I think that it is high time that cyclists had to pass some kind of test and get a licence before being allowed to ride a bike in public. Cycle hire shops should have to see a licence before allowing someone to hire a bike. Most cyclists are fine, but there is a significant minority who are dangerous.
I live in an area with quite a lot of cyclists about, both locals and those on holiday, and some of them just shouldn't be allowed out. I often park my car in a car park which is near a cycle hire shop, and always have to be on the look out for people trying out the bike they may hire, weaving in and out of the parked cars and suddenly pulling across the front of me.
I have lost count of the times that a cyclist has shot out of a side road in front of me, causing me to have to brake hard to avoid them, and it isn't because I'm driving too fast, I always drive within the speed limit. On some of the narrow roads locally, it isn't uncommon to drive around a corner and find cyclists riding two or more abreast blocking the road.
My biggest bugbear though is why cyclists ride on a main road when there is a perfectly good cycle track just yards away. Highland council has recently spent a lot of money to put in a cycle track/footpath up to Glenmore, but some cyclists still insist on riding on the road which is really busy with tourist traffic and buses. There is also a cycle track running alongside the A9 on the approach to Slochd summit, which has had several fatal accidents on it, but again, some cyclists still ride on the road, why?
