Near Miss of the Day 409: Motorist incensed by cyclist filtering at traffic lights intimidates him with his car and calls him an ‘imbecile’ (and more besides)

Yes "rights", road improvements etc to protect cyclists are part of the discussion. And are to be welcomed

...but there's something more fundamental here.

In life there are categories of people who are more vulnerable than others. In any other situation we as humans make allowance to protect them, and show tolerance, and recognise we need to be careful and give them space or time.

Yet somehow for ( some small minority of ) motorists, a cyclist is seen as a rival for road territory that must be intimidated. And they seem detached from the fact that they are being aggressive in a vehicle of some tonnage, which can kill and maim.

We all need to drive ( and cycle ) calmly, and remember it's real people and real lives that get affected by our actions.

Have the discussion in words on this forum.

Not by using your throttle and steering wheel to make a point on the road 

Filtering was fine. Crossing the white line was a very minor point. The cyclist took the lane after the corner, no problem there.

All in all, the driver is a prat, getting angry about being held up, but prepared to get out of his car and hold everyone else up.

No, we really don't!

we do! any time i watch an american movie, then hear a british person, we sound awfully posh. I love the american accent. But the way they mirror is weird. MERAH. My rear view meerah. 

I'm not sure films are your best standard. For example, the Brit is always the baddie.

Difficult because if you don't filter then you end up caught up in the midst of 3 lanes of traffic with potentially passing traffic on both sides where you really are very vulnerable. If you take the lane to prevent that then you still get this sort of moron putting you under pressure.

I often don't filter on single carriageway if the are about 5 or less cars at the lights though because firstly I have to have the cars I've filtered past all try to overtake a put me at risk and secondly I don't think it's worth winding the drivers up by making them overtake multiple times which they themselves find stressful.

It's not one size fits all and there certainly isn't one single right answer.

I'd have filtered as well. I wouldn't have wanted to be caught up in traffic. I see why the rider crossed the line to keep himself safe in the absence of an ASL.

Cyclist: I filter to the front and central - where I am safest from traffic, and the fumes of idling engines ( not to gain advantage of a few car lengths ). Ideally there is already an ASL, but if there isn't  one yet, the reasoning is still the same: safety.  I may need to slightly transgress the stop line to take this position. Thank you for understanding that I am a vulnerable road user ( normally protected by an ASL as you see elsewhere) and also for your patience as we complete the turn, and it becomes safe for you to then overtake on the straight.

Autonomous Vehicle: I do not keep old ( or new ) scores, but I assess each manoeuvre on its immediate merits. There is a vulnerable road user ahead at these traffic lights. I will pull away gently, following at a safe distance until such time as I can overtake considerately. 

Early Homo Sapien: There is an intruder in my territory. This constitutes a threat to my food supply, my shelter, and my potential to mate. The sudden surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins suspends my rationality and humanity. I will use the weapon I happen to have to hand to intimidate and force away the weak intruder at any disproportionate cost. Afterwards I go home to my family. They are all remarkably similar to that intruder I despatched earlier. I don't look them in the eye for a while.

If someone got to the point of being enraged, then I suggest they might not be suitable to be in charge of a vehicle.

oh sure. I was merely taking issue with the partial headline.

Sriracha wrote:

"Today’s near miss features a motorist so enraged by a cyclist (legally) filtering past him at traffic lights ..." I doubt that is what enraged him. I suspect he was enraged by having the cyclist (illegally) crossing the stop line to place himself in front of his car.

I've had a driver that enraged because I filtered to the front and stopped behind an ASL. No laws were broken (by me). It wasn't some technicality of the law he was enraged by, it was the cyclist being in front of him.

The problem is that there are not ASLs at every set of lights but you won't know until you get to the front, by which time it's too late and you're forced to wait across the white line. This needs to change, either every traffic lights should have an ASL or none should

But it's not too late until you cross the stop line, which is your choice.

Or just make it legal for cyclists to cross the white stop line whether there's an ASL or not. That would cost literally nothing to implement.

hawkinspeter wrote:

Or just make it legal for cyclists to cross the white stop line whether there's an ASL or not. That would cost literally nothing to implement.

But would lead to a legal quagmire of who was too blame in any collision at traffic lights.

eburtthebike wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Or just make it legal for cyclists to cross the white stop line whether there's an ASL or not. That would cost literally nothing to implement.

But would lead to a legal quagmire of who was too blame in any collision at traffic lights.

Not if we had presumed liability - it'd be the car driver's fault without any other evidence. Also, I don't think drivers are allowed to hit cyclists even if the cyclist is in the wrong place (e.g. consider cyclists hitting pedestrians that cross the road incorrectly).

hawkinspeter wrote:

Or just make it legal for cyclists to cross the white stop line whether there's an ASL or not. That would cost literally nothing to implement.

But that's the point - nobody, not even cyclists, is allowed to cross stop line, whether there is an ASL or not. It's there for a reason, like pedestrians crossing at the lights. The ASL holds cars further back from the stop line, it does not allow cyclists to cross in front of it.