Abuse by region

desweller
desweller Posts: 5,175
edited October 2009 in Commuting chat
I've noticed that, on this forum, there's quite a bit of antipathy towards those of our fellow road users in cars, motorbikes or buses. Most of it seems to come from London cyclists, I was wondering if this impression is correct?

I never have anything to deal with along these lines round here (Gloucestershire), in fact the vat majority of drivers are fantastically patient and careful to give me plenty of room when passing. I never have any lurid stories of being cut up by buses, or being tooted by following van drivers to tell, I feel quite left out! Am I just lucky, or spectacularly inattentive, or is it just the case that London breeds intolerant drivers?
- - - - - - - - - -
On Strava.{/url}
«1

Comments

  • AndyManc
    AndyManc Posts: 1,393
    Here are the results form the Manchester jury :shock:

    Manchester drivers ...... Nil points.




    Seriously though .... incidents almost daily.

    .
    Specialized Hardrock Pro/Trek FX 7.3 Hybrid/Specialized Enduro/Specialized Tri-Cross Sport
    URBAN_MANC.png
  • jimmypippa
    jimmypippa Posts: 1,712
    I commute into Stockport, so not too far from AndyManc, and I do get the odd pirate etc but it is usually vastly outnumbered by courteous drivers.

    On my way home, I have to take the right turn on a roundabout, and so need to move into the right hand lane. Usually the vehicle behind will make it clear that I can pull out.

    It probably helps that there is a sharp bend a couple of hundred yards before, and a narrow stretch just after that, so I can approach at a similar speed to the cars.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    Maybe it's just centres of big cities then. Not that that would be surprising.

    Any other assessments?
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • pst88
    pst88 Posts: 621
    I find that drivers in Birmingham city centre are mostly nice to me, giving me space, letting me change lanes etc. Of course you get the odd bell end tail gating or overtaking too close but the good ones vastly outweigh the bad ones. I think it's probably the case that if a bad driver almost kills you you complain straight away but if they're nice you don't say anything.
    Bianchi Via Nirone Veloce/Centaur 2010
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Good here in Leeds too - the ones that go out of their way to mind me far outweigh the bastards. And the bastards are, in reality, just gormless idiots who won't admit they are wrong. Don't recall ever having had any clearly deliberate nastiness.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Have to say I've never had any problems in Glasgow with other road users, but I would say I'm a fairly curteous cyclist.

    I have noticed that most of the horror stories come from London too. Could it possibly be that London just makes everyone (including cyclists) that bit more aggro?
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    I thought this thread was going to an invitation to get stuck into Northern Monkeys, Southern nancys, Monkey hangers, porridge heathens, taffs, micks, spicks and Scallies.

    Disappointed.

    Anyone know a scouser? I need a new digital camera and a load of smack.
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • Sigurd
    Sigurd Posts: 38
    West Devon and Plymouth is quiet, but then I do only ride on the roads for 2 miles out of 14.

    I'm now prepared for torrents of abuse on the road tomorrow... :roll:
    1992 Dave Yates Diabolo

    "The future is dark, the present burdensome; only the past, dead and finished, bears contemplation. Those who look upon it have survived it: they are its product and its victors"
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    Greg T wrote:
    I thought this thread was going to an invitation to get stuck into Northern Monkeys, Southern nancys, Monkey hangers, porridge heathens, taffs, micks, spicks and Scallies.

    Disappointed.

    Anyone know a scouser? I need a new digital camera and a load of smack.

    I do but surprisingly he's a miserable C**T :D
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    DesWeller wrote:
    I've noticed that, on this forum, there's quite a bit of antipathy towards those of our fellow road users in cars, motorbikes or buses. Most of it seems to come from London cyclists, I was wondering if this impression is correct?

    I never have anything to deal with along these lines round here (Gloucestershire), in fact the vat majority of drivers are fantastically patient and careful to give me plenty of room when passing. I never have any lurid stories of being cut up by buses, or being tooted by following van drivers to tell, I feel quite left out! Am I just lucky, or spectacularly inattentive, or is it just the case that London breeds intolerant drivers?

    The south east, inc London is one of the most densely populated parts of Europe (apart fom Malta or something?), so it stands to reason I suppose. But the same is true of peds' attitude towards each other, or those on the Tube.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • RyanB
    RyanB Posts: 116
    I think Belfast isn't bad. Most of the drivers are ok (with the exception of the odd black taxi)

    Cycling rurally can be a different story though. Apparently over here there's been a law passed that makes it illegal to drive at less than 128mph.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Out here the vast majority of drivers are courteous and patient. The odd one does make herself known - a blue Peugeot; driver doesn't seem to have the first clue about waiting until it's safe to pass. Apart from that though incidents are few & far between.

    It might get worse though - I leave a bit later these days and it's noticeably busier - there were two school buses between a couple of the villages and easily over a dozen cars this morning. Incredible.
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    I thought everyone in Gloucestershire was nice to each other 'cos they're all related (or is that Norfolk?) :wink:
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    Glasgow again - not bad at all, had no-one toot horn at me, yes, a few cut you up, but that is par for the course, but they do it in such a nice way!!

    In general, I find Glasgow pretty safe to cycle in, and most drivers have a great attitude towards cyclists. Couple of buses and taxis pull in a bit sharpish, but enough room to brake.

    In summary, Glasgow drivers get more than pass marks.

    (wait and see, I will be totaled on way home now!!)
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    I always think Scottish drivers decide to be courteous in sympathy because they know the poor sod will get soaked or freeze to death soon.
  • Oslo drivers are pretty good, especially at giving you space. 1-2 incidents over this past year maybe.

    On the other hand some of our cyclists are pretty bad.
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    Glasgow again - not bad at all, had no-one toot horn at me, yes, a few cut you up, but that is par for the course, but they do it in such a nice way!!

    In general, I find Glasgow pretty safe to cycle in, and most drivers have a great attitude towards cyclists. Couple of buses and taxis pull in a bit sharpish, but enough room to brake.

    In summary, Glasgow drivers get more than pass marks.

    (wait and see, I will be totaled on way home now!!)

    The first bit of my commute is rural, I get the odd bit of hassle from WVMs and HGVs- usually objecting to me making it difficult for them to squeeze me into the gutter. I tend to see the same cars each morning, so they know I'll be there. There are apparantly a few regular cyclists on my commute but I very rarely see them- we are usually heading along at different times, I think.
    The second bit of my commute varies according to where I'm working- I find Edinburgh very cycle friendly, though the taxi drivers can be real ****holes. Glasgow's a bit more hostile, but only in comparison. Aggressive behavior is fairly rare.

    Cheers,
    W.
  • R_T_A
    R_T_A Posts: 488
    I've never cycled in another major city, but the density of cars/bikes/peds crammed into London's roads not designed for that amount of traffic causes a lot of impatience and stress.

    It's not exclusive to cycling - everyone is impatient and in a rush whatever they're doing (even in restaurants).

    I now cycle around Maidenhead and it's world apart from what I used to do.
    Giant Escape R1
    FCN 8
    "Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
    - Terry Pratchett.
  • London I guess is more intense. The other issue is the tar brush being used liberally on all types of travellers to the point the majority (please note, not all) of people feel its fine to fly of the handle at other travellers when they feel like it.

    An ever deepening spiral of hatred and fear, or have I been reading too many sci-fi books of late...
    Le Cannon [98 Cannondale M400] [FCN: 8]
    The Mad Monkey [2013 Hoy 003] [FCN: 4]
  • No real problems here. I'm always amazed and terrified when I read the stories of abuse London cyclists get.

    The one incident to speak of in over a year was last winter. I was going down a busy main road at a decent rate, and some w*nker in a massive lorry started tailgating me, leaning on his horn. I must have done a personal best over the next mile or so out of sheer terror, and as I was about to turn off, he squeezed past me, pulled in, virtually running me off the road, and yelled in colourful terms that I should be using the (shared use, bumpy, muddy, ungritted, snow- and sheet-ice-covered) cyclepath. My response, in serious fight-or-flight mode, was the not-very-witty "F*ck off!" :oops:

    To be fair, that's the only road on my commute where I'd expect to have any problems (the others tend to be quiet enough to allow drivers to pass almost at will), and the bus lane on one side means that even if I cycle well into the road, cars can easily pass me if the oncoming traffic moves over a touch and borrows a bit of the bus lane, which is what usually happens.
    N00b commuter with delusions of competence

    FCN 11 - If you scalp me, do I not bleed?
  • plumpy
    plumpy Posts: 124
    Also in Leeds and agree with Rolf, mostly pretty good. Leeds and Bradford minicabs are shockingly driven, but I console myself that it's not an anti-cyclist thing - see it all the time when in the car too.

    Usual problems with chavlings - shouting out of the Saxo window, sounding the Corsa horn, passing close at obscene speeds in their (single-) mum's Micra - but then, we do live in Britain. And I've been shot at with an airgun, but I'm hoping that was a one-off...
  • AidanR
    AidanR Posts: 1,142
    Edinburgh again...

    I find it pretty good here in general. You get the odd muppet and I've had abuse off one or two drivers, but if I'm honest with myself I've also been a touch hot-headed at times, though I've realised more and more that shouting at people solves nothing. There are plenty of courteous drivers, a point nicely illustrated when I bought some shelves at a DIY store and cycled 5 miles back to my flat with them across the rear rack. Almost as wide as a car and going gingerly at 10mph, I expected quite a bit of abuse but didn't receive a jot of it.

    That said, I've cycled in London a few times and found by far the most irritating road users were other cyclists and their constant RLJing. Do scalps count multiple times when you keep passing the idiots between the lights?
    Bike lover and part-time cyclist.
  • There's a fair bit of aggro towards cyclists in London but tbh everyone is aggro towards everyone else when travelling here 'cos so many people are out on the roads at the same time and takes a f*cking age to get anywhere because of it.

    I have definitely noticed an increasing amount of hostility toward cyclists here in the last couple of months, particularly from increasingly vocal peds angered by RLJers.
  • northstar
    northstar Posts: 407
    I have definitely noticed an increasing amount of hostility toward cyclists here in the last couple of months, particularly from increasingly vocal peds angered by RLJers.

    Stick music in your ears, then you won't notice it :lol:
    Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.
  • prawny
    prawny Posts: 5,439
    No real problems round my way, I've noticed over the last few days it's gotten even better. I sometimes get the odd beep in Brum heding in or out of the city but it's usually kids that think I should be in the left hand gutter even if taking a right turn off the end of a dual carriageway. Still she was nice enough about it when I educated her, and I even got a smile.
    Saracen Tenet 3 - 2015 - Dead - Replaced with a Hack Frame
    Voodoo Bizango - 2014 - Dead - Hit by a car
    Vitus Sentier VRS - 2017
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    I thought everyone in Gloucestershire was nice to each other 'cos they're all related (or is that Norfolk?) :wink:

    Naah, that's the Forest Of Dean you're thinking of there. All bipeds and ruminants.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • Penn
    Penn Posts: 22
    London is HELL. Simple as.

    Almost everyday I have at least one person cut me off. one guy even moved his car in traffic just to stop me from overtaking. Not forgetting all the wonderful words we get called.
  • northstar
    northstar Posts: 407
    London is HELL. Simple as.

    No it isn't, don't be silly.

    Ride confidently and with respect to other people and you will get on fine, forget the idiots.
    Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    City vs Countryside IMO

    I use a bike for almost all my transport within Sheffield, and ride a road bike in the Peak District and sometimes the rural roads of North Nottinghamshire.

    Almost all the dangerous driving incidents I experience are on rural roads and roads out of the city. Riding within the city there is the occasional abuse, but hardly ever anything seriously dangerous.

    I can only compare with London 10 years ago, and I remember perhaps more hectic traffic, but definitely less abuse and 'jokes' when cycling than here in South Yorkshire.

    Density and chaotic transport does not alway make things dangerous. I am from Amsterdam originally, where in the city traffic is very hectic, and it pays to be assertive, but it isn't necessarily dangerous, because everything is moves slower than on the open roads ( and of course because bikes are dominant there).
  • my Mancunain commute is almost always uneventful. In 7 months solid commuting I have had one beep to get me to hurry up (going through a pair of single lane traffic calming 90 degree bends) and one person on my first day saying I did not belong on the road.

    On the whole I get treated like any other bit of traffic. No better no worse. Well except I don't get stuck in jams and can park easily.