Just watching the news about reviewing Cycling laws

[Shut Up Legs]

Govt, local authorities, the police & judiciary, the press, juries, and most of the public are united in their attitude of "It's only a cyclist".
When a cyclist is killed or seriously injured they couldn't care less, it's only a cyclist.
When as a pedestrian or motorist they see a cyclist coming towards them they feel quite ok about stepping out/driving into their path because it's only a cyclist.
When presented with cyclists' concerns about dangerous road layouts, aggressive driving attitudes, lorry designs where the driver literally can't see what's straight under their nose, they are happy to ignore us because we're only cyclists.
But the minute someone they see as one of their own is killed in an accident with a cyclist, their actions and words are immediate. They disgust me.

I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, Australia is the same in this respect. I never wanted to leave France after my recent Alps & Pyrenees cycling trip, and I felt the same after last year's trip.

 

[EasyPeez]

Does poor/contentious behaviour by one member or group from within a subset of society, and the consequent media reporting thereof, have any bearing on the rest of that subset, in terms of how you perceive and behave towards them?

If yes, get a grip and sort yourself out.
If no, credit other people with having as much sense as you have.[/Q

credit other people with having as much sense as you have.

Haha...given that we both live in a country that has voted for Brexit, has a Conservative government, and boasts The Sun as it's biggest selling newspaper, I'll pass on that, ta.

 

[EasyPeez]

Your post just agreed with mine. That outgroup homogeneity I mentioned accounts for everything you just mentioned.

But just because people are affected by this doesn't mean we should just roll over and put up with it. I never miss the opportunity to remind people that holding all cyclists accountable for the actions of one is wrong, illogical and prejudiced.

I completely agree. Whether in relation to cycling or any other aspect of life, associating the many with the misdemeanours of the few needs to be challenged. It's understandable (and maybe even natural, as a carry over from more reptilian self-preservation instincts?) but not logical or fair. But in my experience it is still a prevalent human tendency.

 

[Simontm]

@glasgowcyclist I have posted before working in A&E taking police handovers if it's a cyclist (or motorcyclist) they are always at fault or they were asking for it cycling where/when they were.

If its a driver, except drink drivers, it is always a tragic accident, either the conditions or dangerous road or some other excuse.

My favourite was a cyclist where someone dropped something on them from a bridge onto a cycle path, and still the police thought the cyclist was probably going too fast based on them saying they saw it at the last minute.

And these are the people we are trusting to accurately record and investigate collisions.

When a young driver turned right across a bus lane and I ended up bouncing off his windscreen and bonnet, the police constantly asked me if I had slowed down when I saw him. I said well obviously hitting a car not paying attention to a cyclist in a lane will inevitably slow me down.