Attitude

Why can't we all get along?

I have experienced a lot of varying attitudes whilst on the road, towards both cyclists and motorists. As with all things, there are some people who have a very relaxed attitude and those who are very excitable in both camps. From my experience though, there does seem to be a lot more "bad attitude" directed from motorists towards cyclists and I think they stem from two problems. The first is misplaced anger towards cyclists through either a misunderstanding of the laws regarding cycling or a disregard for it, and it being disproportionate to the delay they are caused. The second problem is a issue with how that anger is displayed, often resulting in abusive language and sometimes even in nearly hitting the "offending" cyclist.

There is another side to the story though, there are some cyclists which do ride inconsiderately or dangerously and that will cause frustration and anger, I don't think cyclists should jump red lights or ride on the pavements for example (see other pages when published) so motorists are sometimes justified in getting angry. There is also the anger from cyclists towards motorists as well, although most of that in my experience is due to the improper actions of motorists.

Why do motorists get angry?

In my experience, motorists tend to get annoyed by cyclists if they inconvenience them in some way, this is usually because the driver is stuck behind them unable to overtake and the driver assumes that the cyclist should do something different in order to let them past. There are a couple of things which exacerbate that situation, the driver assumes that a cyclist should not be in their way and that the cyclist is too far out in the road (see Overtaking Cyclists). Another big annoyance is when they presume that cyclists shouldn't be riding two abreast and by doing so is preventing them from overtaking (see Cycling Two Abreast). Both of these show a lack of knowledge, understanding or regard for the Highway Code as if taken into account, the driver would realise that they should wait until there is enough room and it's safe to overtake giving them the same room as they would another car.

The other point to make about drivers getting annoyed at being held up and their willingness to overtake in dangerous places or very close to the cyclist is their impatience. No one wants to be held up and it annoys everyone but if motorists waited until it was safe to overtake instead or rush dangerously, they'd find that the time they are delayed by if they were stuck for a mile on a 30mph road is less than 2 minutes, in the scheme of things not really enough to risk someone else's life for in my opinion. Even things like overtaking when there is clearly stationary traffic ahead or before the driver has to make a left turn is displaying a disregard for the cyclist's safety to save the ten seconds or so it would take to wait behind them.

Motorists also get annoyed at cyclists jumping red lights, this in my opinion is justified. It is against the law for cyclists (as well as cars) to jump a red light, it's a very simple rule which a lot of cyclists seem to ignore. I don't have a defence for this as I don't think there is one, so if a cyclists creates a dangerous situation by jumping a red light and a motorist gets annoyed, I think they have every right to be. Cyclists also occasionally cycle on pavements or the wrong way on the road or down one way streets, these are also against the law and there is no real excuse for them either.

What do angry motorists do?

The actions of angry motorists is very varied, most of them probably mutter under their breath or get quietly annoyed in their cars but there are a select few who seem to take it a little further. The most common manifestation of their anger is beeping their horn. While this sounds innocuous, it can actually be a very startling thing for a cyclist to hear when a car is passing them 10 cms away, the horn is designed to be heard from within another car making it appear very louder to the cyclist than the motorist. Also, while cyclists don't mind a quick beep from a distance back to let them know that a car is coming past soon, a long beep is a very offensive noise.

Another thing which motorists seem to do is shout out of the window as they drive past, sometimes they're fairly tame comments, sometimes they're trying to inform the cyclists that they are in the wrong or breaking the law (although the motorists are very often misinformed) and sometimes they shout foul and abusive language. This behaviour is very rude, one wouldn't dream of doing anything of the sort on the pavement, if anyone's walked through a busy city street with tourists and been stuck behind one for a few seconds, I very much doubt that they launched a tirade of abuse at them, it just doesn't happen so why should it happen on the road? I think it is due to the lack of accountability that motorists think they have, they can shout what they want and drive off knowing the cyclist won't catch up. Often the motorist will be complaining about how dangerous the cyclist is whilst driving next to them shouting out of the window which I think seems hypocritical as well. Usually though, the drivers don't want to stop and have a discussion about their grievances so they just drive off any their misunderstandings never get corrected.

The most dangerous thing they do, which in fairness is the rarest, is driving towards the cyclists, sometimes as if they are going to hit them, sometimes passing them extremely close, sometimes forcing them into the kerb or overtaking them and making them slam on the breaks. This behaviour is definitely limited to the road, you wouldn't try and scare a slow walking tourist by pretending to hit them or steering them off the pavement, I have no idea why motorists think it's appropriate to do this on the road, it's so dangerous although all of the risk is with the cyclist. This is plain wrong so if you do end up getting frustrated enough to contemplate it, don't do it, think about what would happen if you actually hit the cyclist, or if that cyclist was someone you know!

Why do cyclists get angry?

Usually cyclists get angry because of the things that motorist do because their angry (see above!). They don't get angry at car drivers in stationary traffic even though it's slowing them down unless one pulls out in from of them. Most of the anger is because they've been cut up, beeped, brushed past, almost knocked off or shouted at for no valid reason.

What do angry cyclists do?

There's not a lot they can do as they're at quite a disadvantage as they're slower and not in a big metal box, but they do have a few things. My preferred action is the wave, although most cyclists choose to give the finger or shout themselves. When a car's passed very close, it's also common practice to stick out your right arm to demonstrate how close they are and hope the next car gives more room. If the cyclist can catch the car, they sometimes knock on the window and try and correct the driver's behaviour or if the vehicle is passing too close, they bang on the window or side to try and tell the driver to give more room - if the vehicle is close enough to hit, they're passing too close!