Brookwood wrote:
By comparison the road has been artificially narrowed with several islands and pedestrian crossings. Those islands make it impossible to overtake a cyclist safely. Between the islands you have to get very close to the white line if not cross it in order to give the cyclist plenty of room.
It's what they are there for...
Don't blame the cyclists, blame the people whose actions made the pinch point necessary. It is comforting to know that if you are riding 3-5 feet from the kerb at one of these that an impatient driver cannot overtake.
Which white line do you mean? If you mean the central white line in a single carriageway then ideally your should cross it with both sets of wheels, as you should overtake a cyclists giving them at least as much room as a car.
If it is a solid white line then you may not cross it at all unless the thing you are overtaking is going less than 10mph. (Personally I'd like to see this raised to 20mph)
Why not borrow a bike and cycle the cycle path at school time, then cycle the road. When on the road, go through the pinch points as close to the kerb as you can and see what it is like to have a driver squeeze past you.
It seems to me that, unfortunately, it is only really possible to see why cyclists do the things they do if you go and do it for yourself. Mrs B Cyclists recently reminded me that I used to query the sanity of cyclists using a road near me when there was a "perfectly good" cycle path over the same route.
Now I cycle a lot, and I on the road, not the path.