They seem to have made a number of changes to benefit cyclists, but I see nothing to benefit the motorist!
This particular one caught my eye:
" You MUST obey all traffic signs and traffic light signals."
Does that mean that they now have to wait for the red light to go to green before they set off? My experience is very often the opposite, in fact I have seen them completely ignore the red light on many occasions and quite happily said through (though, presumably, keeping an eye out for traffic crossing their path).
You know, to be perfectly honest I have always treated other road users, including cyclists, with respect. I find it unfortunate that so many cyclists, however, fail to reciprocate probably because they are aware that in effect they have the upper hand.
Another thought - I don’t have a Dash Cam, but I might well do soon
In fact I think their sales will be booming as motorists realise they will need evidence to show if they were presented with a difficult or impossible situation, and to show who was in the right or wrong when the accidents start to increase
Yes, they should wait for the traffic lights to go Green.
I often notice cyclists sail through red lights and I find it annoying and dangerous too.
I live in the country and motorists around here generally tend to be patient and considerate towards slower vehicles - we’re used to waiting in passing places on narrow roads and making allowances for horse riders and tractors, as well as cyclists.
A lot of cyclists on the country roads are considerate too - the most inconsiderate cyclists, I find, are in urban or suburban areas - if I go into town, I often witness cyclists ignoring traffic signals, riding on pavements and whizzing past pedestrians without due care and attention on dual purpose paths in parks.
I always obey all the rules of the road and respect other road users.
I try not to inconvenience anybody, whether I’m in my car, on my bike or on foot.
The new laws are absolutely ridiculous because they also say that motorists should give way to pedestrians. This makes absolutely no sense because pedestrians wait at a crossing until a car has passed. What is the new law saying - that vehicles should allow pedestrians to jay walk to their hearts content?
In terms of cyclists they only bother me when I am a pedestrian. I am always considerate to cyclists when driving. But they are not considerate to me when I am a pedestrian. Some are but many think they own both the roads and the pavements. We now have a shared path in a local park with psycho cyclists whizzing past thinking that the 5mph rule is to be ignored. The new rules say pedestrians have a priority over all vehicles but cyclists seem to think they are the only ones on the planet who should be listened to.
The cyclists round here seem to make up their own rules as they go along - no lights on the bicycles, wearing dark clothing at night and still expecting to be seen, riding all over the pavements, no warning bells, no hand signals (apart from rude ones) and ignoring traffic lights all together!
I’m inclined to agree with you Annie. These new rules make sense in theory, but in practice we all know the roads - and pavements - are full of militant cyclists who are only too delighted to trip a motorist up.
I passed a group of cyclists a few weeks ago giving them plenty of room. I’m afraid I don’t carry a 1.5m rule to shove out the window, I have to guess. But clearly one of the cyclists considered I’d infringed that rule because, as I passed, my car was showered with a handful of stones and grit. I’m sorry, but that is exactly the sort of behaviour that gives cyclists such a bad name, and gets right up motorists’ noses.
I’m afraid these new rules will only increase the militancy of these trouble-seekers, and there’ll be a huge upsurge in incidents of road rage.
I think most of the new rules are reasonable.
I’ve always given way to cyclists on roundabouts, and driven slowly to try and protect the cyclist until he/she turns off. When cycling around roundabouts I found it very frightening when making a right turn and trying to dart across into the middle lane. So being able to stay in the out side lane is a change for the better, and safer for the cyclist, in my opinion.
Not to keen on giving way to a pedestrian at a road junction, many drivers are up your arse when approaching a left turn, and they judge how long it will take you to make the turn, if you have to slow down to wait for the pedestrian to cross and the driver up your arse can’t see the pedestrian, he will not understand why you have slowed down or stopped, and you could find him/her giving you a shunt from behind.
I spend more time cycling than driving these days, so I agree with you. Bugger the car drivers, they think they own the road just because they pay road tax and cyclists don’t.
As a hybrid cycle rider, folks don’t realise how much thought goes into stuff, this morning I had to ride a main road home, I had choices, go flat out @ 35mph on an electrified Pushbike and make it difficult for the car drivers to make a judgement on when to pass, or sit at 18mph, and make it easier for them which, no surprise, that’s what I did. I always think, when on the Bike or in the car, and tire of the baiters.
The idea when turning into a junction is to approach slowly enough so the car behind slows as well, still going to be loads of rear end collision’s though……
they won’t trip me up as a motorist because I am really thoughtful to cyclists on the road. It’s when I come across them as a pedestrian that my blood boils. What gives cyclists the right to go through a red light when a pedestrian is on a crossing? I’ve been terrified when they suddenly move from road to pavement and expect pedestrians to jump out of the way. The idea that they should be licensed was thrown out of the legislation. Absolutely nuts.
All fine but what about the poor pedestrians? In the new highway code pedestrians are top of the pyramid above cyclists. But how is that to be enforced? I’ve seen psycho cyclist comments on twitter to say pedestrians should be held accountable for accidents for walking the wrong way.
Good grief, which rule in the Highway Code states that pedestrians should walk in any particular way/direction? At least now these idiots can be shut down on Twitter, if not actually on the road.
Did you see any cyclists hold themselves accountable for not having lights on their bikes, wearing Hi-Viz clothing, and letting you know when they are whizzing up your backside? The roads and pathways are for everybody to use, and as long as we are all careful and respectful, there should be no issue. I was in a taxi the other morning, and the driver freely admitted that he regards every other driver on the road as a complete idiot
