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I wonder how it became transmuted to "I can drive over anyone in my way on a public carriageway lol".
Essential reading and essential book purchase if you want that question answered:
http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/
Carlton has helpfully put 'Murder Most Foul' on-line (since the RoadPeace reprint doesn't seem to be available any more):
http://issuu.com/carltonreid/docs/murder-most-foul
(Terrible proofreading but a good book.)
There's also Bob Davis' book, now available for free download:
http://rdrf.org.uk/death-on-the-streets-cars-and-the-mythology-of-road-safety/
Knock yourself out. :)
The short answer to your question is hinted at here:
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/179185/newest/
tl;dr--the 'upper' classes started cycling, motor cars were invented, the 'lower' classes took to cycling en masse, cycling wasn't special any more, the 'upper' classes took to motoring, causing a huge death and injury toll, didn't want to be held to account for it, and 20th century futurism/progressivism talked a lot of bollocks about the supposed shape of the future. People bought into the American dream of unlimited mobility, cities sprawled, causing a greater and greater need to travel, from 1970s onwards deaths an injuries entered a sustained period of decline, partly owing to more and more traffic at a standstill, especially in city centres. Increasingly desperately defended attitudes persist that driving all the time is the future and anyone who doesn't play is a spoilsport and just gets in the way. Stereotypes are changing from 'cyclists are poor and/or eccentric' to 'cyclists are "upper"/"middle" class twits who only care about themselves and run over small dogs'. The story continues ...
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Oliver Schick
@bothwell
I wonder where the whole "right of way" thing comes from. I say it sometimes (it used to be more frequently) and need to catch myself and correct it but I don't know how it got into the public consciousness. Really ancient legal terms, maybe? In an old version of the Highway Code from the 1470s? The only actual "right of way" that I know of in legal use relates to access rights on various routes, like bridleways and that kind of thing. I wonder how it became transmuted to "I can drive over anyone in my way on a public carriageway lol". Or if it was even transmuted at all. I bet @TW or @Oliver Schick know the answer to this.