Drivers Don't Hate Cyclists, They Hate Everybody
I've learned something about car drivers. They don't just hate cyclists. It isn't a personal thing against two-wheeled vehicles. They just hate anyone that isn't them. Drivers hate everybody.
Now I realize that I am generalizing here. The truth is that most drivers are ambivalent toward cyclists, and everybody else. They are just operating within the confines of their own little world, and the only time they think about anyone else is when someone or something slows them down.
It is the motorists who have animosity toward cyclists that I am referring to. Read the comment section on any Tulsa World web story regarding cyclists. It is frightening, and sobering, to read their vitriol. Once, after speaking to a local church group on a Wednesday night, a sweet, gentle old man came up to me and said, "I HATE cyclists." Later he approached me and said he was sorry for saying that.
Many drivers act like they hate pedestrians. And other drivers. And construction workers. I've seen drivers completely ignore emergency vehicles trying to get someone to the hospital. Drivers care about one person, and one person only—themselves.
Watch them jockey for position, like they're in a NASCAR race. Drivers act like turning right on red is automatic—they do it without even looking to see if anyone is coming. Rather than waiting patiently in line with other cars in a construction zone, they will buzz past a mile of cars, then take advantage of the good graces of others who will almost always let them in. People are impatient, tired, and angry at the world. And when they get behind the wheel, they take it out on anyone who would dare get in their way.
Bicyclists just happen to be convenient targets of the wrath of angry motorists. There isn't much you can do about it. Just keep riding, encourage your friends to ride, and exercise extreme caution when out among the angry car people. Maybe if there enough of us out there, exercising our legal right to take the lane, they will get the message. And remember, it isn't you. It's them.
Now I realize that I am generalizing here. The truth is that most drivers are ambivalent toward cyclists, and everybody else. They are just operating within the confines of their own little world, and the only time they think about anyone else is when someone or something slows them down.
It is the motorists who have animosity toward cyclists that I am referring to. Read the comment section on any Tulsa World web story regarding cyclists. It is frightening, and sobering, to read their vitriol. Once, after speaking to a local church group on a Wednesday night, a sweet, gentle old man came up to me and said, "I HATE cyclists." Later he approached me and said he was sorry for saying that.
Many drivers act like they hate pedestrians. And other drivers. And construction workers. I've seen drivers completely ignore emergency vehicles trying to get someone to the hospital. Drivers care about one person, and one person only—themselves.
Watch them jockey for position, like they're in a NASCAR race. Drivers act like turning right on red is automatic—they do it without even looking to see if anyone is coming. Rather than waiting patiently in line with other cars in a construction zone, they will buzz past a mile of cars, then take advantage of the good graces of others who will almost always let them in. People are impatient, tired, and angry at the world. And when they get behind the wheel, they take it out on anyone who would dare get in their way.
Bicyclists just happen to be convenient targets of the wrath of angry motorists. There isn't much you can do about it. Just keep riding, encourage your friends to ride, and exercise extreme caution when out among the angry car people. Maybe if there enough of us out there, exercising our legal right to take the lane, they will get the message. And remember, it isn't you. It's them.
Seems to me that the drivers are getting either more daring or more careless. Many are buzzing way too close for my comfort. I keep praying no one texting comes by me.