“This is a nightmare”: Instructor tells learner driver going 15mph behind cyclist in a 20mph zone; New active travel minister appointed; First of three Tour de France stages in the Alps + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
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…
Armstrong-Beloki Mk 2
What are the odds?
Yesterday on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Pamplona, we got a near perfect recreation of Armstrong-Beloki incident
📽️ IG imanolkonde pic.twitter.com/lzq6qlKslw
— Luc Grefte (@LucGrefte) July 23, 2026
We have a winner!
1.5km and Carapaz is flying, with 30 seconds over Schmid and Jorgenson and it’s rising. This is a fantastic performance from the man who’s already worn yellow, finished third overall and won the mountains jersey at this race. He always peaks for the big races. A fantastic ride. Schmid and Jorgenson seem secure in second and third as Paret-Peintre is dropping away quickly.
800m, 700m, no sign of slowing at all from the Olympic Champion. This is a big win for EF, who have had scant reward for their combativity so far in this race. But a stage win, and a sneaky top-10 overall is mission accomplished.
He turns the corner up towards the finish line, he zips up his jersey, turns looks behind and applauds his own performance as he crosses the line. A textbook performance from the Ecuadorian.
Behind, Mauro Schmid leads out the sprint and has an unmatched kick to come home second. It’s his second second place at this race but after his stage win last week he won’t be too disappointed, unlike Matteo Jorgenson.
Or Valentin Paret-Peintre for that matter. Rolling home in fourth place won’t be enough for the mountains jersey, so he’ll have to try again tomorrow, although I suspect he knew that anyway.
Here comes the peloton, still Red Bull-led but it’s been a pretty neutralised final climb in the bunch. Around 15-18 riders strong including all of the top-10 at the start of the day and a couple of domestiques. Lenny Martinez leads them over the line around 4’40” behind the stage winner, Richard Carapaz.
Richard Carapaz, back on top of the world 🌎
Carapaz conquers the first of three brutal mountain stages in the final week of the 2026 Tour de France 💪⛰️ pic.twitter.com/981IVo6r1l
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 23, 2026
Attack!
Attack from Matteo Jorgenson! 4.5km to go and it was a tester that instantly distanced Garcia Pierna but when he relents the Spaniard catches up.
Now here goes Paret-Peintre but he hasn’t been able to shake off Carapaz all day, then Carapaz counters!
It’s a ferocious acceleration that only the Frenchman can follow. The pair open up 15-20m but Carapaz, seeing he’s not solo, relents, allowing Schmid and Jorgenson to catch them whilst Johannessen and Garcia Pierna seem dropped for good.
3.5km and Carapaz goes again! Attacking from the other side of the road he gets a gap and there’s no immediate acceleration to catch him. Just like that he has a 10 second gap and 3km to hold onto it. Shoulders rocking, bike swinging as he rises out of the saddle. Fantastic riding. Behind, Schmid and Jorgenson have now distanced Paret-Peintre…
On the final climb
Onto the final climb and there’s initially a stalemate among the sextet as they continue to rotate on the front. They’re at least 4 minutes ahead of everyone else, but no one is quite willing to commit themselves on the slightly less steep opening kilometre.
6km to go, still nothing but now the gradients ramp up. It hovers pretty constantly between six and eight percent between now to the finish. Garcia Pierna looks tired, he’d be a rank outsider for today. The peloton meanwhile is now Red Bull-led and they’ve brought the margin down to 5’15”. They’re just starting the final climb.
5km to go at the front and still it’s cagey, who will bite first?
Attacks begin
Just before the category-3 climb to Côte de Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes, Matteo Jorgenson attacked from the front group to try and get a headstart but the riders came back together. Raul Garcia Pierna was the only rider to be properly distanced but worked his way back.
Valentin Paret-Peintre has been key to this group’s cooperation, leading over most climbs with only Richard Carapaz contesting the climbs. With one climb remaining, he’s now only five points behind Pogacar in the mountains competition. A top-3 result on the stage will give him the jersey outright.
The gap to Bernal, Arensman et al. is up to 2’30”, the win is surely coming from the front group. A reminder that it comprises Carapaz, Paret-Peintre, Jorgenson, Johannessen, Garcia Pierna and Schmid.
In the peloton, the gap is down to 6’30”, curbing Carapaz’s GC infiltration but far too big to contest the stage win. But will anyone be tempted to try something on the final climb to Orcieres-Merlette?
14km to go
UAE Team Emirates won’t take legal action against hit-and-run road rage driver
In a dramatic coda to this story, Brandon McNulty, struggling with illness today, has just abandoned the race. That’s a big blow for UAE…
Mads Pedersen ploughing, front groups splitting
Mads Pedersen won the sprint at a canter, no one even bothered to contest it against him. Since then, the group of 14 has splintered. We now have a front group of six comprising Carapaz, Paret-Peintre, Jorgenson, Johannessen, Mauro Schmid, and Raul Garcia Pierna. They’ve built up a minute on the other riders who were in that front group, whilst the large group appear to have given up, with the gap to them ballooning out beyond three minutes.
Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet is still persisting though, raging against the dying of the light of his own career and his chances of stage success. He’s attracted a splinter group of half a dozen or so riders who aren’t willing to wait to be swallowed up by the peloton just yet.
The peloton is still eight minutes off the front of the peloton but is now led by a strange coalition of wildcard teams, Pinarello Q36.5, Total Energies and Tudor working on behalf of Tom Pidcock, Jordan Jegat and Yannis Voisard in 8th, 9th and 10th respectively to try and protect their GC positions from Richard Carapaz who appears to have accidentally ridden into the top-10 in pursuit of stage wins and mountain points.
35km, and two climbs to go…
A day for the break, but which one?
60km remain and the 14-strong group are continuing to cooperate, whilst the group behind works, splinters and faulters. The gap was down to 30 seconds at one point but is back up to 1’15” as a splinter group comprising Michael Matthews, Michal Kwiatkowski and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet have popped off and gained 20 seconds on the chasers.
The peloton remain UAE-led and, depleted in strength, are taking it easy, the gap has stretched out towards eight minutes.
Meanwhile, here comes the intermediate sprint. It’s been a hell of an effort from Mads Pedersen to make it up the road over all these climbs, surely he’s not going to throw it away. With teammate Vacek for company, he should be fine…
New active travel minister appointed in Cabinet reshuffle
Well, does it count as a reshuffle if the Prime Minister is themself replaced? In any event, Andy Burnham has continued his government building since becoming Prime Minister on Monday, and as a result, Lilian Greenwood has left her role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Transport (definitely not PUSSLT for short).
It’s been a huge privilege to serve as a Transport Minister over the past 2 years.
I’m very proud of the work I’ve been part of – from driving forward a new Road Safety Strategy to taking action on pavement parking and making our transport network safer for everyone. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/FtjGFnR6Kb
— Lilian Greenwood (@LilianGreenwood) July 23, 2026
Greenwood tweeted that she won’t be leaving government and will instead be moving to the Department of Work and Pensions. During her time, the government published its new Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy and issued council guidance to encourage safer street design for women and girls. Greenwood has also supported Waymo’s driverless car pilots on the streets of London, saying they would “make the streets safer.”
Her replacement is Justin Madders, who previously served as a Business minister until last September, and is the MP for Ellesmere Port in the Wirral. He and Chris Boardman might get on. He’s confirmed his appointment in a tweet this afternoon. I would include more details but the details themselves are somewhat scant…
I’m pleased to have been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport in Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s new Government. pic.twitter.com/tYrKgIWZYa
— Justin Madders (@justinmadders) July 23, 2026
Coagulates
Wow, Paret-Peintre has almost singlehandedly closed the gap to the leading octet, but in doing so has brought Carapaz and a host of other climbers with him. Having reached the front of the race 850m from the top of the category-2 climb he moves to the front to lead out before launching a late acceleration to take maximum points. He’s now 9 points behind Pogacar as it stands.
So, we now have lead group of 14 riders, including both the green and polka dot jersey wearers. Egan Bernal is now at the front, along with Johannessen, Jorgenson and Arensman.
Behind, there’s been what I’m going to call a massive coagulation. 28 riders have 1’14” to make up on the front of the race, and just over 2’30” on the peloton. Pretty much every stage hunter you could think of is there, but no one high up on GC.
The peloton is now 4 minutes behind the front of the race and led by UAE’s Nils Politt. Adam Yates, impressively is still in the peloton and has been seen getting bottles from the team car. Maybe he’s feeling better than we thought? 90km to go…
In the meantime...
Whilst we wait for the racing to calm down somewhat, why don’t you read or listen to some work from our own correspondent? Ryan spent the last rest day with Tudor Pro Cycling for the podcast, and has worked out what riders do when they don’t have to do anything. And the answer’s not nothing… Read or listen below:
And don’t think that this anti-doping alarm clock story is going anywhere, Visma DS Marc Reef has shared some thoughts with us on the whole issue and he’s not impressed…
Breaks break away
For the last half hour EF, spearheaded by Ben Healy, have tried to bridge across to the break. But nothing worked, instead for 20km we’ve had the break pegged at 30 seconds. Finally Healy managed to pull free of the peloton and has taken four riders with him. Meanwhile a third group of escapees has just tried to break off the peloton, including Richard Carapaz and Valentin Paret-Peintre.
So, the 8-strong front group includes Matteo Jorgenson, Thymen Arensman, and Tobias Johannessen as well as a certain Mads Pedersen. They have 55 seconds on the 5-strong Healy group, 1’10” on the Carapaz – Paret-Peintre group (the skinny Frenchman has two teammates for company) and 1’25” on the peloton.
Just as I type that, the Healy group sit up. Bloody hell…
Let’s try again, the 8-strong break have 1’10 on a group of 9 chasers and 1’30” on the peloton. 105km remain but we’re about to start climbing again… and the attacks keep coming from behind
UK Grand Depart launch in London
If you’re in or around King’s Cross this afternoon or early evening, the Tour de France Grand Depart pop-up stall is set up today, with a turbo trainer and plenty of information about next year’s race…
View this post on Instagram
And on the subject of encouraging people to cycle, yesterday British Cycling announced their own ‘Couch to 5k’ model, ‘Sofa to Saddle’. The app contains tips and support to encourage people to ride over eight weeks. The launch video contains Victoria Pendleton and a treacherous rugby bloke…
As observed in yesterday’s blog comments, the media appearances discussing the campaign were, irritatingly, sidetracked by discussions about cyclists and motorists sharing roads.
Fingers crossed the campaign works but compared to Couch to 5k, cycling requires a lot more ‘stuff’ than a pair of trainers. Here’s hoping the app can go some way to bridging that gap…
Askey up, McNulty back
Not much to report so far from the front of the race, Lewis Askey made it into the day’s early breakaway but they’ve just started climbing on the day’s first climb and the 45 seconds gap they gained is being whittled away quickly.
But at the back of the race, Brandon McNulty, who was hit by a driver reconning Tuesday’s time trial, is off the back and seems out of sorts. The TNT commentators say that he too is suffering from illness, UAE will be desperate to ensure that doesn’t spread.
But with McNulty and Yates out of sorts, and hang on now Tim Wellens dangling off the back, it looks like we could see a much more defensive ride from UAE. That could be blessed relief for riders hoping to get in the breakaway. Still 8km of the first climb to go…
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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Latest Comments
@Rendel Harris "Perhaps lethality should be measured as drivers/cyclists found guilty of causing death per chosen metric, rather than simply numbers killed?" Given the filter of the court system that would a) likely only introduce another source of bias and b) mean the cycling numbers had dubious statistical meaning relative to the motoring ones since after removing e-motorbikes (unless we didn't? But even then...) that is ... one or two in the last 5+ years?
@mdavidford You've made me curious so checked: in Devon and Torbay (in common with many councils, apparently), any project under £500,000 can be internally approved by the Corporate Director for Strategy, Performance, and Sustainability, whereas any project costing in excess of £500,000 needs a full cabinet vote. So it looks suspiciously as though there's been a bit of jiggery-pokery with the numbers to avoid full cabinet scrutiny.
From the screenshots, the software looks very similar to the Coospo CS600. I used it for a tour in Ireland and on the first day, I realised that the map of Ireland wasn't loaded by default. I could see my route as breadcrumbs but not the road or anything else around me. It looked very similar to what you saw when you went off-route. Are you sure you had the map of Scotland in your unit? Luckily for me, at the end of the first day, after tons of searches, trials and errors, I managed to download the map of Ireland into my phone, connect the Coospo to my phone as an external drive and upload the map. Not an easy task but that solved the problem. For the next five days I had a proper map to navigate. Regardless of that, I sent it back. Loading routes into it was a real PITA, the routes the app plotted were terrible compared to Komoot's and it didn't have re-routing.
@Rendel Harris I'm not sure why trips made is a better metric than miles travelled, but yes, that does yield a 9x difference for cars vs bicycles in pedestrian deaths. The real anomaly using that basis, though, are motorcyclists, who are a staggering 72x more likely to kill a pedestrian per trip than a cyclist. That suggests that speed, more than mass, is the real danger. And that young men are the greatest danger of all.
@chrisonabike Indeed, you put your finger on another problem with the fatality statistics in that we don't know in how many of the fatal incidents the driver/cyclist was to blame. If the two cyclist-caused-pedestrian fatalities the pedestrian was drunk and fell off the pavement into the path of the cyclist that could obviously change the lethality ratio considerably if factored in. Perhaps lethality should be measured as drivers/cyclists found guilty of causing death per chosen metric, rather than simply numbers killed?
Finally (on cyclists and junctions) cyclists may not be as observant themselves there. While junctions are high-mental-workload spaces (or should be...) for all road users I suspect cyclists - mixing with the motor traffic - are going to be focusing strongly on that for obvious reasons. Which is again why in places which are more advanced in this respect not only are junctions given better designs *, but network-level thought goes in to routes for each mode, the better to minimise the need for interactions. Especially when speeds might be higher. * Separation in space and/or time when modes cross, explicit space for different modes so it's clear who goes where / what to expect...
I'm not sure about the "60% of pedestrians killed at junctions are killed by cyclists" number, but i *could* believe it's relatively high. Why? Other "qualitative differences" - "noticeability" and "expectation". In the simplest sense cyclists are smaller and quieter than motor vehicles. (There's a lot of "looking with our ears" when eg. crossing roads believe). But more: in the UK we *expect* cars. We've learned to deal with cars both by formal teaching and daily experience. We know "how drivers behave" - where to expect them. I strongly suspect it's not just drivers "only looking for the motor vehicles". We don't *expect* cyclists. And (if taken at face value) there's a lot of quote anecdata that people are genuinely surprised by them / completely unfamiliar with cyclist behaviour on roads (except "they all jump red lights"...) - "came out of nowhere" / "never saw them" / " they were down the road, then suddenly they were right there" / wasn't expecting them to"...
A key one is "speed" as obviously injury is strongly related to that, and the 20-30mph region is where IIRC "mostly injured" crosses over to "mostly killed". Cars would be expected to be at higher speeds, for more of the time. That may be reduced in some places however eg. congested rush hours, and where "mixing" may be most likely the environment may cue lower speeds (narrow streets).
Stepping back, given that humans operate both cars and bikes maybe a *qualitative* "what differs" might be instructive? (Putting to one side for a moment what may be mostly a motornormative prejudice: that drivers are in some way "more responsible". Variations "more to lose because they've paid for a car" / "but trained and licenced" / "more accountable because number plates" / "only (man)children and crims who can't afford cars cycle" etc).
@AidanR I wonder how it would change the stats if one looked at deaths per trip? According to the NTS the average person makes 15 cycle trips a year and 357 as a car driver, so 23x more driving trips than cycling ones but 182x the pedestrian deaths so by that calculation cars are 8x more lethal. Take out the 20% of car trips on motorways and you have one death per 51M trips motoring and one death per 487M trips cycling, so motoring becomes almost 10x more lethal. I know one can make statistics do anything one wishes by changing the metrics but that figure seems a more realistic approximation of relative lethality to me. All this of course is before we count all the other deaths caused by motorists that cyclists almost never cause, i.e. motorcycle riders, car passengers etc, almost five times the pedestrian numbers, cars then become 50x more lethal than bikes...
28 thoughts on ““This is a nightmare”: Instructor tells learner driver going 15mph behind cyclist in a 20mph zone; New active travel minister appointed; 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.
They might be, if there was a chance to pass safely, which there wasn’t.
They’re not correct to delegitimise another road user proceeding entirely normally by implying, at length, that they’re a nuisance and at fault, or to inculcate a sense of frustration in their learner at normal road use.
@jackcycles If the cyclist is doing 15mph and the posted limit is 20mph there is no safe overtaking situation. the likelihood of that road being narrow and busy with pedestrians etc (kind of the reasons to have a 20mph enforced) means the driver should learn constraint and concentrate on all other elements of the situation around them not purely on the speed of the cyclist. This is where many poor drivers get sucked in and focus only on trying to get around the slower vehicle instead of keeping a better situational awareness of all potential hazards.
Because of this, I would suggest this in itself is an invaluable lesson to learn when controlling a metal box on wheels around more vulnerable road users. Its a shame the instructor decided to focus on a negative than take the positive out of the situation .
@Smoggysteve
I ran the numbers (because I’m a geek like that) and with a 5mph difference in speed, the car driver would need to see approximately 120 meters of clear road ahead before considering an overtaking manoeuvre of a 15mph cyclist in a 20 zone, and that doesn’t account for the delay in the car accelerating from speed-matching to overtaking at the limit.
If the cyclist was actually doing nearer 17mph (because the instructor was exaggerating the “slowness” of the cyclist) then the car would require more than 200 meters of clear road before attempting to overtake.
Those kind of gaps aren’t rare, but they’re certainly not all that common either. Uncommon enough that overtaking should NOT be first instinct for the driver in that situation, but would be obvious if a suitable opportunity is missed.
@ROOTminus1 Unfortunately, people will still do all they can to get past. the MGIFs can’t help themselves and are a danger to everyone not only the cyclist.
1) If the student is frustrated 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.
“Painfully slow that is”…
If THAT speed is painfull, what about going even slower (or being stationary) behind a queue of drivers?
“Do you think he has any idea he has a trail of cars behind him?”
A trail of cars that is MOVING.
What about when a trail of cars is stuck moving even slower or stationary in rush hour traffic??
@mitsky I can answer the first question.
1. Complete indifference. Its cars innit? Anyway, its probably a cyclists fault that there is traffic. Cyclists are held to a completely different set of rules and standards to cars despite cars being far worse in basically every area.
Most people drive cars. Most people don’t ride bikes on our roads. Until that changes, attitudes won’t change.
The actual title (as opposed to the captioned title) is even more irking (irkish? irkful?): “…a cyclists…”? – sort it out Danny!
@mdavidford Could that lack of fluency in English possibly be described as irksome?
Nah – it’s entirely irky, not just some of it.
@mdavidford Could that lack of fluency in English possibly be described as irksome?
There is a 20mph road, not that far from me, which has dashed line cycle lanes on either side and road humps with gaps in them. If the drivers swerve into the bike lane then then they can avoid the road humps. It is often used by Driving schools to teach drivers and I always see driving instructors actively teaching learner drivers to swerve in an out of the bike lane. When I used to commute along it I had to remonstrate with drivers a few times for blindly doing this and swerving into my path when was using the lane.
Daniel Smith demonstrates the overwhelming motonormativity in society, and his attitude stinks. He’s probably capable of teaching people to pass their test, otherwise he’d be out of business, but he doesn’t teach people to be tolerant of other road users, which in turn generates contempt and the likelihood of drivers translating that into driving dangerously around cyclists.
Nothing demonstrates his appalling attitude better than the fact he chose to post this embarrassingly awful video himself, as if he thinks it shows his teaching skills.
Clearly driver training and the driving test need to change to meet modern time poor driving conditions.
I suggest the following need to be added to the practical test :
1) Undertaking on pavements.
2) Close passing cyclists or horses at 50mph.(It is clear from the comments on this website that cyclists do not appreciate how difficult a skill this is to master).
3) Threading between bollards to park on pavements near fast food outlets.
4) Steering with the knees while using a mobile phone and eating a burger or sushi, depending on the area.
5) Fighting with cyclists at roundabouts. For the advanced driving test the fighting will be with gangs of Hell’s Angels or Mods.
6) Handbrake turns.
7) Driving at speed after all night parties.
8) Selecting the wrong gear and smashing into somebody’s living room.
The theory test could be shortened to make room for these practical additions. Maybe it could just be distilled down to learning crucial phrases like :
“The cyclist came out of nowhere!”
“I had the children in the car.”
“I had hunger knock and urgently needed an egg Mcmuffin.”
“I didn’t see them.”
“I had been to a party and was wearing different shoes.”
@Mr Blackbird motorists who drink alcohol should be required to pass the test twice, once sober and once after three drinks in two hours. Then they can get an endorsement on their licence for driving home from the pub after a few pints.
If they can pass after 6, does that mean that they should be given a free pass, or permanently banned in case they try it again?
Sooner or later, there will be public calls for cycling ban on specific roads and / or at specific times of the day. The great divide that separates cyclists from drivers of motorized vehicles with 4-plus wheels isn’t going to narrow anytime soon. In spite of the net-zero madness, there is zip political ambition to allocate massive funds to cycling, build proper infrastructure, elaborate a nationwide integrated cycling network, educate all road users. Why? Because motorists of all kinds are voters and taxpayers.
@MaxiMinimalist
We can fear such a ban to varying degrees.
But I’d be surprised if it happens.
Even if it does the police don’t have the resource and time to deal with dangerous drivers.
So I guess they will ignore it anway.
@mitsky Nail on head time there. Police, time, resource, all wrapped up in one little sentence.
For the same speed, cyclists are either riding dangerously fast or holding up traffic because they are riding slowly
And I bet the driving instructor posted that whilst feeling proud and confident that he handled that whole episode correctly. 🤦🏻
Somewhat distasteful but pertinent to those interested in the race: much speculation online as to why Pogacar was wearing black shorts today (or a skinsuit done up to look like a yellow jersey/black shorts combo, opinion differs – Del Toro was also wearing black shorts instead of the all-white he’s favoured as best young rider). Apparently it’s the first time in four years that he’s eschewed the all-yellow skinsuit, and with the rumours of a gastric virus sweeping through the UAE camp…no need to explain further…
The race might not be over yet! Should imagine Remco will be watching what outfit Tadej appears in today with interest.
I was cycle touring last week, Newcastle to Edinburgh on the Coast and Castles route. Much of it is on dedicated cycle paths but I am at grateful that in six days and especially on narrow country lanes and short stretches of A and B roads I only met with patience and kindness from drivers. I’m thinking of one road in particular that was quite winding, and drivers had to wait a while to pass safely due to blind corners. They must have all had better driving instructors! Some of the worst run-ins I’ve had here in London have been with driving instructors. And cab drivers – both professional drivers who should know better.
@Beryl Meanwhile, back in real life, I was cycling around Garstang last week being subjected to repeated attacks by Stagecoach drivers, secure in the knowledge that Lancashire Constabulary would be only too pleased to have them run over any cyclist they see (which is hardly any), with the consequences removed by the massively overmanned LC Driver Excuses Directorate:
ttps://upride.cc/incident/px12dnv_stagecoach41_closepass/
ttps://upride.cc/incident/px12dmv_stagecoach40_closepass/
ttps://upride.cc/incident/px60beo_stagecoach41-closepass/
Of course, it’s not only Stagecoach drivers- we have plenty of Psycho Lancashire drivers in standard Psycho vehicles
ttps://upride.cc/incident/vo20xvf_bmw_closepass/
PS Other pathologically anti-cyclist forces are operating on The Dark Side: e.g Police Scotland and Kent