Ian-S wrote: ↑5 years ago
So a cyclist is a person riding a bike then, you're distinction is like trying to section off uninsured drivers from insured drivers, both are drivers in the end.
It's like
driving a car, compared to just riding in a car. It makes more sense in Swedish, perhaps...
I hate the casual commuter as they make us all look bad. I see them every day, riding on military bikes from the 1960's, earphones plugged in, unable to turn their head to see oncoming traffic or take a hand off the bike to signal their intent before cutting across two lanes. They run red lights, refuse to wear a helmet and act in a dangerous manner not only to themselves but pedestrians as well. I don't consider them cyclists, even if they are in the eyes of the law and insurance companies.
Cyclist seems to be the ones causing grief to most drivers though. And I honestly don't get why. Most people I know don't go on training rides in Stockholm, but rather head out to the countryside and rural roads to do our training. And we *gasps* GOD FORBID RUNNING TWO WIDE AT TIMES. Forcing drivers to wait UP TO A FULL 10 SECONDS before overtaking us sometimes.
I can make a long list on the road rage I encounter each year if you're interested. Road rage I encounter by simply exercising. You'd be baffled at the lengths motorists would go to, just to show their displeasure. There's everything in there from spraying windshield cleaner liquid - to close passes - to ramming us into a ditch. There was a case in Sweden in 2016 where a driver overtook a gang of cyclists running two wide, pulling in just ahead of them, and slamming his brakes. Seven cyclists were hospitalized, IIRC, some with fractures, broken arms, legs, collarbones, and whatnot. At the scene of the accident the driver claimed he wanted to teach them a lesson. In the court room he claimed he had to stop for a cat crossing the road. He was acquitted of all charges at first but was thankfully sentenced later on for vehicular assault.
And these people he wanted to teach a lesson, they're fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, someone's husband or wife. Regular, law-abiding citizens. But in the eyes of motorists, they're a plague and it's up to them to uphold some sort of law and order in traffic. It sickens me. Then they casually go back to texting behind the wheel, checking Facebook while driving, and whatnot.
This isn't a European thing. I see similar reports coming from all over the world - England, the US, Australia (which seems to be a hell-hole).
Treat cyclists as they were your family.
2018 GTP Accuracy champion.
CEREAL IS A SOUP.