Cycling is a joy.
When I experience / see people diss cyclists, I'm sad for them. It implies they cannot empathise with others (me). My physical and mental health are better thanks to cycling.
When I experience / see people diss cyclists, I'm sad for them. It implies they cannot empathise with others (me). My physical and mental health are better thanks to cycling.
That said a lot of people are crazy on roads, motorbikes, cars too (probably more often and more dangerously).
But since I got my driver licence, I understand the anger, bikers/cyclist can come at any angle / corner and you'll feel responsible if you hit them (it made me feel weird realising this as a cyclist), they don't have to respect as much rules.
That's why my heuristic is to stay smooth and try to make the road as a cool shared space (gesture to communicate you took driver nearby into account) when you have to use it.
I still need to buy a dashcam though.. cause there's always a risk of crazy angry car driver.
So, every idiot cyclist you see is an idiot not in a car and thus a reason to celebrate them.
Windshield perspective (or myopia) and car brain are both real phenomena:
- https://grist.org/cities/2011-01-25-if-driving-is-so-great-w...
At least that’s my experience in Chicago.
There are so many cyclists in berlin that just go in front of all the cars at a red light, even it's just one car in front of them. I know that this car can accelerate way faster than me and drives way faster, why would I want to block it and make the driver mad?
Yes, if the road is congested I might pass the cars too, because I realize I am faster, but everything else just doesn't make sense to me.
I was biking in the cycle lane the other day, going straight. A car came up next to me, and suddenly turned right to get off the road. I got the tingles just before and suspected it, so I managed to break and avoid being right hooked.
I shared the video online, and most comments I've gotten is how I should've been more careful (I was, hence no accident..), how I should have avoided the car's blind spot (the driver pulled up and put me there, and should've known I was there..) and lots and lots of comments about how I just should be a team player and let the car pass.
Everyone used the "we should all look out for each other" to victim blame me..
And that is literally true. Yes, cars should be more careful, but it's a fact that it's easy to overlook a cyclist. As my motorcycle instructor said during our first theory lesson: "So you are all here because you have suicidal tendencies, right?". And he was right. And it's even more true with cyclists. No one says that this is a good thing tho.
I'm fairly sure the average cyclist has a longer healthy lifespan than both the average motorcyclist and carist.
PS: In my experience, if there is a bike box, then there is also often a separate bike lane. I was mainly speaking about roads where there is no real bike lane. If there is one, then most things just work out fine.
But to add some nuance to the argument: bike boxes are an improvement over filtering up on the side of the road. Doing what (I assume) GP did and taking the lane behind waiting cars is about as safe, because any other cars coming up from behind ought to see you as they roll up to you, being that you are in front of them and not to the side. (And they're already paying forward attention thanks to the car ahead of you.)
I suppose maybe it's a city/countryside thing? Cars are great at long straights, but they take forever to safely clear an intersection compared to a bicycle -- and they block most of the road while they do.
It’s “normal” to be held up by traffic. It’s novel being delayed by a cyclist. Plus you’re doing something important and their leisure is getting my way!
When a cyclist does something unexpected, it’s extremely dangerous; pay no mind that they’re the one in 95% of the danger. When a fellow driver speeds, rolls through a stop sign, or fails to yield it’s lost in a sea of normalized deviance. No matter that car accidents are a leading cause of death.
And all their interactions with stupid drivers? Quickly forgotten a moment later.
The ones who take up far more of the road than necessary, granted because they can, and slow you down prior to traffic lights meaning you hit a red.
But when you hit a red, they swerve onto the pavement, across the junction with the pedestrians and then onwards beyond the red light while I’m still sat at the red. All while not dismounting from their bike.
In the UK, where I live they should stop at the light and not pretend to be a pedestrian. But they’re also entitled to the road, but when they ride in a manner that means I would have to veer well into the oncoming lane to get around them it’s just not worth it. A wee bit if there’s no traffic is fine, but not too much.
Isn't it also better for you that the cyclists get a head start, thus you're not stuck behind them in your scenario?
However, modern traffic lights tend to be designed exclusively for motorised traffic and here in the UK it's annoying because we don't have a "turn left on red" rule, so cyclists can end up waiting at a red light even though a left turn would be perfectly safe. I got caught out the other day at a set of lights that didn't detect me on my carbon bike, so I sat patiently waiting (the other roads were busy) until I figured out that my turn had been missed and had to carefully find a gap to make my turn.
The other thing is that stopping and starting on a bike takes significant energy and effort, so a straight road with many lights can turn an easy commute into a chore which is why it's common to see cyclists going through red lights. Interestingly, that kind of red-light jumping is allowed under some jurisdictions e.g. Paris.