Raise the Hammer

I also try to be a good ambassador for cycling by always obeying the rules, but sometimes obeying the rules (taking a lane when the lane is too narrow for a vehicle to safely pass, changing lanes to turn, overtaking slow vehicles on the left) leads drivers to become angry, sometimes hysterically so:

https://raisethehammer.org/blog/2597/wat...

or serious injury (a the same intersection):

https://raisethehammer.org/article/2415/...

I tend to agree with Ryan that motorists break traffic rules at least as often as cyclists (especially speeding which all motorists do some of the time on urban streets, up to 50% on Hunter, and almost every driver speeds whenever possible on the freeways) but in different ways that are usually accepted by other motorists.

When driving on highway 6 after a long break not driving that highway it took me a while to figure out what the "real" speed limit was: about 95 - 100 km/h even though the posted speed limit is 80km/h. Similarly the "real" speed limit on the 400 series highways is something like 125-130km/h and most traffic drives 120km/h even though the posted speed limit is 100km/h.

As Ryan points out motorists often take great exception if they are ticketed for speeding! So speeding (within limits) is completely socially acceptable for motorists even though it is obviously illegal. Riding through stop signs is socially acceptable for cyclists (and actually allowed in some jurisdictions), but is extremely annoying to motorists because it is obviously far more dangerous for motorists to blow through stop signs. Rolling stops, often just slowing down to bike speed, (also illegal) are perfectly acceptable to motorists especially if no other cars are at the intersection (I've experienced this problem often as a pedestrian).

Not yielding to pedestrians crossing at intersections is illegal and dangerous, but also socially acceptable to motorists (most don't even know they are supposed to yield to crossing pedestrians even at uncontrolled intersections).

It really is largely a case of different groups of people with different conventions of how much and what type of law breaking is okay.

That being said I agree with both Ken and Ryan that the best solution is to get far more cyclists on the roads so the conventions become clearer and more acceptable to both cyclists and motorists. And, ideally, both groups curb their law breaking!

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2015-06-24 10:00:37