Originally Posted by genec
The negative feedback I receive is very intense from this "small portion" of drivers. It is of the intensity that is memorable rather than forgetful. (seeing motorists do very strange and ackward things simply due to the presence of a cyclist is not somthing one simply ignores.
Do you not receive the same intense positive feedback when you eschew a door zone bike lane and watch as someone flings a door open without looking as you pass by, when someone slows behind you you to make their right turn instead of racing past you and right hooking you, or when someone waits for oncoming traffic to pass before trying to pass you in a narrow lane? Is that kind of stuff, that in my experience happens far more often than the negative feedback, not as memorable if not more so?
Originally Posted by genec
The flip side is that the negative feedback decreases when using bike lanes. This is not a recommendation of bike lanes, but simply the reality, and why cyclists may "retreat" to bike lanes or "find comfort" in them.
This harkens to what motorists believe. They see bike lanes, they believe bikes are OK on the road if contained in bike lanes.
Where bike lanes do not exist ('cause lets face it, BL do NOT exist everywhere) the motorists don't know how to respond to cyclists and therefore rely on their own misconceptions coupled with frustration. Hence negative feedback.
Of course the negative feedback goes to zero when sidewalk riding or simply not cycling... so one can "tune" their personal "acceptable level" of negative feedback to match their need for cycling.
Negative feedback approaches zero so long as the cyclist is completely out of the way of those motorists who would take issue with a cyclist being in front of them. Bike lanes and the sidewalk are just places a cyclist can be that puts them out of the way between intersections. The outer section of a wide lane, the shoulder on a road or the right lane of a multilane road when traffic is in the left lane all have the same effect. No matter what the situation though, there will be a time when motorists and the cyclist have to cross paths. These intersections of paths are where behavior is most important and no cycling facility can solve the mixing problem. This is where negative is most likely to occur and also where positive feedback (if one knows what to look for) is also most likely to occur.
Originally Posted by genec
This may be why cyclists like bike lanes, and indeed why so many utility cyclists in my area use sidewalks. This may also be why the uptake of vehicular cycling is so difficult for many... as they operate in a more vehicular manner, cyclists find more "static" and find they need to spend more energy on being assertive. Cyclists may find that situation "uncomfortable" and unfulfilling, based on not being treated "as the driver of a vehicle."
Cyclists tend to like bike lanes because they believe that the bike lane will magically remove them from the traffic situation. With this positive attitude about the bike lane, a cyclist probably is going to dismiss any negative feedback (such as any time they need to leave the bike lane) because they believe the positive feedback (which is simply a result of being out of the way) to be more important. Given that most accidents occur at intersections, I personally would rather any negative feedback to occur in between intersections.
Originally Posted by genec
Now people have different personalities... and some folks may find that they enjoy this exchange for one reason or another...
I personally really enjoy the positive feedback. The negative feedback, not so much. I also look for the positives, like the things I mentioned earlier, and do not dwell on the negative feedback, especially when it's petty stuff like honks because someone had to slow down for me.
Originally Posted by genec
The positive benefits of vehicular cycling may not be so obvious, therefore may not be balanced by positive feedback (which BTW tends to not be as great a modifier to behaviour as negative feedback... "sticks" tend to get more response than "carrots").
If more cyclists started looking critically at the positive and negative feedback they receive depending on where they ride, I think they'd begin to realize all the negative feedback that they really are receiving by always trying to be out of the way. To me, things like a motorist turning across my path without noticing me at all is extremely negative feedback about my riding style (see my right hook thread). Close passes or motorists squeezing by with oncoming traffic are another example of negative feedback that it seems so many cyclists ignore because at least they didn't get honked at. If you focus all your attention on the wrong kind of feedback, it's tough to notice what else is going on around you.