“This is a nightmare”: Instructor tells learner driver going 15mph behind cyclist in a 20mph zone; First of three Tour de France stages in the Alps + more on the live blog
A driving lesson you hope they'd forget...
There’s even something about the phrasing of this video’s title – “Dealing with a slow cyclist test” – that irks.
The idea that a road user going a similar speed in the same direction, faster than oncoming traffic in the other lane is such a nuisance is a difficult one to stomach, but here we are.
The video is published by Liverpool-based driving instructor Daniel Smith, who begins his video telling his student, “This is what would be a nightmare on a test. It’s something you don’t want but it’s here now so you’re gonna have to deal with it.”
“You’ve got a nice distance there [from the cyclist] but it’s painfully slow.”
In a crumb of comfort, Smith makes clear that his student should not attempt an overtake that would definitely count as a close pass, but his framing of the entire issue serves to stew resentment towards the cyclist.
After complaining that they’re not even able to go 20mph in a 20 zone, they start wishing for the cyclist to turn off. It’s strange because you would think the signs were for speed limits not speed targets.
It should be said the cyclist doesn’t look like the most confident rider, staying in the gutter and wobbling occasionally. This might be all the more reason to be more considerate, and remember that the speed is not any slower than the oncoming traffic.
But all the instructor appears concerned by is “getting the blame” from the cars behind. Blame presumably from people also in their cars who will face a similar ‘problem’ of a steady cyclist or learner driver at some point in their lives.
It’s quite a fascinating, and slightly bleak, insight into how the instructor is not only teaching his student how to drive, but how to think and assess other road users. Fellow driver’s wishes are to be upheld, for they should not be slowed, but the cyclist going a similar speed is to be harried.
When the speed drops to 10mph as the cyclist prepares to stop and turn off, the student shouts in frustration, before being reminded by Smith that “extreme patience” is required to deal with a cyclist, before making a throwaway comment about 20mph still being a rather pedestrian speed limit. Something tells me this might be among the better ads that exist for 20mph…
It’s also an encouraging sign that Facebook comments were also aware of the madness of this whole shtick.
A shoutout to Nigel Hooper, whose comment has garnered more likes than the original video…
“By telling your learner that ‘this is a nightmare ‘ is instilling a negative reaction to cyclists in her. Cyclists on the road are not a nightmare – but another road user just like you or I, and deserve to be treated with respect.”
And really that’s all there is to say. There are some other good comments though…
“As a cycling instructor I would be telling him not to ride in the gutter”
“The cyclist is doing 15mph in a 20 zone. If you were stuck behind the cyclist for half a mile without being able to overtake, how much time have you lost? The answer is 30 seconds. Less time than if you had to stop at a set of lights, and far less time than if you were caught in crawling traffic in a busy area.
“As an instructor you should not be instilling negative connotations and animosity towards other road users that are sharing the road correctly and legally. What you teach them now will shape their driving habits for the rest of their life. You need to do better.”
Our thoughts exactly…
From dispatches: Yates "feeling better"
Today’s bit of Ryan insight (Ryansight?) includes an interview with Mauro Gianetti, general manager of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. He asked about the condition of Adam Yates after yesterday’s difficulties:
“Fortunately this morning he feels better, the stomach is almost fixed. Of course now is not a good time after yesterday he did not have the opportunity to eat and so he felt empty. He will suffer today because he’s hungry.
“But we are confident he can recover, and be better tomorrow and if it’s possible, hopefully around 90 percent by Saturday.”
It’s one rider less, it means the other riders will need to work 20-30 percent more to cover Adam’s position. But the team is good, and we will micromanage.”
STOP PRESS: Moulin Rouge returns to the Tour
Excellent news has broken this morning, the Moulin Rouge dancers will return to the streets of Paris to perform the French Cancan as the race goes past. The dancers made their first appearance last year following the addition of the Montmartre circuit and will return to provide yet another photo-op. Y’know, just in case the Louvre, Champs-Elysses, Arc de Triomphe or even Sacrecoeur isn’t enough.
In the press release, the Moulin Rouge say their “colourful, festive and symbolic performance brings together two of France’s greatest cultural icons: the Moulin Rouge and the Tour de France.
“The event promises a unique combination of sport, heritage and entertainment in the heart of Paris, creating outstanding visual opportunities for broadcasters, photographers and international media.”
I suppose they would say that wouldn’t they…
Stage 18 preview: Alps arrive
A very happy Tour de France to you. It’s dawning on us that we won’t be able to say that for much longer, as today’s stage enters the Alps ahead of Saturday’s climactic day in the mountains before the whole race legs it up to Paris. Or should that be pedals it…
It’s a tough stage to read, I suspect the first 25km will see lots of one type of rider try and get in the break, before they’re brought back and a different sort of rider tries to get away on the category-1 Cote d’Engines, and on the 15km uphill that drags on afterwards. They might need quite a gap though to survive the long descent.
If the category-2 Cote de Monteynard can’t force a split then you can imagine the sprint teams controlling for the intermediate sprint, and then another UAE masterclass on the final climb up to Orcieres Merlette. Here’s what Ryan wrote pre-race:
“Orcières Merlette is a climb steeped in Tour history. It’s where Luis Ocaña (briefly) toppled Eddy Merckx in 1971, where Greg LeMond pulled on yellow in ’89, and where Primož Roglič won his last Tour stage to date, in 2020, before his heart was broken by Pogačar on La Planche des Belles Filles
“This year’s stage starts off lumpy before a long drag to the final climb which, at 7.1km and 6.7 per cent, isn’t the most intimidating of finishing finishes this year. It probably won’t decide the 2026 race, but it will – if the GC battle is still tight – offer us a glimpse into how the tougher tests in the Alps will play out. Expect a big fight for the breakaway on the early Engins climb, too.”
One man desperate to get up the road will be Valentin Paret-Peintre, mountains jersey wearer on Tadej Pogacar’s behalf, but no doubt keen to own it outright. One man dreading the start to today’s stage will be Adam Yates, as far as we know the Brit is still in the race but after yesterday’s stomach troubles he won’t be looking forward to today’s fast start.
Winds and weights...
For those of you worrying a feature on aerodynamic bicycles doesn’t mention Greg LeMond or Lotus, calm down. This quite a nice deep dive on the timeline of aero in the peloton…
Meanwhile, Emily’s done a very good deep dive on the UCI’s race weight restrictions for racing bikes…
> Is it time to reduce the UCI’s 6.8kg bike weight limit? We weigh up the pros and cons
Police stop using bogus e-bike speed test
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@mctrials23 Yes bikes are brittle and carbon is easily broken - mostly down to accidental or misuse etc. But there are bikes that are breaking through normal use. Suddenly they just crack or delaminate. The closer to the limits you push these materials the more you will encounter this happening. As a consumer product thats not acceptable.
"Undue hesitation" a very common cause of failing a driving test, and driving conservatively behind a cyclist where the examiner seems it possible to pass safely could cause it. The instructor is correct to point this out.
It was this specific example of clickbait wasn't a life changing thing. Not the crash. Cheers
It was this specific example of clickbait wasn't a life changing thing. Not the crash, which was horrible. Hopefully being a collarbone the surgery was straight forward and there won't be any lingering effects like with the horror crash he had in the Basque Country. Cheers
@Smoggysteve I agree that the weight limit is fine but i'm not convinced by the rest of your argument. Carbon is an inherently fragile material when it comes to direct impacts. Unless you made it comparable in weight to aluminium then that will always be the case. Even then I doubt you would really remove the issue. As to consumers? They are free to buy whatever they please. Steel, titanium, aluminium. Lightweight, robust. Whatever they want, they can buy. I could easily build a sub 6kg version of my current bike that would be perfectly robust for my needs. If I decided to go for super lightweight wheels and other parts though I would have to accept that there are tradeoffs in price and sometimes durability. Removing customer choice is rarely a good thing.
@Jakrayan If I have understood correctly they don't need to prosecute every case. If there is evidence of a close pass they can send an advisory letter as Gloucestershire do, which should be just a press of a button. If there is evidence of an offence (Gloucestershire say a close pass is not an offence unless someone is inconvenienced) then they can send a warning letter or a NIP. Again this shouldn't take too much time. Once the driver has been identified they have the choice of an education course, a fixed penalty notice or straight to court. This will usually depend on whether or not the driver has previous. The only time a case will go to court otherwise is if the driver contests the fixed penalty notice. So 900 a month and 3 officers and 30 days means roughly roughly 10 a day. A working day is roughly 8 hours so about 48 mins per report. They ask for a 4 minute segment and they have to read the statement. The offence will be at 2 mins into the video so that should take 5 mins tops. That leaves 40 mins for the paperwork. Of course NFA would take much less leaving more time for other reports.
@mctrials23 Not all bikes are, I can show you many pics of owners whos bikes have broken quite easily and thats before you start making them lighter. Maybe the UCI needs to change the rules of them being open to purchase by the public and they keep a weight limit that maybe lighter or they realise that if youre going to keep making bikes that the public can buy there has to be a limit to maintain their robustness. That could be seen as a duty of care in a way. Right now, I see no reason to drop pro bike weight limits . For what? they would potentially do more harm than good in the current rules. if they are tied to consumer availability
"West Midlands Police is exploring alternative methods of spotting illegal e-motorbike use" So, per my comment on the original story yesterday, they had no formal guidance/training/policy in place. This is such a waste of taxpayer money due to the cost of having police in a role they aren't adequately trained for and the cost of compensating for the destroyed legal bike. How many others have faced this and will also be able to claim the cost? The only thing missing here is the user suing the police for distress and loss of income. But given all these costs are bared by the taxpayer, there should be actual consequences for the police force staff that let themselves get in this situation in the first place.
@Smoggysteve "So why not just leave the pro level bikes for the pros and stop worrying about it?" Are you arguing for the pros riding lighter, custom bikes here? I'm a bit confused. I ride a Giant TCR SL. Its a very light bike and I am 85kg. Fully loaded that bike is taking 95kg ish I reckon on some of my rides. This is on the shitty UK roads and I am bunny hopping over potholes etc. I have zero fear that its going to snap on me. The current superbikes of the pro peleton are super robust. If you crash them, they will probably break. So will almost any carbon road bike. They don't like impacts.
@mdavidford This was my driving test! Told to take the next left on a blind bend on a hill behind a group of kids on bikes. Waited patiently and took the left into a residential cul de sac, then sat for a few minutes as they cycled round the car while I was mid 3 point turn. I passed :)
6 thoughts on ““This is a nightmare”: Instructor tells learner driver going 15mph behind cyclist in a 20mph zone; First of three Tour de France stages in the Alps + more on the live blog”
From the perspective of a testee wanting to pass, that seems like pretty much the ideal situation to encounter on a driving test – tootle along for a while at relatively low speeds where the opportunity to make a serious mistake is low, and in all likelihood the examiner will have to cut short some of the more challenging technical stuff in order to get to their next appointment.
(Obviously that’s less than ideal for those of us who’d like to see more robust testing, though.)
@mdavidford
I would argue the same, that this is an ideal situation for an examiner to see what the learner driver’s response is.
And it is not likely that they will be stuck behind the cyclist for the whole practical exam time, unless the examiner is too stupid to change course if they are…
@mdavidford
I’d rather driving students were tested on their ability to demonstrate control of their emotions as much as their control of the vehicle.
@mdavidford This was my driving test! Told to take the next left on a blind bend on a hill behind a group of kids on bikes. Waited patiently and took the left into a residential cul de sac, then sat for a few minutes as they cycled round the car while I was mid 3 point turn. I passed 🙂
“Undue hesitation” a very common cause of failing a driving test, and driving conservatively behind a cyclist where the examiner seems it possible to pass safely could cause it.
The instructor is correct to point this out.
1) If the student is frustrated to the point of shouting behind/at a cyclist, what is their response when stuck in queues of slow moving/stationary drivers/motor traffic?
2) If this is the instructor’s attitude, they need to lose their teaching qualification and attend re-training to prevent instilling such a negative attitude in learners.