Originally Posted by
jfowler85
Interesting. I see your philosophy about the matter, but the reality is that the perception is always there, it's a demographic. When I was in the Navy, we were constantly warned to watch our behavior out in town because, as a broad generalization (which I have found to be accurate), in the eyes of the public someone in a military uniform represents the military as a whole. Same reason why I take my federal badge off when I leave the building, it's possible for me represent the organization I work for in a negative way and the last thing this beauracracy needs is bad
pr. You may disagree with grouping people together by what they do, but it happens all the time. You said it yourself, cyclists are folks who ride bikes...how is that not a group of people? Don't tell me you've never judged a culture, demographic, occupation, etc by one person. Everyone does it, and everyone knows everyone does it. This ideology is ubiquitous. You do represent other cyclists on the road, despite your opinion of the matter...we (see there, I write "we" because I am fairly certain you will understand that I mean "we who ride bicycles") do the same thing and make generalizations about dickheads in vehicles on the road. Thinking that this does not occur is simply wishful.
Let's cut through all the longwinded nonsense and get straight to the point - are motorists' negative opinions of cyclists the result of cyclist behavior? Can cyclists receive better treatment and improve their safety by insisting on more "law-abiding" behavior by other cyclists?
I think the answer is very clearly no, perception of cyclists has very little if anything to do with the actual behavior of cyclists and everything to do with an ingrained belief that the roads are for cars and cyclists are intruders without any rights. Actual case law history backs this up - kill a bicyclist with your car, and so long as you do not flee the scene you are unlikely to be charged with a crime. If you are charged, you will receive no more than a slap on the wrist. An examination of collision statistics reveals, too, that in a majority of cyclist/car collisions, the driver of the vehicle is at fault. That sort of puts paid to the idea that cyclists are a bunch of reckless ne'er do wells who put their own lives in danger.
Negative stereotypes of cyclists serve a social purpose, reinforcing that driving a car is normal and proper, and riding a bike is weird and suspect. They will not change if cyclists as a group alter their behavior. Yes, there are cyclists out there who don't obey all the rules all the time. I'm one of them myself, sometimes. But that's not the point. Motorists, as a group, exhibit at least as much and far more hazardous misbehavior: they routinely speed, fail to properly yield, roll stop signs and run red lights. Somehow, though, this is accepted as normal.
The situation is what it is because cyclists are poorly represented politically and socially. Going after other cyclists not only won't make motorists think any better of us, it can be very damaging to the political mission of bicycle advocacy.