Dangerous drivers and what to do about them.

[Bik3 Rid3r]

Hello everyone I am new to the forum, |I felt I had to join this forum to get feedback from other cyclists and to push for greater road safety.

As you will no doubt all be aware, new road safety rules were introduced recently to protect vunerable road users. Please Read - https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/ ... road-users

I don't know whether you noticed the government adverts explaining this, as they did not run for very long. My experience was initially positive as these adverts were shown, for about a 2 week period with the exception of one car driver it was clear that vechicle users were abiding by these new rules, however that appears to have dramatically changed now and in fact it appears that there are more incidents of bad driving happening than before the new rules came out at least in my experince.

I have had so many incidents of bad driving happening recently, but just to use today as an example, I was out on the road for just 10 minutes, and in that space of time I had two incidents of bad driving. The first incident involved a female mini driver who decided it would be o.k to overtake me despite there being parked cars on either side of the road and hardly any room to pass me despite me being as close as possible to one of the parked cars. Shortly after this I had a white van marked NHS decide to dangerously overtake me just before an island in the road, cutting in front of me just because I guess he was obviously too impatient to wait 2 seconds until I had passed the island, so he could safely overtake. Yesterday I came out of one road and signaled to turn right into another road and a white van driver decided it was o.k to be right up my A**e revving his engine and when I stuck two fingers up at him and called him an idiot he stopped his vechicle and threatened to smash my face in and stuff just as I was turning into the road. He was obviously all mouth and no action because when I stopped my bike and told him to ''come on then'' he shut up and drove off

Anyway my experience is that so many vechicle drivers seem to think that cyclists should not be on the road, they have no idea of the highway code and what it actually feels like as a cyclist to be on the recieving end of bad driving, it's very scary. The problem is that these new laws haven't made a blind bit of difference now and in fact i would argue they have made things worse possibly because drivers think they are unenforceable which in reality is true unless you have evidence of their actions. I know people will probably say get a camera and believe me I would love to have one but I genuinely cannot afford one, and from what I have heard a lot of these cameras are not that good anyway.

I would just like to say if anyone has experienced any incidents of dangerous driving from other road users, please report it to the police and also contact your local MP to try to see if they can bring the matter up in the commons, because it's no good having a new law passed if it's not going to work. If as a cyclist you just sit back and accept these incidents as part of everyday life and do nothing about it, just remember the next incident of bad driving you encounter might not have a good outcome. The law has to work or else drivers are just going to continue practicing bad driving around vunerable road users. There is clearly a lot of hate towards cyclist from some road users, but this can never be an accuse to respond by driving dangerously around cyclists.

I reportedl the NHS driver for dangerous driving despite not having his registration, I demanded that something be done to ensure that all NHS drivers be made aware of there responsibility as road users under the highway code. I have been told that someone will get back to me on the matter. I will be contacting the police and my local MP to express my concerns over the ineffectiveness of these recently updated road safety laws and asking them to look into how they can be enforced better. My hope is that all other cyclists that have experienced bad driving from other road users do the same, and if you can afford to get a decent camera then it is probably a wise idea to get one. We should not feel unsafe on the road, we should not feel afraid and on high alert everytime we take to the road as cyclists, so let's speak out and help to make the changes happen that is needed to ensure our safety as vunerable road users. The laws are in place to ensure our safety, they just need to work, and they need to be seen to be working so that vechicle users are in no doubt that there will be consequences for their actions.

Stay Safe.

[Jdsk]

Welcome.

There's a discussion of the changes to the Highway Code here:

"Highway Code revisions: Now implemented 29 January 2022"
viewtopic.php?p=1669140#p1669140

Jonathan

[Bik3 Rid3r]

Thanks

[rareposter]

Get a helmet or front and rear bike cameras.
Police won't do anything without footage and most forces now have an online portal for uploading dashcam or helmet cam footage and (most) are pretty good at pursuing the worst offenders.

For example, Avon & Somerset Police released this earlier:

https://twitter.com/ASPRoadSafety/statu ... TjtNg&s=19

The first incident involved a female mini driver who decided it would be o.k to overtake me despite there being parked cars on either side of the road and hardly any room to pass me despite me being as close as possible to one of the parked cars.

Without wishing to sound all Victim Blaming... if you leave a gap, people will try and get through it. And cycling "as close as possible" to parked cars is a recipe for having a car door opened in your face.

Move out wider, take the lane and both issues are solved. I appreciate that's easy to say and less easy to do, particularly if you already feel vulnerable or unsafe but part of the revised Highway Code does advise that.

And you're right, the people that needed to know about the HC revisions are the ones who wouldn't care about it anyway...

[Postboxer]

How about, where possible, driving bans include a further sentence to walk a set number of miles and to cycle a set number of miles, monitored via some kind of strava like app that would also check their identity, then at least they would have walked and cycled some miles 'in our shoes' and won't just be a driver. It could even be ongoing, if they want to keep driving, they have to keep cycling too. There are just too many bad drivers.

[cycle tramp]

Hello everyone I am new to the forum, |I felt I had to join this forum to get feedback from other cyclists and to push for greater road safety.

I have had so many incidents of bad driving happening recently, but just to use today as an example, I was out on the road for just 10 minutes, and in that space of time I had two incidents of bad driving. The first incident involved a female mini driver who decided it would be o.k to overtake me despite there being parked cars on either side of the road and hardly any room to pass me despite me being as close as possible to one of the parked cars. Shortly after this I had a white van marked NHS decide to dangerously overtake me just before an island in the road, cutting in front of me just because I guess he was obviously too impatient to wait 2 seconds until I had passed the island, so he could safely overtake. Yesterday I came out of one road and signaled to turn right into another road and a white van driver decided it was o.k to be right up my A**e revving his engine and when I stuck two fingers up at him and called him an idiot he stopped his vechicle and threatened to smash my face in and stuff just as I was turning into the road. He was obviously all mouth and no action because when I stopped my bike and told him to ''come on then'' he shut up and drove off

Where are you living, how far away from the kerb do you cycle and what sort of clothing/bike do you ride? I've found all three factors can influence how bike riders are treated on the road

[thirdcrank]

It may be the counsel of perfection - it's not easy to stay calm when fear eg of being knocked off your bike turns to anger - but try to avoid losing your temper or doing anything which might be interpreted as doing so.

The judge said the MP was not in a state of mind that evening either to measure his words carefully or remember precisely what they were. He was satisfied that Mitchell did lose his temper and it was part of common experience of life that a loss of temper could lead both to loss of inhibition in speaking and recollection of what was said. “It follows that his adamant denial of uttering the words alleged is not of itself determinative of the issues.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... libel-case

So, people, especially people in the legal system, may not believe you. You may also alienate otherwise sympathetic independent witnesses. You may be accused of some sort of public order offence. And if the other party does not back off you may be on the wrong end of violence

[dutchbike]

My experience since the highway code changes is that most drivers will give me more room and be more patient, some drivers are too careful, incompetent drivers are still incompetent but the aggressive drivers are worse.

If you want to do something you need to get a camera. I started with a cheap lidl one just after the first lockdown when driving standards really plummeted. I moved on to Apeman cameras which I have found to be adequate for commuting with battery life of around 90mins. They can be picked up second hand for around £20 on ebay if you are patient and they come with all the mounts you will need.

They do struggle to get reg plates in low light but this is true of all the cameras I have tried to date. I now have front and rear cameras to give me two chances at getting the reg.

Reporting varies with region as does the police response. My latest report to Gloucestershire police is here : https://road.cc/content/news/nmotd-833- ... rve-297295

As I say in the preamble most drivers stay behing the line of parked cars till I have passed since the highway code changes. Some will move out but slow down or stop while I pass but some, like this driver, don't. This is an example of an aggresive driver in my opinion and I feel the only way of tackling the problem is to report them.

In Gloucestershire most of my previous reports have met with no further action. You can find them by searching NMOTD Gloucestershire on the road.cc site. I was therefore pleased to get a warning letter sent for this one as it shows movement in the right direction.

As others have said, assertive cycling can help with the incompetent drivers but only reporting will do anything about aggressive drivers and it will be a long slow journey I'm afraid. I hope you will join those of us trying to take the reporting route to safer roads for cyclists.

Finally, try not to react. I find the knowledge that I will be sending in the footage to the police helps me to stay calm.

[tykeboy2003]

most drivers seem to think that cyclists should not be on the road

A recent BBC Panorama program did a survey which found that about a third of drivers think that cyclists should be banned from our roads. I know several people who are of that opinion, I just tell them "Tough titties mate, we're not banned and indeed have recently been given a higher priority on the roads, get used to it."

[Jdsk]

most drivers seem to think that cyclists should not be on the road

A recent BBC Panorama program did a survey which found that about a third of drivers think that cyclists should be banned from our roads. I know several people who are of that opinion, I just tell them "Tough titties mate, we're not banned and indeed have recently been given a higher priority on the roads, get used to it."

The survey: "Cycling on Public Highways":
https://yonderconsulting.com/poll/cycli ... -highways/

I've never found the methods used in the survey.

Jonathan

[AlanD]

I am what you would call a 'Jumper'.
I 'Jump' into the offending vehicle.
Then I grab the driver, 'Jump' to a remote place in the Arctic (during our summer, I choose Antarctica), where I leave said driver.
I then 'Jump' back home and get on with my day.
Job done!

[mjr]

most drivers seem to think that cyclists should not be on the road

A recent BBC Panorama program did a survey which found that about a third of drivers think that cyclists should be banned from our roads. I know several people who are of that opinion, I just tell them "Tough titties mate, we're not banned and indeed have recently been given a higher priority on the roads, get used to it."

The survey: "Cycling on Public Highways":
https://yonderconsulting.com/poll/cycli ... -highways/

I've never found the methods used in the survey.

Reportedly an self-selecting open online poll (also known as a SLOOP). Definitely not a survey or anywhere near representative. Several complaints were made to the BBC but I don't know if they've been considered yet.

[Psamathe]

I (like everybody else) have had some dangerous passes from commercial drivers (often delivery companies). In the case of courier/delivery drivers, whilst there is no excuse for dangerous driving I also feel that the pressure on ever more deliveries in ever less time makes the employer bear some of the blame. So when registering my complaint I try not to identify the specific driver but rather push for additional driver training, highlight the need for care around cyclists. Getting a driver reprimanded and a note on his employment record is unlikely to make him more considerate to cyclists but fleet/depot training or notices may have a positive effect. I have found depot managers quite responsive to this; they often have a weekly group meeting with all drivers and have been happy to raise the issue of cyclists & care at those meetings (of course I have no proof that it actually happens ... but I have on occasions had the impression that they don''t have a lot to fill their group meeting but holding one is required by Head Office).

Ian

[cycle tramp]

Have to admit that I treat motor traffic like horses.. they're some dumb that they don't know that they are behaving dangerously.
But like horses they're behaviour is predictable. In the case of motor traffic its to move ahead has soon as they believe there is the opportunity to do so. In the case of horses it mostly food focus.
It is possible to alter the perception of this opportunity in most drivers (not all, because like horses not all of them can be trained. Sadly the horses which don't behave well.. er.. it doesn't go so well for them). I used to find that drivers gave me less room when I rode my brompton than any of my other bikes, until I fitted a handlebar mirror to the end of my handlebars. It projected some further 10 inches into the road space. Suddenly most motorists were giving me a further foot in passing distance, and the widest point at which they were passing was at the point of my handlebars. Since then I have added mirrors which project into the road to several if my past bikes with the same affect.

[Grandad]

Never had a close overtake when riding an upright trike.

Regular place was at the back of the clubrun