“The constant low-level bullying is starting to take its toll” – road.cc readers open up on the stress of riding on Britain’s roads, with one giving it up for good

Massively agree with this. I've flagged NMOTD as completely counter-productive in the last two reader surveys, but clearly enough people feel differently. Add to this the constant attention given to WUMs like Mr Loophole (which is exactly what he wants) and it's no wonder there is this climate of anger and exasperation. 

But then you are literally saying part of being a cyclist is to just put up with bad driving,its part of the challenge to be face to face with your imminent demise if you make a small mistake, HTFU etc etc ignore the elephant in the room and we can all come back in a decade from now and all stare and wonder why the model share of cycling is still stuck at only 2%.

NMOTD is a tiny fraction of the stuff that goes on around cyclists in the UK daily, to claim it has any influence on people cycling or driving completely ignores the reality of what it's like sometimes to ride on our roads.

Whatever my own particular hang ups on it are,this time last year when things were just coming out of the first lockdown, I saw lots of people cycling, couples young & old, families with young children, one ride I remember felt it was almost like I'd stumbled on an unofficial sportive there were that many riders about.

This year on the same routes, same weather, same time of day, I'll be lucky to see another rider. So what's changed ? Well the most obvious change is theres a ton more traffic on some of those roads now who are back to driving round as if they are auditioning to be the next motor racing world champion, who give no quarter or inch to anything in their way on the road.

Where does Matt live though?

I'd say it is rare on even a 10m commute to have an incident free day (reportable that is).

Here is yesterday's gem and I only did 5m

I was about to turn right but the driver decided not to brake but just carried on oblivious to the cyclist. There was a stream of slow moving traffic coming the other way due to the cyclist and a tractor, so plenty of time to brake safely.

I was about to turn right but the driver decided not to brake but just carried on oblivious to the cyclist

Put that photo in 'Top Gear' magazine (if such a thing exists- I assume it's not only within dystopian nightmares) and the readers would view it as a normal overtake at 50 or even a bit too namby-pamby or woke: Plenty of room to cycle through that gap between the car and the kerb! The tragedy for us is the fraction of police officers who think the same thing: well, maybe a bit close but no-body was seriously injured or killed, the cyclist didn't brake or wobble ...etc NFA. Excitement builds: what appears to be Lancashire Constabulary's first ever prosecution for non-contact close passing is imminent. Bet you can't wait to find out what happens!

Or blame me for being too far over and not allowing a proper overtake !

I have mentioned this before, as you probably know to your cost, but I actually have the letter from the Blackpool TacOps Sgt threatening to prosecute me for forcing the hapless driver to cross the double white lines when overtaking me in a dangerous position on a blind humped bridge. Sarge then backed down and I never heard from him again.

because statistical analysis of the actual danger is cold comfort in most of these situations, I dont need to know Im less likely to die if someone only shadow boxes around my head constantly, Id still like them to stop attempting to punch me, for my own wellbeing.

Plus self evidentially anyone who says they are quitting riding on the roads, or often just finds it too stressfull, is never counted in those statistics you quote anyway.

its a mental health equation, not a how many KSIs are there equation.

the only false narrative that NMOTD provides is that it makes it seem these instances are total one offs & exceptional, when I dont think they are at all.

I had a horrible incident on a bend last week. I could hear an engine close behind and had an oncoming car all within a NSL and feared a dangerous overtake. As it was the car turned out to be a small fiat so the actual distance to me was not as close as I feared.

No doubt the driver thought it was ok but failed to recognise what the effect on me would be. I dread to think how someone less experienced than me would have reacted.

I've thought long and hard about enforcement and camera use etc.

As a cyclist and potential victim the lack of enforcement used to annoy me, but that was a societal thing more than a personal thing, because I see it as a factor in other people choosing not to cycle. As a survivor of road violence it only would have benefited me in potentially seeing society punishing the agressor, rather than me having to hunt him down, smear his genitals in honey and chuck him in a wood ant pile (NB I didn't do this). However, if I had died as a result of his aggression, who would benefit from him hopefully doing time (yeah, right)? - it's the people left behind, not me. I'm dead and gone, it really doesn't matter to me.

For the same reason I only briefly ran a camera. Yes, it might gather evidence to prove to my loved ones why/how I died, but I'd still be dead. Finding out why is undoubtedly important in helping those left behind with their grief but it doesn't bring me back.

I've used NMOTD as therapy occasionally, because I thought it might help address my trauma - and indeed there are plenty featured where I think "Well, not much wrong with that one". But many are far worse than what I experienced.

kil0ran wrote:

I've used NMOTD as therapy occasionally, because I thought it might help address my trauma - and indeed there are plenty featured where I think "Well, not much wrong with that one". But many are far worse than what I experienced.

this totally, I see it almost as like group therapy somedays, it just shows you arent alone in dealing with situations like this on the road, others are going through the same experiences, which helps as it can often feel like you alone are being targetted or singled out by it, especially when others dismiss it all as not a big problem or a fuss over nothing.

Nigel Garrage wrote:

Completely agree Matt - I understand that NMOTD might generate clicks and revenue, but it's driving the false narrative that cycling is getting more dangerous, just like this article.

I also note that people who commented on the original forum thread that cycling is no more dangerous were ignored, in order to push this agenda.

I agree we should not be putting people off cycling by overemphasising the dangers, but is important to acknowledge that there are dangers, and that it is obvious that those dangers can be reduced by improving infrastructure for cycling (for the most part we are forced to either share roads - which drivers see as being for motor vehicles - or footpaths - which pedestrians see as being for pedestrians rather than having proper dedicated cycling facilities) and by improving driver training and education (as well as properly penalising those who transgress). 

We won't bring about any change of that nature by not talking about the reasons it is needed. 

In response to a recent incident, a colleague of mine suggested I needed to stop getting so frustrated by driver behaviour because it was only a minority that behaved that badly.

That is true ... but it only takes one of them to kill me.

Reduce the number or poorly behaved drivers, and/or give me a safer place to ride, and the probability of meeting that one on any particular journey goes down. 

"Man carries on cycling" isn't newsworthy. Changes in behaviour brought about by direct experience of aggressive driving is. It's not an agenda, it's a lived reality for me and many others. I do wonder if it's been made worse by the lockdown nirvana road cyclists experienced in March/April/May last year - I remember doing 20-milers and not seeing a single vehicle in that time. 

As with any kind of news outlet, bad news is often considered the most "newsworthy". Mr J. Bloggs went for a bike ride and everything was fine and dandy isn't much of a news story (unless of course it's Mr H. Ford or some other celebrity).

I can see that NMOTD can be off-putting, but I also think there is value in highlighting how common these sorts of incidents are - indeed, from what I can tell most people will have at least one similar incident per ride. The vast majority of drivers are fine, but given how many cars are on the roads even if only 1% of drivers are bad then this means you are likely to experience bad driving on a regular basis. Acknowledging there is a problem on the roads is the first step to addressing it.

Personally, I've been enjoying cycling less over the past year or so, and I attribute this primarily to the loss of group rides. I do feel safer as part of a group, and the social interaction is of course nice. And no-one else really appreciates whether you've got your glasses inside or outside your helmet straps...

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of aggressive encounters I have had with motorists THIS MORNING.  

I hope you are right, though I thought our day was dawning 10 years ago

Mybike wrote:

If I were a cyclist in England i park my bike inside my house and take the car The way the people police and government treats cyclist is a joke As a motorist I can do as I please because the sun was in my eyes late for work and it just a bloke on a bike excusses seem to work if those don't work I'll use the rear view mirror was blocking my view as he flew over my hood

I think you've hit the nail on the head with this. Enforcement is lacking, and courts don't want to punish drivers, even when they kill. I'm honestly not sure if this is a culture thing, or that politicians are loathe to build more prisons and make the penalties for laws actually reflect the harm they cause. Something needs to change though, because this isn't sustainable.

When i get cut off by a car I tell at them I have a car too and it more expensive then yours sometime I ask for there addresses so I can drive my car to there house and cut off thee kids when they ride there bikes see how they like that. But mostly i just ride no need to get stressed. I don't live in England

I concur, on a typical 100 miler, 90% of incidents happen in the few miles of suburbs around home. It is the prime motivator to move away as soon as the kids are schooled

I agree that the time of day makes a huge difference.  Generally my commute is fine - drivers expect cyclists to be about, make room, and I've only had a handful of problem passes/left hooks in 10 years.

If I leave work early early however... my god it is carmageddon.  With the oblivious pensioners at lunchtime and the distracted school runners I'd now prefer to put unpaid overtime and leave after 5 

I don't currently group ride, but when there's ten of you riding, does that not stop drivers harassing you? This stuff is straight out of the Animal kingdom, you're not going to start a fight you are unlikely to win?

Thank you for the using of anecdopes.

I say to people it is something like 1% of drivers who are a problem - but how many do we interact with in a typical ride? Hence we are always likely to have an incident...