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news
Riders in a chain gangGroups of cyclists second biggest summer pet hate for motorists claims AA survey
Over a fifth of respondents to a recent AA-Populus poll said that large groups of cyclists were one of the most annoying aspects of summer.
BikeBiz reports that 21,877 AA members were questioned on their top summer hates. Car litter louts came out top, with 28 per cent of people saying it was their top annoyance, but large groups of cyclists came second with 22 per cent (21 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women).
"What is something annoying that a cyclist might do?" asks game show
Drivers' top ten summer pet hates were found to be:
- Car litter louts
- Large groups of cyclists
- Inconsiderate parking
- Slow caravans
- Car ghetto blasters
- Dawdling drivers
- Sightseers
- Tractors
- Overloaded cars
- Groups of motorcyclists
Commenting, AA president Edmund King criticised litter louts and observed that much of the rest of the top ten could be characterised as (perfectly legitimate) road users likely to slow some motorists down.
“Car litter louts are a needless menace who cost the country millions, spoil our environment and put road workers’ lives at risk. There is no excuse for tossing out litter; car occupants should bag it and bin it at home.
“Many of the other most common pet hates concerned other road users slowing drivers down by being lost, slow or indecisive. Drivers need to be more patient in the summer on the roads because anything can happen.
“By checking your car, planning your route and being prepared, drivers are less likely to get hot under the collar and more likely to reach their destinations safely.”
Following an AA-Populus poll in April, King warned of the dangers of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers using smartphones on and around the nation’s roads. 72 per cent of respondents said they often saw pedestrians step into the road while distracted by their phones.
“We can’t stop the march of technology but we need to halt the pedestrian, cycle and driver zombies. Whether on two feet, two wheels or four, too many people are suffering from Smartphone Oblivion,” said King.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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33 comments
Am I the only one who kept reading this as “cat litter louts”?
So confused there for a minute…
As a statto and researcher I have experienced this type of survey many times...
How do you feel towards your bank?
I hate them
They don't pay enough interest
They are slow to respond to my needs
They are corrupt and caused the financial crisis
Their fees are extortionate
Even if you only get 33% ticking a particular box they sell the story "1 in 3 customers angered by banks extortionate fees"
As has been pointed out, are drivers on a day to day basis really more annoyed by litter than traffic jams, roadworks, dangerous driving, speed cameras etc. The answer is no, but it's a cheap way for the AA to get their brand in many media outlets...
Can't remember the last time I saw a group of cyclists when I was driving, much less got "caught" behind them. White elephants though, they are my big pet hate, always slowing me down on the motorways throughout summer!
I'm regularly amused (sometimes annoyed) by drivers holding me up on my commute to work on my bike. If the traffic light ahead of me is red, why are they trying to squeeze past and join the queue that I will then just filter past before the light goes green?
What's happened? I find myself agreeing with Edmund King argh!
Until the them and us attitude goes away nothing will change. I'm a cyclist and cycle around 200m a week but I'm also a motorist who cycles and drives around the Chiltern Hills.
I can get very frustrated at getting held up by groups of cyclists. The fact is the roads in this country were not built for cyclists and motorists to use in harmison and as a result cats get stuck behind cyclists. But all that is needed is a bit of give and take on both sides. Cyclist should be aware they are holding traffic up and as a result are causing the drivers to get restless and annoyed and let them pass. If they don't they will tend to squeeze through a gap that isn't there. Also drivers should also realise that this is only a small hold up and very soon they will be on their way.
We are 'traffic'. And really, apart from medical first reposnders, does anyone in a car actuially need to travel at the national speed limit, ever?
20 people on a chain gang ride out
deserveare obliged to have no rights on the roads. We should pull over in plenty of time when someone much more important in a car is coming, even more so when it's an Audi. Drivers pays road tax people, we're not even paying VAT and tax on petrol, how selfish. Don't give me that environment nonsense, we're exhaling CO2 at a crazy rate.Very odd. There just aren't many groups of cyclists on the road. Conversely, there are loads of vehicle tailbacks, especially on popular routes in summer.
They fear us, don't they? Isolated cyclists are maybe an inconvenience, but us "groups" we are bit threatening aren't we? Because we are y'know getting organised. You only get one driver per car, so he/she is outnumbered. I can understand the intimidation factor.
But for the (also) motorists amongst us, the joyous news is that our progressive Govt has already provided, at great expense to the taxpayer, many miles of perfectly safe and cyclist free segregated "motorsuperhighways". I regularly take "M32" into Bristol city centre and not one cyclist gets in my way. Hurrah.
Also remember it's totally unreasonable for 6 cyclists in a group to take up as much space as one person in a car.
A glance at local facebook posts often has comments that suggest that cyclists are indeed okay if individuals BUT that they should stay clear of the main roads because the non-cycling driver steaming up behind them "would never cycle on those main roads as they are SO busy with traffic!".
Then on a mid week evening you get comments about how people were held up at 7pm (going where in a hurry exactly?) by groups of cyclists with comments like "Why are they out cycling in groups?" or "Who are these people?", assuming that it's locals from round the block and not realising that it's often a chain gang from 20 miles away on their club run.
I think that part of this is that individual cyclists often (not wishing to be perceived as "selfish" or "insisting on their rights" by, for instance, some of the commenters on this board) tend to take a position in which they are closer to the margin of the road.
The oh-so-busy and entitled motorist sees the lone cyclist as less of an obstacle and is more likely to chance a close pass.
A group of people two-up is both longer and wider and is a more obvious "obstacle" and in addition comprises several witnesses. Oh! the frustration -- unless you're one of the truly stupid:
http://road.cc/content/news/157263-cyclists-say-enraged-devon-councillor...
I live near Portishead in Somerset, just off the M5. The variable speed limit signs on the motorway are on every morning and evening rush hour (upgrade to "smart motorway" last year, at a cost of several gazillion pounds), and the motorway is practically unusable at weekends through the British summer due to the sheer volume of vehicles going to and from the holiday areas further south west.
Hey, but remember: it's cyclists that cause congestion.
You can avoid that stretch of MotorSuperhighway5 by going through the centre of Bristol but most motorists don't. Traffic too scary they say. Too many cyclists .... and a lack of segregated motoring facilities are a problem.
Many advocate wearing a helmet but others motorists say that if you hit a cyclist when you are driving a, helmet makes little difference to the outcome.
Couple of my colleagues appeared close to spontaneous combustion at lunchtime when discussing the violence they'd like to inflict on road users who slow them down at all. I laughed, but now I discover most drivers think like that. Weird people.
No, really you didn't. You just fall into the same trap as those you're crucifying.
Hey, I'm amusing myself exagerating ( a bit) the proportion of drivers who are easily roused to anger, they are lobbing around a tonne or so of metal while in a state of barely contriolled rage. Who exactly is being 'crucified'?
Uh - was meant to be 'criticised', Swype weirdness perhaps, sorry about that. What I meant by it was the over-generalisation that we often criticise motorists for on here - but if that was just in jest then it's not really an issue (difficult to tell online sometimes obviously short of <humour> tags...)
From that list I conclude that most AA members are absolutely shit at driving.
They managed to get cyclists on the list twice, incredible. All these drivers getting annoyed at perfectly legal things are just full of their own self importance.
Hmmm. As with all surveys, it depends on the questions. If drivers were given a list of ten things to tick, then that's rather different to them expressing their own opinions.
The original article in BikeBiz headline says quite a lot "22% of motorists annoyed by perfectly legal thing, finds AA"
I find that most of the motorists here in Suffolk that get angry about tractors, cyclists, horses and caravans are people who live in towns and aren't used to seeing them on the road.
The council used some quiet back roads near me for diversions recently and it was the first time I had a near miss on those lanes, and now it's a regular occurrence. They often drive past multiple passing places and expect you to reverse half a mile when there is one about 50 yards behind them. One corner that is particularly bad is more than a 90 degree bend with an 18ft hedge making it completely blind, yet many cars try to nip round at 30mph without thinking about oncoming traffic.
Hopefully the pound will rally against the euro and all the city folk will stop holidaying at home and clog up the roads in Europe instead!
Colour me not arsed. My number one hate on the roads is bad drivers putting my life at risk. How's that?
In other new people are amazed when told that the world don't revolve round them exclusively !!
I'm surprised that some of the winter pet-hates weren't on this ridiculous list e.g.
1. Speed cameras
2. Speed limits
3. Traffic police
4. The highway code
5. Other traffic
6. Any other vehicle that forces them to have to reduce their desired speed by any amount whatsover
7. Anything else that forces motorists to obey the law and drive sensibly and safely
ad nauseum
Did the question specifically exclude the roads being clogged up with cars? If not that list just goes to show how much of a massive cultural blind spot there is around driving, when cyclists and tractors are seen as a problem but too many cars isn't.
Edit: As mungecrundle points out the problems to do with cars seem to be, as always, the fault of everyone except the driver you're talking to.
So 6 out of the top 10 pet hates of car drivers are.....other car drivers (7 if sightseers means people driving the scenic route).
I think we got off lightly.
Ah well - tough. We're not going anywhere.
But looking at the rest of that list - is there something about getting behind the wheel of a car that turns people into grumpy old bastards?
I don't drive and I'm a grumpy old bastard, so probably not the only thing.
Definitely, yes.
I feel old and grumpy just thinking about driving anywhere (unless it is to the pub or an mtb trail).
And as for. ........fillingin. questionnaires .about what. makes .me .feel.grrrrrr .rrrrr...umpy ... GAWD DON't GET ME STARTED ARGHHHH CAN't YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE f....f....
froth.
froth.
Tesla, take me to A&E now.... please.
Oooooooh... Here's a thought. Wonder when "automated self-driving vehicles" will appear on this list?
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