Advocacy & Safety - Harassed by drivers in countries other than the US?

I am curious if cyclists, specifically those in Europe, get yelled at by motorists on a regular basis. Here in Raleigh NC I receive (negative) comments from cagers about every 2-3 days. Is this just a US phenomena where (lots and lots) people think you are nuts if you ride a bike?

I am curious if cyclists, specifically those in Europe, get yelled at by motorists on a regular basis. Here in Raleigh NC I receive (negative) comments from cagers about every 2-3 days. Is this just a US phenomena where (lots and lots) people think you are nuts if you ride a bike?

Thats like two three times a week!??! Wow....

Happens maybe once every three months here...

I don't help it by having thunderous thighs and calves... :)

Different countries and cities in Europe are as different in this regard as they are in the US. Overall cycling may be more popular and "accepted" in Europe, but there are lots of places there too where they are not treated well. Norway is one of the countries without much of a cycling culture, and where cars rule the day. A recent TV documentary compared the city of Bergen, Norway with another city in Holland, and how different they treated cyclists.

Thats like two three times a week!??! Wow....

Happens maybe once every three months here...

I get it at the same 2-3x per week rate if not more, but only on certain streets and times (rush hour) in Phx-metro area. There are some streets I never get it, there are some (with narrow outside lane) I get it near every time I ride on them.

I've never once been yelled at or otherwise harrassed on weekend recreational rides, only on commutes.

Al

You catch that much crap here in Raleigh? I've been riding lots around here for a few years now, and I have only had a handful of comments. I get lots more when I'm out at the coast with all the tourists out there "relaxing".

What part of Raleigh do you ride around? Whats the best (biggest) hill you have found? I like to ride up and down Lassiter Mill Rd, but I'm always on the lookout for a better one!

I rarely (if ever) got that in Europe, but I get it a lot in the US. But in Europe, bikes are a lot more accepted as part of the road. Here, we're confined to bike paths and bike lanes, and of course, if a motorist retaliates or harms a cyclist, there's little or no prosecution either. :(

Koffee

well im in the UK and i cycle mainly with groups and in a year had 1 driver shout somthing i pretty mcuh stoped riding witht hat group for a year and only did mtbing i started going on road again and on the first ride other then my short practice ones to get used to my racing bike i had a gun pointed at me from a car.

In Norway for a month, I got passed much too closely by cars going much too fast for the narrow roads. Honked or yelled at or otherwise harrassed, never.

It's not really a problem here in Japan either. I've been honked at about 5 times in 7 months, usually from commercial drivers (you know, the ones who actually have a right to use the road because it's their job, like taxis and trucks).

I think one time was when someone thought he was giving me a heads up that he was approaching. But I didn't know how to tell him in Nippongo that it's very startling when people honk while close to me.

i do all those things people say "give cyclists a bad name". and i dont get any hassle apart from a few beeps because the car needs to get to the red light 5 seconds quicker. I've done it now, and get the worst of it today... ah well.

I have ridden the short commute from my house to NCSU for almost a year now, and I haven't gotten any bad comments...actually had several people in awe of me when I rode my bike a couple miles to the bank to open a new account :eek: . Where/what part of town do you normally ride? Can you take any of the greenways?

Edit: Did have people pass too closely when I was in Houston this summer, but I normally kept off the roads there when I could.

Thats like two three times a week!??! Wow....

Happens maybe once every three months here...

I don't help it by having thunderous thighs and calves... :)


Hey Jack...
Don'tcha think it's about time you retired that tired sig line?

I mean... it's kinda bad taste to gloat over the misstep of an adversary.

Well I have to admit that is the redeeming feature of Holland.

I have NEVER, EVER been hassled by anyone here. Not here, not in Germany, not in France, not in Denmark.

The closest I have ever gotten to "harrassment" was riding alongside idiot SUV and Beamer drivers in London.

Never here, either. Or nearly never: some punk passenger in a passing car shouted "*****t" to me last summer, that has been the only "harrassment" in my 10 years or so of bike commuting. I have heard some definitive complimentary shouts instead, for example when it's raining or snowing. This summer some guy shouted "SPIIIIIIIIIIN!" to me (add doppler effect for the full audio experience) when I was touring. I took that as an encouragement.

And I don't think even that one harrassment was directed at me as a cyclist: I was not wearing bike-specific clothing and I rode on a separated bike/ped path along the road, not taking "their" lane or anything. I suppose he just needed to get that off his chest and I happened to be there.

When I read the Forums and see what kind of verbal and non-verbal abuse some of you have to put up with... on more or less regular basis... My helmet's off to you guys for keeping on cycling.

--J

Moore speed,

I guess I get negative comments from cagers a lot because I do most of my riding at night when people are more "wild" in general. Also I wear a vest that looks pretty goofy so I guess people think I look like someone to yell insults at.

There is a big difference between taunting vs. agressive/angry yelling.

Taunting is harmless, meant to get a reaction from the cyclist. Generally these are high school like insults. You don't sense rage behind it. These are actually funny in some ways and easy to ignore and/or play along with if you have a witty comeback.

But then there are the rage filled angry yells, often accompanied by agressive/close driving. These may also be just to get a reaction, but when coming from a driver in a weapon moving at 45mph they can be frightening. I get these on occasion. Things like "Get off the road you total f-ing ******* before I run you off" (That one from a few months ago stuck in my mind since the voice had so much deep rage in it) These I get maybe once every two weeks and they trouble me as it saddens me that I live in a society where this happens.

Al

I've heard from a number of people in North Carolina now, cagers and cyclists alike, about tensions on the road. I wonder what's up down there. I always thought of NC as a pretty friendly, laid back place.

Va cyclist,
Being in NC I have got to tell you that I have not experienced any roadway antics on the part of cagers. Most people seem to go out of their way to provide a wide berth. Perhaps it's my flashing strobes, I'm sure I already appear like a moving disaster scene.

I live in Derbyshire, England which is a very rural area. There are lots of cyclepaths and quite a few BOATs (Byway Open to All Traffic) which are unpaved tracks which get shared with walkers, horses and 4x4s, not often the shiny kind though :rolleyes:
Most the 'normal' roads have seperate cycle lanes so contact with drivers is kept to a minimum. As a rule I never get hassle from motorist's even on the BOATs. The only hassle I do receive is from the 'bobble headed' Rambers (walkers) who seem to think they own the countryside :mad:

I've been working in a small town in Belgium for the past year. The cyclists rule the road here. No issues with cars. This country is bike mad! :beer:

Here in Baltimore, Maryland "many" of the motorists "hate" cyclists and "will" harm them. Law enforcement's view is that if they didn't see it happen, then it didn't happen. It should be lawful to carry a visable weapon(gun) when cycling in Maryland.

I got practically no respect on the road when I was dressed in casual clothes, riding an upright bike (Raleigh Sports) without a helmet. In one day, two drivers with whom I made eye contact with pulled right out in front of me anyway. When I commute to work wearing casual clothes with a helmet on and on a road bike I got a lot more acknowledgement. I was surprised by the difference.

Wearing spandex and riding my road bike I've been yelled at or otherwise harassed maybe twice a year. I can't recall ever having something thrown at me while I was riding. For that comment I should be on guard for the next week or so. :)

Cycle touring in the UK I got yelled at by punks (I think they're called chavs over there) in trashy old cars if I ended up in the wrong neighborhoods. I think they just have such crappy lives they have to vent their anger on someone, and an oddball on a bicycle makes a pretty good target.

I did get a fair bit of irate horn honking from idiots in big German luxury cars when I was in London. I was obeying the traffic laws but also claiming my rights as a vehicle/road user (taking the lane when appropriate, negotiating multi-lane roundabouts the way a car would), and I think they were pissed off at having to share "their" road space with a mere bicycle.

From reading the British cycling forums, there seems to be a fair bit of road rage over there. It's an extremely crowded country, owning a car is extremely expensive, and even if you own a nice car you spend an awful lot of time stuck in traffic jams. All this makes for some very frustrated, angry cagers.

Scotland was quite a contrast, especially the Scottish Highlands and the Hebrides. Very courteous drivers (except for that stupid woman in a Chevy Blazer, of all things, in Oban), and very alert, attentive drivers. A lot of the roads in Scotland are only one lane wide, with turnouts every few hundred feet for oncoming vehicles to pass one another. This makes it very difficult to drive too fast for very long, and forces drivers to cooperate with one another to a greater degree than in places with one lane or more for each directon of travel.

Last year in Dordrecht, Netherlands, I had stopped ouside the VVV (tourist information) to look at a map.
Some passing adolescents, seeing my fully loaded touring bike, obviously mistook me for one of their less loved neighbours and started yelling (In English) "Go back to Deutschland!"
I just laughed and ignored them. It was hardly threatening, but my feelings might have been different if I was German.

Last year in Dordrecht, Netherlands, I had stopped ouside the VVV (tourist information) to look at a map.
Some passing adolescents, seeing my fully loaded touring bike, obviously mistook me for one of their less loved neighbours and started yelling (In English) "Go back to Deutschland!"
I just laughed and ignored them. It was hardly threatening, but my feelings might have been different if I was German.

Strange. You weren't near the border, so it couldn't have been resentment at all the Germans popping over border to stock up on weed. They weren't old, so it couldn't have been hostility about the war. I guess it's just because of Dordrecht. Ugh, not the most inspiring place. Stupid kids.

I'm in Australia and usually ride bike paths for fitness. I also ride some roads that connect bike paths and used to commute on a bike path running seperate but parallel to a main road. I get abuse probably about once a month, usually when I'm in an on-road bike lane by people that I guess just aren't used to seeing cyclists on their roads.

The funny thing I find is that I frequently get taunts as I ride on footpaths and cycle tracks next to main roads. These are usually something like "lose some more weight you fat f***er", or "hey jumbo, get some more exercise". All I can do in those situations is smile, enjoy the fact I'm out in the sun doing something I love, getting fitter and faster every time. The fact that these dimwits are driving around in old '80s V8 Fords and Commodores with a VB or ciggarette in hand just shows their own stupidity.

Here in Riga once every four or five months someone with testerone poisoning yells something at me. For some strange reason more often than not they are in a BMW or Mercedes Benz.

I've ridden mostly in Sydney, Vancouver and London. I can't remember getting any aggro in any of those cities from drivers. Maybe it happened, but it would have been so minor that I can't remember it now.

Sydney drivers are a bit clueless and scary. Vancouver drivers are bafflingly polite. London drivers are polite and extremely competent.

As the recent Toronto thread indicates, drivers do plenty of yelling here. But mostly at each other.

I get a lot more grief from other motorists when I'm driving my car then when I'm riding my bike.