10 Bad Cyclists Making Life Difficult For HGV Drivers

Ceramic Logistics, 31/12/2015

Cyclists have such a bad reputation because the majority of them think it is normal to blatantly road hog and have conversations across the road, three-a-breast...well that's what it's like where I live, and as one other commented above, never happier to see one go down..

Mak, 03/12/2015

I think we need to take a breath here... we are not at war with differing types of road users, just the 'silly' ones, where they sit on the road. So, firstly people, stop attacking each other, but have an honest debate on what the poster has posted.

To put my experience in the fray, I have come across bad drivers and bad cyclists. But on balance, I feel, I cyclist can get away because there is no insurance or identity. Take away that on a private or public vehicle, then the irresponsibilty will naturally go up. Once you understand this, you will realise that a minority of cyclists, as the clips show are pathetically stupid. They do not realise the gravity of what they do.

Example, in Kensington near Olympia, evening time, cylclists on my left, approaching at constant 25 mph. I am literally on his back wheel when without hand gestures, he decides to drift across the two lanes to get to a right filter lane. A horn him, and rather than acknowledging his mistake, he turns on me. I say, 'listen, this is what get's you killed...' He replied agressively and could not careless.

Another example, Barnes, railway crossing: Behind a female cyclist behind barrier . Barrier raises, a line of traffic behind. She decides to ride in the middle of the road only to move to the side to avoid speed bumps and then move back in. Refused to let cars pass, and confusingly veers in out of the road to avoid bumps. Red light and I tell her, that you will need to use the road better because you could get killed. Again, arguing that she is entitled to distance from the side. But I challenged her to common sense. A police van was flagged down by her, she argued with him and he accussingly told to me to pull over.

Now, get this.. during our exchanges with the police, they softened their stance with me citing they don't have a highway code to back up her theory, and privately said she clearly thinks she is a good cyclist but obviously not.. They said politely that all we can do is respect other road users, and clearly believed that I did not do anything wrong, but had no powers to reprimand her .

Most cyclists in London are fine, but as with the white van drivers you get stupidty, as a clip showing a black cab with a cyclist showed... the black cab was clearly in the wrong because he tried to overtake a cyclist with little room to pull in before a bollard, but tried anyway almost knocking the cyclist over.

Once I witnessed in Ladbrook Grove area, big roads, quieter traffic at about 8pm. An older lady driving a fiat punto, clearly indicating right turn was moving in about 15mph max, and a cyclist rode from the inside across the junction at speed. She hit the bike and he went flying. Luckily, he was okay, as was her car, but the bike was a gonner! Stupidity.

Another time, Wimbledon, driving slowly through, and suddenly a biker from the other direction, road verry close and hit my mirror. He did not stop or bother... As we were near an event police were also present near. I informed them, and they said it is a Road Traffic Accident and if we had laws to track cyclists, we would would prosecute him for failing to stop and fine him. But they said, its a major headache, because they can damage vehicles, break rules, but we can only catch them in the act..and just hope they give us the correct details.

So, on balance, HGVs do not want to 'kill' cyclists, and motorists in general, will be careful considering the sheer number of vehicles on the road. But, I feel, that in a mature fashion, some cyclists need to just grow up and drop the arrogance....

For example, if I am a pedestrian, do I walk on the pavement, or do I take risks and walk on the road? When crossing the road, I would want to get to the otherside asap, not stupid to hang around in the road. But, there youngsters, very few, who want to cross the road, but the drift across, knowing the car is further, but slowly and diagonally walk to the other side forcing the car(s) to slow down to a halt. They have achieved power, and possibly get a buzz from being in the situation, but how sensible and mature is it? A motor vehicle is much bigger and faster than any pedestrian or cyclist, therefore, we must never play 'chicken' with it. That is just pure common sense. Respect the size of a bus and a lorry. By doing this, we can outsmart the idiot drivers and ensure they respect you.. Just a little common sense people.

Steve, 25/11/2015

Ben, you are starting to confuse me.

Firstly you say it was the HGV drivers fault he went through a red light and caused the death of a cyclist, but then you condone the cyclists doing the same thing on the videos as being 'silly'. Surely the Highway Code applies to ALL road users?

You are also selecting specific incidents where the driver has been found to be 100% to blame due to their actions, and Im sure we could find the same information on cyclists who have caused their own demise by being 'silly'.

Many years ago in London I was driving along Edgware Road and suddenly there was a cyclist cadging a lift off me by hanging onto the near side handle on the tail lift of my 18 tonne Dulux lorry!! I stopped straight away and got a mouthful of abuse because he took exception to me doing that.

We all agree with you that the drivers you have highlighted were in the wrong and should never have been allowed to cause the accidents in the way they did, but also as we have all said, there are good and bad in all road users.

I just think you should accept the videos show complete idiots who are playing russian roulette with their lives and those who are affected by them.

As Robin said, its time to stop the blame game and accept that everyone (without exception) has a duty to be aware of all other road users.

Peter, 25/11/2015

Ben, in all respect the article isn't saying that the cyclists who have been killed were to blame for their deaths. It is only trying to highlight that there are bad cyclists.

You may think that these cyclists are being 'silly' but they are being 'dangerous' going through a red light isn't 'silly' its 'dangerous'.

Going on the inside of a lorry when its indicating left is 'dangerous' not 'silly'.

These videos highlight that there are cyclists out there that are putting themselves in danger. If all cyclists could sit in the cab of a lorry for a day in London they will see how difficult it is for the driver when there are cyclists being, in your words, silly.

I agree with Robin, there are bad road users across all vehicle types and no one should be automatically blamed for accidents.

ben, 25/11/2015

"I think you missed the point. It says HGV drivers usually get the blame" If you ghad read my post you would have seen that I quoted that exact sentence and pointed out that it's complete nonsense. An HGV driver can fail to notice a cyclist and kill them and walk free from court. The cyclist did NOTHING wrong. So HGV drivers DO NOT usually get the blame at all, that is completely false. The article then shows a series of clips of cyclists being silly, the clear implication being that silly behaviour by cyclists is what hurts them. It isn't. That's not what's happening. Silly behaviour by cyclists is annoying but it is not what is hurting them. Usually it's the drivers fault. So this article is dishonest.

Barry Meyer was the HGV driver who killed Alan Neve. Meyer had a long list of convictions for theft and drug use and had been banned from driving. He had never passed a test and was uninsured and jumped a red light, he's now in prison. his employers have now been banned from putting HGVs on the road. To suggest the cyclists were all at fault in these collisions is insulting to the victims.

Stuart, 24/11/2015

Ben seems to think all cyclists are innocent. Well believe me they are not. I never feel sad when one of them kops it. One less on the road.

Robin, 24/11/2015

I am tired of each side using the type of vehicle used to discribe the operator and as such infer that all operators of those vehicles are just as guilty of irresponsible conduct, it's idiots on the road that are to blame not cyclists or lorry drivers ( I'm both) everyone has to comply with the rules of the road and anyone should be prosecuted for breach of these rules, I see many people in control of bikes that need to speak to a shrink, and plenty of hgv drivers who need their licence revoked that does not mean all do. Time to stop the blame game and respect all road users and accept that some people don't care about the effect of their actions whether they are walking, riding or driving (cars,buses,hgv's)

Steve, 24/11/2015

Stupid clips Ben??

I think you missed the point. It says HGV drivers usually get the blame and all the article was doing was showing the other side of the argument.

I am a lorry driver and if I saw another HGV doing the things you mentioned, that caused someones death, I would willingly report them to the authorities. You failed to mention all the car drivers who have caused death by doing the same things, and all the cyclists who have caused their own deaths by not paying attention.

I had a bad experience back in the 1980's when a cyclist cut across a dual carriageway and went the wrong way round a roundabout, head down at 07:30 on a dark morning, straight into the front of my truck. Luckily I was doing less than 15mph so he survived but with a fractured skull. How would you defend his actions?

These clips may be 'stupid' to you but they show cyclists being reprimanded by other cyclists who do follow the traffic laws so they are relevant to the article. And they may be old videos, but only recently I witnessed a cyclist go through a red light with oncoming traffic as if he had every right to do so.

I'm afraid its the same for all walks of life, it takes a handful of bad ones to taint all the good ones.

Peter, 24/11/2015

The article is highlighting that it isn't always the fault of the driver. There are cyclists out there, not all but some, who are a danger to themselves and other road users and these videos clearly highlight that.

Yes there has been cases of cyclists killed at the fault of the driver and the article isn't disputing that.

More needs to be done to help protect cyclists and this includes them protecting themselves by obeying the traffic laws.

If all cyclists knew the dangers of large lorries and buses then they can protect themselves better. Some cyclists do not know the dangers.

ben, 24/11/2015

This is a very irresponsible, dishonest article. From the very first sentence: "HGV drivers always seem to get the blame when it comes to accidents involving cyclists." This is nonsense. An HGV driver can fail to see a cyclist in broad daylight, kill them, and walk free from court. The cyclist was doing NOTHING wrong. So your "evidence" that cyclists are to blame is some year-old clips from Youtube. That's not evidence of anything except that you can find clips on youtube. It tells us nothing about what happened when an HGV driver has killed a cyclist.

The lorry driver who killed Eilidh Cairns had faulty eyesight (the police didn't even bother to discover this until the same driver killed another woman.)

The lorry driver who killed cyclist Brian Dorling turned across his path.

The lorry driver who killed cyclist Svetlana Tereschenko was in an unsafe lorry, failing to indicate and chatting on a mobile. The police decided to charge him with..nothing.

The lorry driver who killed cyclist Deep Lee failed to notice her and smashed into her from behind.

The lorry driver that killed cyclist Andrew McNicoll failed to notice him and side swiped him.

The lorry driver that killed cyclist Daniel Cox was in a truck which did not have the correct mirrors and whose driver had pulled into the ASL on a red light and was indicating in the opposite direction to which he turned.

The lorry driver who killed cyclist Catriona Patel was drunk and playing with a mobile phone.

That's the reality, despite your stupid clips.