Originally Posted by
lhbernhardt
I have never understood why motorists should "hate" cyclists. I find that when I am driving, I am delayed FAR more by other motorists than by any cyclist.
It's funny that motorists will often get stuck behind big trucks, but they never yell, scream, or throw beer cans at the truck driver.
Is it because they are stupid that motorists tend to consider cyclists to be their biggest enemy, when in truth their biggest enemy is other drivers? Or are they too heavily influenced by the media? If motorists could just get other drivers off the road (and onto bikes or into buses by extolling the virtues of cycling or mass transit), they'd have much fewer volume delays and traffic jams. But no, they insist on bullying cyclists because... cyclists are easier to bully? The type of personality that bullies cyclists is basically too cowardly to go after the real causes of blocked traffic (namely themselves)?
I think we're basically just dealing with typical bullies. It would be nice if the media realized this and stopped fomenting conflict between cyclists and motorists in order to sell ads.
Luis
Journalists aren't doing anything to foment the conflict. This is basically about a bunch of entitled people who are used to getting what they want in many areas of life and wish they could have a society where they would have to interact with as few people as possible. I firmly believe that what causes this is when these individuals get out and about and see people who are doing something they can't and/or are too lazy to do, that they overreact.
In the NY area we see a lot of this and the incidents don't lie. It's always in higher demographic areas that tacks are spread on roads and it's always the monster SUVs and similar vehicles that are most aggressive. That says these people are spoiled brats that are incapable and/or unwilling to act like a responsible adult. This is why I don't believe there's anything that can be done to win them over. I believe a better tactic would be to put up a better fight. I'd like to gather some cyclists to hang out all day in one of these areas where tacks are spread just to sit on off to the side of busy cycling roads where these things happen to send a signal that they're actions were noticed and that they're being watched. Likewise, people with GoPros should get custom jerseys made to advertise the fact that every move of passing vehicles is being recorded. Nothing stops a bully faster than making them uncomfortable and this type of "intimidation," which is totally legal, would help things a lot.