Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
User avatar
chris_suffolk
Posts: 738
Joined: 18 Oct 2012, 10:01pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by chris_suffolk »

Cunobelin wrote: So the Audi was "forced" to pull into the outside lane


From experience Audi drivers are generally gifted with X-ray vision and cars that get thinner by the touch of a button. They can see round blind corners and can easily overtake on roads barely wider than a bike - let alone a car

Seems they are generally driven by Rover drivers of old - upwardly mobile (sales) exec types
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by reohn2 »

Cunobelin wrote:The fallacy is that drivers are "forced" to do anything

They are not....they choose to drive dangerously because they are impatient muppets then try and justify their stupidity.....


+1
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
User avatar
mjr
Posts: 20308
Joined: 20 Jun 2011, 7:06pm
Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
Contact:

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by mjr »

reohn2 wrote:If there's a line of traffic behind me and I know there won't be a chance for them to pass for a while,I don't see any problem with pulling over to let it clear.

The problem is that it makes the cyclist's journey slower because few motorists will allow them to pull back out willingly. If we're meant to be encouraging cycling, as a matter of national policy, then surely we shouldn't be making cycling journeys even slower?
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
CliveyT
Posts: 461
Joined: 13 Jun 2012, 2:55pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by CliveyT »

Heltor Chasca wrote:What I like about this thread is that someone had to read the DM (or at least the DM online) to find this story. Everyone I speak to denounces the DM, but they have all somehow read it. Including me when I've browsed through a copy in various waiting rooms or cafés[emoji33]And I'm way too hairy and long haired to 'suit' the DM. Mass denial methinks.

As far as I can make out it's a big seller as far as papers go. I just wish I had the disposable time and income to read papers. But which one would I buy?...b


Oh I freely admit I love reading the DM website, especially the comments pages. It restores my (anti) faith in humanity. (I also read a number of American anti-evolution etc etc websites for the same reason, although that's more for a professional reason)
CliveyT
Posts: 461
Joined: 13 Jun 2012, 2:55pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by CliveyT »

mjr wrote:
reohn2 wrote:If there's a line of traffic behind me and I know there won't be a chance for them to pass for a while,I don't see any problem with pulling over to let it clear.

The problem is that it makes the cyclist's journey slower because few motorists will allow them to pull back out willingly. If we're meant to be encouraging cycling, as a matter of national policy, then surely we shouldn't be making cycling journeys even slower?

I frequently get held up by lines of slow moving cars, strangely I've never had them pull over to let me past
User avatar
661-Pete
Posts: 10593
Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 8:45pm
Location: Sussex

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by 661-Pete »

Heltor Chasca wrote:What I like about this thread is that someone had to read the DM (or at least the DM online) to find this story. Everyone I speak to denounces the DM, but they have all somehow read it. Including me when I've browsed through a copy in various waiting rooms or cafésAnd I'm way too hairy and long haired to 'suit' the DM. Mass denial methinks.

As far as I can make out it's a big seller as far as papers go. I just wish I had the disposable time and income to read papers. But which one would I buy?...b

Good points. Just to set the record straight - I wouldn't go out and buy one, nor would I read a paper copy if I see it lying around. I utterly detest the 'little-england' mindset that it promulgates. But if - for instance, on this forum - someone posts a link to a specific news story, rather than copy-and-pasting the text of the article, I will go and click on the link. Also, if a story emerges on which I suspect the DM will take a particularly unpleasant line, I will sometimes hit on their version via google. Call it the internet equivalent of 'rubbernecking' if you like. I can't help it - curiosity wins out each time!

So, I suppose, each time I visit a DM story, a hit counter ramps up, and the DM rakes in its advertising revenue (which is presumably the bread-and-butter of any online media) according to the number of hits. So am I actually helping to 'pay' for this vile rubbish?

What I would like, is for advertisers to distinguish between visits to the DM sites via a direct link to a specific news item from another site (like this one) - and visits to the home page via the 'Favourites' bar or whatever. And to only pay the DM revenue based on the number of the latter, not the former. But I suppose that's dreamland... :?
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
User avatar
mjr
Posts: 20308
Joined: 20 Jun 2011, 7:06pm
Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
Contact:

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by mjr »

CliveyT wrote:I frequently get held up by lines of slow moving cars, strangely I've never had them pull over to let me past

Good point. I've even had the opposite, where they pull over to block a cycle lane while jammed (and I then pass on the other side :) )
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
beardy
Posts: 3382
Joined: 23 Feb 2010, 4:10pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by beardy »

Which could answer the original question.

Why do daily Wail readers hate cyclists? Because they ride through the traffic jam when you are stuck in your cage.
Flinders
Posts: 3023
Joined: 10 Mar 2009, 6:47pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by Flinders »

reohn2 wrote:There are few times when I hold up traffic long enough to stop and let it clear,but sometimes it helps both them and me.
If there's a line of traffic behind me and I know there won't be a chance for them to pass for a while,I don't see any problem with pulling over to let it clear.When I do drivers generally show their appreciation.


That's what I find. On narrow country lanes I pull over to let faster traffic past where there is space, especially milk tankers, and they do appreciate it. I find the Muller drivers round here (and the refuse lorries I encounter if I'm near the landfill site) very considerate, they wait and stay well back, not harassing me at all (unlike those drivers do who can't bear a delay of a microsecond and are hassling from the moment you come into view).
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by reohn2 »

mjr wrote:
reohn2 wrote:If there's a line of traffic behind me and I know there won't be a chance for them to pass for a while,I don't see any problem with pulling over to let it clear.

The problem is that it makes the cyclist's journey slower because few motorists will allow them to pull back out willingly. If we're meant to be encouraging cycling, as a matter of national policy, then surely we shouldn't be making cycling journeys even slower?


I've never found there to be a continual line of traffic or one that didn't clear within seconds.
I've no problem letting them get by,OTOH in urban situations where there are TL's every mile or less they can wait as I will often catch them up at the next TL.
BTW IME it's a rarity such situations arise,so a 10 second stop once in blue moon is acceptable IMHO.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Postboxer
Posts: 1929
Joined: 24 Jul 2013, 5:19pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by Postboxer »

We don't know the circumstances of the Daily Mail post, they could have followed a cyclist from one traffic light to the back of the queue at the next one at 25mph in a 30mph limit.
AlaninWales
Posts: 1626
Joined: 26 Oct 2012, 1:47pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by AlaninWales »

reohn2 wrote:I've never found there to be a continual line of traffic or one that didn't clear within seconds.

It really depends where you ride. Around here, I'll pull over on a narrow road when there is space to safely do so (I won't dive into the hedge to allow an overtake); last week around Winchester, despite very slow, long hills, I did not pull over. Had I done so then by the time the first queue had passed there would have been another line of overtakers and I would never have got to my destinations.
blackbike
Posts: 2492
Joined: 11 Jul 2009, 3:21pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by blackbike »

Most motorists don't hate cyclists or treat them badly.

But with tens of millions of drivers in the country, most of them hating nearly all their time behind the wheel on our crowded roads, there are bound to be tens of thousand of motorists who combine anger, bitterness, the low intelligence required to think that cyclists are a major cause of motoring misery and the desire to comment on newspaper websites.

In the Mail and other newspapers comment sections what we see is the demented ranting of the worst type of motorist, not the reasonable views of the majority of them.
karlt
Posts: 2244
Joined: 15 Jul 2011, 2:07pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by karlt »

Daily Heil Commenters tend to dislike people who are not Like Them. The Daily Heil appeals to a lower middle class demographic, targeting the type of people who have an inflated opinion of themselves and therefore need someone to blame - immigrants, the unemployed, the council, Health and Safety, Political Correctness, for the fact that they're not hugely successful and that people pull them up on being prejudiced, moderately racist, homophobic sexists. Cyclists are just another outgroup to dislike simply because they're not People Like Us to the Mail readership. They hate them for the same reason that they hate immigrants, brown people, "lefties", you name it.
Freddie
Posts: 2519
Joined: 12 Jan 2008, 12:01pm

Re: Why do Daily Wail Readers Hate Cyclists?

Post by Freddie »

To play Devil's advocate, that is a bit of an oversimplification. Sure, there are plenty of Daily Mail readers who are likely full of contempt for the "other" just because they are other, but are they not at least somewhat of a (over)reaction to the politically correct Guardian readers and columnists who seem to say (if not necessarily overtly) that you can never criticise immigrants, brown people, women et al for to do so would be, de facto, racist, sexist, bigoted and so on. Many would sooner lynch their first born son, than criticise someone from what they consider a victimised group.

Just look at the recent Sir Tim Hunt situation for an example of relatively timid criticism, now known to be part of a longer joke that didn't go fully reported, which has caused all kinds of trouble for the man because he criticised the wrong group of people and expressed unfashionable opinions (even though only part of an ironic joke). This kind of furious censorial attitude I find no less distasteful than the fury exhibited by the Daily Mail readership. I suppose at least with the Daily Mail lot, you know where you stand; with the politically correct social engineers, the whole point seems to be you never quite know when you have said something verboten, for the goal posts are always moving. One who doesn't purvey forever changing, socially acceptable ideas in the right way is labelled a bigot and summarily torn to shreds, purely through their ignorance of the latest fashions, rather than through any real malice on their part.
Post Reply