Are drivers becoming more intolerant?

cyclesteffer wrote:

I think we've become the new minority that it's "ok to hate". You can't be racist or sexist anymore as there are very strict laws against That Kind Of Thing, but it's ok to hate cyclists because the papers, social media, the law, and governments seem to let you get away with it.

As a cyclist, I understand the mistreatment we receive. But having said that, you can NEVER compare the suffering that runs through racism and sexism that scales historically and globally. As a woman of colour, I can tell you racism and sexism have never ended. If it has, there would be no such thing as women being paid lower salaries, no such thing as "representation" to describe any diverse element, no such thing as "Black Lives Matter" cos we'd be living a world of justice - as you may be aware, that is yet to happen. There are no strict laws against racism and sexism, or else it would have stopped by now. "The papers, social media, the law, and governments" get away with or even nurture racism and sexism, so please NEVER dismiss the seriousness of and the existence of racism and sexism. Thank you.

fergie2209 wrote:

Strikes me that the above srchar quote just about somes it up.  We only hold people up for at best a few minutes, are these people always in such a hurry to get where they need to be!

I once had a lengthy row online with someone who insisted that their commute to and from work took forever because they were stuck behind cyclists for the entire ten miles each way. Needless to say I found that hard to believe. Even if it were true, how stupid do you have to be to not look for another route? People somehow spin out a thirty second delay into an hour’s catastrophe.

vonhelmet wrote:

how stupid do you have to be to not look for another route

Given the number of prats who lean out of the window to hurl abuse at cyclists on Pitfield Street (the only road I can think of where cycle traffic genuinely does slow down motor vehicles at peak times - by dint of being a Cycle Superhighway - clue's in the name), the stupidity required is relatively common.

srchar wrote:

I don't think it's an anti-cyclist thing. Drivers who have poor attitudes behave like that towards all road users.  We currently have temporary 4-way traffic lights outside our flat, due to some roadworks on the mini roundabout.  Some of the driving is a sight to behold. Overtaking the queue and trying to force their car in near the front, stupid overtakes when the lights change, RLJ followed by forcing traffic on green to stop and even reverse.  Horns leaned on every minute.  Shouting matches.

I think what you're picking up is that selfishness, impatience and aggression is prevalent in modern society.  Many people seem to live their entire lives on a hair trigger, just waiting to explode at the least significant provocation.  Such people's fragile egos can't cope with being "beaten" by a bicycle making more progress than them, someone being in front of them in a queue, even someone just looking like they're having a nicer time than they are.

It's certainly nothing to do with a single tweet, but I do think it's due to technological advances.  Amazon deliver your purchases within hours.  Deliveroo brings lunch round fifteen minutes after you tapped a button in an app.  Your hifi plays whatever music you like and your TV plays any show or movie you can think of, instantly.  Emails, texts, iMessages - all instant.  So, when people find themselves stuck in traffic, they can't cope.  They have no patience for even the smallest delay.

Meanwhile, social media and has given people a lot more stuff to be jealous of.  Not just bloody cyclists who don't pay any tax, who always seem to be slim, who always seem to be smiling.  But also other road users.  Audi drivers, because they're richer than you.  Convertible drivers, because they're having more fun than you.  Any road user who's in front of you.  Social media also allows you to find thousands, or millions of people, who agree with your extreme view of, say, cyclists, justifying your shitty behaviour towards them.

All of that, plus a government that's more interested in "dangerous cycling" than dangerous driving, a police force that's more interested in fining cyclists than drivers, and a justice system that lets off murdering drivers with a slap on the wrists.  Is it any wonder that the losers we encounter on a daily basis behave so badly towards us?

I think that sums it up very, very well