Bullying on the road
In my first cycling post I mentioned that I don't get too many hassles from motorists when I'm cycling. I said then, that I hoped this was because of the way I rode, rather than the fact that I'm a very solid, 6 foot tall male. Unfortunately, I'm not sure this is 100% true.
I ride on a lot of the same roads as Lela, often at the same time. We often chat about things we've witnessed and been a part of on the roads, and it's very obvious that she cops a lot more verbal abuse than I do. I basically get none, she gets some idiot swearing at her every other week.
I've always thought this to be very strange, we have a very similar riding style. We both ride safely, both obey the law, and both remain visible and well lit when needed. So it became fairly obvious that she is more of a target for frustrated drivers just because she is a female, and is smaller. I find this pretty upsetting, there are obviously people that drive behind me, thinking "bloody cyclists", but keep it to themselves, because I look like the sort of person that will ride up to their window and give it right back to them (and I probably would). Then when they see someone who is much less of a threat, they let loose.
This really hit home a few weeks ago, we were out on a ride on a Saturday, on a wide bit of road, with lots of room for people to get past. I was about 50 metres in front and a Commodore with a P plate driver and three passengers passed me, going pretty quickly, with the foot down. I didn't think much of it, although they were revving pretty hard, they really hadn't done anything to me. What I didn't know was that as they had passed Lela, they had started veering to the left to try to force her off the road.
That's 4 guys, trying to scare 1 girl. But don't have the balls to do it to me.
So I'm very close to the opinion that most road rage incidents are just spineless people trying to take advantage of people weaker than them. It's no different from a bully in the schoolyard. I find this pretty sad, and unfortunately I'm not sure what the answer is.
Comments
leisa said on 6.15.2006 at 9:10 PM
wow. that's really interesting... I wondered about this a bit when I was considering cycling to work.
what a bunch of losers.
lelak said on 6.16.2006 at 6:36 AM
Of course, they may just be taking personal affront at my colourful knee-high socks.
Treadly & Me said on 6.16.2006 at 1:00 PM
Regardless of who the target is, road rage against a cyclist is inherently bullying. It's hardly a fair fight, bringing a heavy steel cage to bear on an unprotected person. And how much braver are they to attack from behind?
But don't ignore the provocative impact of colourful socks either!
Paul Stovell said on 6.19.2006 at 5:08 PM
I find it interesting that so many drivers are happy to beep and yell and give the finger to people when they're inside their car. Someone in front driving under the speed limit? BEEP BEEP @#@$$$#$$!!!!
But if you walked past the same person on the street and accidentally bumped them, chances are pretty good they wouldn't say anything apart from "oops". They certainly wouldn't start screaming, swearing and abusing you.
Fernando said on 7.01.2006 at 3:45 PM
Had a long discussion on holidays about driving mentalities in Aus, India, UK and China. One thing that came out is that in Aus there is an assumption about "lane-ownership." I think drivers view bikes as an intrustion on their property. It is also what fuels road rage when "people get in MY lane." Compare that to India where the only purpose of lanes is to tell you how wide the road is and everyone assumes the people around them will do random irrational things.
I think your bully mentality is on the money, BTW.