[AndyIT]

Came across such a group today and wondered what people’s views were. Personally I think they should have split into 2,groups on busier roads.

Topic

[hawkinspeter]

Adam Sutton wrote:

Applicable in a city or town with reasonable public transport, but many towns have poor bus services and public transport links which lead to an increased dependency on cars. Local services here have been cut drastically, add to that the trains service also is abysmal. I cycle a lot of my journeys and do use the train (when it is running) for my commute, but the reality is we still need a car to get around in many cases.

That’s one of the problems with designing towns around the motor car – it then becomes necessary as it crowds out all the other options. Even public transport becomes undesirable as virtually everyone living in such places will need to own a car anyway and thus the problem continues.

[Adam Sutton]

Applicable in a city or town

Applicable in a city or town with reasonable public transport, but many towns have poor bus services and public transport links which lead to an increased dependency on cars. Local services here have been cut drastically, add to that the trains service also is abysmal. I cycle a lot of my journeys and do use the train (when it is running) for my commute, but the reality is we still need a car to get around in many cases.

[Simon E]

AndyIT wrote:

AndyIT wrote:

I can’t see relations between cyclists & car drivers getting any better

I’m both. Do I need to have a fight with myself?

Relations between different types of road users – and even between users of the same kind of vehicle – are totally reliant on the attitude of them as individuals.

Perhaps if the aggressive drivers took their cue from the Highway Code instead of the ranting anti-cyclist ‘lycra lout’ opinion columns in the Daily Mail etc then fewer drivers would view cyclists as an out-group. Similarly, when a driver or a family member becomes a cyclist they can then see both perspectives.

Groups of cyclists (not exactly a common sight on UK roads) splitting into smaller groups to appease the occasional Mr Angry isn’t really going to have much of an impact on the concerning issue of why some people get aggressive so easily because they’re behind a group of cyclists as opposed to any other slow-moving traffic.

[David9694]

please tell me all about

please tell me all about “acceptability” 

[hawkinspeter]

AndyIT wrote:

I disagree; I do think it’s selfish but legal. However just because something is legal is not a reason not to adopt more considerate behaviour (but that applies more to drivers than cyclists). 

I don’t follow how it is selfish? 15 people on bikes will take up an equivalent space of maybe 3 cars which would typically be 3-4 people. That seems economical to me and choosing to use a car with only one or two occupants strikes me as extremely selfish, especially when you consider the pollution that they create.

I don’t get why you’re bringing the legality into this.

[AndyIT]

I disagree; I do think it’s

I disagree; I do think it’s selfish but legal. However just because something is legal is not a reason not to adopt more considerate behaviour (but that applies more to drivers than cyclists). 

[chrisonabike]

Yes!

Yes!

Short – there is no us.

Slightly longer – there is some “selection” for cyclists in the UK – particularly “club cyclists” so it’s not quite “cyclists have nothing more in common than people who happen to both drive do”.

Almost every time I see complaints about this though I think “this is salience”.  It’s somehow very easy to see the cyclists when you’re not happy with them.  And you remember that because it is very unusual, compared to people being selfish / stupid / even pushy in cars, at the supermarket, in a queue…

[hawkinspeter]

AndyIT wrote:

It’s a thing; selfish cyling exists some just don’t want to admit it. There are more selfish drivers than cycllists though. 

There’s certainly selfish cyclists around, just like there’s selfish pedestrians and roller-skaters too.

However, cycling in a single file of 15 is not selfish – it’s just using the road. I’d consider it far more selfish if it was a line of 15 cyclists being stationary and preventing other traffic from moving, but that’s more likely with motor vehicles due to their size. Strangely, people consider drivers “stuck in traffic” to be the victims rather than active participants in selfishly hogging the road.

[HoarseMann]

AndyIT wrote:

It’s a thing; selfish cyling exists some just don’t want to admit it. There are more selfish drivers than cycllists though. 

There’s no ‘relations’ between drivers and cyclists. The vast majority of cyclists in the UK are also drivers. They are mostly the same people.

When I see a selfish driver, I don’t think that they’re letting me down as a fellow driver. I just think what an idiot.

I am sure there are selfish cyclists out there somewhere (I have yet to come across one). But if I did come across one, I can’t think what a selfish cyclist could do that would be anywhere near as bad as what a selfish driver could get up to. I would just see a selfish person and would be grateful they’re not in a car.

[Adam Sutton]

I ride out on the lanes

I ride out on the lanes around me and there are a lot of horses about, multiple times I have seen shitty behaviour from cyclists towards horse riders. Worse case was a time I had slowed up seeing some ahead, and two other cyclists just came steaming past me at speed and didn’t give a moments consideration to the horses or how they may react.

[AndyIT]

It’s a thing; selfish cyling

It’s a thing; selfish cyling exists some just don’t want to admit it. There are more selfish drivers than cycllists though. 

[OnYerBike]

I think they would have been

I think they would have been better off cycling two abreast. 15 cyclist two abreast is just as easy to overtake as 8 cyclist single file (which is what simply splitting into two groups would have achieved). 

In terms of general principles, when I’m cycling in a group we do try to show consideration to drivers, including on occassion pulling over to let them past etc. However, this does need to be balanced with our own safety, convenience and enjoyment. Splitting in to smaller groups solely for short sections on busy road is not something we would normally do.

[HoarseMann]

AndyIT wrote:

I can’t see relations between cyclists & car drivers getting any better

This isn’t “a thing”

What we do have are selfish people and I don’t mean cyclists using the roads lawfully, I mean selfish people who get annoyed when driving if they get held up slightly by a cyclist.

[Adam Sutton]

As a driver the biggest hold

As a driver the biggest hold ups I come across are caused by the general selfishness present today, manifesting itself in the attitude of a what seems a growing number of drivers.

Three prime recurring examples nearby are:

1) I live near to the Dartford crossing, and if something happens at the crossing to cause traffic to back up, the roads nearby become impassable as drivers ignore box junctions at the roundabouts and block traffic that doesn’t even want to use the tunnel.

2) On multiple occassions due either to knock effects of the above point or roadworks it has become difficult to get out of our road. Traffic is backed up from the left, but it is impossible to even turn right as drivers continue through the junction even though they know they will block it when the lights change. 

3) Schools. I don’t think this even needs describing, but there isn’t much more selfish than a parent on the school run. Trying to get to my parents once at school kick out was actually frightening, I don’t know how some kid hasn’t been killed there. Pavements along the main road with two schools were blocked with cars parked on them, the main road was gridlocked due to this and a bus trying to get through.

 

[AndyIT]

Sorry but disagree. 

Sorry but disagree. 

I can’t see relations between cyclists & car drivers getting any better

 

 

 

[Author]

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