Page 1 of 5

Nasty Selfish Cyclists who don't give way to pedestrians

Posted: 18 Oct 2007, 4:34pm
by Patsy
I am so angry I could scream.

This morning en route to work (London) I stopped, along with a couple of cars, to give way to a woman and young child on a zebra crossing. A cyclist came wizzing through and almost collided with the woman and child.

He just carried on, leaving the terrified woman plus all other witnesses in a state of disbelief and disgust.

Yet another reason for people to hate ALL cyclists and do their utmost to give us ALL a hard time.

I hope the selfish, SELFISH, nasty, ignorant [rude word removed] appreciated getting to his destination 3 nano seconds sooner.

:x

I feel better now

Posted: 18 Oct 2007, 6:09pm
by diapason
It's idiots like that who give us all a bad name. But there are plenty of drivers who do exactly the same .............. and some of those are the same people who complain about cyclists :?

N

Posted: 18 Oct 2007, 8:20pm
by glueman
If we deny responsibility for such cyclists - and I think it's reasonable to do so, then motorists can call RLJ cars bad eggs too. We can't brand motorists as a group and not expect to be labelled ourselves. It's important we both put our houses in order. My sense is there are a lot of anti-social people out there and an increasing number are using bikes to break the rules, legal and moral.
It's getting cyclists a bad name and unfortunately there are too many apologists within our ranks.

Posted: 18 Oct 2007, 9:57pm
by eileithyia
Problem is there is also the "them and us" cyclists. The majority of cyclists I see, on my daily commute, who use the pavement to get round red lights, jump across pedestrian crossings, do not use lights etc etc., are "utility" cyclists, using a bike until another form oftransport comes along etc. They habitually interpret traffic laws to suit themselves (if they even bother to find out what's what), riding as and where they want.
Generally I do not consider they are in the same class as most serious cyclists. Rather like the boy (and girl) racers who are out there being total d**k heads, showing off, speeding, jumping red lights etc. are not generally in the class as most car drivers.

Unfortunately like bad drivers, these bad cyclists get all of us tarred with the same brush as joe public cannot differentiate...

I might add I also plenty of other cyclists daily, who stick to the rules...

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 12:13am
by meic
These cyclists are putting themselves at risk but I dont have any sympathy for them. It would be quite reasonable for any pedestrian to push them away in self defence and a good place to push would be around one of their handlebar ends or arms which would unfortunately cause them to loose balance and come off. Then aware of how dangerous it is they would be less keen to repeat the game.
Unfortunatly this doesnt work on cars or lorries and I wouldnt put it past the Police charging the pedestrian with criminal damage to the car!

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 11:44am
by ransos
Whether we like or not, cyclists are lumped together as a group, and so behaviour like this does reflect badly on us all. I've lost count of the number of times I've pointed out to motorists that pavement riders are no more my fault than drink drivers are their fault, but it makes no difference.

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 11:48am
by pigman
glueman wrote:If we deny responsibility for such cyclists - and I think it's reasonable to do so, then motorists can call RLJ cars bad eggs too. We can't brand motorists as a group and not expect to be labelled ourselves. It's important we both put our houses in order. My sense is there are a lot of anti-social people out there and an increasing number are using bikes to break the rules, legal and moral.
It's getting cyclists a bad name and unfortunately there are too many apologists within our ranks.


well put GM, can't think of a better way of saying it

cycling

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 2:48pm
by ronyrash
i wonder how"stick to the rules cyclist".will cope with "naked streets"
next tory government promise,gets my vote.if by safely mounting the pavement i can let a lorry thru that is what i shall do.
rules are for the obediance of fools
and the guidence of sansable people

Re: cycling

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 2:54pm
by 2Tubs
ronyrash wrote:i wonder how"stick to the rules cyclist".will cope with "naked streets"
next tory government promise,gets my vote.if by safely mounting the pavement i can let a lorry thru that is what i shall do.
rules are for the obediance of fools
and the guidence of sansable people


Are you saying that the example set by antisocial idiot who nearly run over someone crossing the road is how we should all ride, each selfish idiot out for themselves and it's tough if you get in the way.

It does sound very much like a Tory concept . . .

Gazza

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 6:54pm
by eileithyia
But how do we educate the masses that antisocial cycling is just that and gets all a bad name, try to say something and you get a mouthful of abuse.

Re: cycling

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 8:04pm
by camerongordon
2Tubs wrote:
ronyrash wrote:i wonder how"stick to the rules cyclist".will cope with "naked streets"
next tory government promise,gets my vote.if by safely mounting the pavement i can let a lorry thru that is what i shall do.
rules are for the obediance of fools
and the guidence of sansable people


Are you saying that the example set by antisocial idiot who nearly run over someone crossing the road is how we should all ride, each selfish idiot out for themselves and it's tough if you get in the way.

It does sound very much like a Tory concept . . .

Gazza


Naked Streets is not a Tory idea - it came from the Netherlands.

No signs and minimal difference between road and pavement creates confusion and causes people to slow down. Excellent idea.
Still get idiots - but no amount of rules will get rid of them.

m

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 8:18pm
by glueman
Been arguing for de-cluttered roads with the pointy corners put back in for years and been called a nutter. It's pleasing to see the idea has come of age.

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 8:57pm
by Oracle
eileithyia wrote:But how do we educate the masses that antisocial cycling is just that and gets all a bad name, try to say something and you get a mouthful of abuse.


Sadly, you will probably never educate some, as they know best and do not consider themselves in need of educating. Indeed, in their opinion, it is probably those that complain about such behaviour that need to ‘get a life’!. Perhaps in later life they may embrace more responsibility, perhaps not. I don’t think pressure from their peer group (ie fellow cyclists) will make much difference as they probably don’t associate with the values of others who consider such behaviour unreasonable.

Perhaps the best we can do is to dissociate ourselves with such people and campaign as hard as we can for zero tolerance of law breakers on 2 wheels. Ooops, must get reflectors for my Look pedals, as despite my very bright lights, very bright luminous jacket, luminous ankle bands and reflective patches/piping on my shoes, I’m breaking the law and as such I am an outcast!

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 10:35pm
by eileithyia
Likewise Oracle, likewise, so I'll be joining you as an outcast. Just surprised that someone else had suggested that we should put our own house in order, I doubt there are many people on here, or who are genuine tourists in the ranks of CTC, that would ride across a zebra crossing terrorising women and children.

Posted: 19 Oct 2007, 10:57pm
by glueman
eileithyia wrote:Likewise Oracle, likewise, so I'll be joining you as an outcast. Just surprised that someone else had suggested that we should put our own house in order, I doubt there are many people on here, or who are genuine tourists in the ranks of CTC, that would ride across a zebra crossing terrorising women and children.


I'm sure you're right but would be prepared to bet there's a swathe of commuters who indulge in low level stuff like crossing before peds have cleared/begun to enter zebra. And red light jumping is seen as a victimless crime by many cyclists, CTC members included.

The one that gets me is the status switch - one moment fully fledged road vehicle with expectation of legal rights, the next pavement hopping to pedalling pedestrian bristling with get real indignation at the first adverse comment. Like drivers, too many cyclists are secure in their own reaction speeds which tell you nothing about those of the vulnerable party.