An urban planner has launched a survey to find out if certain types of clothing can make cyclists seem ‘less human’.
Dr Mark Limb, from Brisbane, was inspired by a 2019 study that found more than half of car drivers in Australia think cyclists are ‘not completely human’.
The research suggested that this dehumanisation was one of the main triggers for deliberate acts of aggression towards riders.
Dr Limb is an urban planning lecturer with Queensland University of Technology’s School of Architecture and Built Environment whose research areas include land use planning and active transport, such as cycling.
He is also a cyclist and hopes his pilot study will provide more insights into the ever so slightly fragile relationship between bike riders and drivers.
> road.cc’s Best Cycling Clothing of the Year 2020/21
He said: “Previous research has already established that many drivers see cyclists as less than human.
“It’s also shown a link between belief and behaviour – the more someone thought a cyclist was less than human, the more likely they were to do something dangerous, like driving too close to them.
“What I’m investigating is why people have these dehumanising attitudes towards cyclists – my main question is: Is it because of the way they look?”
Dr Limb needs at least 400 people to complete the online survey, which will show them pairs of photos of cyclists wearing different sorts of attire, Mirage News report.
“They will be presented with random pairs of photographs and be asked to select the photo that they instinctively feel looks ‘less human’,” he said.
“The survey can be completed by anyone aged 18 and over who is a resident of Australia.”
46 thoughts on “Do certain types of clothing make cyclists seem ‘less human’ to motorists?”
A helmet and non-upright
A helmet and non-upright position also correlate I expect.
Given that the only time
Given that the only time cycling appears in the msm is when some cyclist gets done for drugs, it’s not implausible that many drivers think that anyone in lycra is an addict.
I’m trying to think of any
I’m trying to think of any normal portrayal on TV of a character using a bicycle. The only one that comes to mind is Father Brown. And of course Mr Bean (but that’s a film). Both on sit-up and beg bikes, ordinary clothes.
But really nobody just uses a bike to commute or go shopping etc in TV-land. So no, cyclists are not ordinary humans.
For some reason, Tom
For some reason, Tom Hollander in Rev sprang immediately to mind – bit of an ecclesiastical theme going on here maybe.
mdavidford wrote:
Also thought of the detective in New Tricks who always rolls up to work on his bike. Im sure there are others as well.
Off at a bit of tangent, but
Off at a bit of tangent, but BBC Weather normalises driving – ‘you might have to scrape a bit of ice off the windscreen tomorrow morning’.
BBC travel is basically all about driving, every half hour on the radio, as if cars are the only way to travel.
How true! With cyclists far
How true! Yet with cyclists far more at the mercy of the weather you’d think they were a more appropriate reference point for the weather person’s patter. “In the East you’ll need warm base layers and thick gloves tomorrow, best pack a waterproof if you’ll be returning after 5pm. If you’re headed northeastwards allow 10% extra time for your journey”, etc. Never heard it.
W1A – the central character
W1A – the central character and his boss both rode Bromptons to the Portland Place BBC. I know it was “light hearted”, but still.
but the character is
but the character is portrayed as a complete buffoon and the Brompton riding is almost part of that presentation of his buffoonish.
I wouldn’t say he’s really a
I wouldn’t say he’s really a buffoon – just a bit at sea in a world of gibberish.
The main character in Flaked
The main character in Flaked rides one everywhere. Part of it though is he’s a recovering alcoholic who isn’t allowed to drive. Still, he’s a sympathetic character using a bicycle in ordinary ways.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4973548/
I seem to recall Eben Weiss
I seem to recall Eben Weiss writing about characters on bikes in films and TV.
He suggested bikes are used to indicate that a character is either a ‘man-child’, a ‘loser’, a ‘tree hugger’, or a ‘dorky exercise freak’. The bike can be used as shorthand, because ‘everyone knows what it means’.
(his examples included Steve Carell in ‘The 40 year old virgin’, and ‘every cyclist who gets “hilariously” driven off the road into a bush or a market stall ever’, IIRC).
The poor old MAMIL is held up
The poor old MAMIL is held up as an object of ridicule, whilst being a sofa slob in a footie shirt ordering pizza via an app is considered normal.
Well the study will no doubt
Well the study will no doubt find a correlation between cycling clothing and, er, not being a human (otherwise why bother running it).
But the reality (amazingly) is that drivers are aware that people who ride bikes are 100% human. Drivers get pissed off by cyclists who break the law with seemingly no repercussions, just like the vice-versa anger you see here on the near misses by terrible driving.
Having more role models on TV cycling regularly would be cool – our brilliant prime minister flies the flag for cyclists, but also having people like say The Only Way is Essex team riding bikes would probably do wonders for the image.
With shops etc reopening I’m also worried about a drop off in cycling – I certainly saw fewer cyclists than I was expecting on my afternoon ride today in BEAUTIFUL weather.
The key is to have a critical mass of people cycling, and the best way to address that is through the tax system, and by making cycling safer and more attractive
The Prime Minister is not
The Prime Minister is not brilliant because he is a liar.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
Not to mention; hypocrite, cheat and coward. Brilliant? Outshone by a candle.
Don’t forget racist and
Don’t forget racist and bigamist!
Dogless wrote:
Incompetent, don’t leave out just plain old incompetence
With shops etc reopening I’m
Nigel Garrage “With shops etc reopening I’m also worried about a drop off in cycling – I certainly saw fewer cyclists than I was expecting on my afternoon ride today in BEAUTIFUL weather.”
Same here, where was everybody today?
In the shops/ down the pub –
In the shops/ down the pub – do keep up !!!
We pass a national trust
We pass a national trust beauty spot on one of our walks. Dull weekend in February : car park rammed. Pleasant day in April : three cars. The average home is warmer, more comfortable and has more entertainment ( “we had to make us own when I were a lad” ) yet we all have to be out somewhere.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
A fantastic post on the whole. The bit about the PM was the only fly in the cream that let it down
Keep up the great effort!
Captain Badger wrote:
A fantastic post on the whole. The bit about the PM was the only fly in the cream that let it down
Keep up the great effort!— Nigel Garrage
The bit about the PM was a fine piece of writing. The ‘other side’, by contrast, simply don’t present a good front when it comes to cycling… ever seen Sadiq Khan on a bike? The only mention I’ve ever heard of Keir Starner was him running people over while off to his “local tailor’s shop” (suits you Sir).
People should recognise the PM for his positive image in cycling and active travel, and his environmental credentials generally.
SUIT you Sir.
SUIT you Sir.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
A fantastic post on the whole. The bit about the PM was the only fly in the cream that let it down
Keep up the great effort!— Captain Badger
The bit about the PM was a fine piece of writing. The ‘other side’, by contrast, simply don’t present a good front when it comes to cycling… ever seen Sadiq Khan on a bike? The only mention I’ve ever heard of Keir Starner was him running people over while off to his “local tailor’s shop” (suits you Sir).
People should recognise the PM for his positive image in cycling and active travel, and his environmental credentials generally.— Nigel Garrage
Dude, you and I ride bikes cos we’re awesome.
Johnson just rides a bike. He’s actually a twunt and his occasional pedaling doesn’t give him a free pass to be the corrupt shyster that he is.
Yes I’ve have seen Kahn riding a bike.
Starmer who?
I’m interested to know what
I’m interested to know what drivers think of runners who wear technical clothing, have very specfic footwear and all manner of tech watches. Are they ridiculed or run over?
And middle aged walkers or MIMWIGs.
Then there are tennis players, cricketers, footballers, rugby players with various attire.
hirsute wrote:
Had one lady on a local FB forum giving the ‘ole ‘why do they wear lycra’ bashing, but on her profile plenty of gym selfies wearing – you guessed it – lycra.
At least you can point to the weight and aero advantages with cycling, in the gym, there’s less reason for it!
Chafing.
Chafing.
HoarseMann wrote:
The hypocrisy is hard to understand.
But in the end my choice of clothing while on a bike, whether it’s to commute to work or go for a recreational ride, is absolutely no-one else’s f**king business!
well my anectdotal evidence
well my anectdotal evidence is it does, when Im dressed as sporty cyclist vs utility cyclist, and Ive observed it on the road too when I got close passed but the very next cyclist along the same car gave plenty of room and the real only difference is the clothes we were wearing. I get far more aggro on the road from drivers dressed as sporty cyclist, than I do dressed as utility cyclist.
That’s interesting – I find
That’s interesting – I find the opposite, that is I get more aggro the slower I go, ergo riding slowly in “normal” clothes gets me worse passes etc.
I must say, however, that I cut a particularly svelte, elegant figure in my gear, so I’d imagine some of my good fortune is from people simply showing respect to my physique and chic apparel.
I think this is the point.
I think this is the point. The result is only likely to show drivers bigotted opinions and will have nothing to do with actual road safety.
Years ago (before beards were trendy) there was research that suggested that people that shaved every morning lived longer. This was true but had nothing to do with the act of shaving. Those that do shave every morning are more likely to be white collar workers, men that look after themselves etc…
Awavey wrote:
There is a study knocking about that motorists tend to drive closer to those wearing ‘the kit’ when overtaking due to a perception that they know what they’re doing and are less likely to cycle erratically than those who wear regular clothing. I’ve experienced this myself when I’ve been out and received a close pass yet the guy in front in duds is given a wide hearth!
A kind gesture (assuming it
A kind gesture (assuming it fitted their room) but smokeless fuel is harder to get these days.
Good spot, sir. Took a
Good spot, sir. Took a moment but it made me smile.
Kronsteen wrote:
I find it the other way round
I find it the other way round. My thoughts is that my relative speed to traffic is closer when I am on a lighter bike and wearing sportier clothes. I doubt Neanderthals see beyond bike though ?
Does the clothing drivers
Does the clothing drivers wear make them less human? No; because they are all Neanderthal low-lifes whatever they wear.
I’ve said this elsewhere on
I’ve said this elsewhere on the same subject. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. There’s an expectation that you dress to make yourself obvious to motorists, in doing so you are obviously a cyclist and hated for it.
The only way I see it changing is if utility cycling returns (in Australia) in sufficient numbers for it to be seen as a normal transport option, not just something for athletes and fringe dwelling freaks. There are some signs that government are looking to do that, but it will take time to turn around decades of car centric planning.
Philh68 wrote:
— Philh68And the removal of the helmet law.
He should run his experiment
He should run his experiment and then repeat it, recruiting only Audi and BMW drivers.
90% of communication is non-verbal, something like that they say on the management courses. I’m sure there is something in this idea.
I think we’re back to the othering of cyclists because so many people don’t seem to have a cyclist as any sort of influence in their lives.
I think this “90% of
I think this “90% of communication is non-verbal” is an urban myth. We’d hardly have needed to develop language if it was true.
Them phone things would never
Them phone things would never have caught on…
You do have to be in the same
You do have to be in the same room for the non-verbal thing to work, to be fair.
A couple of times on Saturday’s walk, on a woodland trail and at a viewing point, we had parents apologising to us about their kids being noisy – I think the non-verbal communication (aka impression) we give inadvertently suggests we don’t like children and / or we only want peace and tranquility. No need folks, it’s nice to see them mucking about with sticks like kids should, or taking in the view and working out where home was. If they were being ill-tempered over-indulged little horrors, that would be a different matter…
Yep it’s one of the reasons I
Yep it’s one of the reasons I don’t wear a helmet.
Anecdote is not data, but I
Anecdote is not data, but I just finished an hour of fasted ride in lycra shorts, hi vis hoodie and wooly hat, doing laps on the dual carriageway, notched up four “jesuswtf” close (less than 2 feet) passes.
Doing the same road in jeans and a hoodie on my daily commute, very rarely get any close passes. Sod it, I’m training in jeans from now on, keeping the lycra for the weekends.