This is keeping me awake at night

[wyadvd]

Just feeling the need to share this and seeking responses by way of a form of therapy I suppose. Maybe I need to man the f up?

I rode home one day last week and as it happens was followed for the first mile or so by a close colleague in her car. I am the kind of rider who NEVER wAits on the left as I sit at red lights, I always wait in the primary position in the lane appropriate for my intended direction of travel. As I traverse the lights in question, I always maintain the primary position as there is another well used junction further up and anyway , a line of parked cars beyond that, so it pays to stay wide. I am a fast cyclist by the way.

Anyway the following day she approached me and said ' I nearly knocked you off your bike last night' I said ' I don't remember nearly being knocked off my bike, I would have remembered that!'

She then went on to recount how I was' impossible to overtake as I was in the middle of the road' I went on to explain that the idea behind my road position was to prevent or discourage overtaking until it was safe to do so and that overtaking me at or near a junction was never the most sensible thing to do. It turns out however that this is exactly what she did in the event.

The fact is, I wasn't in the middle of the road, I was in the centre of my lane on a two lane system.

Why is there not some sort of education campaign to explain that As cyclists we are allowed to use our side of the road as we see fit for our own safety?

I just find it immensely upsetting that people cannot accept that a bicycle needs space, he needs to position himself for visibility at junctions and a little patience would go a long way. The other thing that annoys me is that a majority of cyclists seem to be so timid . As a result they place themselves where it is most dangerous in so many circumstances, and skew drivers expectations when they encounter a cyclist who understands where he needs to be to be safe.

[meic]

Unfortunately there is the minor problem that the highway code does tell us to "keep to the left", which is shall we say somewhat inconsistent with our viewpoint and any educational campaign suggesting that actually we should not do so.

On the positive side the Advanced Institute of Motorists have come out and said that we should not keep to the left when it is not the best place to be.

[PH]

Don't lose any sleep over it, it's just the ignorence of people who've not been in your position.


This picture from the Highway Code shows (For those who struggle with the words) how much room the overtaking car should give. As you can see if she gives you that much room it doesn't matter if you're in the middle of the lane. Show it to her and tell us her reaction

[Benethi]

I keep thinking that there really should be a TV ad campaign aimed at cyclists to show them how to ride safely, particularly with regards to road positioning. Note that when I say aimed at cyclists, I just mean that it should look that way so that motorists don't feel that they're being got at. I say TV campaign specifically because I don't want it to be seen just by cyclists, but by everyone, so that people can see why cyclists might position themselves in a visible position away from the kerb (for example).

[Cunobelin]

The best one is fact sheet 17 from the Institute of Advanced motorists -"Sharing the Road with Cyclists"

Cyclists are advised to take a prominent position in the road well ahead of any manoeuvre to ensure
they are in the right place at the right time. If they ride in the middle of the road it is probably not to
obstruct your path, but to ensure that they are seen by you and by other motorists. Cyclists often ride
at some distance from the kerb to avoid drains and potholes and to discourage motorists from
squeezing them on narrow roads

It also allows the punch line - "If you were an advanced driver you would know........ "

[Ayesha]

Ride where YOU feel it is safest. Sod all the rest of the roadusers.

When it becomes 'Safe' to ride in secondary, MOVE THERE....

[Cunobelin]

We had one of these at work, who used to rant and rave, until one morning I stopped as the lights changed at the entrance to work - he performed a classic left hook at speed through a red light, using the right hand (ahead only) lane to do so. Then bombed through the 10 mph access area and across the pedestrian crossing at about 30 ignoring the two people stepping on to the crossing.

Waited until coffee break one morning and asked him about it to get the normal "you were in the middle of the road and blocking me"

Brought out IPad and showed him the video, pointing out that my "unacceptable behaviour" was to stop at a red light and he had committed at least 4 offences with that piece of driving. Lots of interest in the video and absolutely no sympathy at all for him and several people condemned his driving as stupid or dangerous.

Forwarded the video to Security and he was "spoken to" and threatened with having his on-site parking privilege removed.

I haven't had a peep since!

[wyadvd]

Yes hd helmet can on my Xmas list!

[Geriatrix]

I had a similar experience with a work colleague who was complained that whilst motorists needed I licence and were thus trained in how to use the road, cyclists needed not training and their road behaviour was anarchic and inconsiderate. Along with the usual polemic on RLJ’ers was the complaint of “hogging the road” and obstructing other road users. His examples of “hogging the road” turned out to be no more than what John Franklin would advise on road positioning.

I agreed with him on the RLJ’ers but pointed out that if he wanted cyclists to be trained then his complaint on road hogging was exactly what would be trained into cyclists with the DfT endorsed Bikability training. I was able to illustrate the safety objective by showing a YouTube clip of how I narrowly avoided being doored because I occupied primary position. To his credit he admitted he simply didn’t know and conceded the point.

[thirdcrank]

wyadvd

As when I was first reading your post, I thought the punchline was going to be that your colleague had been tempted to deal with your riding by crashing into you and that only friendship / being a colleague saved you. In the event, it seems that she overtook you in a manner which you didn't even remember: she was the one who thought it was a near miss which she felt required explanation.

On that basis, it seems you are saying that you have now discovered that riding assertively antagonises some drivers. I'm surprised that you were surprised: cyclists being on the road antagonises some drivers.

[Vorpal]

I used to have a couple of work colleagues who felt the need to have a go at me. One did so because I held him up fairly regularly so it was apparently only fair that I suffer some mild harrassment in exchange.

The other colleague didn't like the fact the I used the road (instead of horrible, bumpy pavement-type farcility) and even worse, rode well out because it was a busy, narrow A road that was slightly downhill for 3 or 4 miles, so I rode it at 25 - 30 mph. Unfortunately, most drivers, given an inch would try to squeeze past me. Another work colleague did the same as me on the same stretch of road, and the two of us were regularly subjected to rants from this third person. This occurred every time he saw a cyclist on this particular stretch of road on the morning. It had to be one of us because, according to him, we were the only two nutters stupid enough to ride our bikes down there.

I made some attempts to explain to him why I rode there, and in the manner that I did, but he was like a religious fanatic, all but foaming at the mouth at the mere thought of cyclists having the audacity to to use the road as the operators of vehicles. He could not be convinced that it was a reasonable thing to do, so I gave up, as the other cyclist subjected to his rants had long since done.

I do think that it could be of value to educate people through a television campaign about how to cycle safely, and how cyclists should use the road.

But there will always be people who refuse to accept some views of the world. It is likely that a television campaign would fail to convince some of these people. Someone who feels strongly about something like that will refuse to accept even strong evidence that is contrary to his/her world view.

I refuse to lose sleep over something like that. I have better things to worry about.

[Coffee]

Unfortunately there is the minor problem that the highway code does tell us to "keep to the left", which is shall we say somewhat inconsistent with our viewpoint and any educational campaign suggesting that actually we should not do so.

Does it still say keep left? I thought they'd changed it.
The Gov. transport and travel website also says "ride well clear of the kerb - 1 metre away or in the centre of the left lane and a doors width away from parked cars", I hope this makes it into the Highway code. (not that many people bother to read it or keep up with it after passing their driver test)

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTr ... g_10026401

[dave84]

But there will always be people who refuse to accept some views of the world.

Completely agree. Not just with transport of course, but sticking to topic I know people who will go out of their way to use a car to get somewhere, when train, bus or often a bike would be quicker, cheaper and all round more convenient. One of my colleagues is unashamedly anti self-propulsion and we have a laugh at tea breaks poking fun at each other. His point of view is that his car is his pride and joy and is a status symbol. If he was on a bicycle then people might think that he was unsuccessful and didnt have enough money for a flash car. He does at least drive sensibly though, and I often see him on the way home and he gives me acres of space (obviously he realises its me) and overtakes in a very pointedly cautious manner, much to my amusement.

Funnily enough, whenever he does pass in this way, the next dozen or so cars all do the same.

I recently exchanged points of view with a motorist whilst waiting for the lights, as I have done numerous times as motorists often get shouty on one particular section of my commute. I had been using the road instead of the cycle path (just normal pavement with some dashed lines painted on). He said I should use it because its designed for cyclists. I invited him to get on a bike try and cycle on it at 20mph and then tell me what its designed for.

I just knew that whatever I said would have no impact at all but I felt a little better for explaining my point of view in a logical, concise and polite way. His rebuttal to my argument was to shove me into the kerb as he overtook. Sigh.

Dave A

[kwackers]

I've been in exactly the same position but with the exception that the woman managed to knock me off.
As she said though "what can I do? You were in the middle of the road!"

The daft thing is, if I'd been RLJ'ing instead of behaving "sensibly" I wouldn't have been in a position to get knocked off!

[dave84]

I'm often beeped at for NOT RLJ'ing, that is, not going on red+amber. In my head I call it a technical RLJ or "Professional RLJ", bit like a professional foul in football.

Woe betide anyone who actually waits for green in the morning around here, even if the people who squeezed through the previous light phase on amber or red are still faffing around in the middle of the junction!