Why people don’t cycle more
Short answer: because car drivers are arseholes.
Long answer: I’m cycling home, and there’s a pinch point where the kerb on each side renders the road wide enough for one car only. And, since I’m cycling—and because I’m cycling defensively, i.e. taking the lane rather than cowering within a centimetre of the kerb—the car behind can’t get past until the road widens again in about 20m. The **** driving the car beeps.
Beep-beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
What am I supposed to do? Not exist? (Hint: the correct answer is, apparently, yes.) Should I stop, mount the kerb, and defer to my master in his automobile? Does owning a car also give you ownership of the road?
As the road widens, the car pulls past me. The driver slows and enquires threateningly:
Do you want to get killed?
Fuck this Nietzschean bullshit.
That’s why people don’t cycle more.
2010-03-11 01:02 UTC. Comments: 16.
Sven Ellis
Wrote at 2010-03-11 02:12 UTC using Firefox 3.6 on Windows XP:
Blogging it might get the rage out, but you’d be better employed reporting it to the police. You might get a bit of raised eyebrows and sighing, but they’ll have to take a report and contact the driver. Best not to underplay the trauma. If, for example, the shock had caused you to fall off your bike and damage it, you can insist on his name and address in order to contact his insurance company.Pauls says
Wrote at 2010-03-11 03:28 UTC using Opera 9.27 on Windows XP:
Well I agree with you.Question 1 – How many readers know that the drivers are breaking the law in doing such actions ?
Question 2 – How many people know why these drivers are breaking the law ?
Also did you know that these drivers; if someone really wanted to be perdantic, could actually be taken to court, even though no damage or personal loss was caused ? (but you would need a good Barister).
As the idiot car drivers are not aware, they have “a legal obligation … to give due care and consideation to all road users.” it is part of the Highway Code which ALL road users are legally obliged to abide by.
Sven Ellis is correct, if you were ever realistically effected at any point (either mentally or physically), then action should be taken via Police and or a “personal legal claim”.
Fortunetly I do not suffer such problems when I use my bike; so it proves there are good drivers out there, and hope that our local intellegence spreads to your area A.S.A.P.
djce
Wrote at 2010-03-11 07:16 UTC using Mozilla 1.9.0.18 on Linux:
And in other news, some cyclists are arseholes too.The other day I was crossing the road (i.e. as a pedestrian) and because I didn’t get out of the way quite quickly enough for his liking, a cyclist (on the road) thumped me in the back as he cycled by.
Chill the fuck out, everyone! :-)
Kristian
Wrote at 2010-03-11 08:51 UTC using Chrome 3.0.195.33 on Windows XP:
I’d have to agree with djce: road users and their degree of consideration is normally distributed. I ride a motor bike to work everyday and there are drivers that are arseholes, drivers who are morons and drivers who are clearly nervous and not very good. It’s likewise for the cyclists and the guys on mopeds etc…For every arsehole like the one you ran into, I like to console myself with the thought of how many ppl use the road and that was only one. Probably not a bad ratio.
Paul Battley
Wrote at 2010-03-11 09:07 UTC using Chrome 5.0.346.0 on Linux:
djce, that’s completely unacceptable behaviour, I agree.Everyone should be able to travel without being threatened with death—physically or verbally—just because they’re not going fast enough.
The reality is that I as a cyclist can expect three or four instances of threatening behaviour from a driver every week—and that threat is backed up by a couple of tonnes of killer metal. I’m sick of it.
It’s illegal to drive without due care and consideration, but it’s almost impossible to prove. Realistically, I’d struggle to get the police to do anything about it.
Tim
Wrote at 2010-03-11 09:09 UTC using Firefox 3.5.8 on Linux:
djce, it’s a very fine line between “didn’t get out of the way of” and “stepped right in front of (without looking)” – as a cyclist I see a lot more of the latter. Not that I’m condoning any kind of thumping, which I guess could also be reported to the police as assault if that’s the society we now live in. And I’m all in favour of chilling out.I know it’s not a universally popular attitude among cyclists, but to me, this tale just further strengthens the case for segregated cycle lanes in busy areas. I want routes where my aging mum can cycle into town, or I can with my baby daughter in her crossbar seat without fearing for our lives or getting half-threats from psychotic drivers. I often wonder what percentage of cycling injuries/deaths don’t involve a motor vehicle.
Kirsty
Wrote at 2010-03-11 12:15 UTC using Opera 9.80 on Windows XP:
Paul,“It’s illegal to drive without due care and consideration, but it’s almost impossible to prove”
Search for “MD80” on www.ebay.co.uk. It’s a miniature camera which records to MicroSD cards with a 2hr battery life. Should be good to fasten one to the front of your bicycle and another to the rear. I’ve seen “helmet-cam” demos of this little recorder and the quality will be enough for you to nail the inconsiderate drivers. The resolution will easily pick out number plates.
If nothing else this little gadget should appeal to your Electronic Engineering passions…edge detection algos come to mind.
Mark
Wrote at 2010-03-11 21:11 UTC using Chrome 5.0.342.1 on Linux:
To me all this shows is the general impatience of people in our society these days.I too cycled to work for almost 5 years and as a result have had 2 personal injuries due to driver negligence in that time (car door opened on me and turning right in front of me). Neither resulted in long term damage luckily, but did result in quite a bit of time off work and getting the solicitors involved.
I am planning on riding a motorbike to work soon (need to travel for work these days…), but the number of crap drivers out there is making me thing twice about it and having a second car in the household instead, which I really don’t want to do – I have always hated the fact that nearly every car has one person in it, what an absolute waste. At least I will be able to command the road I guess, which should put me in a better safer position than when on a cycle.
The mini cameras sound like a good idea, I assume you’re cycling in the Greater London area?
Tom Ward
Wrote at 2010-03-12 18:41 UTC using Chrome 5.0.342.1 on Mac OS X:
I had a similar but worse experience last year. Cycling down Moorgate, there was a parked post van ahead. I checked behind, saw there was a good 30 metres of open road before the next car, pulled out and started passing the van. As I was passing I heard car horn blaring, still some way behind but getting closer. I pulled in after the van, the blaring continued, and about 10 seconds later the car swerved across the road in front of me, forcing me onto the pavement in a manner that can only have been deliberate.I still have no idea what the driver took offence to; I didn’t cut him up or even delay him. At the next lights I tried taking a photo of his licence plate, but was shaking too much to get a good picture.
The point isn’t that drivers are bad or cyclists are good, but that bad or in this case malicious drivers can intimidate and harm cyclists without risking themselves in any way.
Sim
Wrote at 2010-03-13 20:11 UTC using Chrome 5.0.348.0 on Linux:
Totally agree with commenter Kirsty – a bike cam is what you need. I carry one daily. When things go wrong, hand over the evidence to the cops. D***head driver gets a good talking to. You win.Sim.
Richard Livsey
Wrote at 2010-03-14 13:07 UTC using Safari 531.21.10 on Mac OS X:
My “favourite” behaviour of Spanish drivers (I never had this happen to me in London) is having them overtake me and then immediately cut me up to turn off a side-road.I likewise get people beeping me because I cycle defensively, especially on roundabouts where drivers have a tendency to try and run cyclists off the road.
fophillips
Wrote at 2010-03-14 17:39 UTC using Chrome 5.0.307.11 on Linux:
Playing devil’s advocate slightly here, but…“Does owning a car also give you ownership of the road?”
It’s called road tax, cyclists don’t pay it.
Paul Battley
Wrote at 2010-03-15 13:05 UTC using Chrome 5.0.353.0 on Mac OS X:
That’s not so much devil’s advocacy as ignorance, I’m afraid.There is no ‘road tax’. Vehicle Excise Duty is not hypothecated for spending on roads: along with other taxes and duties, it goes into central revenues, from which roads are funded. Beyond the obvious fact that money is fungible, there’s no meaning to the concept of a ‘road tax’. We all pay for it in some way. Car drivers pay more, but heavy motor vehicles contribute more to wear and tear than do bicycles.
It also ignores the fact that many cyclists are also car owners (although I myself am not).
And the idea that ‘I paid, therefore I rule the road’ is exactly the kind of Nietzschean bullshit I’m talking about.
Ash
Wrote at 2010-03-16 18:19 UTC using Firefox 3.0.18 on Linux:
@fophillipsGet your point but…to a large degree the road system is built on a system of thoroughfares and rights-of-way which existed before the invention of Tarmac.
There are just dickheads everywhere.
tom
Wrote at 2010-03-28 18:21 UTC using Mozilla 1.9.2.2 on Windows XP:
I like cycling to work but the goal is to feel like the least stressed person on the road, rather than the most marginalised member of society. I recommend a wee holiday every few months to reset the aggro-ometer. I walk in for a week and return to cycling feeling much better.Regarding the traffic-calming you describe, those road narrowing devices are way outdated. They use cyclists as moving obstacles to slow other vehicles. Modern versions should have a gap so cyclists can pass straight through (there’s then a smaller issue of debris build-up but still, it’s an improvement).
I’m sure this advice is present in whatever publication the council uses as its road furniture bible.
When I wanted a cycle rack near my local shop, I wrote the council an email. It turned out the roads dept was all to eager to put the rack in – they don’t cycle and I suppose struggle to think how to spend that wee bit of the budget allocated to cycling stuff.
So, you should email them about your dangerous narrow traffic restrainer, with a reference to the new advice on cyclist pass-throughs,l and bob’s your uncle, you’ll feel great! They should have rewards for this sort of thing.
Good luck with it.
BSRU
Wrote at 2010-03-31 14:27 UTC using Firefox 3.6.2 on Windows XP:
As a driver/cyclist and previously a biker, the problem of bad cyclists/drivers/riders/pedestrians comes about because of the total lack of traffic police. So far this year I have seen one cop on a motorbike and nothing else. This is leading to bad/inconsiderate road users realising that they can do what they want with no fear of being caught.