From Derek at BlogTO as a response to Sgt. Tim Burrow's Top 10 list of driver complaints. (BlogTO is good at these lists):
10 - The close pass
9 - Lack of bike lanes
8 - Cars parked in bike lanes
7 - Potholes
Yes, potholes, but also utility cuts, which in some way are even more irritating. A utility cut can create a wide, sharp drop from which you can't easily escape; or the cut can run below you for blocks creating the roller coaster, or "mutton bustin" (sheep riding), effect - also unavoidable.
6 - Winter
5 - Other cyclists
4 - Car doors
3 - Streetcar tracks
Derek suggests the bunny hop, but that's a bad idea. CAN-BIKE recommends taking the tracks as close to 90 degrees as possible - slow down and cross the tracks at a sharp angle.
2 - Oblivious pedestrians
1 - Sudden right turns (without signaling)
This is Derek's key complaint, and though it is rarer than the others, it's a biggie. I agree, complete disregard for a life. A more minor but related complaint is the right turn from the left of cyclists at red lights - you wouldn't do that with a car so why do you think it's okay with a bike?
Honourable mentions: jerks who bypass the line of cyclists at red lights, slow e-bikes that need to be passed (but that can be nice to draft!), riding north from downtown (it's all uphill), and the constant threat of bike theft.
Derek misses: high speed cars; speeding semis, dump trucks, and cement trucks barreling down small downtown streets.
Comments
MattAlexander (not verified)
Overlap
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 13:52It's funny, for the most part I thought the Driver's Top 10 Pet peeves coincided pretty closely with my own Cycling pet peeves. The only difference is that the stakes are that much greater.
Martin Reis (not verified)
Sudden right turns surely
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 14:16Sudden right turns surely wins. We need a law which makes it illegal to overtake a cyclist before an intersection and turn right, like in Chicago. The driver has to slow and wait until the cyclist has gone through the intersection first then he can turn right.
Sean (not verified)
+1
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 14:38+1
I've had two separate accidents occur in this situation.
One was on a yellow light in the rain that I wasn't safely able to stop for. I was overtaken and went right into the side of the car.
Kevin Love
We've got that law already
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 23:15We have that law. Its called "failure to yield the right of way." Someone who unsafely turns right in front of me has violated this law.
AnnieD
The fickle right turner
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 15:08A recent pet peeve is the driver who signals a right turn so I move to pass on the left. The driver, held up by pedestrians, changes their mind and takes off just as I'm getting ready to move back into the right lane. Not so keen to pass right turning cars on the left anymore because of this.
Seymore Bikes
Right Turn Clyde!
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 16:21right hooks are #1 in my opinion, my only two conflicts with an auto (taxi)
Jacob L.
One Big Peeve
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 20:43Threats and obscene comments from motorists.
locutas_of_spragge
The thing I dislike most...
Thu, 11/26/2009 - 02:48the morons who chatter on about how, in a bike-car collision, the car always wins, and therefore, presumably, they "own" the road by right of conquest. I'd like to remind the people who think that way (and act that way behind the wheel) that by their logic, the scary dude in the muscle shirt and the aryan botherhood tattoos "owns" the day's receipts at the local convenience store, because an uzi always beats a store clerk.
Until enough people get it through their heads that reckless or homicidal behaviour has the same effect whether performed with a car or a glock, some motorists will have this sense of impunity, a form of smug, clueless irresponsibility that makes me very annoyed indeed.
Drew (not verified)
The statement, "the car
Thu, 11/26/2009 - 16:49The statement, "the car always wins" merely acknowledges the physics of a collision. Before reading your post I never seen it used as an argument suggesting cars own the road.
Many people in Toronto exhibit bad behaviour on our roads. Some ride bikes, others drive cars. They all drive me crazy and neither group has a monopoly on acting smug or displaying clueless irresponsibility.
What really irks me are politcians who promise to deliver a bicycle network then don't deliver. Most problems we face daily are caused by a lack of adequate cycling infrastructure. If cyclists as a group focused half of their anger at Toronto's current mayor and council we would probably accomplish more.
locutas_of_spragge
with respect...
Sun, 11/29/2009 - 18:12the language of winning and losing carries an implied ethical judgment. If we just wanted to describe the physics, we would use the appropriate equations. And if the word "wins" carried no ethical connotations, this statement would not jar:
The words we use matter, and the perception that "the car wins" simply expresses an ethically neutral truth helps smuggle several noxious assumptions into our thinking, including the truly dangerous assumption that cars have the moral status of forces of nature, rather than dangerous machines that their operators have an obligation to control.
Words sometimes shape our thinking until we get to see how they shape our thinking.
Tom Flaherty
Vroooomm...Vroooomm...
Thu, 11/26/2009 - 21:51I can handle most of the crap drivers dish out, but the one that makes me SNAP is the throttle bully that decides he's going to scare you out of his way by revving his engine.
electric
The number one enemy of the cyclist.... drum-roll please
Thu, 11/26/2009 - 22:53is.... the idiot!
The idiot takes many forms but, make no mistake they are the chief culprit behind most of these complaints.
I don't agree with winter being placed on this list though, I would sooner put cold rain in it's place.
It being cold and snowy out is fine, but being cold and soaking wet? bah!
Random cyclist (not verified)
cold rain vs ice & snow
Fri, 11/27/2009 - 20:50Really? Rain is merely unpleasant (unless you have a good rain jacket and pants, in which case it's not bad at all) whereas snow and ice are actually dangerous (due to my slipping, other cars sliding, and the lack of cleared bike lanes).
electric
This might surprise you
Sat, 11/28/2009 - 22:45but, the weather conditions under which most fatal car accidents occur? Sunny days.
One would think snow is very dangerous to drive in, but for some strange reason it isn't. Mostly because drivers are somewhat concerned about snow and some actually will slow down and pay attention(after the first major-snow fall that is). I can attest that when spring arrives after having ridden all winter that I feel less safe because drivers are suddenly speeding more, rolling the windows down and back to havin' a good time which somehow precludes paying attention.
Back to what I was saying... apparently rain is the leading cause of "weather-related" crashes. Wet pavement is slippery too and people treat it like they have just as much grip as dry pavement.
I don't have numbers for cyclists but, rainy dark November is a bad time for pedestrians.
Yes falling over is dangerous but, it is up to you not to cycle in conditions beyond your level of comfort, skill and equipment. I'll also agree that the missing bike-lanes are a low-point.
kiwano
The counterpoint to the sudden right turn
Thu, 11/26/2009 - 23:16Is the person who pulls into a right turn lane and then goes straight. For the purposes of this comment, I'd also count that car-length or two where there isn't on-street parking near an intersection as a right turn lane when the parking's all full. They put themselves in conflict with me by pulling in there when I've already taken the space between the lanes in order to leave right-turners room to proceed on a red light. They block anyone who might want to make a right on the red. And to top it all off, the only motivation they can possibly have is to cut back in to the middle lane a few car lengths ahead.
It may not be the most dangerous motorist behaviour, or even the most obnoxious towards cyclists, but I think that it's a clear winner in terms of being generally antisocial while driving, and I really wish that there were a ticket to give to these jerks.
(Note that I excuse cabs, who I expect to pull towards the curb any chance they get, in order to have a better shot at picking up a fare. They need to make their living).
kevcom
Tailgater and Close Passer
Fri, 11/27/2009 - 21:26My biggest gripe with cars when it comes to cycling is the tailgater and the close passer.
If cars just stayed 20 metres behind, what a world of difference it would make in stress levels of bicyclists. I really don't understand why cars need to come so close - they won't be going any faster that's for sure!
Also - the close pass always freaks me out. That's my SNAP moment - the moment I feel like hunting down whoever did it and exacting my revenge through choleric bouts at their window. Cabbies are the worst culprints, followed by HGV's and then inattentive drivers - most with some sort of distraction - cell phone, female/male friend, etc.
It's too bad I cycle mostly in the burbs though, and usually can't catch up with offendor.