Common sense

[lee-wave]

Scenario - A narrow country lane that many motorists have to use because of the closure of the normal route to Woking. Today as I drove along to work a single bike held up more then 15 cars for nearly 2 miles. If the bike pulled over and let the cars through he loses about 20 seconds, gains a lot of goodwill and can proceed on his way without the cars trying to pass dangerously close. Common sense....

I cycle that route 2 or 3 times a week weather permitting and always let cars pass if there is a build up behind me. At most I lose about 30 seconds. Plenty of waves and horn pips....makes me feel good....

Another observation - any cyclist riding with earplugs or headphones on should be in a mental institute.......

 

[kinega]

agreed, similar situation here in Bristol. Cumberland Road is fairly narrow & a tight squeeze for 2 cars to pass with parked cars. There is a dedicated cycle lane on the wide pavement but many cyclists insist on cycling on the road causing the issues you describe.
Grrr!

 

[flecc]

100% agree, cyclists need to show courtesy and consideration at all times if they are to get the same from other road users and pedestrians.

Like you Lee-wave I find others usually respond favourably to the thoughtful behaviour I like to show on the roads at all times.

 

[Artstu]

At times it can be difficult to give the same courtesy as when in your car, you can't flash your lights to let someone out, you don't have brake lights or mirrors so don't always know what is behind and can be sure if they know why you've slowed down.

I try my best, but at times it can put you in more dangerous situations.

 

[Gringo]

Another observation - any cyclist riding with earplugs or headphones on should be in a mental institute

I'll second that !

Flashing your lights, we all do it, but if you go by the letter of the law we are doing it for the wrong reasons.
The Highway Code says: "Flashing headlights. Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there. Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users. Never assume that flashing headlights is a signal inviting you to proceed. Use your own judgement and proceed carefully.

 

[flecc]

At times it can be difficult to give the same courtesy as when in your car, you can't flash your lights to let someone out, you don't have brake lights or mirrors so don't always know what is behind and can be sure if they know why you've slowed down.

I try my best, but at times it can put you in more dangerous situations.

True in part, but I do have a mirror and use it continuously and consider it essential for courtesy as well as safety reasons.

Body language counts too, by which I mean the way that one moves around on the road. For example, the combination of slowing down slightly while moving in and waving a car past can only mean one thing.

 

[Alan Quay]

At times it can be difficult to give the same courtesy as when in your car, you can't flash your lights.....

I can flash my bike lights, but only do so occasionally as it freaks motorists out.

Last time I did it the couple in the car behaved as though it was the first time they had seen electric light.

I live in East Devon though. We'm only just got wheelie bins.

 

[neptune]

My favourite haunts are the back lanes of Lincolnshire. There are miles of lanes where a car does not have room to pass a bike. The grass verges can have drainage channels dug in them to drain surface water into the ditch. Once overgrown they can be hard to see, and can be deep enough to unseat a rider, or buckle a wheel. Car drivers are reluctant to use the grass verge, as there is a strong chance of getting stuck.

I find that sometimes I have to stop, get off the bike and lift it onto the verge. Motor vehicles are very infrequent, so this is unlikely to happen more than once on a journey. The same applies to large lorries visiting farms. Locals know and understand the problem, but strangers to the area do not always. I do not always appreciate going to that trouble and not being acknowledged, but it is rare. At the end of the day it is about a bit of give and take to make things work. Or as flecc says, common sense.

 

[mike killay]

I.

I live in East Devon though. We'm only just got wheelie bins.

I live in Wales.
What is a wheely bin?

 

[mike killay]

I find that sometimes I have to stop, get off the bike and lift it onto the verge. Motor vehicles are very infrequent, so this is unlikely to happen more than once on a journey. The same applies to large lorries visiting farms. Locals know and understand the problem, but strangers to the area do not always. I do not always appreciate going to that trouble and not being acknowledged, but it is rare. At the end of the day it is about a bit of give and take to make things work. Or as flecc says, common sense.

I was riding along a narrow lane in Belgium from the memorial at Railway Copse. A large artic came up behind me so I pulled onto the narrow strip of grass between the side of the road and the 6 foot deep ditch, put my foot down and stopped.
BUT, this was Flanders with is famous mud, the verge gave way and I fell right over eventually heading head first towards the bottom of the ditch, which luckily had about a foot of water in it which broke my fall.
My bike was left hanging upside down on the sloping side of the ditch. I then had the unique experience of what it must have been like to be in a First World War trench.