One of the thoughts that prompted me to start this thread had to do with an incident that happened in Portland recently. The thread about it on BF is here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...gonian+article
It was then widely talked about on bikeportland.org, the local popular cyclist web site.
My wife and two daughters and I were in Portland about the time this happened. We were leaving the Saturday Market, walking on *the sidewalk* when a guy on a bike rode up behind my wife and shouted, "EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME!" Although the words were "polite" his message wasn't. It was basically "Get the eff out of my way" and he wasn't going to stop to wait for an answer. I had to grab my wife's arm and pull her out of the way so that she wasn't run into or run over by the guy.
I don't remember exactly what I said to the guy--I do know that I didn't use profanity (my daughters were there, y'know)--but I invited him in no uncertain terms to stop and have an up-close and personal discussion with me about his cycling etiquette. He declined and kept riding. My wife said, "Let it go, let it go."
If we had gotten into an altercation, I'm fairly certain that some bystanders would have taken the side of the guy on the bike simply because he was on a bike. In the incident linked to above, some people who came on the scene between the "cyclist" and driver simply assumed that the driver was in the wrong because he was a driver. Their mentality is "two wheels good, four wheels bad."
As to the gadgets people are so attached to while driving, a new law went into effect July 1 in Washington state that drivers can't talk on a cell phone while driving, can't text message either. I've noticed no difference in behavior on the part of drivers. The fact that it's a secondary offense, meaning that the cops can't stop the driver just for that, might have something to do with it.
I really don't want to be taken out on my bike by some beanhead yakking on a cell phone. On the other hand, as a driver I wouldn't want to be hassled by bike nazis either.