Cyclists in the US are mostly well aware of how hated we are for even just basically following the law and somehow surviving with motorists who probably shouldn’t be allowed to drive.
Blame the politicians for refusing to fund separate infrastructure so bikes, cars, and pedestrians don't have to share the same piece of asphalt. As a car driver I don't want bikes in the lane with me. And as a pedestrian I don't want them on the sidewalk with me. We know the solution but refuse to implement it.
You are required to know the vehicle code in order to qualify for a drivers license. Right of way precedence is one of them. Being "pissed off" because another citizen is exercising their rights within the law isn't an excuse to harm them without repercussions.
Is akin to boating laws. By and large, take a kayak wherever you want. Bigger boats, though?
At a certain point, if you want to push it that far, you have to answer the question of why bicycle riders aren't required to have a driver license, carry insurance, register their bikes, and have license plates. Because if you think a bike can't cause a serious accident, you haven't driven the roads too much.
Bikes should have an actual bike lane dedicated to them. Full stop. Putting them on roadways just makes everyone less happy and less safe.
Because both the scale of destruction and death a cyclist is capable of is nowhere near that of someone driving even a small compact economy car, and the relation between damage caused vs suffered is nowhere as disproportionate?
A driver can plow through a crowd of dozens of people, killing and maiming, and not suffer the slightest injury.
> Because if you think a bike can't cause a serious accident, you haven't driven the roads too much.
Never has a cyclist damaged a building, much less obliterated a storefront or killed people sitting inside said building. Or taken out a traffic light, or telephone pole.
Never has a structural engineer had to evaluate a building or bridge after a cyclist hit it.
Never has a cyclist caused a mass casualty event.
A cyclist causing a death is so unheard of it's literally national news.
Even so, I so wish more people realised how on point your words are.
In Sydney getting on a bike is almost a death sentence. For a place with zero snow, it's shocking how scary it is.
When I commuted by bike to work, I would go at a gentle pace so that I didn't end up drenched in sweat. Lots of my coworkers also just cruised in and very few of them showered at the office after arriving. I think in cities, bike commuters generally just try to go at a safe speed that isn't too exhausting.
The furthest anyone in my office rode one way was about 10 miles, and that guy hustled and did competitions. He certainly was the outlier.
If I'd have had an E-bike, I would have gone about the same speed, but with less sweat.
Blame the politicians that there aren't enough separted Hugh speed car lanes.
It was a mistake to let them share paved roads with unprotected road users. That unfortunate bit of history almost scared everyone else off roads.
It's not too late to repair that.
Literally nobody cares when cyclists stay on the right and don’t obstruct the flow of traffic.
The one time I thought I might see some actual mayhem was after I waited in a long line of cars on a relatively narrow uphill street that were waiting for an opportunity to safely pass a slow moving bike. It went pretty well. But about halfway up that hill we got stopped at a light, and that bicyclist rode right up the line of cars to the front, and made everyone pass him again. LOL. Nobody actually did anything aggressive, but you could feel the unhappiness there. He was a dick. Most riders are not, just like most motorists are not.
It's easy to not witness something when you're not the subject of it. For example complaints of racism, sexism, etc by the victims in the workplace are often met with claims by white men that they 'rarely see it.'
I live in an area with basically no bike lanes. Few street lights. Yet we are fairly well known for being very favorable for cyclists. So it can happen. And make no mistake that there are some folks that hate sharing the road with cyclists. By and large, they act like adults and don't pitch fits.
To a large extent, it is the same in all cases. The heavier item has more responsibility to pay attention in mixed use areas. The really dangerous vehicles should be separated and put in dedicated lanes.
This is the crucial distinction which one must disregard in order to argue such equivalences.