I've pontificated far too often on the subjects of road rage, inconsiderate drivers and downright dangerous behaviour. Then as is often the way, i find someone has done it a hell of a lot better than me.
drat.
and double drat.
'People, in general, want everything they do to be as easy as possible, and they never want to be to blame for anything bad...ever. People who drive cars are no exception to that rule. With the The Scofflaw Cyclist straw man in place, car driving people have a target for the frustration they feel over the situation THEY have created, but for which they are completely unable to accept the blame. Most motorist frustration seems to be the result of not being able to get from point A to point B easily, and that's simply the result of traffic congestion. Traffic congestion, one might be surprised to discover, is caused by one thing and one thing only - too many cars in one place at one time. Scofflaw cyclists have nothing to do with it. While it runs counter to human nature to sit in traffic and think "I can't really get frustrated with this since I am, after all, as much to blame as every other motorist out here for this traffic jam," blaming Scofflaw Cyclists for the frustration that driving seems to engender is a bit far-fetched.'
the full article is here
and i read it at bikefixation first
2 comments:
Hmm...Drivers = bad for Cyclists (no one cares). But Drivers = bad for Drivers, now that might get some traction.
Just out of curiosity, what is the cost of petrol like across the pond? And how is that affecting the tendency of folks to drive a car?
i'd like to think so, but that said, is still amazes me that motorists rant and rave about 'traffic' without realizing they are 'traffic'.
something has to give, but nobody wants it to be them.
i think that's also why we see people justifying a SUV, by saying environmentally, it's only slightly worse than a saloon... yet missing the point that the saloon is bad in the first place...
anyway, petrol, you know, i actually had to go look at a petrol station to find out!
it's around £1.34 a litre, a lot more than you guys pay (i imagine).
as for how much it effects drivers it's hard to say in london as there are so many other factors that could prompt someone to ride, the congestion charge (£8) and average parking prices (around £15 a day in the city) effecting drivers and expensive public transport effecting others.
there has been a massive boom in london no doubt, in fact between 2004 and 2005 usage increased by 20%. but when only 3% commute by bike, compared to 9 by car and 68 by public transport we still have a long way to go...
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