One of my pet peeves relates to cyclists who break rules. I really don’t like it when I see cyclists jumping red lights, cycling on pavements or the wrong way down a one ways street. Oh, another one – turning left (or right) when the road sign at the lights says straight ahead only. This might be the biggy for me, as there are two junctions where I regularly have cyclists riding through the green man I’m crossing on.
Most of the time this doesn’t really directly even nearly harm me as I’ve only had a few near-misses, so why do I care?
1. I think it’s arrogant, in that these people seem to think the rules don’t apply to them. Hang on, these are pretty simple rules, it’s not like they’re hard to understand. If that arrow says “go that way only” then just do it. And so on.
2. It’s inconsiderate. How many car drivers or pedestrians think cyclists are generally a menace? Okay, a few are, but in the main I’d say this isn’t the case. The problem is that there are some who cause problems, and these special individuals reinforce the negative stereotype, making some other road users view (and treat) cyclists as a problem, rather than equal road users. I believe this does indirectly harm me, as a sometimes cyclist.