Mood change on the roads?

[Globalti]

Where I ride in the Ribble Valley, motorists are generally very considerate and will hang back for long distances before passing. Of course you get the occasional redneck who blasts past in a filthy van or chavved up Corsa or Clio in a stink of skunk fumes but only very rarely.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I think it's true that people are more angry these days and I do feel that we're seeing more anger on the roads. Social media has a lot to do with it in my opinion, it fosters an attitude of 'I am right you are wrong'.

 

[Blue Hills]

Never had much on the way of problems on the roads. I doubt any political happenings have any effecr in drivers being idiots. A lot of drivers are dangerous and they always will be.

Yes, the arguments that it's brexit or whatever is just bonkers

Tho your social media hypothesis is interesting flick. Could be some folks from the cchat politics section, or more likely memememe yacf.

 

[Blue Hills]

Where I ride in the Ribble Valley, motorists are generally very considerate and will hang back for long distances before passing. Of course you get the occasional redneck who blasts past in a filthy van or chavved up Corsa or Clio in a stink of skunk fumes but only very rarely.

Could that be because, as I understand it, The Ribble Valley has one of the lowest densities of traffic lights in the country/known world? Can you confirm or deny this tale, or is it a rural myth?

 

[Drago]

I don't believe social media is responsible for any increased nastiness on the roads. However, since Brexit social media has been a nasty place, so I've handed over my semi-offical Twitter account to another, and deleted my FB account (FB now permit full deletion, not just dormant and out of view like they used to).

Don't miss it one teensy bit.

 

[Globalti]

Could that be because, as I understand it, The Ribble Valley has one of the lowest densities of traffic lights in the country/known world? Can you confirm or deny this tale, or is it a rural myth?

What's a traffic light? Some kind of chocolate bar?

 

[Globalti]

Let's face it, a very large proportion of drivers all over the world regard jumping in a car and drivng somewhere as no more serious as stepping on an escalator or into a lift. They do not think about their driving or take any pride in achieving a high standard of control or safety but rely on being able to brake or steer out of trouble because they think they are good drivers. They don't understand that being a good driver means making good smooth process through anticipation and planning.

For these drivers all cyclists are irritating red light jumpers who deserve anything bad that happens to them.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

What gets me a bit hot under the collar pretty frequently is the hypocrisy. Yes, some cyclists run red lights, and break various other road rules, but motorists are equally (or more?) guilty of the same, and they're the ones controlling the very dangerous bit of machinery. The media are all too willing to exploit this hypocrisy, because drawing attention to out-groups is their bread and butter, what keeps them in business.

 

[User32269]

Odv.

That's almost like playing the racist card.

No one hates for you for choosing to cycle just like you don't hate them for driving cars.

Don't confuse unpleasant individuals with regular people. Be non confortational and occasionally give way even when you don't have to.
This has always worked for me.

The racist comparison is wrong. I'm a driver, there are many drivers who take great care on the road and drive responsibly. There is a problem with a minority who use their vehicles as a weapon. They would rather endanger vulnerable road users than lose twenty seconds getting to the next set of red lights.
If you believe the best solution to this, as a cyclist, is to ride in the gutter and the door zone, that is your choice. Good luck.

If you doubt that certain motorists just hate cyclists, please view the comments on numerous websites after reports of a cyclist being injured or killed. It can be quite chilling.

 

[Dogtrousers]

No one hates for you for choosing to cycle just like you don't hate them for driving cars.

That's just not true. A vocal segment of the population do exactly that. Quite how big that segment is I wouldn't like to hazard a guess, but it only takes one.

 

[Pale Rider]

Hate is an emotive word, but I have an otherwise sensible colleague who actively dislikes cyclists.

Happily, I think he lacks the guts to do anything more than rant about it.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I don't have any change to report. I can say that things were crazier on the roads in London in the 80s and 90s. But I was an immortal and reckless youth in those days, so the whole experience was different.

Yes, the arguments that it's brexit or whatever is just bonkers

Tho your social media hypothesis is interesting flick. Could be some folks from the cchat politics section, or more likely memememe yacf.

Well, suggesting a direct causality of Brexit -> road rage would indeed be bonkers. But both Brexit and the growing acceptability of publicly demonising out-groups on social media could both be in some way related the same root cause. Not saying they do, but it's a thought.

Or it could be that nothing has changed. Social media means that what was at one time said in the relative privacy of pub back rooms is now broadcast worldwide.

 

[briantrumpet]

I suspect it's mostly to do with perception: humans tend to see patterns, even when there isn't one there - we try to make sense out of random events.

Having said that, if I perceive any pattern, it's that pre-Christmas has the worst driving, and the Summer months in Devon tend to have the more chilled. Another thing I'm perceiving is that whilst I think that more drivers are giving more room, a significantly higher number are taking risks with oncoming traffic, as they do in France: either a wide overtake over the white line forcing the oncoming drivers to veer towards the gutter/side of the road, or on completely blind bends. The latter troubles me especially when it's a right-hand bend, and the driver can see far less than me: if they smash into a car they couldn't see, not only will it endanger the car drivers & passengers, but I'm at significant risk of getting squashed by the high-speed collision carnage.

 

[Noru]

I've not seen any improvement and it feels like a significant fall in driving standards to be honest. Though I attribute this to mostly to moving to a larger city with a higher population, there's probably a similar percentage of idiots out & about but they're more noticeable as there's more of them.

That said has there been a rise in the number of hit & run incidents? I'll try to look up some stats, I feel like they're mentioned on the news more regularly than they used to be but maybe I'm paying more attention to local news than I used to.

 

[Goldfish1238]

Nope, I stay up in the north west of Scotland and lately have actually noticed how much more space and respect we are given (maybe it's just by chance)