critical ass

I very briefly want to point out the obvious: not all cyclists are rule-flouting danger mice, and not all motorists are ignorant, aggressive robots. The problem is that on both sides there are seriously offensive individuals who make things very difficult for all of us.

Cyclists who break the road rules, fail to wear helmets and ride without lights at night, irritate motorists. This then very quickly escalates a common thinking amongst motorists that all cyclists are at best a nuisance and at worst something that is fair game to line up with your hood ornament.

Cyclists, in turn, are exposed to very poor judgement from drivers, which threatens their very life. Drivers, too, flout the law, they just do it at much higher speed in the ultimate deadly weapon. This behaviour also leads to a common thinking amongst cyclists that motorists are never to be trusted and a highly negative assumption that they will always put themselves and their vehicles ahead of the rider.

Can you see the problem here?

I'm a cyclist, but I empathise with both groups. This stance can be hard to maintain, to be sure, when at least once a week I am exposed to a near accident and once a month I'm involved in an incident which could, minus my experience, most likely kill me. However, I want a change in attitude across the board and I know this is not going to come by holding a grudge.

As I see it, the solution to this dilemma is very simple, and in 2 steps.

1. You must embrace and reconcile with yourself the fact that you will not be able to convert all cyclists and motorists to angels. Unhappy, aggressive people are that way for a reason, and pearls of wisdom will wash right over them while they are broken inside. They have some work to do on themselves before they are ready to listen.

2. Remember the obvious, that the world is made up of individuals and that a negative incident with one of those individuals does not make the entire group from which they derive guilty.

To stamp that point home, just remember the mantra:

This is but one individual, they are not indicative of the whole.

Write it down. Tape it to your helmet or centre console. Make the world a friendlier place and look after your blood pressure.


So - think we can effect some change here? You have no option but to hope that we can. If there isn't some positive movement forward here then what does it say about the bigger picture issues? This issue is a drop in the ocean compared to the ever-increasing distrust and lack of care amongst humans on a global scale. The good news is we can start to curb it with baby steps like these, but unchecked...

Well, it's your destiny to do with what you will.