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It's actually fascinating to see various constituency behavior in relative terms. Drivers are often overly aggressive and downright dangerous vs cyclists on the

It's actually fascinating to see various constituency behavior in relative terms. Drivers are often overly aggressive and downright dangerous vs cyclists on the streets. Then you go to a college campus and cyclists behave as if they have the right of way over pedestrians (ex: stanford). Perhaps it is simply a symptom of human psychology and entitlement/power.

saagarjha 9y ago
I feel that the feeling of right-of-way is less a feeling of power but instead a measure of the effort required to stop. Pedestrians can stop pretty easily: they just stop walking. For bikes, it's a more complicated process, requiring braking, possibly putting your foot on the ground, and then extra pedaling to speed up again.
bsder 9y ago
> ex: stanford Stanford seems to be particularly bad about this and I really don't understand why. The only bicycle "bump" incidents I have ever had were at Stanford. One dude had the misfortune to bump me near my wallet. My city-bred reflex reaction (which even surprised me with how fast it was) knocked him right off the bicycle. Of course, he was pissed at me for clocking him. Umm, yo, douchebag, people will leave you alone if you don't bump into them.
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  Of course, he was pissed at me for clocking him. So you lashed out at someone because they accidentally bumped into you and they are the douchebag?
  - hkmurakami 9y ago
    If a cyclist didn't slow down / change course for a pedestrian on stanford campus, then yes, they are in the wrong, as a bike is a vehicle.
  - PhantomGremlin 9y ago
    So you lashed out at someone because they accidentally bumped into you and they are the douchebag? Yes, definitely the cyclist is the douchebag. A cyclist is often traveling much faster than a pedestrian and can easily injure someone. The burden of proper behavior, especially in a mixed cyclist/pedestrian environment, must fall mainly to the cyclist. Usually a "clocking" is because a cyclist is behaving recklessly. People often want to dismiss something as "an accident" when instead it was easily foreseen "negligence".
  - bsder 9y ago
    I'm glad you've never had to deal with pickpockets. I recommend you stay out of cities, though.
Mz 9y ago
Then you go to a college campus and cyclists behave as if they have the right of way over pedestrians (ex: stanford). This varies a lot from place to place. In San Diego County, cyclists would yell at me "Excuse me!" And you knew they really meant "Bitch, get the fuck out my way." While they were on the sidewalk instead of in the bike lane right next to it. Then I went to Fresno and it was an extremely different climate. People would warmly say "Hi." And some of the cyclists would go around instead of yelling at you and acting like the pedestrian was in the wrong for being on a sidewalk. Then I left California entirely and although I am supposedly in a bad part of town, people are so much nicer here that I am having trouble adjusting. I think the insane housing costs in California are so eroding quality of life for many people that it is literally making them crazy. The social fabric there seems pretty messed up, and it is worse in some places than others.

saagarjha 9y ago

I feel that the feeling of right-of-way is less a feeling of power but instead a measure of the effort required to stop. Pedestrians can stop pretty easily: they just stop walking. For bikes, it's a more complicated process, requiring braking, possibly putting your foot on the ground, and then extra pedaling to speed up again.

bsder 9y ago

> ex: stanford Stanford seems to be particularly bad about this and I really don't understand why. The only bicycle "bump" incidents I have ever had were at Stanford. One dude had the misfortune to bump me near my wallet. My city-bred reflex reaction (which even surprised me with how fast it was) knocked him right off the bicycle. Of course, he was pissed at me for clocking him. Umm, yo, douchebag, people will leave you alone if you don't bump into them.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago
Of course, he was pissed at me for clocking him. So you lashed out at someone because they accidentally bumped into you and they are the douchebag?
- hkmurakami 9y ago
  If a cyclist didn't slow down / change course for a pedestrian on stanford campus, then yes, they are in the wrong, as a bike is a vehicle.
- PhantomGremlin 9y ago
  So you lashed out at someone because they accidentally bumped into you and they are the douchebag? Yes, definitely the cyclist is the douchebag. A cyclist is often traveling much faster than a pedestrian and can easily injure someone. The burden of proper behavior, especially in a mixed cyclist/pedestrian environment, must fall mainly to the cyclist. Usually a "clocking" is because a cyclist is behaving recklessly. People often want to dismiss something as "an accident" when instead it was easily foreseen "negligence".
- bsder 9y ago
  I'm glad you've never had to deal with pickpockets. I recommend you stay out of cities, though.

Mz 9y ago

Then you go to a college campus and cyclists behave as if they have the right of way over pedestrians (ex: stanford). This varies a lot from place to place. In San Diego County, cyclists would yell at me "Excuse me!" And you knew they really meant "Bitch, get the fuck out my way." While they were on the sidewalk instead of in the bike lane right next to it. Then I went to Fresno and it was an extremely different climate. People would warmly say "Hi." And some of the cyclists would go around instead of yelling at you and acting like the pedestrian was in the wrong for being on a sidewalk. Then I left California entirely and although I am supposedly in a bad part of town, people are so much nicer here that I am having trouble adjusting. I think the insane housing costs in California are so eroding quality of life for many people that it is literally making them crazy. The social fabric there seems pretty messed up, and it is worse in some places than others.