Cycling UK Forum

reohn2 wrote:... I've had four drivers overtake me giving me lots of room but in the face of oncoming traffic causing the oncoming drivers to brake heavily.The latest,today was on a left hand bend where I could see whilst riding in secondary position(about 1m from the kerb) the oncoming traffic easily.Mr Moroninafocus seemed oblivious and decides it's the ideal time to overtake completely in the opposing lane,the poor lady coming the other way had to do an ES to avoid a collision,loonies are "clowns to left of me,jokers to the right,here I am stuck in the middle....." sadly

I've had that happen, but so long as they've given plenty of room for me I'm not particularly concerned what they do with their metal box protection.

MikeF wrote:

reohn2 wrote:... I've had four drivers overtake me giving me lots of room but in the face of oncoming traffic causing the oncoming drivers to brake heavily.The latest,today was on a left hand bend where I could see whilst riding in secondary position(about 1m from the kerb) the oncoming traffic easily.Mr Moroninafocus seemed oblivious and decides it's the ideal time to overtake completely in the opposing lane,the poor lady coming the other way had to do an ES to avoid a collision,loonies are "clowns to left of me,jokers to the right,here I am stuck in the middle....." sadly

I've had that happen, but so long as they've given plenty of room for me I'm not particularly concerned what they do with their metal box protection.

I do remember the great advice given to me by a member of the cycling forum

"ride in the gutter get treated like dirt"

So I ride 18" out

skyhawk wrote:

I do remember the great advice given to me by a member of the cycling forum

"ride in the gutter get treated like dirt"

So I ride 18" out

18” that is the gutter.

Twice on a recent ride I indicated to turn left, checked behind, clear, moved to right hand side of lane, waiting for a gap, checked behind saw car waiting, I acknowledged the wait as a sort of thank you for your patience, only to be overtaken by said vehicle. It left me wondering of my thank you wave was interpreted as an overtake sign by the other drivers.

althebike wrote:Twice on a recent ride I indicated to turn left, checked behind, clear, moved to right hand side of lane.

I imagine that is in a country where they drive on the right.

Paulatic wrote:

skyhawk wrote:

I do remember the great advice given to me by a member of the cycling forum

"ride in the gutter get treated like dirt"

So I ride 18" out

18” that is the gutter.

Well 18" out from the gutter then

Had an interesting one this weekend on a trip to London I cycled up the lane marked for cycles to the advanced stop / bike area. Most of the area was occupied by a taxi pointing slightly to the left . I was there on inside a little behind . We were stopped there about a minute . I was thinking of tapping his window , but did not fancy a confrontation on my little holiday as it tends to lead to a bad mood for the rest of the day . He was resolutely avoiding eye contact. Lights changed he gave me a look I interpreted as I am going first , turned left across me . I decided that life preservation was the best policy so had not started off

DaveGos wrote:Had an interesting one this weekend on a trip to London I cycled up the lane marked for cycles to the advanced stop / bike area. Most of the area was occupied by a taxi pointing slightly to the left . I was there on inside a little behind . We were stopped there about a minute . I was thinking of tapping his window , but did not fancy a confrontation on my little holiday as it tends to lead to a bad mood for the rest of the day . He was resolutely avoiding eye contact. Lights changed he gave me a look I interpreted as I am going first , turned left across me . I decided that life preservation was the best policy so had not started off

That taxi driver was exhibiting the sort of arrogant behaviour that no amount of driver education and inclusive road infrastructure will overcome.
Your story is a lesson in putting vigilance before blind, faith, rightiousness, high vis and, well, everything really.

Interestingly, having just returned from a tour of the D day beaches, out of all the close overtaking passes, 80% were from drivers with a UK car registration. Is this indicative of our current society here? Several occasions the local drivers were courteous and did not endanger themselves or us three cyclists in their overtaking.

peetee wrote:

DaveGos wrote:Had an interesting one this weekend on a trip to London I cycled up the lane marked for cycles to the advanced stop / bike area. Most of the area was occupied by a taxi pointing slightly to the left . I was there on inside a little behind . We were stopped there about a minute . I was thinking of tapping his window , but did not fancy a confrontation on my little holiday as it tends to lead to a bad mood for the rest of the day . He was resolutely avoiding eye contact. Lights changed he gave me a look I interpreted as I am going first , turned left across me . I decided that life preservation was the best policy so had not started off

That taxi driver was exhibiting the sort of arrogant behaviour that no amount of driver education and inclusive road infrastructure will overcome.
Your story is a lesson in putting vigilance before blind, faith, rightiousness, high vis and, well, everything really.

That London!

The ladywife et moi went for a 29 miler today along many types of Welsh road, even a bit of the A; also some B but mostly the the weeny yellow 'uns. Although the traffic was, as always, extremely light, every driver but one was very courteous, careful and considerate. Naturally we reciprocated, stopping in passing places to let one behind pass, for example.

The courteous drivers included a tractor with a huge hedge-cutting gubbins that backed up 50 yards to a passing place so we could squeeze past; a UPS van; a DPD van. Considerate to a fault. Cheery waves and halloos all 'round.

The one exception? A Heddlu (rozzer) car that sneaked up on us from behind on a very narrow lane in the middle of nowhere and close-passed with about 6 inches to spare, very slowly. I believe the rascal was trying to intimidate us. It crept off when we weren't. It did help that we both have mirrors so saw it trying to sneak up without a peep or even a bit of engine noise.

Cugel

tatanab sorry that was a typo, in both cases, I checked behind,signalled, moved into the right hand lane to do a right turn, and in both cases a car moved from the left hand lane to overtake me

skyhawk wrote:Well 18" out from the gutter then

It's much better between 2ft 6in and 3ft depending on road width.

ket wrote:Interestingly, having just returned from a tour of the D day beaches, out of all the close overtaking passes, 80% were from drivers with a UK car registration. Is this indicative of our current society here? Several occasions the local drivers were courteous and did not endanger themselves or us three cyclists in their overtaking.

And the times I've ridden in France I've had plenty of cruddy close passes, even in the countryside/villages, all by French drivers, when you look at the bare facts, French drivers as just as bad when it comes to killing and maiming people on bikes, Germany and Spain same as. It might 'feel' better overall given all these countries have more segregated but the actuality is that on the road itself it's actually worse than the UK. Stats don't lie.

Oh and the don't mention the Swiss, bloody awful drivers

reohn2 wrote:

skyhawk wrote:Well 18" out from the gutter then

It's much better between 2ft 6in and 3ft depending on road width.

Or 100 cm (39.37 inches) maybe?

rmurphy195 wrote:I'm a diver and it isn't acceptable, I've been "victim" to it many times when cycling.

Do you get overtaken when diving? I hate it when sharks do that .