Are there more stupid cyclists in good weather?
Tom Meltzer on the phenomenon of fair-weather rage | Life and style | The Guardian
This article has an astonishingly charitable attitude towards cyclists who hit pedestrians and then get angry with them, but suggests that fair weather brings out an awful lot of cyclists who don’t know how to do it properly because they would otherwise drive. As a regular myself, I have to say that a lot of real regulars use cycle routes which aren’t widely known, i.e. the back lane routes rather than main roads. However, the idiots are out in all weathers and are not seasonal cyclists.
I have to say that stupid cyclists bother me hugely as both a cyclist and a pedestrian, including those who cycle recklessly along shared, or outright pedestrian-only, streets, or along pavements without good visibility when there is a perfectly good road right next to them. A few weeks ago, I was outside the Kingston Guildhall and heard some guy shout “CYCLIST!”, twice, basically to clear “stupid pedestrians” out of his way as he turned out of the main road from Esher into the Market Place, which is a dead-end leading to a shared foot/cycle road. This moron was cycling at speed through an area where there are lots of pedestrians and thought he had the right to do it without slowing down.
I’ve also seen plenty of people cycling in Clarence Street, which is a pedestrianised street and often crowded, but some of these people don’t even ride slowly, they barrel along, and on one occasion I was coming out of a shared path and one of these morons nearly shot into my side from the pedestrianised bit. I’m not one to harp on the law to people, but if they want to ride illegally, why can’t they at least do it considerately? These idiots risk bringing consequences such as closures of shared paths — or worse, compulsory insurance and number plates — on all of us.
Possibly Related Posts:
- The Auriol Grey case and pavement cycling
- Tories gunning for cyclists (during climate and cost-of-living crisis)
- Johnson’s cycling proposals are no substitute for new laws
- There’s no “war” on Britain’s roads
