London drivers

[Benno]

I rode through the outskirts of London to drop my bike off at my friend's place while I'm away with the army this summer. On this ONE trip into London I encountered more bad drivers than I have in 2 months of riding outside London! At least 3 idiots tried deliberately to kill my friend and I (by deliberately I mean they drove dangerously while knowing that I was there as opposed to just not seeing me), I got told to f*ck off twice when I confronted these pricks, and countless others just didn't seem to see us.

In the 2 months before this trip, I encountered only TWO bad drivers. One was a girl who didn't see me but stopped when I beeped, another was a fat arab mummy who tried to run me down in her people carrier.

Where have you encountered the worst drivers? I feel for all you London riders.

Rant over...I just had nothing better to do today. Screw London.

[multijoy]

The standard of driving in London never ceases to amaze me. I like to think it's made me a better defensive rider!

It's down to congestion, overcrowding, poor road planning and a significant number of people who believe a driving licence is entirely optional.
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'11 CBF1000A, '99 C90, '98 CB500
silky666: He rode amazingly well considering his bike is the weight of a small van and had slicks on.

[Benno]

[chris-red]

I ride in London everyday, you need to get the London Mindset, once you do it is fine, there are still abd drivers but you spot them easy enough.

One of my rules is if a car is close enough to kick and moving closer it gets kicked.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[27cows]

I was up in London a couple of weeks back, first time in for ages, and actually thought how much saner the traffic was than it used to be. Certainly a lot less busy. Didn't have a single near miss, didn't get cut up and even had a black cab drive give way to me - nearly fell off

Mind you, that was one day. Give it a week and I'd be wanting to be a handlebar mounted steel penetrating mega-taser

I do like the new (to me) parking system in Westminster, where you pay (a quid for the whole day in any m/c parking bay) via text. If there has to be a charge, that's the way to do it. Also discovered that you are no longer allowed to park on pavements in London. FFS, when did that happen?
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The RXS100: vehicle of choice for Chuck Norris

[Benno]

[cromwell]

[esullivan]

I've been commuting in London only about six weeks. I'm still an L-plater, and am commuting more as practice time than as necessity. (I don't really mind the tube, but I have basically zero time to practice riding with a demanding job, five kids, etc.)

I was expecting the worst and, yes, you do occasionally run into real assholes who consider an L plate in front of them to be a personal insult. But generally, the drivers are a lot more considerate and skilled than I ever expected. People move over for me while filtering all the time. Cab drivers wave, make small talk in traffic, and seem very aware of two-wheelers (probably because they spent so much time on a scooter doing the knowledge).

Commuting in London has actually raised my opinion of humanity. I didn't expect that *at all*!

[Thelostone]

Personally I couldn't dis-agree with the op more. For me there is always a sense of relief when returning to the capital, a sense of being with people who know how to use the road and I find it's the yokels out in the sticks to be the inconsiderate, unthinking idots out to kill me. This, of course, comes down to what you know and are used to, and thus how predicable other road users are.

This idea that London drivers are worse or ruder than those in other parts of the country can be seen as an extension of a wider (erroneous) belief that London is ruder, less friendly place to live. This is, of course, bollocks.

All societies have their morals and codes of behaviour which allow us to get along with each other, and transgressing these codes is considered rude.

At this point I should perhaps state my credentials. I was born and raised in hicksville (in my case a little nowhere place in deepest darkest Devon) but moved to The Smoke aged 19 and have lived here since. Thus I have experienced both sides of the coin.

When living in the country we used to hate the city types that came down there and didn't know how to behave. Now I live in London I see it's just the same, out of towners coming here and acting as if they are still in the sticks. The result is they unknowingly break city codes of good behaviour and so are surprised when people get annoyed with them, and at the same time find that the city dwellers don't live by the countryside rules and are thus deemed to be rude and uncivilised.

So riders and drivers in London aren't rude and aggressive it's just we have a different way of doing things here. You come to town and drive as if you are in some little village you will cause annoyance, and yes, we will let you know you have transgressed.

[doggone]

Odd times I visited I thought at least they seemed very aware of bikes I guess because there are so many.
Did have one young lady deliberately squeeze me into the kerb while watching me in her left door mirror.

[Bendy]

I think you have to be a bit aggressive to get anywhere in London, but as a general rule I find drivers are generally pretty damn good to bikes - I guess they're more used to them than people in some other cities may be.

There's a certain interpretation of the rules of the road that goes down fine in London but would probably get you beaten up elsewhere.

My biggest gripe would be the suicidal scooterists and Boris bikers. But everyone seems to do a decent job of missing them, for the most part.

Defensive, yet assertive, that's the way to go. And don't have your 'nearly killed me' meter set to be too sensitive - if your heart wasn't thumping out of your chest in terror then it was just boggo evasive action.

[Kradmelder]

Try Cairo or Lagos or a few other choice places and London traffic will be the height of courtesy.
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2011 KTM 990 Dakar
2009 BMW 1200 GS

[Benno]

[Rogerborg]

[G]

Not being on the MID doesn't mean it wasn't insured.

As above "deliberating tried to kill us" from your point of view was easily "assertive driving" from the general expected standards.

Certainly cops don't have the freedom to do as they might in the home counties say as they've got plenty more else on; I've watched a van go through a red light in front of a police car and be ignored. Can't see that happening in a lot of other places.

The flip side is of course you can often have a bit more flexibility to get from A to B in a prompt manner.
As Bendy says; people do look out for bikes more; but unfortunately there's more slow bikes to hold you up too.

[hellkat]

[Bubbs]

[MinhDinh]

If a ride doesn't have a near death experience, was it really a ride? Really?
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Hit the G spot.

[esullivan]

[nowhere.elysium]

[J.M.]

On the contrary to what I was expecting, when I rode through London from the outskirts, through the centre, and out the other side, I actually found the drivers to be very courteous.

I didn't actually encounter any of the bad driving that I was expecting to and found that people always saw me. Even when choosing the wrong lane at traffic lights, I found traffic courteous enough to let me switch lanes.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Tenko]

Different rules, thats all...

In the sticks its acceptable to fit 7 drunks and a chicken into a van and ride around without fear of capture or being overtaken, whereas in a city one has to look cool and assume the alpha position on the road.

My personal riding hell was at the age of 14 on a tandem riding around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. London is a piece of piss after that!

[Atomic Punk]

I was doing absolutely nothing wrong; driving at the speed limit, in the middle of the road, moving in a straight line.

There's your problem right there ^^^^^^
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I may have lost my way but I'm way ahead of schedule.

[G]

That's a good point; how did you know you were going at the speed limit?

[J.M.]