Why the Animosity from Some Drivers?

[Trek420]

Personally I think it's a whole lotta things, and not necessarily in this order:

1) ignorance, drivers just don't know that bikes are traffic. Like the driver of the huge SUV who pulls along side of me on an overpass (my only option to get from point A to B) and yells in my ear "you're not supposed to be on the road".

2) they have been ticked off by cyclists who do not ride safely and then... they see you. I say to friends who ask me for advice on cycling "please ride safely and legaly, the driver you tick off will not hit you, they'll hit ME because I'm out there more often".

3) Angry at life in general. Driver is angry, upset, they feel and maybe rightly so that their life is a wreck, they get inside tons of steel and see us. They are not thinking at that moment "hey, maybe I should get outside and enjoy G**'s green earth", they are not thinking at all.

We...are....handy...helpless and available. Please watch out for them.

4) Super commuters, folks who drive sometimes hours each day to and from work. All they want to do is get outta the car. Sometimes I see them glaring at me on my way to work. They are stuck in a car, on the way to a job they might not enjoy, and I look like I'm having fun (I am!).

I've found that I get treated better on a bike to work wearing plain jerseys, the fun ones like the Iguana jersey ("Iguana ride my bike") I get cut off etc more often.

Hey, have you thought we're not the problem, we may be your solution?

there's more but....I gotta get to work

[MomOnBike]

Also, there is a (large) subset of the population that reflexively hate what they don't understand. A lot of the problem drivers just can't/won't understand the fact that a person would want to get out on a bike on a lovely day and just cruise - or go to lunch, or commute to work, or, well, whatever we are doing right then. It makes no sense to them, so they hate, and thus we are fair game, or at least fun to scare off the road (which belongs to them, doncha know ).

I'm not sure there is an answer to this problem, but we need to be aware and ride defensively.

[RoadRaven]

Yes, I agree with Mom... It really is a social problem... as in people being completely unaware that cyclists

1... have the SAME rights as a vehicle to the road, as they are a vehicle

2... most adult cyclists drive cars and pay road taxes and accident/health levies

I think that as well as that "why the heck would you choose to do that for recreation?" element, there is probably an element of jealousy there too - how dare we take the time needed to get somewhere on a bike when they are clearly in a rush and going to be late even though they an engine - how dare we choose a healthy lifestyle and make them feel guilty about their sedentary lifestyle...

Somehow, we need to raise the profile of cyclists worldwide - cause there a heckuvalotuvus worldwide on all the continents.

[Duck on Wheels]

Yes, it's worse when drivers of large, heavy vehicles are stupid. They're more dangerous. But I don't know that they're stupid more often than cyclists or pedestrians. When passing school and college campuses at commute time I see a lot of insane behaviour on the part of cyclists and pedestrians. Some seem to feel they're immune to the laws of physics! Or maybe it's that they feel they're so flexible in traffic that they can get away with anything. It's scary to drive a car at such times, or to be a pedestrian amongst the cyclists.

I've also encountered a few cyclists who are downright nasty. Other day I was at a demo, holding a sign saying "Defend the Constitution" and a cyclist riding by gave us all the finger and shouted "Traitors!" Hmmm. How'd he figure that? Defend the constitution = treason? Oh well. Somehow we expect more of cyclists than of drivers, but maybe we shouldn't.

[Eden]

When I went home for lunch today my husband had just come in from a ride. He said he saw someone yell "get off the #$*@ road" and throw something out of a truck at another cyclist. He turned around to see if he could get the plate, but it was uphill so the driver was long gone before he could go very far. So he turned around and offered the woman his cell phone if she wanted to report it. Turned out the dumb driver had tossed his cell phone at her. Hubby said it was a nice one too - color screen and everything. Best thing is the woman (or maybe the police even if they pay any attention)
will probably be able to figure out who assulted her as long as the phone wasn't stolen. Some people are really stupid...

[CorsairMac]

I had my first angry driver experience yesterday:
Someone was parked in the bike lane with their flashers on. The road is 2-lanes with the right hand lane merging into the left hand lane and she was parked close to the merge area. I had to actually ride in the street to pass her (since she was in my lane) and since the traffic Has to merge there because the lane ends, I stopped next to her car to see if she needed any help. Just as I offered assistance someone right behind me laid on their horn. I turned and it was a big white SUV and the driver was inching past me laying on their horn the whole time. As they drew level to me the passenger rolled her window down just far enough to yell "MOVE" and then they zoomed on. Almost took out another car because they were out of lane. Guess they were so busy being angry with me it never occurred to them they should watch where They were going. Saddest part of the whole story - the car with the flashers parked in my lane?......was a woman chatting with her son.

[Dianyla]

Turned out the dumb driver had tossed his cell phone at her.

OMG, this is the best thing I've read all week! Excellent!

[triflor]

this stuff happens to runners too! the other day, while running, I pushed the button to get the cross signal at a particularly tricky intersection (note that in montreal there are pedestrian crossing signals at maybe 1 in 10 intersections at most, usually where indeed necessary.) So I get my signal and cross the road, as I'm passing the oncoming cars waiting at the light, one drivers honks, glares at me, and is mouthing, "what the ****!?!" as if his two seconds delay warrants him taking out his anger on me. I just want to get home without getting hit by a car! Alas, I could go on and on about Montreal drivers and pedestrians... no one here gets along, everyone's impatient.