Advocacy & Safety - Perceptions

Reading our posts about aggressive drivers, abusive drivers, dumb drivers, dangerous drivers, etc., you might think we cyclists have the perception that drivers are truly incompetent.

If motorists were asked, "How do you rate other peoples' driving?"
what would the results be? I wonder if their opinions of each other are actually worse than what we cyclists think about them.

As a cyclist, I think drivers actually behave better around me than they do when I drive. Maybe they feel more threatened by other motorists than they do by cyclists.

Do motorists rate each other worse than we rate them?

Do motorists rate each other worse than we rate them?

Yes, that's why we as a country are so roadragealichous

Everyone thinks they are an above average driver, despite this being mathematically impossible.

My belief is that in normal circumstances, the majority of drivers are adequately competent, but put in abnormal circumstances there's a good chance they won't be sure how to act. That hesitancy can be deadly. Unfortunately, given the unpopular nature of cycling, encountering a cyclist on the road counts as an 'abnormal circumstance'.

Did you ever notice that anyone passing you is a maniac and anyone slowing you down is an idiot? :D

I've never been passed, and yes the roads are full of idiots

I've never been passed, and yes the roads are full of idiots

Are you saying you are one of those type-A drivers that CAN'T stand being passed by ANYTHING and sees all that try as a direct challenge to drag race your opponent into either: a) a head on, or b) into the ditch, or c) back behind you where they belong?

I SINCERELY hope I've misinterpreted your post. :eek:

Everyone thinks they are an above average driver, despite this being mathematically impossible.

My belief is that in normal circumstances, the majority of drivers are adequately competent, but put in abnormal circumstances there's a good chance they won't be sure how to act. That hesitancy can be deadly. Unfortunately, given the unpopular nature of cycling, encountering a cyclist on the road counts as an 'abnormal circumstance'.

Allister, I've just returned from a few weeks touring in Tasmania. In terms of "perceptions of driving ability", I have returned with similar observations to last year's trip to Victoria -- that drivers in that part of the world are generally better behaved than they are here in Queensland, inspite of my own behaviour not noticeably changing in the different destinations (apart from the fact I don't need to drink so much water down there). The abuse I take for granted up here simply didn't happen in the other places.

I'm not so sure this is totally a competence issue, I think other factors such as levels of anti-cyclist bigotry and outright aggression are relevant here.

I'm not so sure this is totally a competence issue, I think other factors such as levels of anti-cyclist bigotry and outright aggression are relevant here.

Yes, but I was referring to the average driver. Overtly aggressive drivers are by far the minority, and most anti-cycling bigots tend to keep it at a purely verbal level (or writing letters to the newspaper) without actually physically threatening us. I go by the priciple that this is all just blustering and no-one actually wants have to deal with the hassle that actually colliding with someone brings. My observation is that most crashes are not born from direct wanton disregard for human life. They may drive in a manner that makes crashes more likely, but rarely with the expectation that they actually will.

Classic example: Passing too closely. I don't believe this is done as a deliberate attempt to injure or even scare the cyclist in most cases. It's more usually just something that's outside their normal driving experience and they are therefore uncertain or unaware how much room a cyclist actually requires as a safe margin. After all, it's not covered in the driving test so the feeling is it's not something that's essential to know, and as long as they don't actually hit you, they don't care.

c) back behind you where they belong

Bingo!!! Eat my road grit, liver lips.

I hate the jerks who kill others to get around them where a double lane turns to single lane then stop to turn left 100 yards down the road. WTF

Temp1 is right on to try and be lead dog to avoid morons like this.

I hate the jerks who kill others to get around them where a double lane turns to single lane then stop to turn left 100 yards down the road. WTF

Temp1 is right on to try and be lead dog to avoid morons like this.

Well actually, I'm speaking of those drivers out there who poke along where you can't pass and then intentionally speed up when the opportunity arises just because they can't stand the thought of someone passing them.

Fortunately I have a high horsepower car and don't have the problem of not being able to get by a**holes who drive this way. There's nothing better than getting past a nimrod like this and leaving him far, far, far behind!!!

Hmm. Idiot drivers. The list is long...

Drivers who pull into the passing lane but don't have anyone to pass, then they insist on slowing everyone down by staying in the passing lane.

Drivers who cross 4 lanes to be on the inside passing lane then cross back 2 exits later.

Drivers who try to merge onto a freeway... at 35mph.

Drivers who BRAKE when changing lanes, even when there's no reason to. Even if there is someone there, speed up to change into that lane don't BRAKE on the freeway.

Drivers who insist on making a left turn at a busy intersection blocking the whole line of cars behind them for the duration of a whole green light... when they could have easily gone an extra block to make 3 rights. (3 rights = 1 left)

My observation is that most crashes are not born from direct wanton disregard for human life. They may drive in a manner that makes crashes more likely, but rarely with the expectation that they actually will.

Classic example: Passing too closely. I don't believe this is done as a deliberate attempt to injure or even scare the cyclist in most cases.

Depends how you look at it. Most people seem to classify human behaviour into either accidental or deliberate. However, I think it's appropriate to add a third category here: "reckless". These are people who simply don't care about the outcomes of their actions either way. Are they in the majority? Perhaps not. However, I often wonder particularly in the case of passing too closely, whether that is borne of a lack of education or a lack of concern.


It's more usually just something that's outside their normal driving experience and they are therefore uncertain or unaware how much room a cyclist actually requires as a safe margin. After all, it's not covered in the driving test so the feeling is it's not something that's essential to know, and as long as they don't actually hit you, they don't care.

Point taken, although I understood there were laws on how much space one should give a cyclist. Granted, they are rarely enforced, but one wonders just how much of this unawareness can be put down to plain and simple ignorance. Incidentally, of the five cars I have been hit by over the years, only one showed sufficent concern to stop. Admittedly, none of them injured me in anyway, but again it begs questions of their motives.

We have an incredibly cavalier attitude toward driving, it is remarkable. A car is heavy machinery, when opperating one people should take it with the utmost seriousness and concentrate like they should when taking other peoples lives in their hands. My Aunt's minister's son was killed on a bike by a dump truck that did not see him, my aunt wrote and sang a song she dedicated to him, her collision insurance has been revoked because she hits things all the time, because she pays no attention, screw her f-ing song, attentive driving would be a much better dedication. But we do not take it seriously, and if we hit something or someone , "oh we just didn't see them." I have a solution, revoke licenses for serious amounts of time if you injure somone, manslaughter if you kill someone. If you constantly get in fender benders, perhaps three a year a few months without wheels would help your ability to concentrate. But WE DO NOT CARE, we are willing to feed the auto gods over 40 thousand human sacrafices a year. And we are going to make it worse, what percent of modern home construction takes place in subdivisions accessable ONLY by car? What percentage of modern communities are being designed with only cars as a viable mode of transportation in mind? I am sure we all here have gone exploring on our bikes and ended up in a place that is totally hostile to anything other than the automobile. It's nearly impossible to cross the streets, shoulders are covered in glass and odd metal bits, they suck, but we care not, as long as there is parking.

We have an incredibly cavalier attitude toward driving ... But WE DO NOT CARE, we are willing to feed the auto gods over 40 thousand human sacrafices a year. ... I am sure we all here have gone exploring on our bikes and ended up in a place that is totally hostile to anything other than the automobile. It's nearly impossible to cross the streets, shoulders are covered in glass and odd metal bits, they suck, but we care not, as long as there is parking.

Agreed.

Hmm. Idiot drivers. The list is long...

Drivers who try to merge onto a freeway... at 35mph.

Feh. This is the Official Bad Driving Practice of Sacramento, California. Idiots.

The other thing I don't understand why so many drivers are unwilling to move over when overtaking a cyclist, even when there's no oncoming traffic. Why is it, Mr. Motorist, that you care more about a stripe of paint than the safety of a fellow human being?

While I admit that there are a lot of bad drivers out there, there are also a lot of good ones.
I remember once in thick heavy fog at night, I had my blinker and this lady in her bmw with these incredibly bright HID fog lamps going down the same street as I was rolled down her window and said she'll go a little slower so she could light the way for me as long as I was going the same direction as she was. Even though I was only doing about 15-20, she was willing to slow down for about 2 miles and her help was greatly appreciated.
The other week I was out for a ride at night and went through some particularly rough patches on a trail where my blinker fell off but I didn't know about it.
So I'm going back home and I notice a LOT of cars giving me the "beep beep" as they passed. At first I thought it was just idiot drivers telling me to get off the road.
I didn't think much of it till a driver at a red light rolled down his window and said I didn't have a rear blinker, that usually he don't see people on the street with lights and since I had my dual beams on the front that he figured the only reason why I didn't have anything in the back was probably cause the battery died or I lost it.