What do you think about motorists? (For research paper)

Drivers are people, just like cyclists. No surprises then that there's a lot of intersection between the two groups. And that's really all there is to it. In their current situation they're simply guided by two things; a) the desire to achieve an ends that they've set out on and b) their personal motivations and expectation about how that ends will be achieved. Cyclists and drivers run in very close parallel in that respect and for the most part I really don't think about drivers. They're just another person on the same bit of designated travelling space that I'm in and there's nothing to think about.

When we think about them, we're looking at a choice of transport mode. Or more accurately for drivers, from my point of view, a lack of choice. They're following a default model of activity. If you fit within a broad set of standard life circumstances, you'll drive a car because it's the norm. And the more people drive, the more driving becomes reinforced as the norm. The out of town shopping centres, the council managed tarmac to an acceptable distance from your front door, the expectation of a parking space at the majority of your functional destinations, the supermarket selling you on the idea of a big weekly shop... The examples go on, feel free to add your own. In our British environment, it's just what we do. We drive. I'm aware of the disparity between the view and the reality but that's kind of part of being people, we think in these herd/pack mentalities.

I could denigrate drivers for this choice or absence thereof but I know I'm not so superior myself. I eat three meals a day, drink a nice cup of tea in the face of grave adversity, sleep when it's dark, have a bank account and thousands of other things we don't really make a choice about. When I think about drivers I'm usually reacting to two things; when they come into conflict with me as a cyclist (or driver or pedestrian) and when they express thoughts about me based on my mode of transport. It varies from driver to driver. There are some broad categorisations that are based on repeating evidence. Professional drivers are generally better so both courtesies and dick moves are more likely a deliberate act. Thankfully the former seems more common where I ride. Sweeping accusations of lawlessness are hypocritical in the face of speeding, mobile phone use etc... I think that in an era of growing congestion unsafe behaviour has become normalised. Speeding to keep with the flow of traffic, failure to leave braing distances. So any safety record we have is more down to luck than judgement. I still think there's a majority misunderstanding of cyclists among motorists. They don't really get that we're people like them, trying to do much the same thing, in a manner isn't as different as they imagine. Like them we'll exploit the advantages of our mode of transport. We're people, it's what we do.

We see a lot of blaming drivers for being the more dangerous entity on the road but I don't think that's strictly fair just because they've kind of not made the decision we have.