Originally Posted by
DrPete
But from the sound of it, the cyclists had the car surrounded and were already taunting/threatening the driver, prompting the revving/backing into people.
Either way, the cyclists' side of the story doesn't really matter to the average dumb American news-watcher. They'll see the above story and be left with the idea that cyclists are a violent menace to society and you need to protect yourself from them.
I agree, this is a autocentric country and bicycles are perceived as toys that belong in parks to those who have no clue that many people take the sport seriously and as vehicles have rights to be on the road. I don't think attacking a motorist does any good especially if they already had the mindset of being "anti car" which is really quite silly. My goal as a cyclist is to be able to share the road safely with motorists, not forcing self righteous views on them. Since I don't know what exactly happened I won't opine on the cyclists motives, but surely they didn't think surrounding a car is something that was going to elicit a positive response.