Originally Posted by
genec
Yet oddly, countries such as Germany, where it is harder to get a drivers' license, have better drivers, higher speed roads, and better treatment toward cyclists.
To the extent that countries like Germany actually have better drivers, I agree that's probably because of the greater difficulty associated with getting a license. But that still ignores that bad-driving-that-could-be-eliminated-by-better-education is a relatively insignficant factor in terms of bike-car crash causes (and, therefore, the fact that improving driving could not have a very significant effect in reducing bike-car crashes). The supposed better treatment of cyclists in Germany is probably due to cultural factors rather than legal or educational. Try to ride a bike on a street with a sidepath in Germany and see how well you're treated. Likewise, the treatment of cyclists is quite good in the bike capital of the USA, Davis, CA, which has the same laws as the rest of the state. And this was true even before the first bike lane stripe was painted there in the late 60s, so that's not the reason. It's the culture, and high use of bikes in the culture, that is the main factor in determining how well cyclists are treated.
Originally Posted by
genec
Oh and with regard to that entitlement issue... I believe that motorists occasional poor behavior with each other also stems from that same entitlement issue... so this is not about cyclists alone, but about improving motorist behavior in general... which even insurance companies and certain states (which have toughened their driver's license testing) apparently also believe.
That would be a different entitlement issue from the one I was talking about, which was specifically drivers' entitlements over those of cyclists.