Friggin Cyclists

[douglasgdmw]

Sandra nearly put the car in a ditch on the way home tonight thanks to a bunch of cyclists. She came over the crest of a hill, which has a left right kink, to be confronted by a bunch of 8-10 cyclists with their flashing led lights and was completely blinded.

She had to slam on the anchors and lucky knew the road but car was nearly in the ditch thanks to these guys/gals.

To be honest, I am getting a bit miffed with the cycling community (and I know some are better than others) however as we live in the countryside on a popular cycling route, we either experience:
- cyclists with death wishes who think that lights or reflective clothing is not required and complain when you can't see them decked in black on black roads
- cyclists who decide to stop at the top of blind hill and are surprised when you go close as you can't see them
- cyclists in groups who dazzle on coming traffic

Just wondering what the law is regarding cycling in large groups and these blinding flashing lights, Sandra was close to reporting them tonight.

George

[graeme]

Reporting them for what? She sounds like a sh*t driver to me.

What ever happened to, "Hmm, I didn't anticipate that. Maybe I should pay more attention instead of blaming other road users who don't seem to be doing anything wrong at all..."

What a load of self-entitled nonsense.

[hendeg]

I dabble in the odd bit of bit of cycling with a few other guys from here and I see both sides to the argument (as usual).

There are some cyclists that do themselves no favours and put themselves in risky situations. They're perfectly entitled to do so but they're putting themselves and other road users in danger. I pass a guy cycling up the Tyrebagger on the A96 most mornings but the he's going so slowly in relation to the other traffic that some cars are slamming on their brakes right behind him because they've not space to pull into the other lane. It's worse if they're behind another car which can make it out. Some better driving might help but it's an accident waiting to happen.

I was driving home from work last night on the back road from Dyce behind Kirkhill Forest which is a road used by a few cyclists so I was keeping an eye out. I came round a corner at a sedate pace to have the low sun straight in my eyes. Just at the last minute I saw a cyclist going up the hill in front of me and it was only thanks to has flashing rear light that I saw him. That was a lesson to me to have my lights on in low sun conditions.

Graeme makes a valid point though. Anything could've been round that corner and she should be in a position to handle that. I'm not taking the higher moral ground because I've been in similar situations but I wouldn't blame the cyclists for being there. If she couldn't see, she should've slowed down.

[C7Steve]

There is a good chance that there was an SE member cycling in that group last night according to their Strava account information.

Livingston area?


Steve.

[Jeremy]

In my experience any cyclist v non cyclist chat is right up there with nationalist v non nationalist, brexit v remain or rangers v celtic. Snowflakes look away now. If in doubt take a look at some of the youtube footage posted up by cyclists or car users and the comments that ensue.

For what it's worth Douglas, I wasn't there so can't comment on the incident with your wife but I've been dazzled on many an occasion by just a solitary cyclist whose LED light appeared to be strategically aimed over onto oncoming traffic. So I can imagine being confronted with a group of these could create an unpleasant situation.

I'm all for cyclists having rights on the road (G and I have been known to enjoy a Sunday pedalling session so I class myself as one) but with rights come responsibilities. Sadly a small minority always seem to let the side down. You could say the same about motorists of course but 2 wrongs have never made 1 right.

Regards,

Jerem

[rawsco]

Reporting them for what? She sounds like a sh*t driver to me.

What ever happened to, "Hmm, I didn't anticipate that. Maybe I should pay more attention instead of blaming other road users who don't seem to be doing anything wrong at all..."

What a load of self-entitled nonsense.

This. ^

The sooner presumed liability gets into law the better. Too many cyclists are killed and maimed because drivers have no respect for them or their safety.

R

[Doc883]

There is a good chance that there was an SE member cycling in that group last night according to their Strava account information.
Livingston area? Steve.

Which road was this as I was out last night along the Lang Whang towards Balerno and then back via Kirknewton in a group of 8 riders:
https://www.strava.com/activities/902938414

[ryallm]

Reporting them for what? She sounds like a sh*t driver to me.

What ever happened to, "Hmm, I didn't anticipate that. Maybe I should pay more attention instead of blaming other road users who don't seem to be doing anything wrong at all..."

What a load of self-entitled nonsense.

This. ^

The sooner presumed liability gets into law the better. Too many cyclists are killed and maimed because drivers have no respect for them or their safety.

R

This 2 ^

If you were driving with the correct amount of observation and anticipation a group of cyclists would not be a problem, flashing lights or not. Consider this, if the worst had happened and she had ploughed into the back of the cyclists there is absolutely no question that the law would (quite rightly) consider the driver to be at fault. I always ride with a rear light day and night and feel far safer with it. Even the very brightest rear bike lights on the market are rarely more than around 80 lumen- this is about what you get from some LED car brake lights. Uncomfortable to be directly behind, certainly. Completely blinding for a car at a safe distance? Eh, no. Illegal? Eh, nope, not even a little bit.

[flyingscot68]

Sandra nearly put the car in a ditch on the way home tonight thanks to a bunch of cyclists. She came over the crest of a hill, which has a left right kink, to be confronted by a bunch of 8-10 cyclists with their flashing led lights and was completely blinded.

She had to slam on the anchors and lucky knew the road but car was nearly in the ditch thanks to these guys/gals.

To be honest, I am getting a bit miffed with the cycling community (and I know some are better than others) however as we live in the countryside on a popular cycling route, we either experience:
- cyclists with death wishes who think that lights or reflective clothing is not required and complain when you can't see them decked in black on black roads
- cyclists who decide to stop at the top of blind hill and are surprised when you go close as you can't see them
- cyclists in groups who dazzle on coming traffic

Just wondering what the law is regarding cycling in large groups and these blinding flashing lights, Sandra was close to reporting them tonight.

George

So if she'd come over the hill to be confronted by a broken down truck/car/bus/tractor?

Sorry but that's her bad in my opinion, if you're about to run in to the back of whatever, you're at fault.

[graeme]

Reporting them for what? She sounds like a sh*t driver to me.

What ever happened to, "Hmm, I didn't anticipate that. Maybe I should pay more attention instead of blaming other road users who don't seem to be doing anything wrong at all..."

What a load of self-entitled nonsense.

A few friends here whose opinions I respect have pointed out that my initial response might have been a tad... erm... unforgiving.

In my defence, the title and contents of the OP are a little antagonistic.

Apologies. More politeness in future.

[pete]

Just wondering what the law is regarding cycling in large groups and these blinding flashing lights, Sandra was close to reporting them tonight.

George

Generally speaking, the law is no more than 2 abreast. Nothing about large groups AFAIK, Highway Code say that "slow moving vehicles" should allow faster traffic past but it's moot how often they should stop. Also give bikes the same amount of room as you would a car.

Were they going the same way or opposite direction? The new LED lights can be very bright and are often badly adjusted.

There's a huge education campaign for all road users on sharing the space that is massively overdue - for both sides.

[douglasgdmw]

There is a good chance that there was an SE member cycling in that group last night according to their Strava account information.
Livingston area? Steve.

Which road was this as I was out last night along the Lang Whang towards Balerno and then back via Kirknewton in a group of 8 riders:
https://www.strava.com/activities/902938414

Doc883,

Not going to shy away from it but it may have been you guys I am afraid

I suspect you would have been travelling towards Balerno as she was going in the opposite direction (you know where I live as you kindly bought my old 335 alloys).

I should have said in the original post that it was the equivalent of being faced with a car approaching you with full beam lights on. Now if I ranted about a car not going from full beam to dipped beam them I am sure the reaction on this post would have been different !!!!

This is what annoys me as on-coming traffic, there has to be a responsibility to ensure that the people coming towards you are not blinded. However as its a cyclist vs car argument everyone assumes the car driver is in the wrong.

Now do not get me wrong - we both give cyclists a very wide berth and probably a lot more than most cars do on the road. I also want to make sure that both the cyclist is not injured or my own wife is not injured by them as well.

Doc as you met me (and hopefully you found me a nice guy), can I kindly ask that your cycling group think about the impact of your lights on other road users and make sure they are not angled at oncoming traffic/have 1 or 2 of the group with the white led flashing.

You guys need to be seen (and I have seen cyclists on that route in darkness without reflective clothing or lights) however dazzling oncoming traffic is a road hazard in my book.

George

Ps No annimosity I hope and give me a heads up and the gusy can pop in to fill up your juice bottles and rest your legs next time

[BiggestNizzy]

This place has become an outlet of rage recently.

So here is my 2p

Legally you have to prepare yourself for all eventualities as you round a bend or go over the brow of a hill wither that is a cyclist trundling along or a tractor parked at the side of the road. lets be honest with ourselves we don't all crawl round blind bends and as a result on occasion we get caught out. On the whole we all get away with it with nothing more than ruined underpants. As a result it's not really fair to go on an self righteous rant when someone makes a mistake. This is true for all modes of transport. I can just walk straight out on a zebra crossing and legally all traffic should stop.

So we should all drive safe be wary of all road users because it's no use being right if your dead.

[campbell]

Outlet of rage.

Well it seems to be settling back down just fine in this thread at least.

Frank exchange of views, opposing points of view heard, no major name calling, and everyone is a little more the wiser in the end.

Result, no?

How refreshing. How Heineken.

Speaking of which. It's Friday. It's now beer o'clock

[j2 lot]

I am firmly in the 'friggin cyclist' camp I was left with permanent shoulder disability after a cyclist pulled out on me on my motorbike in 2014.
To be fair his 2 colleagues confirmed to Police that he was totally to blame and he was subsequently charged with Dangerous cycling. He had no memory of the accident and although injured made a full recovery. My injuries were more serious despite having full protective gear vs his Lycra
Thankfully I eventually got a settlement as he had insurance through his cycle club but it looked for a long time like I was going to be left high and dry.
So in my opinion icyclists should be required to have public liability insurance if they are going to cycle on the roads.