Letting go of small road transgressions

One aspect of sharing the road is that we come across numerous occasions of other road users being inconsiderate / breaking the law / highway code.

When you’re cycling along trying to get home in one piece, the letter of the law doesn’t matter so much. What really counts is – do you feel threatened, is your safety compromised? Sometimes the smaller transgressions, it is better to let go.

Patience is a good virtue to have when on the roads. Sometimes I come across cars and taxi’s doing u-turns in the middle of the road. You have to wait for them to finish – it’s a bit inconsiderate, but I can live with it.

Another example is at this advanced stop sign. It’s very common for motorists to ignore it. It is a bit irritating, because at these lights it’s good to get in front of the buses before heading off. But, it’s not such a big deal. It’s not dangerous driving. I don’t go around cursing motorists just because some ‘motorists’ regularly break this part of the highway code. I’m not even convinced that advanced stop signs are good because they encourage cyclists to go on the inside of big buses and lorries which in itself can be dangerous (advanced stop signs)

I would be much more worried about cars passing too close / on the wrong side of the road. Maybe there is no clear law being broken, but you feel vulnerable and it counts as dangerous driving. But, for minor traffic irritations which don’t compromise safety, I try to let it go.

A survey was done a while back about what thing annoys motorists most?

It wasn’t cars speeding / driving with mobile phones / cars tailgating (very dangerous). The thing that annoyed motorists the most was cyclists who rode two abreast. (cycling two abreast)

As a motorist, I find this staggering. The amount of times I come across cyclists two abreast is very rare. At worst, I might have to brake a little, wait a few seconds and then overtake. I don’t think I’ve ever felt frustration that cyclists are cycling two abreast. (I also know what the Highway code says about it)

If I see any cyclist on the road it tends to please me. It’s good to know I’m not the only one crazy enough to go cycling on British roads.

Cycling two abreast at best is the most minor irritation. If I had to choose the most annoying thing as a motorist, it would be when drivers tailgate you on the motorway – it’s dangerous and arrogant. It makes a few cyclist going double breasted counts for little in the bigger scheme of things.

I don’t know what to do, perhaps we should publish a few cheesy signs on the roads like:

• Keep calm and take a few more seconds.
• Don’t worry be happy.