mike

Sadly, I have to agree with you. Most of the really aggressive and offensive assaults against bicyclists are coming from people under 30. Keep in mind that THIS is truly the ME generation. They have been the focus of their parents' efforts and wealth and believe that the world rotates for their own enjoyment. Naturally, this isn't the case for everybody in the generation, but it seems that this group of people from about 19 to 29 years old has a higher than normal population of really spoiled and self-centered wankers.

mike

Santaria, you are no longer allowed to date my sister (or drive school buses).

Bioflamingo

This is exactly right. They are so concerned with making themselves look good to everyone else that they've lost common sense. I fall into this age category, and I believe why so many of them get so angry at cyclists is insecurity issues.

My personal experience is that when I ride up behind a cyclist who is doing 15 mph down the middle of the 55 mph lane, I follow him at a safe distance until I'm able to pass. While I'm following him I become very uneasy and feel slightly embarrassed because what I'm doing is not "cool". Then my senses come back and I go on with life.

Another 20 year old male in a car full of other 20 year old males will follow the cyclist thinking the same thoughts. When he gets a chance to pass he tries to vent his embarrassment through anger and hostility by yelling, honking, etc.

As far as throwing things, people who do that are generally pathetic and live very drab and boring existences. They feel angry that others are enjoying life, so they attempt to create amusement by making the other person suffer. The only way shouting, throwing, clipping cyclists, etc will stop is if these people have the same thing done to them as punishment. From their prospective, what they're doing is harmless fun. They don't feel any pain, only joy.

The biggest problem makers imo are 18-30 year old males. They feel the world is there for them, and they must impress the entire world. How do they do that? By suppressing others and showing their dominance. I honestly don't know of any realistic way of changing this, short of extreme punishment for their actions. No amount of educating them or peace talking will make them realize they are just another guy that few people care about or notice. That sort of thinking is unacceptable to them. As far as they know, the guy they just decked in the head with a bottle of coke thinks they're cool now.

But torturing other people for amusement has always been around, i.e. the Colosseum, and will always be around. Part of the barbaric side of human nature.

EDIT: I kind of made it sound like all males in their 20s are barbarians, and I didn't mean to. I take into account that I ride past 100-500 cars a day, and I only get honked at by one or two cars a day, and only yelled at maybe once every week. Out of the thousands of people I see every week, maybe 5 of them are insecure a-holes. But the bad ones really do ruin it for the good ones.

dcrowell

I once had the unpleasant experience of being a target. The "missile" was a small wooden plank, and they idiot in question was aiming for my front wheel. Luckily, he missed by a wide margin.

He came back for another go, but I stopped and confronted him, and he drove off. I got his plate number and called the police, but nothing ever came of it.

It hasn't happened since then, but I do get the rude honks of drivers, sometimes ones on the other side of a divided highway. I'm not in their way. They just don't think I belong. I wish they would just call the police instead of honk. Then they would be set straight.

RT

This thread could become as epic as the helmet thread in A&S. I am so glad that I am not alone in my assessment. I don't wish to blame a generation with a blanket statement, but there is really no other alternative answer. Every time this comes up, I feel more and more like my grandfather, and I'm only 45.

Without getting too deep into the theory of why society has so severely eroded, I must sadly assert that it will take more cyclists getting injured/killed and harsh sentences handed down through our legal/penal systems to make a difference. Until then, ride carefully, always, always, ALWAYS know what goes on around you, and never take anything for granted. With incidents like the Tennessee Beercanning and what recently happened to jtwilson on Columbus, Ohio, we have examples with which to remind ourselves each day before we pedal off our property.

unterhausen

under 30 year old males have always been the problem. Then they become over 30 year old males, the testosterone production slows down, they realize they're not immortal, and the damage to society that they do subsides. That's why males under 25 are so expensive to insure and aren't trusted on top secret projects.

CB HI

Most of the JAMs I come across in Hawaii are 40+ and half of them are women. The only real difference nowadays, is when I catch up to them, most of the women shut up and look straight ahead as if I do not exist. But the men start running their mouths with ignorant BS.

CB HI

I see the real problem as traffic congestion. As more cars have clogged the roads, driver courtesy has eroded.

nashcommguy

Had an incident in Chicago in 1988 where I was MISSED by a beer bottle. It was my 2nd year of cycle-commuting. Had an opportunity to rs as I passed them at a stop light and they were hemmed in by traffic. A quick flash of anger and the kid had a broken arm...I smashed his elbow w/my u-lock. I've got more than a little embarassment, but there you go. The break was confirmed when I saw the guy on the El (Subway)platform a few weeks later. Had his arm in a cast. Like I said, there's no sense of satisfaction.

BTW, I put the word out to cycling friends in this area to give me a tip if they hear anything or just post to this thread. As previously stated I've heard nothing.

bkrownd

Basically most of the young don't have the life experience necessary for restraint, consideration and empathy. I don't see any connection with "testosterone", having encountered many older rotten jerks well into their "Golden Years".

paul2432

Society is not falling apart. People have been ranting about "kids these days" for hundreds of years if not longer. Somehow we've managed to make it this far.

Paul

mike

I think bkrownd really gets it. Life experience brings restraint, consideration, and empathy for many/most people. Youth still has sharp edges. Given time and experience, the edges get rounded until finally a person gets as rounded as the circle of life and life repeats itself.

gitarzan

Ashamed to admit it but when I was about 20 a friend of mine and I was riding around tossing water balloons everywhere. Down one road he chucked one at a kid (16-17 yo) on a bike hitting him squarely in the back (This was in the 70s), I was the driver. We though it was hilarious at the time. We were idiots. I go out my way to not be an idiot nowadays.

A few years later, I was bicycling down the same road and someone tossed a firecracker from a van at me, striking me on the side (or very close) at the moment of explosion. It was very loud and stung, I thought I had been shot, and began looking for a place to soft crash along the road. Karma had struck.

mike

Well, I dunno. Water Balloons are by their very nature funny. Tossing a water balloon and tossing a beer can, dead carp, or firecracker are very different things.

canyoneagle

It wouldn't have hurt as much if it was half empty.

RT

True, to some extent. When you see the trends unfold in a span of five years though, there's something that seems accelerated about it. This is not about those crazy kids and their clothes, their music, or typical behaviors and fads that previous generations abhor, this is about an escalation in actual violence.

unterhausen

I don't think crime statistics actually support the catastrophising in this thread. Certainly my experience doesn't support it.

bobfromwaco

I had a an empty whiskey bottle wizz by my head once. I slammed my brakes and looked for a fight but the jerk sped past me at insane speeds. I have never been that angry. Ever.

mike

We had some idiot kids here throw a big dead carp out of their window at an oncoming car.

The 10 lb carp crashed through the window of the oncoming car at a combined speed of what must have been at least 120 mph. The victim car flew off the highway, crashed, and killed both the young driver and passenger. The victims were classmates of the idiot kid who threw the carp.

Oh ho ho great youngster fun! Of course, the idiots kept driving after seeing the crash in their rearview mirror. Consequential bragging by the kids in the perp car is what got them caught.

tarwheel 

Stuff like this has always gone on. I've never had someone throw anything at me cycling, at least that I am aware of, but it happened when I was a runner. I had people throw bottles at me when I was running on the road shoulder, and that was 30+ years ago.

thermador

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words."

-Hesiod, 700 BC

They say crime has actually decreased during this recession... https://articles.sfgate.com/2009-12-2...-crime-dropped

chrisb71

In the actual city of Chicago not much of this happens to me (at least where I ride). but when I lived in the surburbs this happened all the time. Almost every time I rode from my friends' house in Wheaton to Elmhurst someone would either throw something at me, or swerve to almost hit me to try to scare me into falling, creep up and blow the horn right next to me, etc. And it was always kids.

As my friend's mother says, some people just need a beating.

chrisb71

It's boys only because it takes too long to slow down and tease a cyclist until he develops an eating disorder.

capejohn

My goodness. If people are as bad as many of you'se say, why in heck to you still live there? It can't be only against bike riders. It's got to be rotten places to live if you'se have to go through life like that.

arch2wheel

I used to ride a freeway frontage road (shortest route into work) and after several FUs and finally being bombed by a full 64 ounce coke I took notice that I never saw other bikers in the three years I took that route. I decided to change my route which took me through a neighboring college town. It added a few miles but I found other bikers on the road (mostly college kids riding 1 or 2 miles to class) which was an eye opening ride the first time. I found people are more friendly to bikers there and the lanes are wider. Only been honked at once since. Ignored it.

As far as escalation of violence today? I ride by several high schools and am shocked by the lack of insults and just all around mischief occurring that I remember from my high school days. It seems like the kids are in zombie-mode.