txags92

Lets try this in the opposite direction and see if you get my point...

"Motorists do not start driving on the road with hate and discontent in their hearts... this is learned... and it is learned due to the way they are treated by cyclists. And we're not talking all cyclists, so again please do not paint with a broad brush... but motorists learn hate and discontent when SOME cyclists ride 2 and 3 abreast down busy roads, or deliberately block intersections for long periods of time during unpermitted group rides, or yell and make rude gestures at motorists... over time this stuff grates on a motorist and the hate grows."

See...it really can work both ways. Which hatred comes first is a chicken or egg kind of problem. But the reality is that charlie foxtrots like Critical Mass don't do anything except escalate that hatred in motorists where it already existed and create new hatred in motorists where it didn't exist before. If we are the ones out there promoting "share the road", we have to be willing to accept that we have a responsibility to share it back. If we see cyclists riding 3 abreast when there are cars behind them wanting to pass, or we see people running stop signs and blocking intersections, we should be willing to call them out. If we want motorists to obey the rule of law that says bikes can be on the road, we need to start by obeying the laws ourselves. If we instead give in to frustration and anger and do things like Critical Mass that deliberately disobey the law and inflame tensions between cyclists and motorists, then we are to blame for anything that happens to us at the hands of motorists. We can't claim the high ground if we are not obeying the law ourselves.