blocking traffic
Thread started by
Limeyfly at 12.8.07 - 8:03 am
I've just read several threads here with mentions of vehicle drivers complaining to cyclists blocking traffic etc. Some (of you) have mentioned that cyclists ARE traffic - this is true.
I just came back from a trip around Europe and South America and I noticed that in most of the countries visited I rarely heard any honking even in bad traffic. In several cases driver didn't really follow organised lanes as we do here, in fack they would somehow weave together getting where they needed to go. I didn't even notice any road rage. Cyclists were definitely treated as part of the road users on what seemed fairly equal terms.
I think the attitude here is one of " I'm in a hurry, get out of my way"
Some of the negative attitudes toward cyclists come from our life attitude. Is it cultural? When we change that the threads concerning smcm and smpd won't happen.
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We can "wax-philosophical" endlessly and attempt to speculate motives which cause negative attitudes from motorists and never discover the "real reason" behind it. I think the important factor in any such analysis is to remember that as human beings, their reasons could vary due to countless influences.
Maybe they actually like cyclists and are cyclist themselves, but had a bad day at work.
Maybe they had a child who was killed by a car while riding a bicycle, so they resent others riding in the street.
Maybe they are genuine sociopaths with a mental disorder.
My point is, we may never know the reasons why, because the reasons will always vary from one individual to another.
Having said all of that........
I do think as general rule, one might be able to discern a "predominant motive" behind the majority. Personally, I suspect it is a twofold combination of "entitlement" and "superiority" they feel.
"Entitlement" comes from everyone thinking they own the road. They feel like they can drive as fast as they want, anytime they want and everyone who gets in their way be damned. Bicycles. Other cars. Pedestrians. Doesn't matter. They hate anyone who is in their way. Sharing the road and having a shred of polite courtesy to their fellow man never even crosses their mind because society OWES them that road, whenever and however they want it.
"Superiority" stems from the idea that most motorists are so in love with their vehicles, they can't conceive of anyone riding bicycles for pleasure. They think we "have" to ride bicycles because we don't own cars. Therefore, I think many of them assume cyclists are poor or underprivileged in some way (even though some road bikes cost more money than the cars) and the lawyer in his BMW looks down on those whom he feels are below his financial stature. So, how dare these unemployed hipster potheads get in his way! They are better than us because they own cars.
I know. I know. It's stupid. But we're not talking about intelligent people here.
Naturally, these motives of "entitlement" and "superiority" are completely wrong in a moral sense and incredibly eerie illustrations of ignorance. Sadly, this ignorance among motorists can lead them to do some very dangerous and illegal behavior like racing through traffic and deliberately cutting off bicycles.
In the end, however, they don't matter. That's the good news. They are irrelevant. They are an exceptionally small faction of the humanity on this earth. Look at the bright side.
For example, on the Goonies ride tonight, we saw hundreds and hundreds of motorists on the busiest streets in Hollywood. Out of those hundreds of people, I saw 2 motorists who were jerks. Only TWO. How many people cheered or honked horns or yelled out, "MIDNIGHT RIDAZZ!"? Dozens and dozens of them. I lost count.
So in terms of percentages, we maybe had 79% of people minding their business and being apathetic, 20% of people being positive and supportive and 1% of people being self-centered assholes.
That is pretty wonderful, I think.
MikeyWalsh12.9.07 - 1:30 am
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Ridazz Roulette!
