Crazy people swearing at and driving RIGHT beside cyclists

[Berethond]

I think what the U.S.A. really needs is some good ol' fashioned granny bikes. Whenever I see cyclists fromt he states portrayed they're always riding a racing styled bike with special atire and all. If they would use the bike as most people do over here: just getting from A to B on a 'normal' bike, wearing your normal clothes at a 'normal' speed of 15-25 km/h (10-15mph)it would make it more accessible to everyone, not just the fanatics.

The bicycle is a wonderfull invention. Imagine having to travel 20km by foot or by bicycle. Imagine the amount of time you need to cover that distance and the shape you're in when you get there.

At a top speed of 10 mph it would take 15 hours to cross my county. Notice that there's no 'R'. County. Europeans who recommend that Americans ride bicycles more often have no sense of scale whatsoever. America is bigger than you can possibly imagine.

Stop trying to tell us how to transport ourselves. I'd imagine we know more about how to get places in America, mostly because we live here.

 

[Del-Toro]

You are not a car.

Get out of my way.

This. The modern road was intended for automobiles, and you can move at a fifth of the average speed in most cases. You are holding up screaming metal juggernaughts that weigh two tons. You and your fixie shouldn't be feeling so entitled. Unless you'd be in real danger if you scooted over a few feet so cars can get past you, stay to the right. If you refuse to, don't get all offended and self pitying when motorists let you know how you make them feel.

 

[DevilWolf47]

Some motorists deserve to be tied to their rear bumper and sent to a dirt road after you strap a brick to the gas. You weren't at fault, a lot of people start to get full of themselves when they're around bikers. Don't know why, but to be quite frank my sympathies tend to go out for the person actually obeying traffic laws and not the decrepit fuck who shouted because someone was going at a reasonable speed down a residential road.

 

[Jonluw]

I don't know how laws are where OP lives, but over here you are supposed to ride so far out into the road that any cars that want to pass you has to do so in the other lane.

 

[Coraxian]

At a top speed of 10 mph it would take 15 hours to cross my county. Notice that there's no 'R'. County. Europeans who recommend that Americans ride bicycles more often have no sense of scale whatsoever. America is bigger than you can possibly imagine.

Stop trying to tell us how to transport ourselves. I'd imagine we know more about how to get places in America, mostly because we live here.

May I ask how far the local town centre (excuse me, mall)is from your home or how long a commute you have to work/school? I'm willing to bet that that doesn't require you to cross your county.

I'm quite aware of the difference in scale, btw. I can even turn the reasoning around. When you live in a tiny little country like mine, with quite a few people (country's average is over 900p/sq mile, but my region's average is about 1200) the roads tend to be more densly packed with traffic. In the vast counties of the states there should be plenty of room for both cyclist (who keeps to the right) and driver (who drives like a responsible adult) to get along together.

We use bicycles for local transport, why would I use it to get to the other side of the count(r)y?

Really, I'm astonished at the amount of hate in this thread.

 

[Lectori Salutem]

Come to the Netherlands, cycling is pretty much the most common way of travelling here

 

[manaman]

You probably are entitled to use of the road wherever you are. It's a fair assumption. However you are not in any place I know of entitled to hold up traffic. Move your ass out of the way and stop complaining.

 

[Vergast]

just today a car overtook me then swearved close to teh side of teh road to ensure i couldnt overtake them on the inside when they stopped not 4 meters away at road works. People in cars try their best to kill cyclists regularly. I think tho when i went to england for a few days i saw my hero. A cyclist who was nearly pushed into a parked car managed to catch up to the offending motorist and take his side mirror clean off. I love that man. Apperently its not uncommon in england for that to happen.

 

[Lonan]

One woman in a volkswagen beetle wrecked my new yamaha R1 by saying i was going too slow and needed go go on a bike lane.
I was going 30 KM/h off a roundabout into a main road where most cars go almost 70 KM/h.







she was texting while driving. now my bike is in a workshop, and i have to work at my friend's dad's takeaway to cough up some more cash.

Well, you deserved it, *sarcasm*

 

[Lonan]

You probably are entitled to use of the road wherever you are. It's a fair assumption. However you are not in any place I know of entitled to hold up traffic. Move your ass out of the way and stop complaining.

\
I am in fact entitled to "hold up traffic," and today a car honked at me even though the car in the opposite lane was about to go past me. I ignored him.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

May I ask how far the local town centre (excuse me, mall)is from your home or how long a commute you have to work/school? I'm willing to bet that that doesn't require you to cross your county.

Really, I'm astonished at the amount of hate in this thread.

I know you're not asking me, but I live in a fairly large city (A lot of Americans do) and it is about a 25 minute drive to my school, with the average speed of 40 mph. (I have no clue what that is in km's, so you'll have to forgive me if I can't scale this to something Europeans would typically understand) According to Google Maps, the shortest possible route there is about 12 miles, but traffic is so bad there around that time that I take a route that is probably closer to 15.

So it takes a car traveling 40mph to go 15 miles in roughly 25 minutes, and the average speed for cyclists around here is something like 15mph from what I can find. Keep in mind that bike lanes are scarce in my neighborhood, though it isn't illegal for cyclists to use the sidewalk. At minumum it would take an hour for a cyclist to get to my school, but it would probably take much longer with the busy intersections. Realistically speaking, it would probably be closer to at least an hour and a half. (And cyclists being in the middle of the road around here is a strict no-no. I don't think it's illegal, but there is no way in hell it's going to end pretty. And you CAN be pulled over for going too slow)

I wouldn't be surprised if an hour and a half long bike trip sounds like nothing to some Europeans, but you're not going to see anyone doing that around here. As for city hall, that takes at least 45 minutes by car. That would take a cyclist a bare minimum of two hours.

So is it really so hard to see why American's hate seeing cyclists in the middle of the road?

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

You probably are entitled to use of the road wherever you are. It's a fair assumption. However you are not in any place I know of entitled to hold up traffic. Move your ass out of the way and stop complaining.

\
I am in fact entitled to "hold up traffic," and today a car honked at me even though the car in the opposite lane was about to go past me. I ignored him.

Dude, is it really worth holding up traffic just because you won't move a few feet to the right? And yes, enough of this sarcastic "holding up traffic" remarks, you really ARE holding up traffic, not by a few seconds, not even by a few minutes, you are causing two ton metallic death machines to instantly slow down (Physics lesson: That's not good) just because you refuse to move over to the side of the road for some reason.

Like I said before, you are NOT a car, you are a fleshy human being traveling at the speed of a turtle compared to the motorists. The most protection you have is a few inches of plastic covering your head. I can see there is a culture difference here, but you are putting both yourself and others in danger. (Again, a vehicle traveling at even average speed having to slow down dramatically in such a short time is not safe, especially if there is a long line of cars behind it)

 

[Lonan]

You are not a car.

Get out of my way.

This. The modern road was intended for automobiles, and you can move at a fifth of the average speed in most cases. You are holding up screaming metal juggernaughts that weigh two tons. You and your fixie shouldn't be feeling so entitled. Unless you'd be in real danger if you scooted over a few feet so cars can get past you, stay to the right. If you refuse to, don't get all offended and self pitying when motorists let you know how you make them feel.

If I go too far over, motorists will fly by without noticing me and risk hitting me. Also, the right is very dirty and I will not get my clothing dirty so some people can shave a minute off their travel time. Especially since I've surely had thousands of other vehicles go past me, and most of them are law-abiding citizens. And I was probably going half the speed limit, it was a residential road. I will also add that the 401 in Toronto, I've told that if you go a mere 100 kph, you will be run off the road. If I were driving on the 401, I would go 110 kph. I did it when I was driving on Highway 2 in Alberta, (same speed limit) for the entirety of the 320 km trip. In both cases I was obeying the law, but a few people don't like it when others do that. I was thinking of putting a camera on my chest, and taking recording my trip so I will have the evidence needed to get these bad drivers off the road.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Also, the right is very dirty and I will not get my clothing dirty so some people can shave a minute off their travel time.

Yeah, alright, I give up. That alone just completely and utterly ruined any chances of me gaining any sort of respect for your viewpoint. I tried to understand, I tried to see where you were at least coming from. But it's over.

At least that answers the question of why the local cyclists wear those disgusting full body suits, I guess.

 

[Lonan]

You probably are entitled to use of the road wherever you are. It's a fair assumption. However you are not in any place I know of entitled to hold up traffic. Move your ass out of the way and stop complaining.

\
I am in fact entitled to "hold up traffic," and today a car honked at me even though the car in the opposite lane was about to go past me. I ignored him.

Dude, is it really worth holding up traffic just because you won't move a few feet to the right? And yes, enough of this sarcastic "holding up traffic" remarks, you really ARE holding up traffic, not by a few seconds, not even by a few minutes, you are causing two ton metallic death machines to instantly slow down (Physics lesson: That's not good) just because you refuse to move over to the side of the road for some reason.

Like I said before, you are NOT a car, you are a fleshy human being traveling at the speed of a turtle compared to the motorists. The most protection you have is a few inches of plastic covering your head. I can see there is a culture difference here, but you are putting both yourself and others in danger. (Again, a vehicle traveling at even average speed having to slow down dramatically in such a short time is not safe, especially if there is a long line of cars behind it)

Well, I refuse to go to the dirty, poorly maintained side of the road, which will slow down my commute, for the sole purpose of speeding up other peoples. In doing so, I will get myself dirty from the filth on the side of the road, and risk having to merge into the lane I should be in when there's a parked car in front of me. I'm not going to get my clothing covered in dirt so that other people can don't have to lose a few seconds, at absolute most, a few minutes, from being behind me. I used to go the poorly maintained side of the road to let people go by me, but often cars would still pile up behind me because they obey the law and generally give me a full lane. I felt stupid.

I agree that there is a culture difference. When I was in Las Vegas, a woman got out of her car for the sole purpose of swearing at a someone else on the main street in that city. Lord only knows what could have possibly provoked such an action.

Another issue with hugging the curb is that I am almost going to hit people walking on the sidewalk. I'm basically going out of my way to let the people who don't have to work for their transport take the good part of the road, although I need it more. When I'm pedalling up a hill, I will not go on the slippery gravel and get pebbles in my tires and shot at my face (denting my sunglasses and hitting me) just so that other people can have an easier time breaking the law.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Do you pay road tax?

No?

You don't have the same right to the road as a driver, who by default pays road tax.

I hate cyclists. I have a sympathy, that there should be more cycle paths etcetera, but until there are more cycle paths, get off the road.

Another good point is speed. I drive at thirty miles an hour in a thirty zone, if I drive at forty, I'm booked for dangerous driving and being too fast, but by the same token if I am driving at 15mph for disrupting traffic and dangerous driving because I am too slow.

Until cyclists can pedal at 30mph, they are a danger to the road.

So, danger to the road, and by the rules of the road not allowed to be on the road in a car. I do have some other points for my anti-cyclist policy.

 

[Coraxian]

So is it really so hard to see why American's hate seeing cyclists in the middle of the road?

Again I'll say that the cyclist needs to stay on the extreme right side of the road (about 3 feet maximum). And I'll still say that I'm surprised at the hatred some are venting here. Sure, whenever I'm driving and I get stuck behind a garbage truck or a tractor I get annoyed. I might even get a little Tourette's behind the wheel, since it's a good place to swear privatly and to vent your stress. But people almost driving cyclists off the road....

To make a small analogy: I'm a tall guy and when I walk I tend to walk faster than most. If slower people, say, some old lady, are walking in front of me and I can't get past her for some reason, I won't push her aside. Or seeing as a two ton car at high speed is far more dangerous than people think, the analogy should be more: firing a few shots in the air with a gun to make her move aside. And then to start complaining about slow pedestrians... It's getting late for me .

I'm sure most of you wouldn't actually drive a cyclist off the road and are just venting frustrations. But remember that a car is usualy built for safety of the driver and passengers. Two tons of steel impacting something at 50mph is a matter of physics. Keep that in mind. Ask yourself what your hurry is and relax, have a chill pill.

Or don't complain when a 20 ton truck pushes you to the side of the road, seeing as it might cost, say, $1500 per minute if he's late (personal experience there). Peoples' lives are at stake.

And also, more personally to you: 12 miles would be a tad bit far. I had a 10 mile commute by bike when I went to highschool and it's at the limit of what I would do. Even today, seeing as I'm lucky enough to live 10 miles from work, I will sometimes, when the weather is nice and my agenda allows is, commute by bicycle, but those are sadly exceptions these days.

 

[Lonan]

Do you pay road tax?

No?

You don't have the same right to the road as a driver, who by default pays road tax.

I hate cyclists. I have a sympathy, that there should be more cycle paths etcetera, but until there are more cycle paths, get off the road.

Another good point is speed. I drive at thirty miles an hour in a thirty zone, if I drive at forty, I'm booked for dangerous driving and being too fast, but by the same token if I am driving at 15mph for disrupting traffic and dangerous driving because I am too slow.

Until cyclists can pedal at 30mph, they are a danger to the road.

So, danger to the road, and by the rules of the road not allowed to be on the road in a car. I do have some other points for my anti-cyclist policy.

Taxes paid by everyone go to city services, which include roads. Are you saying motorists have to stop at booths on the side of the road to pay road taxes, while cyclists whizz by? Utterly ridiculous.

 

[manaman]

You probably are entitled to use of the road wherever you are. It's a fair assumption. However you are not in any place I know of entitled to hold up traffic. Move your ass out of the way and stop complaining.

\
I am in fact entitled to "hold up traffic," and today a car honked at me even though the car in the opposite lane was about to go past me. I ignored him.

You really should double check that, I have never been to a place (including in Canada) where it's legal for a person in any vehicle to hold up traffic, most highways even have signs on twisty and hilly roads where it's harder for larger vehicles to maintain the speed limit that notify people of that fact and that they need to pull to the side to allow faster vehicles to pass when possible.

I don't live where you do, so maybe where you are it's perfectly legal to develop some superiority complex about what you do and hold up others because of that. I mean if it's really just a mild inconvenience to you to move your bike out of the way so that traffic can maintain a reasonable pace and you're not doing so then you are simply being rude.

It's the equivalent of leaving your cart in the middle of a aisle when others are trying to move through the aisle and holding everyone up all so you can take your sweet time picking out what ice cream you want. You show no consideration for others, and act offended saying things like "I have as much right to it as they do" to your self to justify such actions. It's an immature and selfish world view you need to grow out of if you want to truly function in society.

 

[Lonan]

You probably are entitled to use of the road wherever you are. It's a fair assumption. However you are not in any place I know of entitled to hold up traffic. Move your ass out of the way and stop complaining.

\
I am in fact entitled to "hold up traffic," and today a car honked at me even though the car in the opposite lane was about to go past me. I ignored him.

You really should double check that, I have never been to a place (including in Canada) where it's legal for a person in any vehicle to hold up traffic, most highways even have signs on twisty and hilly roads where it's harder for larger vehicles to maintain the speed limit that notify people of that fact and that they need to pull to the side to allow faster vehicles to pass when possible.

I don't live where you do, so maybe where you are it's perfectly legal to develop some superiority complex about what you do and hold up others because of that. I mean if it's really just a mild inconvenience to you to move your bike out of the way so that traffic can maintain a reasonable pace and you're not doing so then you are simply being rude.

It's the equivalent of leaving your cart in the middle of a aisle when others are trying to move through the aisle and holding everyone up all so you can take your sweet time picking out what ice cream you want. You show no consideration for others, and act offended saying things like "I have as much right to it as they do" to your self to justify such actions. It's an immature and selfish world view you need to grow out of if you want to truly function in society.

I've already discussed why it is more than a minor inconvenience to use the poorly maintained side of the road, and I am not holding up traffic, they can pass me.