PH intolerance or everybody

[balls-out]

Looking here it seems
bikers hate car drivers
Drivers hate cyclists
Everybody hates lorry drivers.
Etc etc

Is it just the vocal minority or is everybody so intolerant of everybody else?

Fact- most people don't drive for fun, they do it to get to places.

Personally as a biker, I find that many cars are very helpful to let me make progress when they can't.
I also find that I'm not threatened by car drivers nearly as often as bikers seem to like to pretend.

As a car driver, I seem to manage without hating cyclists and lorry drivers.

The odd complete tt, who could be in any form of transport, is the exception. Why does everybody seem so intolerant?

So group hugs around please.

[LuS1fer]

Feck off, you t**t.

[balls-out]

LuS1fer said:

Feck off, you t**t.

Of course, I make an exception for anybody who drives Americans cars

[kambites]

I don't know whether it's just here or a more general thing, but it's certainly rather pathetic.

[The Wookie]

I think it's the overwhelming presence of 'the stupid' in daily life. Those who suffer from the stupid don't tend to last too long on here which would indicate that most on here are capable of sentience and independent thought (or thick skinned!).

The intelligent are naturally frustrated by the stupid, tis the way of life.

[STW2010]

People don't come on here to say how much they don't mind cyclists/lorries etc. They come on here to have a moan, so you really only hear about people's views on those 'hates' when it is something negative.

For the record I don't mind cyclists at all. What I do mind is the drivers who are retarded when it comes to overtaking them, not giving them enough room or overtaking when cars are coming the other way. I probably see this once a day, but then I see loads of cyclists so that one instance is a minority (say 10-20%).

[dave7692]

I think most road users get along just, as with any large group of people, there will always be idiots.

For example I generally have no problem with Cyclists however the other day there was a pair of cyclists riding side by side on a relatively narrow stretch of road meaning my opportunities to overtake were few and far between.

However these 2 wouldn't give in an inch, all the outer one had to do was tuck in behind his mate for 10 seconds whilst I went around but no, I had to sit behind them at 20mph for ages until the road widened.

Things like this will always happen because there are people out there who are generally just complete tools, however us normal human beings just have to let it go over our heads and not get too annoyed by it. As said above though on here people wont write about how well behaved the cyclist they passed earlier was, they'll only come on here to moan so it gives a pretty warped point of view.

[dbdb]

Negative threads may bring out negative people who enjoy feeling angry since anger makes them feel slightly more empowered. I notice it sometimes on the forum too.

I find PH is fairly compartmentalised. In some sections posters are mostly positive - though the odd negative voice creeps in, they are in the minority. Whilst in other sections the reverse is true. NP&E seems filled with people who love to hate anyone even slightly different to themselves - it's like the Daily Mail in there sometimes!

[Ozzie Osmond]

balls-out said:

Is it just the vocal minority or is everybody so intolerant of everybody else?

Some might argue it started with Moslem extremists and has carried on from there. Minorities need to go with the flow, not demand that everyone else accommodates their special wants.

For instance two questions,

• Have you ever had vegetarians round for dinner and cooked them a vegetarian meal?
• Ever been round to their place and found steak on the menu to suit what you like to eat?

And I'm guessing the answers will be,

• Yes
• No

[dapearson]

Bikers don't hate car drivers! Most bikers are car drivers themselves, whereas most car drivers are not bikers!

Bikers have to make allowances for this fact. Most car drivers have no idea what it's like to ride a bike and haven't undergone the same training.

Quite a few bikers don't do themselves any favours by being antisocial and riding like dicks, but these are mostly car drivers IMO who think they're bikers because they do 100 miles on a ride out once a month in the summer.

[kambites]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Minorities need to go with the flow, not demand that everyone else accommodates their special wants.

Everyone needs to do their best to accommodate everyone else - there's nothing particularly special about being in a majority.

[BGarside]

I think it's a function of the overcrowding of this overpopulated little island - too many people fighting for space on the roads.

There is also a lot of hostility and aggression between road users in Britain, which goes in hand with a culture of selfishness which I blame on parenting where kids are incessantly praised and spoilt and given everything they want with no effort required.

Finally, I also think that stupid people are breeding faster than those with some brains and so there are more acts of stupidity and ignorance on the roads.

Combine the above with an almost total lack of law enforcement (except perhaps for speed) and you have all the ingredients for the hostile, intolerant rat race that is British driving. Opportunities for enjoyable driving are few and far between & I find myself doing less and less.

[kambites]

BGarside said:

I think it's a function of the overcrowding of this overpopulated little island - too many people fighting for space on the roads.

It is odd though, that the same doesn't happen on over-crowded pavements/trains/whatever. Quite a lot of normally pleasant people seem to turn into selfish morons the moment they step into their little tin box.