Why are some drivers so inattentive and rude towards bikers?
Discussion
Riding along on the bike this afternoon I encounter a set of traffic lights on a narrow stretch of road. Quite a few cars in front and last car stopped just after a left hand bend so of course I filter through to the front to avoid being sat at the back of the queue and risk being rear ended.
First car I filter past (while I'm on the opposite side of the road) decides to swing out into the middle to get a view of the road ahead. Wasn't anywhere near me, but I do hear him call me a d
head out the window for some unknown reason. Shook my head and rode on to the front, ignoring him.
He comes over to confront and says he swung out to get a better view, I told him he should try checking his mirror first. He couldn't quite understand why he needed to check his mirror, despite being startled by a bike filtering past him
Then went on about all bikers being the same bla bla, and said next time he'd knock me off before wandering off back to his car.
What is wrong with the attitude of some drivers? When they clearly make a driving mistake they just can't accept it and seek to blame somebody else. Seems like an ego thing. But I've noticed so many drivers are anti-biker (of course those who have never sat on a bike in their life) and refuse to be considerate.
I think there needs to be more bike awareness education for drivers, perhaps even going as far as forcing drivers to take a CBT test before they can sit their driving test. At least then they would see the road from a bikers perspective. It's amazing how much your awareness on the road changes after you've ridden a bike.
First car I filter past (while I'm on the opposite side of the road) decides to swing out into the middle to get a view of the road ahead. Wasn't anywhere near me, but I do hear him call me a d
head out the window for some unknown reason. Shook my head and rode on to the front, ignoring him.He comes over to confront and says he swung out to get a better view, I told him he should try checking his mirror first. He couldn't quite understand why he needed to check his mirror, despite being startled by a bike filtering past him
Then went on about all bikers being the same bla bla, and said next time he'd knock me off before wandering off back to his car.What is wrong with the attitude of some drivers? When they clearly make a driving mistake they just can't accept it and seek to blame somebody else. Seems like an ego thing. But I've noticed so many drivers are anti-biker (of course those who have never sat on a bike in their life) and refuse to be considerate.
I think there needs to be more bike awareness education for drivers, perhaps even going as far as forcing drivers to take a CBT test before they can sit their driving test. At least then they would see the road from a bikers perspective. It's amazing how much your awareness on the road changes after you've ridden a bike.
I witnessed a crash this week involving a car and motorbike.
We were queueing in traffic, moving along at walking pace, motorbike appears on the right passing the queue, the driver of the car in front of me suddenly thought 'sod this, I don't need to be in this queue, I'm going' and swung out, unfortunately giving the motorbike no chance and they collided.
A couple of us helped the biker up once he had recovered, luckily he did not seem to be badly injured. I left him my number and carried on with my day.
I was interested to learn that the highway code says it is legal for the motorbike to be filtering so the car was totally at fault for pulling out.
We were queueing in traffic, moving along at walking pace, motorbike appears on the right passing the queue, the driver of the car in front of me suddenly thought 'sod this, I don't need to be in this queue, I'm going' and swung out, unfortunately giving the motorbike no chance and they collided.
A couple of us helped the biker up once he had recovered, luckily he did not seem to be badly injured. I left him my number and carried on with my day.
I was interested to learn that the highway code says it is legal for the motorbike to be filtering so the car was totally at fault for pulling out.
Not all car drivers are like this. If it’s any consolation I’ll let motorbikes get in front of me as soon as I see or hear one near me.
I’ll move to the left so you can pass me, slow down to give a big gap between me and the car in front so if you need to quickly get back in lane after the over take there is space to do so
Move to the right if I’m stuck in traffic in the right hand lane of a dual carriageway so you can filter up the middle.
I’ll leave a big gap at the front near the traffic lights so you can come and park in front of me because I know you’ll get away quicker. If there’s a group of you then you’re all welcome.
I’ll do anything legally and safely to get you boys a head of me. I get thumbs up and head nods several times a day!
My father was killed on his bike in 2006 by a chap in a car on the wrong side of the road on a bend . I know how vulnerable you are and I’ll do my best so you can ride in safety ahead. I’ll rather have you in front of me where I can see you than disappear in a blind spot or taking risks to try and get around me.
I’ll move to the left so you can pass me, slow down to give a big gap between me and the car in front so if you need to quickly get back in lane after the over take there is space to do so
Move to the right if I’m stuck in traffic in the right hand lane of a dual carriageway so you can filter up the middle.
I’ll leave a big gap at the front near the traffic lights so you can come and park in front of me because I know you’ll get away quicker. If there’s a group of you then you’re all welcome.
I’ll do anything legally and safely to get you boys a head of me. I get thumbs up and head nods several times a day!
My father was killed on his bike in 2006 by a chap in a car on the wrong side of the road on a bend . I know how vulnerable you are and I’ll do my best so you can ride in safety ahead. I’ll rather have you in front of me where I can see you than disappear in a blind spot or taking risks to try and get around me.
Edited by oldaudi on Saturday 27th May 07:49
Sadly, it's always been like this on two wheels. You just have to grin and ignore it. Plenty of knob ends out there, on bikes too, though less often (angry chip on shoulder bikers, check out YouTube).
You get similar issues in cars, just it's easier to shout at someone not locked in a box. (I got the odd arsey comment in my Westfields as there is no barrier between you and the outside.).
Additionally some motorists are just thick and can't understand bikes are not meant for sitting in queues. Let's face it, loads of car drivers don't even understand merge in turn, so bikes filtering enrages them. :-)
You get similar issues in cars, just it's easier to shout at someone not locked in a box. (I got the odd arsey comment in my Westfields as there is no barrier between you and the outside.).
Additionally some motorists are just thick and can't understand bikes are not meant for sitting in queues. Let's face it, loads of car drivers don't even understand merge in turn, so bikes filtering enrages them. :-)
It’s an interesting question posed by the OP.
When I’m in stationary traffic often on a motorway I am more or less guaranteed to see the single headlight of a motorcycle filtering between the cars.
Where I can I always move over (out of the way) to indicate that I have:
a. Seen the bike
b. Provide a safe overtake
Cool story bro and all that.
The bit that I struggle with is how often one of the cars in queue in front actively move to make things more difficult for the bike.
I suppose I think of it all as a bit of a game. To me bikes aren’t playing the same game as cars, they’re just using the same board.
That does mean they should be ignored though.
When I’m in stationary traffic often on a motorway I am more or less guaranteed to see the single headlight of a motorcycle filtering between the cars.
Where I can I always move over (out of the way) to indicate that I have:
a. Seen the bike
b. Provide a safe overtake
Cool story bro and all that.
The bit that I struggle with is how often one of the cars in queue in front actively move to make things more difficult for the bike.
I suppose I think of it all as a bit of a game. To me bikes aren’t playing the same game as cars, they’re just using the same board.
That does mean they should be ignored though.
randomeddy said:
I witnessed a crash this week involving a car and motorbike.
We were queueing in traffic, moving along at walking pace, motorbike appears on the right passing the queue, the driver of the car in front of me suddenly thought 'sod this, I don't need to be in this queue, I'm going' and swung out, unfortunately giving the motorbike no chance and they collided.
A couple of us helped the biker up once he had recovered, luckily he did not seem to be badly injured. I left him my number and carried on with my day.
I was interested to learn that the highway code says it is legal for the motorbike to be filtering so the car was totally at fault for pulling out.
Does that mean you're on PH but don't drive, or you seriously have a driving licence and didn't know what the HW code says about filtering? We were queueing in traffic, moving along at walking pace, motorbike appears on the right passing the queue, the driver of the car in front of me suddenly thought 'sod this, I don't need to be in this queue, I'm going' and swung out, unfortunately giving the motorbike no chance and they collided.
A couple of us helped the biker up once he had recovered, luckily he did not seem to be badly injured. I left him my number and carried on with my day.
I was interested to learn that the highway code says it is legal for the motorbike to be filtering so the car was totally at fault for pulling out.
Yesterday morning I took a ride out on my motorbike to Settle. As I approached Gargrave I could see traffic backing up so just slowly filtered past at about 10mph to the front of the queue at the temporary traffic lights where they were digging the road up. Did the same on my return journey.
No drivers having a go at me and some moving over to the left to give me more room.
I always filter past slowly with revs low and acknowledge drivers who move over, maybe this is why in over 48 years of riding on the road I can count the number of drivers who have tried to block me or shouted at me on one hand.
No drivers having a go at me and some moving over to the left to give me more room.
I always filter past slowly with revs low and acknowledge drivers who move over, maybe this is why in over 48 years of riding on the road I can count the number of drivers who have tried to block me or shouted at me on one hand.
robemcdonald said:
The bit that I struggle with is how often one of the cars in queue in front actively move to make things more difficult for the bike.
A few years ago I was filtering between lanes 2 and 3 in stationary traffic up the M1 approaching Junction 29.Everyone was making it easy for me and the bikes following me to pass, running probably at 10 / 15 mph with no worries when Audi man in lane 3 decides to pull over to his left, completely blocking my route.
His passenger rolls down his window and starts to shout something when he noticed the bike behind me....
Marked Police BMW......
Rider of said BMW dismounts, asks me if I'm ok then goes to have a chat with Audi man..........
Which was nice.
Audi soon moves out of the way and we continue.
sociopath said:
Does that mean you're on PH but don't drive, or you seriously have a driving licence and didn't know what the HW code says about filtering?
That would hardly be a surprise. There's plenty of drivers on here who don't seem to have any idea what the highway code says about how they should pass bikes, so they are probably even less likely to know what bikes are and are not allowed to do themselves. Have you read this it may give you an insight into why a lot of bikers get attitude from drivers
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Deranged Rover said:
However, special ire is often saved for bikers because, again, a large majority of bikers are also aholes.
Not a large majority; not even a majority; just a small minority that tend to stand out. Same as with drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, equestrians, and indeed any other group of this type. Ultimately they all tend to be made up of a fairly broad cross-section of society in terms of aholes. holeness. There may be small statistical skews between the groups for various reasons, but they are just that - small. Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff