Opinion on Why Drivers Hate Cyclists

clarkenstein

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
Why You Hate Cyclists - Partly because of jerks like me. But it’s mostly your own illogical mind.

linky:

http://www.slate.com/articles/healt...ref_map={"4031233572058":"sm_fb_like_chunky"}

This one even has a little science in it.

exerpt: "Despite such statistics, lots of drivers assume all people on bikes are assholes like me. In doing so, these motorists are making an inductive fallacy, not unlike saying, "Of course he beat me at basketball—he’s Asian like Jeremy Lin and Yao Ming." Now, you might be thinking to yourself that you’ve seen more than one or two suicidal cyclists in your day—that these roaches on two wheels are an infestation that’s practically begging to be squished underfoot (and by “foot” you mean “my Yukon Denali”).

First off—wow, that is disturbingly violent. Second, your estimate of the number of asshole cyclists and the degree of their assholery is skewed by what behavioral economists like Daniel Kahneman call the affect heuristic, which is a fancy way of saying that people make judgments by consulting their emotions instead of logic."
 
I read this article yesterday. Very interesting stuff ... the "affect heuristic" seems to be just another way of saying "stereotyping".
 
1speed said:
I read this article yesterday. Very interesting stuff ... the "affect heuristic" seems to be just another way of saying "stereotyping".
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totally. it's very similar to the typical debates: the skiers vs snowboarders, mtber's vs roadies, chicken vs egg. this is just humans with 4 wheels vs humans with 2 wheels.
 
in the last month i've spent some time in municipal court for some bullshit motor violations.
last night while waiting my turn the judge had a good quote.

no one is all good or all bad.

i think this means get along with each other people. thats all i gots.
 
The internet is a great place for the minority to make a big stink!

A few drivers always harass the cyclists, a few cyclists refuse to ride single file, even after the caboose yells car-back for the third time...

and then there is the occasional, "i didn't see you" where an apologetic wave, solves the issue.

one of the worst motor vehicle offenses in NJ is going around a car that is parallel parking. yet it happens all the time - (there are 4 or 5 concurrent violations - and prepare for suspension if it is an ice cream truck) why do they do it? inconvenience is my guess - bikes are an inconvenience, and in bully-like fashion, motorists take advantage of their "size"

it then turns into a video gone viral.....some media outlet picks it up, and promotes it, then people that don't think twice about quietly passing a couple cyclists start thinking about how they are now inconvenienced...vicious circle.

-

with about 2000 road miles (convert this to km?) this year, i've had one instance where i really was upset at a motorist - doing 40 in a 45 (downhill on 523 in whitehouse), he came up behind me and honked - scared the crap out of me, and there was plenty of room to pass, like the other cars did. not the friendly "i'm here" honk, but hhhhonk. yes, it is stuck in my mind as the bad incident. goes with the author's premise of application of isolated instances creating non-logical conclusions. it is difficult not to let it happen.

i'm fairly sure motorcyclists have the similar issues, and they can maintain highway speeds....can anyone speak to that?
 
Having lived in Plainsboro for a year and taking canal road to work in Bridgewater every day, I can say that cyclist/auto agro is caused, at least on that road by the fact that it is too narrow and cyclists should not be on it during morning and evening rush hour. Its too dangerous and I think drivers get angry because they dont want to hit somebody. Share the road is great and all, but if you get clipped and end up being punted into the canal, it doesn't really matter anymore.
 
njmark said:
Having lived in Plainsboro for a year and taking canal road to work in Bridgewater every day, I can say that cyclist/auto agro is caused, at least on that road by the fact that it is too narrow and cyclists should not be on it during morning and evening rush hour. Its too dangerous and I think drivers get angry because they dont want to hit somebody. Share the road is great and all, but if you get clipped and end up being punted into the canal, it doesn't really matter anymore.
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Riding the road a lot and working on projects at work that deal with interrupting traffic has taught me that people can wait. In the grand scheme of things, it is such a short period of time a cyclist is inconveniencing a motorist. Canal road is a good example, but people can just wait to pass. Share the road applies every road bikes can go, not just the ones that re convenient for the motoring public.
 
njmark said:
...and cyclists should not be on it during morning and evening rush hour.
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Is it a four-lane divided highway? If not, I could not disagree more with your statement. Cars simply need to slow down and pass when safe. WTF is up with the "leave 10 minutes late, but must still get there on time" mentality. That is the one any only problem on the roads today.
 
MST.ESQ said:
Is it a four-lane divided highway? If not, I could not disagree more with your statement. Cars simply need to slow down and pass when safe. WTF is up with the "leave 10 minutes late, but must still get there on time" mentality. That is the one any only problem on the roads today.
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i commute the same road. this road is tight. no shoulder at all, on the canal side of the road there's usually a wood guard rail inches from your mirror, and the other its either a ditch, stone wall, or tree, or a pot hole that's 8 inches deep, and the crown of the road is so severe in spots when its wet slipping happens. also, there's a one lane bridge.

i encounter cyclists everyday on it. i even ride it myself. during the commuting times it gets a little tough because you can have a line of cars 8 - 10 cars deep going at the cyclists speed. i can sit and wait out of respect (i have even waited at the single lane bridge for riders) but some people get too jumpy and try to pass leaving very little room between themselves, the cyclist, and an oncoming car. it gets a little dicey (read dangerous) when passing on the blind turns if you give enough room to the cyclist.
 
People are so wrapped up in their own lives that in most cases they are incapable of putting themselves in someone else's shoes. A little bit of empathy can go a long way.
 
I'm not a big fan of road cyclists. Here is my problem, cyclists expect the automobile drivers to always obey the rules of the road when as cyclist they often do not.
 
wow...sounds like more of that "affect heuristic" aka stereotyping. As cyclists we are obligated to obey the rules of the road just like drivers are. Do all Cyclist obey all the rules all the time? No. Do all motorists obey all the rules all the time? No. As a cyclist, it behoovs you to obey the rules so that you don't get killed. Bike vs. car never ends well for the bike...ever. Plus, if you do something that even pisses off a driver you have no recourse, no escape plan. If they they want to catch you, they will. not even cavendish can sprint away from a car. Being polite on the road will help you live longer. I think that's the bottom line.

When I drive, sometimes I speed. sometimes I might even make an illegal u-turn late at night. when I ride, sometimes I roll a stop sign or a red light at a T-intersection. But I never do any of these things if the situation presents danger. I'm not saying it's right. Breaking the law is breaking the law, and I have a few petty tickets to prove it!

bottom line is cyclists need to respect motorists and vice versa. there will always be outliers, but if respect is shown both ways that goes a long way.
 
Seriusly, none of you ever get the impulse to mow a muther fucker down who is riding a bike like he owns the road? I do, and I could give two shits about share the road, we have privlidges propaganda. Share the road means stay in the fucking bike lane, period.

Sent from my ADR910L using Tapatalk 2
 
seen teens no helmet, wearing headsets doing >20mph and have no idea anyone is around....gotta separate negligence from ignorance...

getting one of these for my shore rides. just asking for it!
 

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FFT said:
Seriusly, none of you ever get the impulse to mow a muther fucker down who is riding a bike like he owns the road? I do, and I could give two shits about share the road, we have privlidges propaganda. Share the road means stay in the fucking bike lane, period.

Sent from my ADR910L using Tapatalk 2
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how about a motorist driving a car like he owns the road? I've seen that. The point is there are bad drivers and bad cyclists.

It should always be so simple as to have an ample bike lane on the roads but this is not the case.

Don't be a douche, share the road.
 
FFT said:
Seriusly, none of you ever get the impulse to mow a muther fucker down who is riding a bike like he owns the road? I do, and I could give two shits about share the road, we have privlidges propaganda. Share the road means stay in the fucking bike lane, period.
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Is this serious? Do you live here in NJ with the rest of us? In the years and years and thousands of miles I've logged on the road, I can count on one hand how many bike lanes I've come across.

Don't be a dick.

-Jim.
 
Your an exception jim. Please tell me you've never witnessed 4 guys chatting it up two abreast while traffic backs up behind them.

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