SPEAKING as a car driver, there are many times when I’ve been caught behind a cyclist and had to go slowly until I reached a safe place to pass him or her. On occasions, I have been chomping at the bit because I was in a hurry. No doubt every motorist could say the same.

But, again speaking as a car driver, I don’t see my need for haste as grounds to honk loudly at the cyclist, try and squeeze past when there isn’t room or deliberately drive in a way to make the cyclist frightened.

That could be because I am also a cyclist and have experienced all of these from other motorists. I know how dangerous those actions are – and how easily they can end up with the cyclist dead or injured.

There is something about cyclists that make some people see red. You only have to look at some of the comments on our website. According to those who write them, the cyclist is always to blame, the car driver always the innocent. Horse riders, tractors and other slow road users don't attract the same hatred.

A week ago today, the reigning British national road cycling road champion, Yorkshire’s own Adam Blythe, had an altercation with a driver and was made by the police to apologise to him.

According to Blythe, and there is no reason to disbelieve him, he called the police out because the driver had hit his bike and nearly killed him. If that was the case, the comment he had to apologise for, “stupid old man”, is mild and justified, compared to what he could have said.

Perhaps the police decided Blythe’s word could not be trusted because he was a cyclist. I hope not.

Or perhaps they went for the easy option of dealing with the comment and not doing the more time consuming investigation to find out exactly what had happened on the road to cause his comment because they were too busy doing other things.

If that’s the case, heaven help any other cyclist subjected to bad driving in their area. Indeed, heaven help anyone on the road in their area, driver, cyclist or pedestrian, if they are the victim of bad driving.

Fortunately police like the ones that dealt with Blythe are in the minority and understand that bad driving needs to be stopped.

Cyclists have just as much right to be on the road as tractors, heavily laden lorries, horses drawing carts, horses with riders, livestock moving from one field to the next and pedestrians where there is no pavement, all of which can delay car drivers.

Cyclists are all ordinary human beings just like car drivers, and they have just as much right to courtesy on the road as farmers, lorry drivers, horse riders, cart drivers and pedestrians - even car drivers.

We live in a crowded island, which gets more crowded every day. You only have to see the number of children and pregnant women to realise we are in a baby boom, and that’s not including the fact that we are generally living longer, or that people are moving to Britain because their original home has been devastated by war or affected by climate change.

No matter how much we don’t like it, the roads are only going to get busier and busier and other people are bound to get in our way from time to time.

The roads are not a race track or somewhere for us to vent our feelings. They are a means of transport and open to everyone, regardless of the vehicle they choose to use. As the population increases, we need to remember that every time we use them, swallow our pride and allow ourselves more time for our journeys.

If we don't curb our impatience and adapt our driving accordingly, we are going to at best lose our licence, at worst end up in prison when our attempt to get round someone injures or kills someone.