[Cycloid]

A couple of other threads on the Forum are talking about road rage incidents. I am asking the fundamental question – Why Road Rage?

A popular psychology book from the local library gives some insights.

Outgroups – an outgroup is a group of people to which you do not belong. People tend to make generalisations which they then apply to the group as a whole, for example, (All) Muslims are terrorists, wfe beaters, etc (Not True). Cyclists are reckless, law breakers and they ride through red lights. Vegetarians are an outgroup (Thanks Ian Walker) but nobody really hates them, though they are a pain when they come round for dinner. So there must be other factors.

Free Riders – Altruistic punishment – This is probably best explained by an example. You go to watch a cricket match. The match has just started, it’s a lovely sunny day and you are sitting down with a pack of sandwiches and a can of beer when a guy climbs over the fence and sits next to you. It should not be a problem, he’s done nothing to detract from your experience, but many people would get a steward to eject the wrongdoer. This is altruistsic punishment, in order to get your version of justice done you have missed a bit of the match.

Cyclists don’t pay Road Tax (OK it’s VED), have no training, don’t have to take a test or hold a license. They have no insurance. They don’t have to buy expensive highly taxed (79% tax) fuel. They don’t pay for parking but they cause congestion.

Cyclists Ignore the Highway Code, Redlights, Oneway streets, Footpaths, Etc… They are inconsiderate, Ride in the middle of the road, two abreast, cause delays. They jump queues, are inconsiderate and aggressive.

However, Cyclists are Fitter, Healthier and place Fewer demands on the NHS. They Don’t pollute, Use fewer resources .They take up less road space, and Don’t damage the roads. More reasons to hate them. They are a load of Smug, Sanctimonious bastards.

Every group or society has it’s laws, rules, traditions and manners and people who do not conform are punished.

From (some) motorists viewpoint – Cyclists don’t pay or contribute to use the infrastructure, they abuse the privilege and break the laws – They should be punished for the good of society.

 

 

Topic

[Cycloid]

As I said, cyclists are

As I said, cyclists are perceived as an outgroup by some motorists. An outgroup is a group of people to which you do not belong. People tend to make generalisations which they then apply to the group as a whole, 

The generalisation in this case is that cyclists  do not obey  the lockdown rules.

If someone already dislikes cyclists this trait is applied to all cyclists, it also reinforces his dislike of cyclists. This is known as confirmation bias

[hawkinspeter]

So basically it doesn’t

So basically it doesn’t matter what we do as they’ve already made up their minds. Even if we obey every possible law and regulation then we’ll still be hated by them as they once saw a cyclist that looked at them a bit funny.

Personally, I don’t tend to ride in groups so I’m not really affected either way by this but it just seems to me that the covid risk from cycling outside in a group is likely to be minimal. I don’t know if there’s any studies performed on groups of cyclists (apart from the computer simulations of aerosol distributions which I don’t think are particularly useful in terms of disease transmission) so I could well be wrong. 

[hawkinspeter]

Cycloid wrote:

OK – Read cause

Well, I’m not convinced that the angry drivers are applying causality correctly. The vast majority of poor overtakes that I’ve encountered have ended up with the overtaking vehicle stuck at the next set of traffic lights or the next traffic jam whilst I happily filter on past. They’re just having an emotional outburst as they’re so frustrated so let’s not pretend that appeasement can be effective.

[Captain Badger]

Gary’s bike channel wrote:

in cycling mikeys latest video, he catches a range rover driver on the phone. the driver responds with ” are you jealous”’.     point proven right there. driver feels superior in a range rover, compared to a 2-5 grand bicycle. So when caught breaking the law, can only think to retort that he is richer than the cyclist[ in his head].

I think you’ll find, I’m considerably richer than yow

[Cycloid]

OK – Read cause

OK – Read cause

[hawkinspeter]

‘Reason’ has nothing to do

‘Reason’ has nothing to do with it.

[Cycloid]

You did not go out for

You did not go out for LEISURE, you went out for EXCERCISE which is permitted.

Have you learnt nothing from Dominic Cummings?

Sorry to be so pedantic.

What does annoy me under the present circumstances are the groups of 2+ cyclists who are clearly not from the same household out on the roads. They are clearly breaking the law, and giving people (motorists) another reason to hate us. After all we must not antagonise the bastards.

 

[Awavey]

I believe they do flap in the
I believe they do flap in the new film,but I fear it will still sadly go into the history of failed adaptations.Because the book was split into two parts to film it, anticipating positive box office returns from part1,to get part2 made,. But that was before cinemas were forced to shut for a whole year, and the film is now being released on streaming services,even if cinemas reopen and show it, it will completely trash its financial viability,because streaming services dont report viewing numbers,just total subscribers,and dont pay box office style returns, no streaming service could afford to fund $165million to make a film from $15 a month subs

[Awavey]

Because the reaction to the
Because the reaction to the film they originally released,which you can debate about who was to blame, was so poor,it put Lynch off ever wanting to have anything to do with it ever again, note he worked with De Laurentiis again so it’s not he fell out with the studio/producers about it.

But even now I think Lynch refuses to discuss it,at least in any detail,in interviews.Plus even if he wanted to we are also at the stage where the original footage from the film no longer exists fully, either lost in a Raiders style warehouse somewhere or more likely just left to rot on a shelf and has been destroyed by neglect, or fire.

[David9694]

Mutual respect, you say? I’m

Mutual respect, you say? I’m all for the “why can’t we all get along?” piece – when drivers stop killing cyclists, pedestrians and, ideally each other.

Confession time, I had a couple of days off this week and went out for a morning cycle ride BOTH TIMES and for LEISURE. It already feels better to say that, but there’s more. I don’t have a device like yours, but I may have added ten seconds to the vital journeys of three vans and a car, which I realise are timed with great precision, every second counts.  I plead in mitigation that the routes I take are calculated to minimise the impact of my riding, but I realise this does not go far enough.  I deserved to be shouted at, to be run off the road. I submit myself for judgement. 

[Smiffi]

From the ’50’s https://youtu

From the ’50’s https://youtu.be/kFHT1lw3vSI

[David9694]

Clearly, the time a few of

Clearly, the time a few of them take to “engage” with a cyclist suggests it’s not about their being in a hurry to get somewhere. We’re being “taught a lesson” in whatever it is. 

[Gary's bike channel]

in cycling mikeys latest

in cycling mikeys latest video, he catches a range rover driver on the phone. the driver responds with ” are you jealous”’.     point proven right there. driver feels superior in a range rover, compared to a 2-5 grand bicycle. So when caught breaking the law, can only think to retort that he is richer than the cyclist[ in his head].

[Gary's bike channel]

do you think this person

do you think this person falls under the category? 

[Gary's bike channel]

mikey said his dad got killed

mikey said his dad got killed by a drink driver, explains how dedicated he is to stopping bad drivers. 

[Author]

Replies