openmic.social is an uncensored community. You may encounter strong language, controversial opinions, and mature or NSFW material. You must be 18+ to browse. Illegal content is prohibited and removed on sight — please report it. By continuing, you accept that you may see content you personally disagree with.
Cyclists aren’t a “problem” any more than traffic lights or stop signs are. Drivers should be able to deal with having to slow down a bit for a few seconds without getting upset about it. If you saw a driver shouting out of his window at a traffic light you’d think they were insane.
To be fair, if I saw a driver shouting out their window at a bicyclist, I’d also think they were insane (and a monumental asshole).
Yeah and not believing that cyclists have no right to space and should be squeezing to the side to let them by.
It has become wildly better here in Bordeaux though, in the city there are basically no incivilities any more, but they have done a tremendous job to get there. Get outside of the city (in the suburbs) and it’s still drive as fast as you can without thinking like before.
I had a traffic light swerve into the second lane as I was passing. I totally almost killed it.
Only “vehicular” cyclists are an issue, but TBH even other cyclists hate them.
If I’m on a bike, notice a car coming up behind me, and don’t think it’s safe for them to pass, I will put myself in the middle of the road to block them.
If they try some stupid and dangerous passing, I’m the one getting pulped. Putting yourself in the middle of the road is a very effective way of communicating “don’t even try to squeeze past me, there’s not enough space.” The most dangerous situations I’ve been in on a bike have been due to cars trying to squeeze past me when there isn’t enough space, it’s terrifying.
What’s a vehicular cyclist?
A vehicular cyclist is a cyclist riding as if they were a car, so in the middle of the lane etc. It’s the adviced way of cycling when there is no proper infrastructure, as sticking to the side makes you less visible and more likely to be dangerously overtaken. It depends on the context of the road whether it is the best way, but I would not call them the problem, just a bad solution to a problem that should be solved by infrastructure.
Yes, vehicular cycling is best as an emergency-only maneuver to make cars less likely to hit you, if you have to ride on a street with cars.
Real bike infrastructure is superior in every way.
There are some crazy grifters out there who don’t like bike lanes, and think that bicycles should always be mixing it up in traffic.