Oh heavens – it’s not a battle, but simply a matter of wanting people to be safe.
It’s a battle because motorists want cyclist’s safety less than they want convenience for themselves.
No way would I ride a bike round here - it is a suicidal act.
As I’ve already said, in spite of everything it’s not suicidal. By choosing a car you are reducing your life expectancy seven times more than by cycling. Motorists treat cyclists like children who are stupid for playing in front of the traffic, but they are seven times less stupid than those who choose to be unfit lard-arses.
The simple fact is that accidents happen and when these happen between a cyclist and a motorist, the greater size and weight of the car/van/lorry means that the cyclist is in danger.
Yes, exactly, and there’s no motive for motorists to change because they have all the convenience, whilst cyclists have all the danger. I’m alright Jack.
There is no way that all accidents can be prevented, and it does not mean that motorists hate cyclists, but simply that the combination is fraught with hazard.
A lot of motorists patently hate anyone who gets in the way of what they want. I’ve been barged off the road, slapped, squirted with water, spat at, and even threatened with a hammer. My cousin worked as a traffic warden, and she even had threatening phone calls at home. I’ve already cited the research by Walker, who found that being polite simply goaded motorists into being deliberately malicious, it was the threat of prosecution that made them change.
Of course there are crass idiotic motorists who speed; but equally there are crass idiotic cyclists who have a point to make by riding/ wobbling in wide bunches and risk their lives doing so.
They aren’t making a point, they’re making themselves safe. On 5 Sept you described yourself as overtaking safely, and then complained of the risk of them swerving unexpectedly, but if you haven’t left room for them to move it’s not a safe place to overtake. Some cyclists have been known to wobble deliberately because it gets them more overtaking clearance. Last Tuesday I was barged into the gutter by a motorist who chose to overtake where there wasn’t room, rather than wait 5 seconds. I’ve already shown you the instructions from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency that 50% of all children are currently being taught, and there are calls for it to be put on the national curriculum, so you’re going to have to learn to like it or lump it.
Mutual consideration is the stuff of an ideal world, however laudable.
Mutual consideration is what you get when both parties have the same to gain, and the same to lose. On the other hand confrontation is what usually results when one party has a monopoly on all the power.
I always hang back when I meet a cyclist - but that is no help to safety as the motorists behind me get irritated and then overtake me plus the cyclists, putting more people at risk.
And why do you blame the cyclists rather than the motorists?