holier than thou but I genuinely try to do my bit to show we are not all a******s because there are plenty of cyclists who are, unfortunately.

ugo.santalucia

Crescent wrote:

I have experienced abuse from drivers and it is annoying as it is borne out of ignorance rather than any genuine grievance. However, I consider myself to be a very courteous person in general and I have recently made a concerted effort to try to maintain this when I am out riding. So far, it seems to be working: acknowledging when a driver has held back from passing, waving a car through when the road is narrow, pulling over even to let them pass on single track roads. This is no great hardship on my part and is acknowledged and appreciated usually be a wave or toot of the horn. It's much less stressful than effing and blinding at each other. Not always possible, I admit that, but try it, it makes a ride much more pleasant.

Totally agree

mamba80

Crescent wrote:

I have experienced abuse from drivers and it is annoying as it is borne out of ignorance rather than any genuine grievance. However, I consider myself to be a very courteous person in general and I have recently made a concerted effort to try to maintain this when I am out riding. So far, it seems to be working: acknowledging when a driver has held back from passing, waving a car through when the road is narrow, pulling over even to let them pass on single track roads. This is no great hardship on my part and is acknowledged and appreciated usually be a wave or toot of the horn. It's much less stressful than effing and blinding at each other. Not always possible, I admit that, but try it, it makes a ride much more pleasant. I'm not trying to be holier than thou but I genuinely try to do my bit to show we are not all a******s because there are plenty of cyclists who are, unfortunately.

Spot on, i used to ride with riders who d give the wan$er sign to any passing driver, deemed too close, ignore car drivers behind and ride in big grps on busy A and B roads - attitude being we can be here if we want.

every time we abuse a car driver he/she is just going to take that out on a cyclist further down the road, but if we show a bit more courtesy, ack drivers who do slow or wait, give us some room, then perhaps they will be slightly more generous when they come across the next rider?

either way, driver attitudes toward us are/seem to be getting far worse, so being a belligerent lot hasn't got us anywhere has it?

giropaul

Yes, we do have a right to ride in pairs. However, it's also good to try to keep a good relationship with all other road users. Generally, if out with another rider, we try to single out on smaller roads especially, and wave a thank you to vehicles that have passed respectfully. We get far more friendly waves from vehicles than abuse.
In any cycling event it's important to have awareness of what is behind ( think track racing), and using these skills on all roads reinforces the learnt behaviours. Personally, if I see a learner driver behind, often nervous, l will single out and help them through. Hopefully that learner will learn to respect cyclists. Usually we will get a friendly wave from the instructor.
This in no way excuses the behaviour of an aggressive instructor, and ultimately the Driving Standards Agency ( DSA) would take a poor view of such behaviour.

ugo.santalucia

giropaul wrote:

This in no way excuses the behaviour of an aggressive instructor, and ultimately the Driving Standards Agency ( DSA) would take a poor view of such behaviour.

That is a different problem. The standard of driving instructors in the UK is very patchy and this is down to the small enterprise/franchise model, where effectively there is very little accountability. Elsewhere, driving schools hire their staff and make sure they avoid idiots. Over here, some of them are very professional, others are total cowboys... IMO there is a need for much stricter regulation of the profession and that is in the very interest of the instructors themselves.

giropaul

Actually I'm out of date, it is now DVSA.

They register driving instructors and have the responsibility to ensure that, amongst other things, they are fit and proper people, and that they uphold the best road safety standards. There are a series of tests and assessments before registration.

It is illegal to charge for instruction without being registered.

If one is behaving other than as a fit and proper person:-

https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-a-driving-instructor

lakesluddite

OP - did the DI have a learner in the car with him? You said he wound down the passenger window, but he could still have been on his own, leaning over from the drivers seat. Either way its pretty poor behaviour from someone who is meant to teach patience and courtesy to others.

As above, I'd report the tw*t, presuming you can remember the name on the car.

the playing mantis

awavey wrote:

Bobbinogs wrote:

Yeah, we get abuse in one way or another most weeks on club rides from all types of drivers and pedestrians. I have become fairly sanguine about the whole thing...single file/double up/primary position/secondary position, none of it really matters for many. Just being on the road is enough to annoy a lot of drivers. They get narky about cyclists, horse riders, oh, and other drivers.

yeah I had one of those at the weekend, Id just stopped at a red light on a t junction, looked up and as soon as this guy who was stuck in the middle of the junction, waiting to turn down into the road I was on, saw me, went completely insanely awol nuts at me :shock:

he was pointing fingers, making "v" signs, middle fingers, and Im sure he wasnt inviting me over for a cup of Nescafe either, the full works and he was ranting so much it was like some rabid dog trying to escape, in fact I think he was so obsessed with ranting at me from 20 or 30ft away, he missed half the gaps in traffic he could have gone for.

so Im just standing there thinking, mmmkay, Ill just wait here till the lights go green for me and pretend there isnt a lunatic in a couple of tons of metal over there.

anyway he eventually finds a gap, and its wheelspin tastic away but now hes remembered he has a car horn, so hes on the horn as well and still at it as he draws level with me and then almost crashes into a parked car and has to screech to a halt before flooring it again.

light goes green I cycle off Ive no idea what any of it was about at all,what set it off, or anything, never seen the guy before afaicr & certainly hadnt had any issues with cars on the road till then :?

have to admit I felt abit wary the next mile or so wondering if he might come back round for a repeat performance.

hmm you sure this happened?

the playing mantis

mamba80 wrote:

Crescent wrote:

I have experienced abuse from drivers and it is annoying as it is borne out of ignorance rather than any genuine grievance. However, I consider myself to be a very courteous person in general and I have recently made a concerted effort to try to maintain this when I am out riding. So far, it seems to be working: acknowledging when a driver has held back from passing, waving a car through when the road is narrow, pulling over even to let them pass on single track roads. This is no great hardship on my part and is acknowledged and appreciated usually be a wave or toot of the horn. It's much less stressful than effing and blinding at each other. Not always possible, I admit that, but try it, it makes a ride much more pleasant. I'm not trying to be holier than thou but I genuinely try to do my bit to show we are not all a******s because there are plenty of cyclists who are, unfortunately.

Spot on, i used to ride with riders who d give the wan$er sign to any passing driver, deemed too close, ignore car drivers behind and ride in big grps on busy A and B roads - attitude being we can be here if we want.

every time we abuse a car driver he/she is just going to take that out on a cyclist further down the road, but if we show a bit more courtesy, ack drivers who do slow or wait, give us some room, then perhaps they will be slightly more generous when they come across the next rider?

either way, driver attitudes toward us are/seem to be getting far worse, so being a belligerent lot hasn't got us anywhere has it?

its simple common sense/courtesy, put ourselves in the drivers position.

however if I deem someone to pass to close firstly its a shake of the head. but if they are proper close then the full on w.anker treatment arm wave comes out. ime its invariably old people who I have had passing near misses with as they shouldn't be on the roads in many cases

fatsmoker

I've been shouted at by a driving instructor, who suggested while instructing a learner that I ride in the cycle lane despite a bus being parked in it. I was overtaking the bus and her trainee thought it a good time to overtake the bus and me. I didn't agree.
I emailed the institute of driving instructors about her but they said they couldn't do anything, so her facebook page was suitably spammed with negative reviews.

DavidJB

I once did an experiment where every time I rode behind someone where I'd normally ride 2ab I rode in the same position but behind them and didn't get one bit of abuse. Logic goes out the window when they see cyclists 2ab. I've done it a couple of times and never any abuse, ride 2ab and get loads of shit.

Mentality is a funny thing.