Sabotage and hatred: what have people got against cyclists

[mercalia]

Sabotage and hatred: what have people got against cyclists?

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/01/sabotage-and-hatred-what-have-people-got-against-cyclists?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

[beardy]

I think that it is more likely that there is a type of person out there who is looking for somebody to hurt.
They dont really have any deep down hatred of cyclists in particular, it is more that they are a vulnerable out group who you can pretty much attack without much fear of activating any Police response.
Also the media and the likes of Jeremy Clarkson have given the green light that they are a group that you can legally vilify, which is the first step to making them a handy target when out looking for "fun".

In the 1970s they would have gone out looking for recent arrivals from Pakistan to beat up.

I have had incidents where I reckon I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, it would have been worse if I had been a lone woman walking there, they were just looking for trouble, a cyclist is a "legitimate" target but they hadnt gone out looking for cyclists, so much as looking for trouble.

[Elizabeth_S]

While this may seem off topic, this article is relevant:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle ... s-backfire
What it implies is that if a news article says that many people drive too close to cyclists, this will make the matter worse as car drivers will see that as normal behavior. And if follows that people who write negative articles about cyclists in the news are saying to people who may have a negative opinion, 'it's okay to hate cyclists, you're one of us'.
So what is the answer? I'm no psychologist, what it seems to be saying is that cyclists have to change the emphasis of what they communicate.

[661-Pete]

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=98185
But in that thread I made more of the point about press comments.

[axel_knutt]

Cyclists are just one in a long list: blacks, gays, the disabled, the unemployed, the ugly, witches. This is about disability, but much of it applies to prejudice against any minority.

The problem with having a list of minorities that it is socially unacceptable to victimise is that by implication anyone not on the list is fair game. Rather than getting hung up with arguments about road tax, insurance, red lights etc., we should be dealing with prejudice and bigotry at source. The argument should be "It's wrong to victimise people" not "It's wrong to victimise these people".

[andrewk]

I tend to agree with beardy, although some people dislike cyclists and would like to ban them from using roads it is a big step from there to trying to cause serious injury or death. Probably more a case of an unhinged individual who would be better accomodated at Broadmoor.

[AlaninWales]

The title is about racism because that is a big issue in US right now, but the article is in fact about recent studies and their conclusions about how mutable human prejudices are http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-flexibility-of-racial-bias/

[Mike Sales]

I think several unpleasant human traits come together to explain the cycle haters.

We have a need to divide people into us and them, in-group and out-group, sunni and sufi, protestant and catholic, aryan and jew, black and european etc.etc.etc. This often serves a political or economic end as well. This is easier in Britain where fewer cycle than in the Netherlands, where almost everyone does.

We, like chickens in their pecking order, like to attack the weak. Cyclists infuriate by being so obviously vulnerable. We are seen as trading on this. They would like to physically knock us out of the way but the law and a creditable dislike of hurting us stops them. Mostly. This creates an internal conflict.

Motorists are in competition with each other for road space, but it is difficult to claim that its every other motorists' fault, and it is psychologically easier to make an excuse to blame us for congestion.

I hope I have not offended by mentioning or omitting categories which cause division.

[jayd]

I think several unpleasant human traits come together to explain the cycle haters.

We have a need to divide people into us and them, in-group and out-group, sunni and sufi, protestant and catholic, aryan and jew, black and european etc.etc.etc. This often serves a political or economic end as well. This is easier in Britain where fewer cycle than in the Netherlands, where almost everyone does.

We, like chickens in their pecking order, like to attack the weak. Cyclists infuriate by being so obviously vulnerable. We are seen as trading on this. They would like to physically knock us out of the way but the law and a creditable dislike of hurting us stops them. Mostly. This creates an internal conflict.

Motorists are in competition with each other for road space, but it is difficult to claim that its every other motorists' fault, and it is psychologically easier to make an excuse to blame us for congestion.

I hope I have not offended by mentioning or omitting categories which cause division.

Well said....

[Phil Fouracre]

Yup, I think that just about sums it up perfectly

[Mark1978]

There is also the attitude of might is right and that using your own power be that socially at work or on the road to get your own way is seen as perfectly acceptable or even encouraged. A lot of people have a vastly inflated sense of their own self importance and that comes out in their driving.

[Lance Dopestrong]

I can't help but think that this article isn't so much highlighting a problem as giving potential loons some ideas to play with.