the lights were red and I slowly filtered my way to the front - various routes so to speak but finished on the left, between the kerb and the lead car
not a counterpoint to the recent, pretty disgraceful, dumb bint who tweeted knocking a cyclist off - but i got ranted at by a cyclist on my trip home out of London yesterday - at Aldgate; the lights were red and I slowly filtered my way to the front - various routes so to speak but finished on the left, between the kerb and the lead car (not a cycle lane), and stopped short of the 'cycle-box' at the front of the line of traffic. Waited half a minute or so until I heard behind me:"can you move forward mate?" a cyclist had filtered up behind me and wanted in to the cycle-box"no, sorry" i replied "but i'm not allowed in there" i pointed at the cycle-box."you've got mirrors haven't you?""yes, why?""well, you can see I want to get past, can't you? - i'm supposed to be allowed in to the cycle area""allowed? you don't have right of way, the lights are red, i cant move forward and you'll just have to wait like the rest of us""but you've got mirrors! why don't you use them??""I am, and I can see you behind me - having to wait"he followed up with a stream of abuse which continued after the lights went green all the way up to my turning right on to the A13.here's a confession: I cycle. I used to cycle a lot in town when i lived near Waterloo and I don't ever recall hurling abuse at someone for getting to the lights first. He didn't have right of way did he? I didn't cut him up filtering on the left i just got there first - wouldn't he have complained more if i went in to the cycle-box? it's a possible 3 points isn't it??Is it just me?
That doesn't sound like a good place to be to me. I try to never sit anywhere a car can turn on me. If I filter to the front (always on the right hand side or between cars if there is space, but never between car and kerb) I will generally just about always stop right in front or partially across the lead car. If that means I'm touch over the junction line, or onto a cycle box so be it. I've had to many cars turn on me, and I don't mean just to take a turn some have intentionally tried to run me into oncoming traffic.
Quotethe lights were red and I slowly filtered my way to the front - various routes so to speak but finished on the left, between the kerb and the lead carThat doesn't sound like a good place to be to me. I try to never sit anywhere a car can turn on me. If I filter to the front (always on the right hand side or between cars if there is space, but never between car and kerb) I will generally just about always stop right in front or partially across the lead car. If that means I'm touch over the junction line, or onto a cycle box so be it. I've had to many cars turn on me, and I don't mean just to take a turn some have intentionally tried to run me into oncoming traffic.
Unlikely the car could turn left on to you.
Many bikers get run over at the lights - so stats say it is not always wise to be in front either.
Are you sure? Driver intentionally runs into the back of big motorcycle when the lights go green and tries to keep going?There is a psychological factor to sitting right in front of them or across the front of them, it's like you've closed the door on them. It also means if they go for it, well they can't deny it (sorry I didn't see you on my left side - sorry I didn't see you sitting bang in front of me blocking my view of the road ahead - see what I mean)But yeah there are psychos out there, then there are the sort of run you over, get out the car repeatedly stab you with the big knife they keep in the door pocket, drag you out the way and drive off sort of psychos too. I'm not sure there is much you can do about the latter, just hope you don't encounter them where ever you are or what ever you are doing. Anyway if I can't get right to the front and preform a complete block - if you like - I'll find a wee gap somewhere and squeeze over a bit, look round at the driver, make eye contact give em a wee wave. Just a little bit of simple human contact calms the angry psycho cager that lurks in many an otherwise sane ordinary person.
Good on you. People are so impatient. They're on a bicycle what real difference in time/safety would it have made to them ? (applies to any vehicle really).Don't sweat it, forget it and move on. There are much more important things in life than that.
But he didn't do anything illegal. If he'd moved forward, he'd have broken the law and left himself open to a fine. When we're filtering, we don't expect people to break the law to allow us through, why should we do it for the cyclist? Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
here's a confession: I cycle. I used to cycle a lot in town when i lived near Waterloo and I don't ever recall hurling abuse at someone for getting to the lights first. He didn't have right of way did he? I didn't cut him up filtering on the left i just got there first - wouldn't he have complained more if i went in to the cycle-box? it's a possible 3 points isn't it??Is it just me?
But he didn't do anything illegal. If he'd moved forward, he'd have broken the law and left himself open to a fine.
Still hope next time he'll position himself so that other cyclists and bikers can filter as well. In my country filtering is illegal and many cagers will deliberately block you (while many others will make room and move). If you get hit while filtering it's your fault. Still, most bikers filter and it's normal to make room for others behind you to filter, if you see them coming. You don't have to, people usualy don't argue, but most bikers do move and make room.