Interesting but flawed theory on the first one. If I see a cyclist with helmet, properly kitted out I think to myself "Now there's someone who knows what he/she's doing" - and give them a wide berth. Some years ago, there was a cyclist knocked off his bike by a car and he sued the car-driver. The Judge ruled that, and I quote "A Cyclist is entitled to his wobble" - in other words, Mr Car Driver, you were a prat for not anticipating that the cyclist could hit a pothole in the road or other obstruction which would cause him to wobble in front of you and you didn't give him enough space.
I think the problem goes back to when people learn to drive in the first place. People do not have it drummed into them to
THINK BIKE. I was lucky, my driving instructor was very pro-bike, both bicycles and motorbikes, and drummed it into my head from the first time I sat in the driver's seat. It's stuck with me all these years, a lesson I've never forgotten.
As for giving female riders a wider berth, well I'm not too sure on that one but maybe some of the young bloods see a pretty young thing on a bike and well...it's a male thing LOL.
On the other side of the coin, the one thing that gets me fuming, either in the car or on a bike, are the amount of idiots (there's no better word to describe them) who refuse to put lights on their bikes or wear reflective clothing at night, then come shooting across the road in front of you out of nowhere
One near miss I had when I used to be a taxi-driver was one night I was driving up a road where the street lights for some reason weren't working, so it was very dark. Something caught my eye about 50 yards up the road. To start with I thought it was an animal. Then I saw it again. As I got closer, to my astonishment I saw a black gentleman on a black bike wearing black clothing
What I'd seen was the only "light" he had to let other road users know he was there - the reflectors on his pedals
If I hadn't seen the reflectors, I could have ended up driving straight into him
I opened the window and yelled at him to get some lights on his bike before he ended up getting killed (my language was
not very lady-like). I couldn't get over how stupid that man was. Lights for a bike aren't very expensive and nor are hi-viz jackets or belts.
I think both drivers and cyclists need to be educated more in safety - and having respect for other road users.