ad-hominem creep alert?
I still say it comes down to personalities. The kind of driver who thinks the answer is to get his own back with “left-hooked, forced into the gutter” shouldn’t be on the road any more than a cyclist with the same s
y ethic. If I had that attitude then I would have been banged-up long ago for ABH or GBH against people who have wrong me.
That’s why I’m interested in the vile attitude in this country where it’s endemic for some reason. The only thing I have come up with is ‘city mentality’ but having said that Amsterdam is a city
I have to say the times I have been forced into the gutter, (and off my bike on one occasion), were not deliberate; the driver “didn’t see me” or was doing something else he shouldn’t in the car...
The biggest reason I am put off using my bike is the traffic, which is why I only use it on good days in the Spring/Summer to work. I have found back roads and a cycle path for much of it but I still have to endure a ‘death run’ for a significant part where my life hangs in the balance at the random will of others. I want to do the green thing and get fitter and save money but the infrastructure just isn’t there, yet, and I’m not convinced the attitude will ever change. It’s a chicken and egg thing really; the way to change peoples’ perception is to encourage bike power but that’s not going to happen until the roads are safer. Also, if cycling increases then so too will the nutter element.
As a self-confessed pavement user on a bike, where safe to do so, if more pavements were partitioned to help cyclist that would be an immense help. I know there’s strong opinions on this but I see plenty of places where all that’s been done is someone’s painted a line of paint on the path. If you have ever come off a bike at the behest of a driver I can tell you there’s nothing quite so horrific and it was the worst accident I have ever had in my life to date! You’ve almost got to have a screw loose to go along some of the roads I know in Birmingham on a bicycle.
In short, I don’t have an answer which is why I reserve my cycling to the countryside and canals these days; (a place where peds and cyclists co-habit in harmony without lines or even a keep left policy). I would prefer to run in but 4 miles each way isn’t something I can do anymore in my old age...