Some cyclists don't help themselves, do they!

[Big Rod]

Devil2575 said:

Big Rod said:

tuffer said:

I use lights all year, day and night.

Me too.

Not me. On a bright sunny day when I'm riding on moorland roads there really is no point. It's not like they make a difference to how the sheep behave

Well, where I am there're sections of road with no shade then you can drive/ride straight into a tree tunnel where it's comparatively dark.

It takes your eyes something like 30-60 seconds to adjust so I'm inclined to keep a tail light on to give me a better chance of being seen when going in and out of shadows, especially when the sun starts to get low.

Even on cycle paths I want to give the pedestrians as much warning of me approaching so keep my front light on.

Having to charge your lamps after every ride is a small price to pay to try and remove some doubt.

[SteveSteveson]

Devil2575 said:

SteveSteveson said:

What I don't understand is how people can be so angry towards bikes...

I do. It's a classic "Them and us" mentality.

On an intellectual level I understand the reasons. I just can't understand on a personal level how someone can get that angry about it. How some people can have such anger towards the relatively innocuous actions of a very broad and undefined group.

[deeen]

SteveSteveson said:

Devil2575 said:

SteveSteveson said:

What I don't understand is how people can be so angry towards bikes...

I do. It's a classic "Them and us" mentality.

On an intellectual level I understand the reasons. I just can't understand on a personal level how someone can get that angry about it. How some people can have such anger towards the relatively innocuous actions of a very broad and undefined group.

Would love to see a proper psychological dissection of "the reasons". Is mainly jealousy?

Any qualified psychologists on PH?

[Devil2575]

deeen said:

SteveSteveson said:

Devil2575 said:

SteveSteveson said:

What I don't understand is how people can be so angry towards bikes...

I do. It's a classic "Them and us" mentality.

On an intellectual level I understand the reasons. I just can't understand on a personal level how someone can get that angry about it. How some people can have such anger towards the relatively innocuous actions of a very broad and undefined group.

Would love to see a proper psychological dissection of "the reasons". Is mainly jealousy?

Any qualified psychologists on PH?

I don't think it's jealousy.

I think it's the same deep routed instincts that fuel racism and xenophobia.

[deeen]

Devil2575 said:

I don't think it's jealousy.

I think it's the same deep routed instincts that fuel racism and xenophobia.

I'm a part-time cyclist, but I still feel the red mist rise at the actions of some cyclists when I'm driving in London!

[Devil2575]

deeen said:

I'm a part-time cyclist, but I still feel the red mist rise at the actions of some cyclists when I'm driving in London!

Any more so than with any other road user?

London is a ste place to drive. Given how busy and potentially stressful it must be I'm not supprised that people get angry.

[Banana Boy]

Devil2575 said:

deeen said:

I'm a part-time cyclist, but I still feel the red mist rise at the actions of some cyclists when I'm driving in London!

Any more so than with any other road user?

London is a ste place to drive. Given how busy and potentially stressful it must be I'm not supprised that people get angry.

I think you're right, it's mostly frustration in general. Not particularly with cyclists per se but as drivers we're sold this dream/ideal that we don't just drive our cars, we 'experience' every journey! Every car advert, every daydream involves a positive driving experience. When we have to face the reality of traffic, incompetence, arrogance and generally having to share the road with people trying to achieve different goals then frustration sets in!

Cyclists are unfortunately an easy and obvious target when drivers vent their frustration, we're slower and more vulnerable and the poor education/terrible infrastructure means that we require special attention from the driver a lot of the time. Certain sections of the media don't help either...

[tuffer]

Devil2575 said:

deeen said:

SteveSteveson said:

Devil2575 said:

SteveSteveson said:

What I don't understand is how people can be so angry towards bikes...

I do. It's a classic "Them and us" mentality.

On an intellectual level I understand the reasons. I just can't understand on a personal level how someone can get that angry about it. How some people can have such anger towards the relatively innocuous actions of a very broad and undefined group.

Would love to see a proper psychological dissection of "the reasons". Is mainly jealousy?

Any qualified psychologists on PH?

I don't think it's jealousy.

I think it's the same deep routed instincts that fuel racism and xenophobia.

The same mentality of people who find it acceptable to drive out into the Country, find a nice quiet layby and dump all their crap.

[Devil2575]

Banana Boy said:

I think you're right, it's mostly frustration in general. Not particularly with cyclists per se but as drivers we're sold this dream/ideal that we don't just drive our cars, we 'experience' every journey! Every car advert, every daydream involves a positive driving experience. When we have to face the reality of traffic, incompetence, arrogance and generally having to share the road with people trying to achieve different goals then frustration sets in!

Cyclists are unfortunately an easy and obvious target when drivers vent their frustration, we're slower and more vulnerable and the poor education/terrible infrastructure means that we require special attention from the driver a lot of the time. Certain sections of the media don't help either...

Pretty much.

I also think another problem is that we tend to be very quick to label others errors and mistakes as deliberate and/or a sign of incompetance whereas we are a lot more forgiving of ourselves. When was the last time you cocked up and thought "I'm incompetant"

[SteveSteveson]

Devil2575 said:

Pretty much.

I also think another problem is that we tend to be very quick to label others errors and mistakes as deliberate and/or a sign of incompetance whereas we are a lot more forgiving of ourselves. When was the last time you cocked up and thought "I'm incompetant"

Every time I try and fix something mechanical... Perhaps that's just me.

[Devil2575]

SteveSteveson said:

Devil2575 said:

Pretty much.

I also think another problem is that we tend to be very quick to label others errors and mistakes as deliberate and/or a sign of incompetance whereas we are a lot more forgiving of ourselves. When was the last time you cocked up and thought "I'm incompetant"

Every time I try and fix something mechanical... Perhaps that's just me.

I was thinking of something that we think we can do

[Andy JB]

Robertj21a said:

I've no idea about modern-day lights on bikes but there are some very bright front lights on them in recent times, some pulsating. They're certainly much better than nothing, but do seem excessively bright when it's a dark country road. Not sure there's an easy answer to that one.

Believe me your car lights are much brighter to the cyclist than the other way around - you don't find a cyclist remonstrating with a car driver because of this, so be glad you can see the cyclist, bright or not.