The "Things that annoy me" thread

Not if I have to brake for them - which I don't. You wouldn't believe how many funny ways there are for braking/dismounting a bike, when the rider realizes the car won't brake for him :lol:

I shall make a point in the future to dismount and push my bike across the street as slowly as I possibly can, should I ever be in the vicinity of northern Germany.
 
I am now also annoyed by people who are annoyed by people who are annoyed by little things. Life is pain, misery and suffering. An inevitable march towards death*. Even the minor parts of it.






*? Jimmy Carr, 2007
 
Another addition: ants. All of them. I know they serve a purpose, but that purpose is not biting me.
 
- ants, as ninjacoco said
- snakes
- lizards
- people who seem to think that they can say whatever they want to whoever, whenever and not face any consequences
- people who can't realise that they are imperfect (shock horror) and that whatever raw talent they have is not enough.
- people who then complain about said raw talent not being enough, but instead of realising that they need to do more work, then ignoring whatever/whoever has criticised them to the point of idiocy.
 
Can I say - Denim jeans?
 
Italians.





:p jk, don't kill me
 
I shall make a point in the future to dismount and push my bike across the street as slowly as I possibly can, should I ever be in the vicinity of northern Germany.

The problem is, that bicycle riders live under the false assumption, that they have a right of way on zebra crossings.

Which they don't.

Zebra crossings are for pedestrians only to cross a street, not for bicycle riders who use it as a shortcut to get from one sidewalk to the other (which is illegal, too, by the way).

So unless they dismount and push their bicycle across the zebra crossing, they violate the traffic laws in a major way (disregarding right of way, resp. forcing it for themselves) and put their lives at risk by it. How mindblowingly idiotic is that, when your crumple zones are your skull and rib cage?

Here's a true story, something I experienced myself a couple of weeks ago:

A man and his young son on bycicles (the kid probably not older than 8 years), both wearing helmets of course -- safety issues -- are trying to get across a busy crossing here in town.

Most parts of it are covered by traffic light for pedestrians and bicycle riders. However, the right turn lane is just equipped with a zebra crossing. The right turn lane also is not equipped with traffic lights for the right-turning cars. Here's a Google Earth shot of that crossing, where I marked the said zebra crossing with a black circle.

3915400510_20f4fdf90c.jpg


So I was nearing that right-turn with the zebra-crossing in the middle of it and saw that man and his son on the bycicle nearing it, too. He looked at me, I looked at him and I thought we had an understanding. He even slowed down a bit, so I didn't.

But then he suddenly accelerated and started riding over the zebra crossing, 10 meters in front of my car! I was not able to break anymore, so he had to literally throw himself around and barely managed to avoid falling from his bike.

I had my sunroof open, so I heard him yell at me: "Asshole, this is a zebra crossing!!"

What an idiot -- and what a great example he gave to his son...
 
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^ I have to agree. Cyclists over here (the majority of them at least) seem to want to be classified as both legal road users and pedestrians at the same time. A lot of cyclists like to ride around my school (goodness knows why, there is a brilliant cycleway a few kms away and they all drive to cycle here anyway) and they love to:

a) ride 2 abreast more than 1.5m apart (after which point they are breaking the law and impeding traffic). They then complain to the school that parents and students drive "dangerously close to them"

b) use the footpath and ride excessively and agresively down it. This is illegal, as they are technically road users and they are putting predestrian in danger

c) speed. It is a 40 km/h zone during peak school traffic hours and cyclists will often overtake me when I am right on the speed limit (a lot of them are competition riders)

d) Not stop at the pedestrian crossing, but a lot of cars do that too. Still, if bikes are using the roads, they should have to give way to pedestrians- they are legal road users.

e) use the pedestrian crossing. Again, illegal.

f) abuse me for standing beside my car, waiting to open my door until they pass. I push myself against my car to avoid them, and they shouldn't be riding that close to the cars anyway. One day they are definitely going to hit one, and then of course complain that cars are able to use the area for parking (shock horror- it's a road!!!!!). And would they prefer me tpo fly my door open whilst they are going past so my body isn't in their way???


This is only one area and one group of cyclists, but they also tend to rida aggressively on the foreshore area a few k's away from my house. They speed, illegally overtake and abuse people there too. I think that there needs to be clear distinctions drawn for bicycles- either register them for use on the road, or deem them as pedestrians and not allow them on roads. The current laws are too iffy and vague.

(disclaimer- I am actually a cyclist, but I never do any of these things. I just think that, like a lot of drivers, students, motorcyclists and nearly everything else in life, there are some serious issues that need to be addressed in law).
 
People who spell definitely with an a (definately) and use apostrophes where they're not bloody needed (I have three apple's). They're small, but they both fucking shit me.
 
[...]
(disclaimer- I am actually a cyclist, but I never do any of these things. I just think that, like a lot of drivers, students, motorcyclists and nearly everything else in life, there are some serious issues that need to be addressed in law).

^ this!

since i am both a cyclist and a car-driver annoyed by ~75% of cyclists on the roads (because of things stated above, and more!), i try not to be annoying to cars in any way while riding my bike. especially because, as mentioned on page2 somewhere, if i behave like an arse and the car does, too, i am the one who can pick up his limbs from all over the place!
i don't get it anyway. bikers clogging up streets... i mean... if you are on a street that you're clogging up, why are you there? there HAVE to be nicer roads you can use(smaller, lower speed limit, less used, just nicer to look at for f*s sake)...
 
I'm annoyed by (among other things) car drivers being annoyed by bicycle riders because they somehow think the road belongs to cars only. Newsflash, people: Get on the autobahn for that.

Sometimes I think it should be mandatory for everyone to spend time in/on every kind of vehicle, just to get the different perspectives.
 
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I knew this thread was going to raise issues and problems :rolleyes:

Well, DanRom, don't take it personally. A few posts ago a guy told he was annoyed by italian people, I can assure you this wasn't a good feeling... :)

Moreover, I don't know what other people are thinking, but my case is not a case of hate, I'm just taking a bit of fun in exagerating something that I have seen for real. Maybe not all cyclists are saints... the one ringing at me while to get me out of their way while I was in some pedestrian area were for real (an that was denmark...), just as the one who cross the street, in a place where he wasn't allowed to, just a few meters in front of my car without even taking a look (that was italy), and just as the one I didn't crush to death out of pure sixth sense: I was on the street, the bycicle was on the sidewalk, on a bycicle lane. I overtook him at some point, and it would have been legal for me to not even noticing him at that point, since he was not on the road. Something like 200 meters after that, I put my indicator and started to turn right, looking everywhere and going slowly. Noone was to be seen, not even by turning my head, except my mind couldn't resolve the fact that the cyclist had suddendly and completely disappeared from existence. Prudence told me to stop, sight was telling me to go. I stopped out of pure doubt, and the cyclist run in front of the car at a nice pace. I then decided something was clearly wrong in the way bycicle lanes are implemented on roads.

And that was not Italy, land of the thousand ways to do things stupidly, that was Berlin, capitol of the clockwork Germany.

Also, this is not the only case of problematic rules involving car-bycicle relationships, unfortunately.

I know cyclists are not all stupid or pricks or oblivious, but I I feel I have the right to be annoyed with a system that constantly puts me in a situation where I have to cross my fingers and pray to God everytime I move around, because if, by pure chance, I hit a cyclist that I COULD NOT see or that SHOULD NOT be there, I will pay big money, lose licence points and feel the despise from people telling me I am an egoistic car driver that thinks the road is for cars only.

Don't be annoyed, think about what is not right. You both drive a car AND ride a bycicle, it should be easy for you to spot what is done right and was is not.
 
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Don't worry, I don't take it personal. I am also annoyed by the many, many dumb cyclists that populate the roads. Incidentally, many of them are also car drivers who are annoyed by cyclists. :rolleyes:
I then decided something was clearly wrong in the way bycicle lanes are implemented on roads.
Congratulations, you are absolutely correct. This revelation of yours is the first step to a better car-bicycle relationship. Seriously. :)
I have the right to be annoyed with a system that constantly puts me in a situation where I have to cross my fingers and pray to God everytime I move around, because if, by pure chance, I hit a cyclist that I COULD NOT see or that SHOULD NOT be there
Now put yourself in the cyclist's situation. ;) I don't like being run over by a car because the driver didn't have a chance to see me coming.

You both drive a car AND ride a bycicle, it should be easy for you to spot what is done right and was is not.
Truth be told, I've been quite interested in this topic for years now. So I know better than most people what's done wrong, what should be done and most importantly, how to ride a bicycle in a safe way despite traffic planners and politicians building death traps.
The public is simply not informed or even intentionally misinformed on this topic, and that's what annoys me most.

We should abort the bicycle vs. car talk now, I know from experience it can't end well.

Sorry for the little rant, but I think in this thread it's allowed. ;)
 
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I'm annoyed by (among other things) car drivers being annoyed by bicycle riders because they somehow think the road belongs to cars only. Newsflash, people: Get on the autobahn for that.

Sometimes I think it should be mandatory for everyone to spend time in/on every kind of vehicle, just to get the different perspectives.

If you're referring to me: I respect cyclists as equal traffic participants anytime they stick to the rules, as long as they behave like predictable entities with a brain.

I disrespect them and really believe they should be pulled off the road by their ears by someone, when they think the rules do not apply to them -- which is the case with the majority of cyclists, let's be honest.

The real reason for my annoyance, though, lies in the fact, that when it comes to cars, we all sit in a more or less safe environment, while cyclists are not.

If I hit another car, in most cases only insurance data is exchanged. When I hit a bycicle, it more than likely means heavy injury, invalidity or death for the bycicle rider.

So it infuriates me, that I might hurt or even kill one of those idiots without me being guilty of anything but sticking to the traffic rules. Because I'd have to deal with feelings of guilt for the rest of my life and that just isn't what they deserve.

But let me tell you again: As long as cyclists are behaving correctly, which includes

- Using a cycle track when there is one (and the one on the right side, to be exact)
- Using the road instead of the sidewalk, if there isn't a cycle path
- Not cutting corners or crossings in dangerous ways
- Cycling with the lights on, when it's getting dark
- Stopping at redlights
- Dismounting at zebra crossings
- Not overtaking stopped cars at a redlight on the right side
- Keeping to the speed limits in 30 km/h zones or play streets
- Not running down or scaring pedestrians to death
- Not parking their bycicles where they are in the way of cars or pedestrians
- Not thinking of themselves as better, "greener" human beings who should not be bothered with rules like the stinking cars,

they have my full respect and recognition and I treat them with consideration.

But the sad truth is, that it's very likely that I see ALL of the above mentioned offences on a regular drive to work every morning -- which takes about 10 minutes.

I know that car owners also disrespect the rights of cyclists a lot and I don't want to play that down. But the big difference is: When cars annoy cyclists, it's in most cases just from indifference and thoughtlessness.

But when cyclists violate the rules, they do so deliberately, thinking the rules don't apply to them. And there's no argueing out of that, because every cyclists reaction to a honk is either a raised fist, the middle finger or a feisty grin (or both)

P.S.: I usually do not ride a bycicle. I have one but it collects dust in the cellar.
 
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Wrong. This is legal according to the StVO.

Must be a new regulation, didn't know about that.

But I read that it applies only, when they act carefully and considerate. Since overtaking cars is to save time, in most case they won't act careful and considerate but trying to speed their way along the stopped or slow rolling cars.

And if there isn't enough space, they will simply jump on the sidewalk. Seen that before a lot.

If I were a cyclist, I wouldn't do it anyway, especially on a right turn, if I value my life.
 
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