Originally Posted by Treespeed
Serge,
Sorry for getting so upset, but you can be so absolutist in your arguments.
I'll clarify my position. I am very rarely intimidated by traffic, though I have to admit with the drenching rain combined with Los Angeles driver's poor wet weather driving skills has me a little more on edge than usual. Come on people it's rain not sulfuric acid. But I digress, most drivers are not out to hit anyone. They are in their own world, distracted by their own problems. Most are safe and courteous, they smile and wave and do their best to pass safely or yield when appropriate.
Yet the majority of good drivers does not preclude the existence of aggresive, violent drivers who regardless of their intentions kill and injure cyclists. I think even the anecdotal accounts from folks on this forum and my own experience would negate your 1 in 10 million odds. There are tens of thousands of homicides each year using handguns. I doubt that all of these homicidal maniacs ride the bus so it's logical to assume that there are drivers capable of homicide sharing the road with us each day.
I find it strange that people who would never take a swing at me, let alone wield a gun or a knife will use their car as a weapon. Yet when you get these people out of their car after an accident and they are standing face to face with you, the intentional ones at least, always say, "you wouldn't get out of my way," or "you shouldn't be on the road." But if I was to say, punch the driver in the nose, I would be the one charged with assault.
This is why to my mind the most important thing I can do when I'm on the road is to get drivers to see me as a person and not just, "one of those cyclists." This to me is being predictable, making eye contact and smiling and waving to acknowledge courteous driving.
That being said there are some people who will not be appeased and will be pissed no matter how well you ride. Maybe to your mind Serge there is a difference between a motorist brushing you and intentionally broadsiding you. But my question is how do you brush someone at speed with a 3,000 lb. machine? In my opinion hitting a cyclist is hitting a cyclist, whether it is with a mirror or the fender.
Just because I'm not paranoid, doesn't mean that some of them aren't still out to get me.
I think that really sums up the issues... Plus I would like to add that alcohol coupled with aggressive behavior can often turn a "playful" gesture into something quite harmful. As I stated in my situations, I have had a beer can hurled at me... obviously the driver or passenger was not in the best frame of mind. Had it hit me, I could have been severely injured... as it was, it hit the curb just in front of my front tire and sprayed me. The yell as it was hurled didn’t help my frame of mind either. Maturity of some drivers also plays into this…
The bottom line is that there are folks out there that do not want to “play nice” no matter what the “rules” are.
I think that most of the drivers out there do not want to hit or hurt cyclists, but there are others, that through aggressive driving may cause you harm, and still others that are just jerks… while rare, they do exist.