Furious with side by side cyclists
Monday 28th June 2010, 2:59PM BST.
From Chris Pearson.
BASICALLY, I’m wondering where the motorist stands with regards to cyclists riding side by side, especially going up hills.
My family and I are keen cyclists, I’ve been cycling for 30 plus years now and Jersey is the perfect place for it. I am aware that the Corbière walk has caused a lot of problems being closed in parts, but there is no excuse for cyclists to ride two abreast up hills.
For example, last month I was taking my children to school, and may I add I also take two other children who live in the same street, when around 8.30 am I came across two cyclists side by side going up the hill.
The queue was backed up and slow. Eventually, when I managed to pass, I calmly called to them ‘can’t you guys go single file up the hill’. The response was ‘bleep off’ and one of them spat right at me. I was furious. It has happened three or four times now.
Where do we stand? We pay insurance and our road tax on the fuel for the use of the roads. What do they pay to use our roads? Its common sense at the end of the day.
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Sorry to hear that you got spat at Chris, unfortunately it’s perfectly legal to cycle two abreast but pretty discourteous to do so if there’s a queue of traffic building up.
It seems that you encountered at least one very unpleasant person there, hopefully you kept your cool and resisted the temptation to give them a nudge.
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When overtaking cyclists I always give them the space I would overtaking another car i.e. completely in the other lane as I would expect from other car drivers when I cycle. When overtaking 2 or 3 cyclists abreast I give them the same room but that usually means the wing mirror passes within 6 inches of the idiot cyclist on the outside. Not my problem.
John Berry#1
I disagree. The Highway Code clearly states riders “should never ride more than 2 abreast and single file on busy roads…” To me a busy road is an A or B road or any road with hazard or centre lines down it especially during rush hour. It also says “You must not ride in a… inconsiderable manner”.
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Well spitting is considered assualt for starters! I’ve had this issue with cyclists, but it has often been cyclists out for fun rather than to get somewhere. If people want to cycle for fun (and cycle abreast) then they should be on the cycle track. If they are cycling to get somewhere then they should use the road in a manner that is courteous to other road users, it is not a play area!
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@Joker
With regards to the Highway Code extract: “SHOULD never ride more than 2 abreast and single file on busy roads…”
The word “should” is used to give guidance and is not a legal requirement. The word “MUST” is used to indicate a legal obligation.
So this now gets tricky, these cyclists were NOT breaking the law by riding 2 abreast BUT PROBABLY WERE breaking the law by riding in an “inconsiderate” manner, and of course, as Leah Holmes points out, they did commit an assault.
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I really think more pavements on hills (uphill stretches) should be made into dual cyclist and pedestrian ways as Beaumont hill is. The cyclist can always move onto the road to allow a pedestrian walking downhill to pass.
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I’m very impressed with the phrase “I calmly called to them…”
But the calm soon turned to fury! Volatile stuff, this driving!
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The Highway Code is just that, a suggested code of conduct.
Below is
Article 49 Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 Revised Edition
Showing the law as at 1 January 2010
Probihition on riding or propelling bicycles more than 2 abreast
(1) It shall not be lawful for more than 2 bicycles, whether or not propelled by mechanical power, to be ridden or propelled abreast on a road.
(2) If any person acts in contravention of the provisions of this Article, he or she shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £100 in the case of an offence which is not a motoring offence and to a fine not exceeding £500 in the case of a motoring offence. [209]
So a cyclist can be fined £100 for riding “more” than 2 abreast.
But not for riding 2 abreast uphill.
What is not clear is if 3 cyclists ride abreast do all 3 get fined or the last to enter the group?
C Le Verdic
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Why are we surprised! Cyclists think they are a law unto themselves. I got abused by one in town who tried to run me down on a pavement where there was only room for one person and amazingly I would not vanish into thin air! The soon action is taken against the few who are rude and flagrently abuse the law the better.
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#7 PJG.
I will sign my own posts. Thank you.
Or is that yet another deliberate mistake for the benefit of my overworked rocks?
Perhaps you need to start worrying about your marbles, what with referring to non existent spelling mistakes and answering the wrong person elsewhere on the forum!
Or were you about to ask “C Le Verdic, what do you think?” In which case: The second one should be fined – for not stopping the third one from joining the group.
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C Le Verdict
Wonderful ! Well done.
Ime impressed, you are a reformed character.
You have actually used your brain to read past my mistakes (Probihition etc) and comment on the thread.
OK Ile bite.
Why is it the responsibility of the second to control the actions of the third ?
Which one is the second ?
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Please don’t blame all cyclists, some of us obey the highway code and are very considerate to others. I’d like to see a few more motorists getting out on their bikes and see how dangerous it is on the roads over here. I cycle to work all weathers, through choice and i find it more scary than some of the tasks i have to do at work in the emergency services. There are definitly people who give cyclists a bad name but i don’t want to orphan my children by some of the atrocious drivers who think nothing of clipping my handle bars as they pass! Please give us some room.
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*dons safety helmet*
I was sorry to read that the author of the letter was ‘spat at’. I find I spit a lot when cycling, usually over my shoulder or into the nearest drain though as if I am travelling fast it would otherwise fly right back in my face. As you were ‘spat at’ rather than ‘spat on’, have you established beyond all reasonable doubt that the spitting was due to malicious intent rather than an excess of salivamight have been?
I regulalrly see letters in the JEP and elsewhere accusing ‘cyclists’ of selfish or antisocial behaviour. But surely ‘cyclists’, just like ‘drivers’, are a diverse group? Some ‘cyclists’ are also ‘drivers’, and vice versa. Putting people into categories based on arbitrary choices is unhelpful and divisive. There are both ‘good’ cyclists on the road and ‘bad’ drivers. As with everything else, if you go out looking for a certain behaviour you are bound to see plenty of it. Despite our inherent prejudices, plenty of women reverse park every day, while some men couldn’t navigate their way out of a paper bag.
In general I find Jersey a pleasure to cycle round compared to say London, where every trip is a dance with death and even when it ends you don’t know if thieves will have made off with your bike before you return. Nevertheless I have had been regulalrly verbally abused and had water (among other things) thrown over me by ‘drivers’ and their passengers while touring the island’s pretty green lanes, where only cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders (some of them two abreast!) appear capable of obeying the speed limit). I do not blame a daft person’s mode of transport for their behaviour, however. Daft drivers would probably be just as moronic if they were riding bicycles instead.
I also ask ‘drivers’ like the leter’s author to look to their own behaviour before being so quick to judge. Have you really never parked on a yellow line to pop into the Spar? Do you always indicate at junctions? And do you scrupulously obey the speed limit everywhere you go? Until your own behaviour is without fault, how can you claim the right to judge others for theirs?
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