So, if ignoring them empowers them, what does responding to them do?

(I assume we're talking about your usual one or two finger responses. [Referring to this.] If not, say so.)

You must worry about others feelings though, yes? Given that you said sorry.

The digitus impudicus communicates displeasure at aggression and/or offensive behavior. Moreover, I enjoy giving it when its merited.

There is a difference between internalization of another person's neurotic behavior and empathy (e.g. the golden rule).

Yep, hard to be angry at people when you feel sorry for them, and for the truly obnoxious...pity.

It doesn't happen to me but i have only re-entered the cycling world for 1 month... I can see both sides and both sides need to be concious and respectful of each other...With that said, There are A$$hats cyclist as much as A$$hats motorist so a little patience goes a long way...You never know who is gong to pull a gun on your A$$ anytime anymore... I ride on country roads but i used to ride to my 2nd job when i lived in Toronto... Motorists use to be pretty good then (22-25 years ago)... I am a little less brave nowadays, specially with texting and cell phone use....WOW...
A wave will work for me....And a smile of course... I already have a exhausted $hit eating grin on my face anyway...LOL

Internalization of another person's neurotic behavior= Caring

Empathy: : the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another

Those definitions are too close for me to care. (Pun intended).

This is getting way too off topic. My original point was that if a motorist read these replies, he/she would have plenty of reason to curse, yell, or threaten any cyclist. It's because of the cyclists that permit finger raising, heinous remarks and thoughts that cyclists have been given a bad name. I'll admit, I f***ing HATE it when a motorist yells at me for being in the road, among other pointless reasons. The world is a great place, and I really try to not let grumpy, miserable, and arrogant A$$holes from ruining it. They can yell at other people for high gas prices, or they can join the cycling "cult" and never worry about the price of gallon of gas again, but in the end, they have to grow up sometime and realize that they instilled that burden on themselves with the purchase of the car. I may be 15, in my youth and having fun, but even I have learned that blaming personal problems on others is immature. Every time a motorist yells at me, I wonder when babies were allowed to operate 2-ton missiles. It's stupid, immature, and arrogant, but inquiring why they do it on a cycling forum is erroneous. If you want to know the real truth, ask a couple of motorists.

Aha, squire, but the OP did because I (and I suspect others as well) am both a cyclist and motorist. Though I don't yell at cyclists, the frustration (rage) I sometimes feel toward other motorists is quite similar to that some motorists have toward cyclists.

In an older post, I ascribed motorists frustrations toward cyclists as partly being surprised by their presence...merrily driving along, then suddenly being subjected to an unexpected/unanticipated road user. It parallels the frustration of driving in the fast lane then suddenly being held up by a slower driver...hey, you're not supposed to be in this lane, what the heck, jerk! Although the slower driver and cyclist are rightful road users, the perception that they're not following the rules is upsetting because it doesn't meet our expectations...something attributable to an inflexible mind, even if just momentarily inflexible.

As odd as it may seem, I actually enjoy driving on the free-for-all roads of foreign countries. In those scenarios my expectation is craziness, and it's surely met...it's liberating not to expect anyone to follow the rules, and to disregard them myself. It's an odd twist on driver accountability, if you get hit it's your own fault for having been in the way...well, at least that's my perspective. In an environment where everyone does whatver they want, you have to let go of your expectations and take on more personal accountability. When I read about urban riders upset about being hit, while I sympathize, I can't help but wonder why they thought they wouldn't be hit...too much of an expectation that the motorist would follow the rules of the road. All road users are guilty of this. I both ride and drive very defensively (though assertively too), and this helps me to expect the unexpected...not to say I always do.

While not rage, while riding my bike this afternoon, I chastised another rider for riding against traffic, he cut across an intersection to avoid waiting at the light. Why did I chastise the other cyclist, we weren't in any danger of crashing into one another...in part because he didn't meet my expectation of where he should have been, or the driver immediately behind me who avoided turning into him, and also because I don't care for cyclists whose actions may cause a driver to resent me.

PS: Here's an article that exemplifies the positivity of organic free-for-all roads. https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic.html

I am rarely yelled at, but when I am, I assume it is because of the way I look in lycra, so I take it as a compliment. I hope I am right, but if not, I don't think it matters. If cyclists on the internet cannot solve this puzzle, what hope is there for the public?

That's a nice article, was surprised that it's 9 years old.

This is a job for an 'entomological engineer', someone capable of studying the causes of ant road rage.

I try very hard to obey the rules of the road. But here lately I haven't been getting the same respect from drivers. had a mini van yesterday that rolled through a stop sign in the neighborhood and i was 3 feet from her bumper when she finally decided not to run over me. Seems like she was playing the odds of me stopping so she could keep rolling though the stop sign. I just stuck my hand out for her to stop. I'm getting one of those airzound horns for my safety. Drivers act like its a pain in their butts to stop for 6 seconds at stop signs and stop lights.

I agree that you can't fix stooopid...Or dome are just plain Dunba$$es...

I've been 220 of bigger my whole cycling life.

I don't get yelled at often.

Aside from a few asking for directions the only time I remember being yelled at was when riding in a group where one of the guys was a very fit cyclist. I'll put up with wolf whistles and shouts of 'I want you inside me' from pretty young girls any day.

I hold my line.



-zing

Keep my eyes peeled for the next jakkazz in the queue trying to kill me while his accomplice (the one screaming and honking) is attempting to divert my attention.

I'm hard of hearing anyway. If you were taking a shortcut through the gas station, he was probably yelling that you were trespassing.

Huh? Wha?

I got head phones on - prolly listening to Herbie Hancock.

And b4 the safety nannies come out - I'm merely practicing for the day of silent electric cars.
Keep your eyes peeled, and your head on a swivel - cuz your ears will deceive you anyway.

That's why they don't say, "Hearing is believing"