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02
Apr
Verbally abused Harrogate cyclist issues plea to motorists
A Harrogate cyclist has urged motorists to respect people riding two-abreast.
Derek Gibson got in touch after he and his wife were verbally abused by a van driver for riding side-by-side in Hampsthwaite.
Mr Gibson, a keen cyclist, said the driver sounded their horn at the couple and shouted that they were not allowed to ride this way.
He said this happens frequently around Harrogate even though the Highway Code explicitly permits two-abreast cycling and says it can be safer.
Mr Gibson said:
I suggested that before they started shouting and pipping their horn at cyclists, they should read the Highway Code and make themselves aware of new regulations.
The two people in the van were very angry and told me I was talking rubbish and if that was the case car drivers would have to sit and wait to pass cyclists causing them a delay. I went on to say that car drivers should treat a group of cyclists as a slow-moving vehicle like they would a tractor.
Unfortunately, these two people could not or would not believe anything I said. The whole debacle made my wife and I very angry and sad.
Mr Gibson, who is still affected by a cycling injury he suffered more than a quarter-of-a-century ago that left him unable to walk for a year without the aid of sticks, continues to cycle regularly.
We will publish his letter on Sunday in our weekly Readers’ Letters column.
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