Are cyclists a menace?

Ah well my post was imperfect. But you get the moral.
Oliver, rather than disagreeing though I think you've made my point even stronger. You've just said they are classist bigots.
And yes change is hard for some; women voting, blacks allowed in, homosexuals getting married, cyclists having a right to the lane.

Oh, I wasn't really disagreeing, I suppose, just offering a layer of explanation and a different way of seeing it. I don't particularly have solutions how to reduce people's fears. Often there's not much you can do.

Oh and I was in the left lane the driver was in the right (stopped) then swerved into mine.

Ha, I wouldn't have guessed. If you want to avoid American/British confusions, you could always more generally speak of nearside and offside lanes, but then many Americans wouldn't know what you mean. ;)