Your daily dose of WaPo cyclist hatred

[TwoWheelsDC]

Funny one of them mentions mandatory cyclist training. I agree…all drivers should get mandatory cyclist training. Make everyone (who is able) ride a bike for a week in order to keep their license and see how quickly attitudes change. Also, what the commenter can’t seem to realize is that probably 99% of cyclists already have drivers licenses, so we’ve been trained, thank you very much.

Not totally related, but in my perfect world:

-drivers’ ed would be extremely hard and expensive (lower incomes would be accommodated accordingly)
-drivers’ ed would include bike and motorcycle training, and only use manual transmissions
-automatic transmissions would be outlawed except for those with physical disabilities
-every car would come with a trip counter and you would be taxed based on the number of trips you take

[Dirt]

I wouldn’t classify that article as cycling hatred at all. I’ve been singing that same song for about 5 years now. The problem in this area isn’t really how we get there, by car, bike or foot. The problem is US!

I got yelled at TWICE this week by cyclists for stopping at red lights. I’m not perfect… far from it. But I realize that we, as cyclists, don’t have much right to complain about how we’re treated on the road when the NORM seems to be that we don’t pay much attention to the rules ourselves.

One other thing that this week’s yellings got me thinking about was that we, as humans, may not pay as much attention to the people who obey the rules as the ones who don’t. I know that I always get irritated when I see someone do something REALLY stupid and dangerous in traffic on a bicycle. Do I pay equal attention to the people who are doing things right and safely? I don’t have that answer yet, but I’m kind of keeping tally of the results. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

I do know that I kind of freaked a lady out by complimenting her on the AWESOME stop that she did at a red light on Tuesday morning’s commute.

Hugs and kisses,

Dirt

[GuyContinental]

@Dirt 37353 wrote:

I wouldn’t classify that article as cycling hatred at all.

Not the article, the comments which drip with driver rage…

Pete, I know that you are all fluffy bunnies but I don’t think I would do well with getting yelled at for stopping at a red. I’d have to have a “discussion” with the yeller, for sure.

Anyone else notice the volume of folks running Maple and Gallows in the middle of rush hour? Totally crazy behavior, folks doing awkward track stands holding up oncoming traffic waiting for the opposite lane to stop… as a cyclist, I’m horrified, as a driver a bit vicariously enraged…

[KelOnWheels]

BICYCLE VIOLATOR NICKELS!

(my favorite bit o’ comment so far.)

[Dirt]

@GuyContinental 37357 wrote:

Pete, I know that you are all fluffy bunnies but I don’t think I would do well with getting yelled at for stopping at a red. I’d have to have a “discussion” with the yeller, for sure.

Oh yeah. I talked it out with them. I was actually pretty respectful too…. though I did laugh at them openly.

[pfunkallstar]

I tried having a dialogue with a BikeShare commando this morning but cut it short when he said “it’s my life, I’m going to do what I want.” Classy.

[bobco85]

@Dirt 37373 wrote:

Oh yeah. I talked it out with them. I was actually pretty respectful too…. though I did laugh at them openly.

I’m curious to know, what was their reason for yelling at you? Did you stick your arm out to try and prevent them from getting past you? Side note, I’ve been tempted to do this with shoalers, but as long as it stays in my mind it’s okay (right?).

[DismalScientist]

@bobco85 37380 wrote:

I’m curious to know, what was their reason for yelling at you?

I’ve been yelled at by cyclists in a similar situation. Eastbound on Clarendon around Oak Street. I assume the other cyclist was upset that I was cycling in an unpredictable manner by stopping at said red light.

[baiskeli]

@pfunkallstar 37376 wrote:

I tried having a dialogue with a BikeShare commando this morning but cut it short when he said “it’s my life, I’m going to do what I want.” Classy.

Hmmm…a conversation about what? Running reds?

[Dirt]

What’s interesting is reading lots of rants here and in the comments of WaPo articles and switching “motorists” with “Cyclists” or “Pedestrians”. The rants sound an awful lot alike.

At Jermantown Rd & Route 50 they don’t even slow down for the no right turn on red sign. Cyclists just feel entitled to not have to stop.

Might have to change the type of sign…

At Jermantown Rd & Route 50 they don’t even slow down for the DO NOT WALK signal. Pedestirans just feel entitled to not have to stop.

Just used a random and recent example. I’m not picking on anyone in particular by choosing that specific example.

[Dirt]

@bobco85 37380 wrote:

I’m curious to know, what was their reason for yelling at you? Did you stick your arm out to try and prevent them from getting past you? Side note, I’ve been tempted to do this with shoalers, but as long as it stays in my mind it’s okay (right?).

The first was in Falls Church… Dude yelled “WTF???” at me for stopping as he sped out into traffic where an SUV had to slam on the brakes to avoid him.

Second was in Rosslyn. Dude had to slow way down because he couldn’t just blow by me stopped because there were pedestrians around. He called me “Ranger Rick” without the “Ranger” part and I think there might have been another consonant stuck in at the front. it might have been the letter “P”. Truly well thought out discourse. I met each of them a few minutes later and asked if they wanted to repeat what they’d said. I hadn’t heard them correctly. They didn’t. I was a good bicycle advocate after that and rode behind them for a while talking about bicycle safety. The first guy tried to drop me, but couldn’t. I was with him for almost 10 minutes talking about bicycle safety. I ran out of intelligent things to say about 3 minutes into the one-sided conversation, so I kind of wandered off into horrible tales of people who broke the traffic laws and got squished. The second guy turned off pretty quickly after I started lecturing.

[bobco85]

@Dirt 37407 wrote:

… I was a good bicycle advocate after that and rode behind them for a while talking about bicycle safety. The first guy tried to drop me, but couldn’t. I was with him for almost 10 minutes talking about bicycle safety.

I had a good, long laugh at that! All I could picture was the guy at first building up rage, then the rage eventually turning into fear as he realized he couldn’t drop you, all the while you lecturing him on bicycle safety!

[bobco85]

@pfunkallstar 37376 wrote:

I tried having a dialogue with a BikeShare commando this morning but cut it short when he said “it’s my life, I’m going to do what I want.” Classy.

Just reply with, “Well, I at least hope you’re an organ donor.”

[mstone]

@Dirt 37405 wrote:

What’s interesting is reading lots of rants here and in the comments of WaPo articles and switching “motorists” with “Cyclists” or “Pedestrians”. The rants sound an awful lot alike

The weird thing is, not many motorists are killed when pedestrians walk into them, so I have a hard time understanding why they’re so upset. It’s a false equivalence to say that one person’s desire to be on time after leaving late is just as valid as another person’s desire not to be killed by the first person.

And yes, I chose the “entitled” language very deliberately.

[Dirt]

@mstone 37422 wrote:

The weird thing is, not many motorists are killed when pedestrians walk into them, so I have a hard time understanding why they’re so upset. It’s a false equivalence to say that one person’s desire to be on time after leaving late is just as valid as another person’s desire not to be killed by the first person.

And yes, I chose the “entitled” language very deliberately.

I like the entitled language you chose. Your point about the outcomes (killing VS being late) is very valid, but people are not thinking about outcomes when they behave this way. They’re thinking about how important they are. Your choice of the word “entitled” is perfect. The mindset of the people breaking the law is virtually identical. The point I was trying to make is that we can complain about drivers, pedestrians and cyclists all we want, but ultimately we should be complaining about people.

[Author]

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