[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]

When I ride along a decent

When I ride along a decent country road I often get impatient drivers behind me. The road is wide enough for them to overtake but they cannot pass because of vehicles coming in the opposite direction.

The road is too busy to accommodate all the traffic that wants to use it. Why do the motorists put me at risk by  tailgating, blasting on the horn and doing dangerous overtakes? They should lean out of the window and abuse drivers coming in the opposite direction.

[Rendel Harris]

Thank you for your reply. You

Thank you for your reply. You have answered my question most fully – you are both a car-loving troll and an idiot. Utter drivel.

[Captain Badger]

Seems to forget the identity
Seems to forget the identity people place in their cars. Having a car is social status, and bigger faster more aggressive costlier vehicles increase your status.
Having to slow down, take care of someone of clearly lower status or even worse watch them sail past whilst you’re stuck in a queue of similar hi status people is more than some can bear

[Smiffi]

Each of those overtakers may

Each of those overtakers may have been slowed by a little (or a lot) before overtaking, which increases pollution as well as wasting their time.  If I were commuting/shopping/doing something which would otherwise necessitate using a car then I’d not be so worried.  When I’m out for a recreational ride and am just enjoying myself why should I take time away from all these others?

I used to be an entitled cyclist, making a point that I had as much right to road space as everyone else, but reflecting during lockdown has made me question that belief.  There’s a place for cycling, but recreational antisocial behaviour (even if it is within the law) just breeds animosity. We (cyclists) complain about other road users, but cycle miles account for just 1% of road miles, yet we impact so many other road users.  Perhaps a little consideration may promote mutual respect, and we’ll all be in a better place. 

[Danbury]

Buy a cargo bike (or robust

Buy a cargo bike (or robust bike and a trailer) for doing the shoppng etc, that way you can get your enjoyable exercise and justify going for a ride. 

[Rendel Harris]

Smiffi wrote:

I have a Garmin Varia radar which logs how many times I’m overtaken.  On a typical  outdoor ride I might be overtaken by 50-150 vehicles, so my 2hr of enjoyable exercise can impede progress of 50-150 other people (obviously depending on road conditions).  Can I justify taking-up so many minutes of other people’s lives? I’m beginning to question that, and that’s why I’ve “ridden” almost all of my 1,000 miles this year indoors.

If they’re overtaking you, how are you impeding their progress? If you had 150 people backed up behind you, that’s impeding their progress. If they can overtake you they may have momentarily had to slow, and they can easily make up the time once ahead of you – in any urban area, in any case, all you’re “impeding” them from doing is getting to the next red light more quickly. The concept that cyclists should stay off the roads for fear of impeding motor traffic is ludicrous. One has to conclude that you’re either an idiot, trying to be deeply ironic, or a car-loving troll. Which is it?

[Smiffi]

People who drive are

People who drive are generally trying to get somewhere and few people drive just for the enjoyment.  People who cycle (outside of cities and towns) are generally enjoying a recreational ride to enjoy a day out.  Cyclists generally (outside of cities/towns) travel more slowly that the other road users, and can impede the other users progress.  That’s why there’s friction.

I have a Garmin Varia radar which logs how many times I’m overtaken.  On a typical  outdoor ride I might be overtaken by 50-150 vehicles, so my 2hr of enjoyable exercise can impede progress of 50-150 other people (obviously depending on road conditions).  Can I justify taking-up so many minutes of other people’s lives? I’m beginning to question that, and that’s why I’ve “ridden” almost all of my 1,000 miles this year indoors.

[Cycloid]

The question I was addressing

The question I was addressing is “Why do  motorists hate cyclists”. I believe it is one reason (some) motorists are aggressive towards cyclists.

What goes on inside the human bonce is complicated. There are some motorists who just HATE cyclists (and probably lots of other outgroups as well). These are the ones that deliberately go for us for no apparent reason.

As you say at the other end of the spectrum is the emotional outburst group, there are the nutters that totally lose it and deliberately ram the car in front after sitting for a couple of hours in a queue. In the  middle there is a wide range that just lose it a bit. I bet a lot of the incidents that involve cyclists are caused by drivers that already have a predisposition towards cyclist hatred.

I know that when driving, I take extreme care around my fellow cyclists, no matter how pissed off I am (sometimes with their behaviour). Would a driver who dislikes cyclists take the same care?

It’s all very complicated

This begs another question. Should psychometric testing to eliminate people with unstable personalities be part of the driving test? Airline pilots have to do it, why not motorists?

EDIT – I forgot to give an honorable mention to the pure Psycho – the sort of guy who will punch you if you get in his way on the street.

[mdavidford]

Quote:

Ive certainly witnessed/experienced hatred direct towards me just as a cyclist, whilst there was utterly no possibility that the person could have been enraged, angry about anything, they reacted simply because I was riding a bike.

You’re assuming that the source of their anger or frustration would be immediately obvious to you. It could have been that something happened 10 minutes before you encountered them and they’re still wound up about it. Or it could just be that they’re generally wound up/angry. And coming across you just gives them a lightning rod to channel that anger/frustration into.

[Awavey]

the rage itself for sure is

the rage itself for sure is entirely an emotional outburst. But unless the motorist is permanently enraged at everything they encounter whilst on the road,and some do behave like that, then theres more to it, nature abhors a vacumn, and some of this stuff is literally just hard wired in to the way these people think, and its just the emotional outbursts that makes them act on it.

Ive certainly witnessed/experienced hatred direct towards me just as a cyclist, whilst there was utterly no possibility that the person could have been enraged, angry about anything, they reacted simply because I was riding a bike. And Ive no doubt when those people get behind the wheel of a car they carry on dishing out their form of hatred as what we would label road rage.

[mdavidford]

I don’t believe that 99% of

I don’t believe that 99% of road rage is anything like as considered as most of this suggests. It’s largely an emotional outburst.

Driving is an activity that is often frustrating, without any obvious or immediately accessible cause of that frustration towards which it can be expressed. So some people vent it on whoever happens to be around them, and the more you stand out, the more likely you are to be a target for that venting.

Cyclists tend to stand out because there a fewer of them, and they’re doing something different to the subject, so they’re a ready target.

Everything else is just so much post hoc rationalisation.

[Kapelmuur]

I’m out within the out group

I’m out within the out group having never been subject to road rage while riding my bike.

I’ve not been immune while driving though.

[Cycloid]

Like that.

Like that.

You could have saved me about four paragraphs of writing

[hawkinspeter]

Thought of an analogy –

Thought of an analogy – drivers hating cyclists on the roads is like shoppers with shopping trolleys hating people using the 10-items-or-less tills.

[Anonymous]

Some (not all or the majority
Some (not all or the majority) of motorists hate cyclists for a variety of reasons:

– because they generally hate everything, including themselves
– because of the illusion that cyclists don’t pay for the roads yet impose negative externalities such as holding people up and providing danger to pedestrians by breaking traffic laws
– because of the myth propagated by the Guardian and often this website (and people like Jeremy Vine/cycling Mikey) that feeds a narrative that all cyclists have the same left-remain viewpoints and personal characteristics
– because they don’t cycle themselves and therefore your “outgroup” comes into play

[Author]

Replies