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> But they believe that cycling on roads is unreasonably dangerous, so they > blame the cyclist for endangering themselves. Speaking from personal experience,
by dvtv75 9y ago
> But they believe that cycling on roads is unreasonably dangerous, so they
> blame the cyclist for endangering themselves.
Speaking from personal experience, as a driver I absolutely hate cyclists. Weaving through traffic at speeds slower than the vehicles they cut off, no indication of intended lane changes, running of compulsory stops, shortcuts across footpaths only to pull out in front of vehicles that have right-of-way. I've seen them push their bikes through red lights, to avoid the "but you rode through a red light so you're in the wrong" legal consequence they might face if hit. There was one group of adults and children who overtook me on the side I was indicating and moving to turn, once. That's most illegal here, and I nearly hit them. (They blamed me, but the police blamed them when I phoned the complaint in. "If you ever see that again, have your passenger phone us and you follow them, so we can have a chat with them about safe road use.")
Then there are the times I was a pedestrian. I've been crossing the road at a controlled intersection at one particular location for several years, and in that time I've nearly been hit by a car once. I'm nearly hit by cyclists running red lights there at least once a month, usually a lot more often than that.
One particularly stupid individual on a bike was doing about 45mph on the footpath, cutting blind corners very closely. Nearly hit me three days in a row, and if he had I would have been hospitalized just because of the speed he was doing - stupid little %@#! went on Facebook and started bitching about how a pedestrian had been in his way, I later heard, even though he was riding illegally.
Another one - who should be nominated for an honorary Darwin Award - was trying to squeeze between two parked buses. Had my friend (the driver) not noticed, the cyclist would have been crushed to death.
Why do I hate them? Unpredictability. Many of them are car drivers (weather extremes in my town make year-round cycling a rather miserable affair) who know they shouldn't be doing these things, but they don't care because how will anybody track them down if they don't have plates?
I'm not going suggesting that all cyclists are like this by any means, nor am I going to get into drivers because that would be off topic. I'm simply trying to add a little perspective as to why drivers may dislike cyclists. I am very much in favor of physically separated spaces for cyclists (although how controlled intersections would work is a topic I leave for civil engineers and law enforcement).
- victorhooi 9y agoSpeaking as a cyclist - I've seen drivers do far stupider things every single day =). Everything from not checking for pedestrians (or cyclists) when turning, not indicating when turning, using a mobile phone whilst driving, trying to squeeze their giant SUV into tiny gaps, changing lanes every 20 metres because they think it will get them "ahead". There aren't rare occurrences - but things that are illegal - yet the majority of drivers do them (in Sydney), because being an aggressive driver is seen as "normal". I've even asked friends - one of which has had two accidents related to mobile phone use - why do you talk on the phone? Apparently they consider it a badge of bridge that they're "good enough drivers that they can text and drive"... And let's be realistic - unless you have a deathwish, most cyclist aren't going to take needless risks. When was the last time you saw a cyclist try and text and ride? Unlike a car, you don't have airbags, or slabs of metal, or crumple zones. Yet drivers have all of those, and so yes, they do act with more impunity. Also - when was the last time you saw the headline "Cyclist maims SUV driver in brutal collision"? However, I absolutely agree with you that unpredicatbility is very bad. In fact, that's exactly why cyclists ride on the road, and don't weave in/out on footpaths. You pick a straight line, and a constant speed, and stick to it, ignoring all the loutish drivers who beep at you for not riding on the footpath.
- ams6110 9y ago> When was the last time you saw a cyclist try and text and ride? Often. I've also seen a cyclist using a laptop while riding. Yes on the street.
- victorhooi 9y agoLol, I'm not even sure how that even works. How exactly does one changes gears or brake, whilst typing on a laptop? I'm a pretty good cyclist, I commute every day, but even I would probably struggle to use a laptop whilst riding... I mean, a bike has two wheels, if you stop holding the handlebars, you kinda...topple over? On the flipside - cars make it pretty easy to use your phone (or heck, laptop, as you say). I see drivers using their phones several times every single day in Sydney. I'm pretty sure most people would be lying if they told me they didn't see it either. The CDC and NHTSA's has webpages devoted to this trend: https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/distracted_driving/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/distracted_driving/in... We're talking several thousand deaths and several hundred thousand injuries every year in the US.