-
Do you still have your anti motorcycle bias?
I actually think you are wrong. Sticking people in a car, with lots of sound proofing totally discontented from the road aurally as well as physically meaning that the person in the car has less to fear. In general people give a shit about themselves and maybe close family and friends, some other random person gets no thought space at all. We have technology to help the person inside the car survive and now exterior wise things are progressing, but people buy cars on their crash rating and not the harm it could do to someone outside the car. Quite a few studies have gone in to this to help sell cars.
As to your comments about cyclists, I thing the calling out bad cyclists thread on here shows a different opinion.
lynx-
Sticking people in a car, with lots of sound proofing totally discontented from the road aurally as well as physically meaning that the person in the car has less to fear.
Good point. I've always thought that the roads would be a much nicer place if all motorists were able to drive convertibles. The removal of that communication barrier would make a lot of difference in my opinion. Whether I am cycling or driving, I tend to just see 'cars', not the actual people within them.
-
In general people give a shit about themselves and maybe close family and friends, some other random person gets no thought space at all.
I'm sorry you feel that way!
We (people who drive) actually aren't all cnuts.
-
Do you still have your anti motorcycle bias?
That's an interesting question, which of course has no validity as I don't think I ever had such a bias. I used to own and ride motorcycles but I more or less stopped that when I came to Britain and discovered how cold and wet it is.
I am perhaps known as the person who leads opposition to plans for allowing people on motorcycles to use bus lanes. That oppositions was based, in part, on predictions of increased casualties to people on bikes or on foot. After various trials and impact studies there wasn't conclusive evidence on the impact on other road users. What was clear from the data was that allowing people on motorcycles to use bus lanes increased the risk of casualty to themselves. TfL now spend a lot more on enforcement and training to counteract this increased risk. So opposition to people on motorcycles being allowed to use bus lanes is in their best interest.
pifko
miro_o
charlie_lcc
+1
I am a motorist. I think I am an ok sort of person, most of the time.
The Personal Construct Psychology perspective suggests that
So maybe the problem is that we have too many socio-psychologists (*) out on the streets looking for tribal warfare where it may not exist.
I suspect that when we are motorists much of the feeling towards unprotected road users comes from our own fear, perhaps subliminal fear, that we are not totally in control of our machine, and we are afraid of hurting other people. It is human nature to externalise those fears, creating a fictional "other", rather than admitting and embracing our own inadequacies.
Much the same is true when we are riding bikes. I often have to deal with people complaining about dangerous pedestrians being a threat to people on bikes. The standard response "have you considered cycle training" is not always well received.
(* should that be "psycho-sociologists")