Why do drivers insist on tying to force a wide single lane road to be a dangerously narrow two lane? I’m thinking of a particular part of my commute (Palatine Road on the way to the junction with Barlow Moor Road) where tyres rub against the pavement on the inside, mirrors all but touch in the middle and cars are on the white line on the outside. It frustrates me because I’ve only got the inside two feet of road at the best of times and these greedy bastards steal it.
What really annoyed me this morning was when I passed another cyclist further down the road, pulling out and giving him fair space, and some idiot behind me blew his horn at me for daring to use the road properly.
It’s a fact of life i’m afraid, you just have to live with it… imagine if all the cars lined up one behind another what would happen… complete gridlock. It’s obviously what’s needed in some places just to keep the traffic flowing – that’ll be why the council haven’t painted a large chevronned area along the centre of the carriageway to reduce the width. Go for a less busy road, or the pavement (I don’t recall anyone ever getting prosecuted for cycling on it), or get used to it. Give it 10 years, it’ll be much worse, i’ll put money on that…
I’m not about to go on the pavement for any more than one or two cars length, I’m a road user, after all. I still get to work faster than they could anyway, it’s just that they’re blocking the progress of a far more efficient mode of transport. ;-P
I’m a quiet activist for cycling most of the time. I keep going past them in the queue. Providing they haven’t just tried to run me over they’ll see that I usually have a smile (occasionally a mad grin). I am better than most drivers because I’m getting there faster, cheaper and more healthily.
It’s just the selfish attitude of some drivers that annoys me. The inconsiderate jostling for space on Palatine Road is just an example of it.
Maybe you should become a little more prominent in your pro-cycle complaints. Did you know if the footpaths are a little over 2m wide, then they can legally be separated into a footpath and a dedicated cyclepath with a 1.4m high barrier separating them from the road. It just requires some paint, the barrier and possibly a local bylaw. Have a read of the Highways Act 1980… it’s very dull – but interesting!