Anti cycling article in local rag

Originally Posted by Eden

There are always nut jobbos out on the internet willing to spew nonsense when they are able to do it anonymously....... (they crawl out of the cracks in the internet every time there's an article on cycling good or bad in the paper around here too) what is more troubling is that a newpaper published the drivel that spawned the comments

Disgusting that people are sooooooo full of themselves and are so self important that they get that driven up about being delayed for a few seconds to safely pass a cyclist. The way they talk you'd think they have to wait for hours to find a safe spot to go by.... 15min booshwa, I'd bet its closer to 15 seconds - just remember how terribly long a 1 minute speech feels like... In reality all that time that they are delayed by waiting to go by the cyclist in all likely hood just means that they'll wait all that much less time at the next red light they come to...

Originally Posted by coneofsilence

To me when i hop in a car, all time just seems to slow down. Everything seems to be twice as long as it really is. Maybe thats what these people feel as well. To me driving is boring and i'd rather be doing something else.

Originally Posted by TheDarkLord

Yes. When you wait at a red signal, a 1 minute wait seems more like 1 hour. The same psychology comes into play when one has to slow down for a cyclist. If one thinks rationally, the amount of time lost is negligible. Unfortunately, the thought process that comes into play is not rational.

Also, I guess it is true that there are some nutcases cycling too. It is the < 5% of such characters on both sides (drivers and cyclists) who end up antagonizing each other. But the fundamental problem is the culture. American culture centers around driving; that is not the case in many European cities, where cycling is much more prevalent for commuting, shopping, etc.

Originally Posted by bigpedaler

Agree. The few are the ones who always screw it up for the many....

Another problem is the insistence in this country on "big and fast"; I was watching traffic roll by my house the other day, and I saw a nice little subcompact. I thought, 'who needs more than that? The folks with large families? I'm sure there's a station-wagon version....'

The generations-old obsession with speed (which I was a participant in during my own youth) has fostered this "compression of time" that drivers experience, and it multiplies impatience. Stress skyrockets, blood pressure peaks, and there are some hearts that beat irregularly. Sounds like a health issue, doesn't it? Speed doesn't just kill in accidents....

I don't miss my car, and will fight bitterly any attempt by ANYONE to put me back in one.