May be it is just me but I always seem to either get a near miss with a taxi or verbally abused by some arsehole of a taxi driver.
I am totally fed up of black cabs thinking they own the roads. I find it particularly dangerous cycling in central London mainly due to the density of traffic even though the average speeds are quite low. Taxi drivers seem to be the most dangerous, as the always seem to hog the bus lanes and try force you off to the pavement or pot holes/drains. The hardly give you any way and often cut across your paths doing u-turns in the middle of busy streets and block your passage. They start beeping their horn at you just because you move to the middle of the lane. When you stop at the traffic lights they start verbally abusing you just because they couldn’t overtake you or force you off the road by almost driving into your rear wheel.
They often overtake on bends in the same lane which means you end up going dangerously close to the curb or their cab.
Some of them are such dickheads that they overtake when you are turning ahead of them in the correct position e.g. you are in the right lane turning right then they overtake on the left and turn right but prevent you going on the left hand side of the road you just turned into, as the front of the scumbag’s taxi is so close to your bike. It always seems like a battle with taxi drivers. They accelerate suddenly and brake suddenly. They have little consideration for cyclists and think they own the road. They give so little space to cycle in, it feels very dangerous.
By contrast the majority of bus drivers seem more considerate to cyclists. They don’t overtake so close or try to force you off the roads.
I wish the black cabs wouldn’t use the bus lanes as it will make cycling safer.
I use the Borris bikes everyday to commute to work but I feel my life is always on the line having to deal with black cab drivers.
I wonder whether the difference between a black cab driver and a bus driver is partly down to how they earn a living. A bus driver is employed and so doesn’t take the ‘revenue risk’ of a delayed journey. Black cabbies are self employed, so possibly feel that the streets are their workplace and the rest of us are sodding up their day and income. I have no evidence to back this up, but it feels plausible.
That said, it’s no excuse for poor driving.
Not a fan of cars or traffic. Not including cycles that is, but taxicab drivers in London are usually the most helpful people on the the road. Hope you have better luck in future.
I do agree with you taxi drivers does not cooperate with every one they just think they own the road.
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