r/Glasgow Tools

I think it might depend where you cycle. My commute is from Cambuslang to Govanhill and includes a few dodgy sections where people drive impatiently and over the speed limit - those are scariest for me, however I tend to ascribe most closs passes to ignorance rather than actively wishing me harm. I feel safer when the traffic is heavier and therefore slower. I think the main problem is people on their phones - I see it more and more, and that worries me. Not just at traffic lights, which is now standard, but people clearly looking at their phones as they drive along.

Like you I try to be courteous - I signal, I check behind me a lot, I stop at pedestrian crossings and at other traffic lights, though I might sometimes nip ahead just before the green on busy 4 way junctions, having filtered to the front of the queue first - people probably don't like that, but I feel safer doing it. It's not because I'm trying to win a race. Generally if I've ever had an altercation it's been because some drivers don't like it when I filter through stationary traffic or when I take my lane, which sometimes I judge is safest (passing cars, and staying out of the door zone, etc). Sometimes you need to be in the right hand lane to turn right and a few drivers seem to get annoyed about that, too - though it's not like I'm holding anyone up.

I don't think any cyclist enjoys holding back traffic - there's one section of road that I hate for this, it's a steep hill, but there's a roundabout at the bottom of it so I wave through any cars behind before I tackle it... I do usually catch up with them again at the bottleneck at the top though!