Been crazy out on my local roads recently, makes me consider hanging up the bike

[tommyboyo]

Riding in the South of England on the same roads that I have been on for years.

Last 3/4 weeks has been the most scared I have ever been on a bike!!

Any number of close passes into blind corners, with the driver in the other lane having to slam on brakes to avoid collison on more than one occasion. People just thundering by at crazy speeds with the tiniest of margins to spare time and time again. Everyone in a rush and can't even comtemplate losing 20 secs of their precious time to maybe not put lives in danger. Not to mention regular beeping and having abuse shouted.

Bad as it has ever been for me, I guess just way more drivers back on the roads and many who have not done that much driving in the last 1 1/2 years and who were probably not that good in the first place.

I don't get the total laclk of patience though. I have had people do crazy dangerous passes, only to take the next turning 100 yards further down the road and you think, was that really worth it!!??

Anyway. Sad to say that it really does have me considering my future on the road. Just doesn't seem a cause worth dying for, despite all the fun it gives me.

[MrCurrieinahurry]

South of England where mate?

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[tommyboyo]

South of England where mate?

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I am based right on the border of Hants/Sussex/Surrey.

[KCookie]

Im from Sussex to but now live in Australia and I give you praise for riding on those narrow busy roads as I certainly wouldn't.

Id be to scared for sure.

We still get those stupid inpatient drivers here but at least the roads i ride on have a hard shoulder and alot wider.

Stay safe.



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[Beancouter]

I live in Surrey (FarNham) and not sure I recognise the picture you are painting. There are definitely still a handful of people that have no respect for cyclists, but they are in a minority.

That said, I pick roads which are less travelled by car; I also tend to avoid heading over box hill direction - too many cyclists, roads too narrow and too much tension between car/bike.

My story is always how lucky I am to live where I do. Maybe you should head up this way!


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[TobinHatesYou]

1) Drivers are increasingly distracted
2) Drivers are increasingly reliant on driving aids
3) People who drive because they have to are typically less proficient than people who drive because they want to. The former category is growing.

Etc, etc.

TL;DR motorists on average are getting worse.

Example:
Whenever I make a protected double-lane right-turn in the outside lane while driving, I have my hand on the horn and I’m ready to take evasive action because it’s 50/50 whether the Uber/Lyft driver on the inside lane will drift wide into my lane. They literally don’t understand the concept of a second right-turn lane, yet driving is their job.

[DanW]

A large part is drivers, but you also have to acknowledge the roads are really not designed for bikes and cars to safely co-exist. It is a bit sh..t all around and I agree terrifying to ride the majority of UK roads. Maybe your road positioning or visibility could be improved but in the vast majority of cases it seems it makes no odds to impatient, inattentive drivers on poorly designed narrow roads.

My only solution is to be on the road less. At least with an off road ride you only have those trees that jump out on you to blame for any mishaps

[smartyiak]

Take heart, it's not just in the UK that drivers seem increasingly distracted and impatient! I've been increasingly looking at a new gravel bike as I'm becoming skittish whenever I hear a car approaching quickly.

It's certainly not fun...and no way to ride.

That Grizl is looking nice!

[kode54]

Drivers need to take a refresher course. I get buzzed all the time and cut off as well with drivers not signaling when they make a turn, literally cutting you off. I don’t think they realize how fast the cyclists are going. It’s mayhem.

[vinny]

Same here in California. I ride my bike assuming that anyone in a car is going to hit me, cut me off etc. Best to assume that they never see you always. It might be the person in the cars fault, but on a bike we will get hurt the most.

[jasjas]

I'm in Cornwall, the only way round this is a very bright and random flashing rear light (Flare RT) very early morning w/e rides, avoid all main roads and use more lanes.
Holiday traffic down here is crazy right now.

But what gets me is that many drivers, giving me loads of room, do so into blind binds, over crests, putting themselves in danger of head on collisions....why?

It seems the more safety aids a car has, the more twatish people drive.

[synchronicity]

Sorry to hear of your bad experiences.
I hear you.

The last time I had a few indidents this year, I was riding on a main road. And it was straight. I've noticed that this is when the real arsehole road users are at their worst, because they can see you a mile down the road... What happened was that someone literally screamed at me while passing, trying their best to scare me into falling off my bike (I didn't). To make matters worse, it happened twice in one day! Once going, another coming. I didn't do anything to deserve that sort of treatment. It made me feel both angry and despondent. Actually it made me feel like visiting our local police station (I didn't, because I didn't get their number plates).

When I was younger, about 20 years ago, in my twenties, I just rode wherever and whenever I wanted. I had some very near misses (for example with semitrailers passing on narrow bridges ). I nearly ended up in a set of rear truck wheels/axles. Eventually I had two accidents and that made me reluctant to ride on the road again for some time (at least in Australia).

These days I try to avoid main roads like the plague, especially after being shoted at (which is a form of abuse). I'm too old for it. Not trying to insinutate that it's our fault, I just feel that the risk isn't worth it (for me personally). Unfortunately it's going to be tricky (impossible?) for me to put together a few routes longer than about 20km now though (without doing loops/laps). It sucks, honestly. I won't quit riding on the road but I have essentially quit riding on main roads, yeah. It's just too dangerous.

[c60rider]

I personally have the Cycliq front and rear camera/lights on my bike whenever I'm out these days purely for a safety aspect. Anything dangerous that could have resulted in an accident, close passes etc can be uploaded here https://www.nextbase.com/en-gb/national ... ty-portal/ and it's forwarded to your local police force. In my local area they aren't part of it just yet but I just copy it and drop it into the local cop shop. What they do is look at it on their big screen, check the driver out and if he/she is squeaky clean with no previous convictions, tax or insurance issues etc then they'll send them a formal warning letter. If they've got anything previous then it's likely they would prosecute. Whether that has actually happened or not I don't know but at least it feels like I'm doing something. And having the cameras means if I did get mashed up there's a fair chance they might get caught. Saying that I still try to ride on the tiniest and quietest country lanes I can find.

[Dannnnn]

I live in Hampshire and have very few incidents with drivers and close passing, although what everyone defines as a close pass is different.

I'm 90% sure a normal pads for me is a close pass for everyone else

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[bikewithnoname]

I recognise the problem, Surrey Hills in particular are a complete shit show. I found myself either heading to Essex/Suffolk or riding my XC bike more just to get away from the Range Rovers.

In Paris now, drivers are the same as London, but outside of the core city it's so much quieter thankfully