Cyclists, bikers and cars!

[RonW]

Try going to a parents house to tell the folks there their kid isn't going to come home again... ever...

 

[MrHare]

I think it actually is plain and simple; people are stupid, singleminded and egotistical creatures, when it comes to traffic.
The road is theirs and everyone else is in the way, only they know how to operate whatever mode of transportation they are using properly and everyone else is a complete *insert whatever swearword you might deem fit* when using said mode of transportation. And if they are reminded of the fact that none of the above is actually true, they blatantly deny that and again blame it on someone else. Compassion or consideration is very often absent in traffic. I can speak as a pedestrian, cyclist, biker, tractor-, car- and vandriver and policeofficer.
No idea why people behave like that. Somehow I think that a false sense of safety and high stresslevels, mixed with the previously mentioned characteristics make a deadly cocktail.

This is very true. I think part of the problem is that car driving isolates us and allows us to 'objectify' others - he's not a person like me, with a family and a life; he's a 'cyclist'. She's not a mother, with kids and a job, she's a 'biker'. We're so isolated in our little metal boxes that we don't see people, just 'things' in our way. Human beings aren't great at empathising at the best of times - the 'us and them' mentality allows us to think of the people who are inconveniencing us as being 'not one of us' and hence fair game for threats and aggression. Being unable to see peoples faces because we're locked away behind safety glass and travelling fast just makes this worse. On my way into work on my bike, I'll probably say good morning to more than a dozen people, none of whom I know personally, just because we're all out and about and travelling slowly enough to nod and say 'good morning'. I don't know any of them from Adam, but I'd be amazed if any of them then got in their cars and cut me up on purpose.

People also tend to generalise. That's where racism, homophobia etc comes from. Like Robbi's incoherent rant at me earlier "like all cyclists" - as if you can say that *all* members of any group behave the same way. People notice negative things, and associate them with a noticeable characteristic - someone skims across a pedestrian crossing in front of them, and they notice 'cyclist' and start making generalisations.

Everybody on a bike, or a motorbike, or a car is a person with a family and friends and people to miss them. The difference with the first two is they're much more vulnerable.

 

[MrHare]

If you can stretch to both of them, then you have a deal. Definitely don't want any more in that mould.

that is seriously offensive..........reported and complained to admin

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, and people who have already broken section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 should probably look to their own behaviour before criticising anyone elses.

 

[John Fenna]

I drive a white van, I support people with learning disability (some of whom have no understanding of road safety even as a pedestrian), I have written a book on discovering Pembrokeshire by bicycle and I was a motorcyclist until I was in my mid thirties.
With patience and care, good road awareness and an understanding of the fact that other road users have rights and vulnerabilities, I think that road accidents would be greatly reduced.
In every situation I try and think that all other road users are either suicidal or out to kill me and/or my charge.
I never had an accident until I met a milk tanker on a narrow steep, bendy hill soon after I got my car licence ... he was faster and wider than I thought and the side of my van took a little damage.
There is no need for machine guns or broom-sticks - or any kind of violence - just road sense, patience and the realisation that other road users ... use the road too!

 

[Robbi]

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, and people who have already broken section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 should probably look to their own behaviour before criticising anyone elses.

health and safety jobs worth i bet

 

[mountainm]

this thread needs taking to a dark corner and putting out of it's misery for all the turgid animosity it's creating...

 

[MrHare]

Interesting how thread is going the usual way. Wish i hadnt started it.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there. If you ignore childish attempts to turn BCUK into BBC Have Your Say, this has been about the most moderate, most polite discussion of this topic I've seen anywhere.

It says a lot for the users of this site, who can be grumpy, impatient and misanthropic when it takes their fancy; that when the subject is peoples safety and well being there's a lot more empathy and patience on display than you might find elsewhere.