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news
Cyclists riding side-by-side is biggest gripe for rural drivers claims survey
Over half of 2,000 drivers questioned by Confused.com (54 per cent) said that cyclists riding side by side along country lanes is the most annoying thing about rural driving. The survey found that this entirely legal activity narrowly edged out drivers speeding dangerously (53 per cent) as the top annoyance, followed by dangerous overtaking (48 per cent).
Flytipping (37 per cent), potholes (35 per cent), and tractors (29 per cent) also earned mentions.
The Hereford Times reports that 40 per cent of UK drivers suffer road rage when driving on rural roads. (Road rage is the threshold – the survey sadly doesn’t cover the kind of impatience that must be required to attempt a manoeuvre like this.)
Other findings were that 23 per cent of drivers express their anger by shouting, 34 per cent by beeping their horn, while 14 per cent deploy the middle finger.
Motorists don't just lose their rag with cyclists though — 13 per cent of those questioned admitted shouting at an animal.
Of those, 17 per cent shouted at a sheep, 10 per cent at a cow, and 14 per cent at a bird. Shouting at a bird? That’s an impressive/frightening level of aggression to be carrying round with you.
47 per cent said they had swerved their car to avoid an animal.
63 per cent of drivers did not know the majority of fatal crashes occur on rural roads. The latest figures from the Department of Transport indicate that 93 fatalities were recorded on motorways last year, compared to 789 on built-up roads and 910 on non built-up — rural — roads.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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176 comments
I have shouted at my cat on numberous occasions and wiped his nose in it.
Also I once shouted really loudly 'woaaahhh' in the direction of a Badger.
I had a buzzard tag alongside for about half a mile recently, that was pretty cool. Felt like Michele Scarponi. Also deer
Feckin' birds
Everyone needs a hobby.
Good for you! Personally, I don't think I could tell the difference between a hobby and a sparrowhawk or a kestrel, while I was out riding...
Oooh! That's good.
One of my favourite pub-quiz facts is that fun-packed table-top football game, Subbuteo, takes its name from the hobby. Inventor Peter Adolph wanted to call it Hobby, what was not able to trademark that. The hobby's latin name is Falco subbuteo.
I will admit to an occasional argy-bargy with a vole.
The problem is that a lot of drivers think the cyclists are wrong to do that and their (drivers) righteouseness entitles them to shout abuse.
Drivers' snarls, reminds me of William S Burroughs:
What's needed is better public information about cyclists on roads and maybe include something about it in the driving test.
Blimey! Superb bit of writing from Burroughs there.
Wow, that genuinely surprised me, I thought there would be a few things they would think were worse, My biggest bugbears are potholes (whether cycling or driving) and people texting while driving. maybe some adverts actually pointing out it's perfectly legal and actually recommended might gradually make people see they're being unreasonable. Then again perhaps not.
Ah come on... who hasn't shouted at a pheasant... Reckon I've shouted at 3 or 4 from my bike, in an entirely humorous, non-angry way, of course.
I lost it with a bat, a couple of years back. There's an unlit NCN trail that I can take home from work; the overhanging trees create a tunnel effect, and around the time the clocks go back it's dark when I get to it. There's never anyone else around - just bats, owls and weird noises.
Bats fly up and down this tunnel, but this one must have thought I was chasing it, because it remained about 2 metres ahead of my bike, just above my head height, for quite a way, probably 200 metres. Not sure of the type, but it was biggish, decent bird-sized. I figured it thought I was chasing it, and expected it to dart off into the trees like they normally do.
Inexplicably, it then fell out of the air. Just dropped and swerved, hit me in the side/ribs. Stupid bat, not supposed to just fall into big stuff! I
shat myself and did a girly squeallet out a roar to show it who was boss, and then blurted out "Fucking... EVOLVE!" as I nearly fell off my bike. Just as my billion-lumen light illuminated a shocked man and his (about six year-old) son, both of whom I'm thinking hadn't seen anything of a bat., and were looking at a bloke almost falling off his bike in the middle of a path, while swearing random insults.I made my excuses and left.
I love flying along paths where the batas fly up and down, they someow make it seem like you're going much faster, never had one crash into me despite them being close enough to reach out and touch, it must have been pretty stressed out to lose it's sense of space like that, although probably pretty hilarious to watch
Pedant Corner:
1. That isn't how Evolution works; except with Pokemon.
2. What would you like it to evolve into? El Chupacabra?
Ohhoho: you've got me. In my moment of weakness I wasn't able to quote On The Origin of Species verbatim at the SuicideBat. No, there wasn't any logic to my exclamation. I might have even been begging myself to evolve to deal with the pedals. Imagine that craziness!
Or maybe it was a primal scream to try to turn you from some bitter loser into somebody who could experience joy through riding a bike, You. Fucking. Sad. Sack. Of. Shit.
Tell you what, you don't pollute any of my future posts with your FullKit blobbyness and I'll resist the urge to correct your teen ramblings.
TL;DR? Fuck yourself, you bitter little prick.
Bitter, moi? Perhaps you should read back what you wrote yourself. I didn't even look at who had posted, just responded to something humourous with something tongue in cheek. I will respond to whomsoever I choose. You are getting quite an obsession with me; I am flattered. And I do quite enjoy riding my bike, I am here afterall.
Oh the irony!
Thank you for your contribution, Ms. Morissette.
Yeah, you're all humour until someone has an opinion you don't understand about a topic you feel you should be triggered on. The three of us remember you following and baiting SP59.
Your 40-going on-14 year old self is right, of course: you have the right to reply to any post. But for the sake of the forum and its other members, it's best if we give each other a swerve.
A menage a trois, who is your third, saucy? Davel BehindTheBikesheds with whom?
So it seems you think any response to you is 'following,' rather self centred don't you think. I have no need to swerve, unless you are a pothole. "triggered" languaged used to keep people in their place, I would expect no less of you. It seems like you are the one trying to drive off people you don't agree with. Doctor heal thyself.
No, no and no:
The 3rd person is you, because you remember what I'm referring to:
I do consider posting pointless comments to goad someone you're not getting on with, like you did with SP59, 'following'.
I'm not trying to drive you anywhere. You're even more tedious than usual when you're bickering with someone, and this isn't my greatest contribution either, so let's just agree to spare the others our shit.
No thank you.
If you call pointing out BS 'goading' or following. I honestly didn't see who posted the bat thing, but you made it about yourself. If you don't like being goaded, don't post drivel.
OK, now you're into serious Mr Pot territory.
Did the sausage in your profile pic make the GB squad for the current world cup?
That is not a World Cup kit.
Please
Them's some mangled tags. But yes, of course.
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