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

thinking about it, the one thing I conclude about motorists is they aren't people who are good at critical analysis. I can't get my head round why anyone able bodied and not carrying huge bags would consider a car to be the best transport option for congested streets. So I guess the thing I think about motorists is that they don't think.

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I would suggest that there is a similar proportion of motorists who are unthinking, or stupid, as any other group. We notice the stupid ones more because they get in our way, and block the roads. Similarly, "motorists" opinion of "cyclists" as a group is coloured by the fact that antisocial or dangerous cycling is more noticeable.

I think a motorist is someone who drives a privately owned motor driven vehicle.

Is this a trick question?

Motorists are potential cyclists.

No
What do you think about motorists.

I don't.

It's like saying what do I think about people who wear suits.

Their killers everyone of them, weather it be the thousands of people killed by their emissions every year, or their crashing their ton of metal into another human being because there more interested in what's on facetwat.

So there would be no point in asking you what you think about people who wear suits ?

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People are dicks when given the context to behave as such. It seems that this is often fuelled by criteria which makes them feel removed by greater degrees of separation.

Take for instance the guy who buys a t-shirt from Primark, knowing that that shit is way too cheap to be anything close to ethically produced yet buys it anyway- fuck it, that misery is far away. Or the Manager who treats the intern very differently from how he does his boss - he's far enough away from the intern from a class perspective despite them occupying the same physical space. The nobhead at the bar getting angry at the waiter because he's taking longer than 5 minutes to notice he's there and he wants his drink right-fucking-now ... 'why is this asshole taking so fucking long- useless prick'.

I find that there is an established 'us/them' with cars and bikes (and, for the record, pedestrians). Cars hate bikes- bikes hate cars etc. Its super fucking dumb- but not because either camp is a pack of arseholes, its because their criteria for existance has been poorly or naïvely designed by people lacking the foresight which modern life has presented us.

'I am in a car and i have a right of way' 'this is my road'

'I am on a bike and could be killed at any moment, don't you fucking dare not notice me dickhead' 'oh.. and this is my right of way fuck face'

There is some interesting shit going on in various towns scattered throughout the world (which I'm sure you know about- or have been mentioned in this thread- sorry if it has..) where they've tried removing shit like street signs and lights etc. - Took me a while to figure out why this was a good idea but moving to Amsterdam gave me some clues a few years ago. The idea (I think) is that you remove the criteria- the 'this is mine' bit and let people sort it out amongst themselves. No rules.. just humans trying not to step on eachother's shoes. It levels the playing field such that it makes that possible.

So yeah.. 'what do you think of motorists' was maybe an intentionally divisive question. If not then I submit to you that actually the problem is that we even think of them as 'motorists' rather than just other people on-road who happen to be in bulkier machinery.

And, for the record- I've seen far more cyclists behaving like total cunts on the road than I have people in cars.

I am a motorist I guess, my whole family are really into cars. The majority of people in cars confuse me, driving seems to make people aggressive.

Most of what makes people dangerous in cars or on bikes or whatever is the need to rush and get to the place you are going in the quickest time possible. I do it wether I am cycling or driving, I just have the willpower to suppress the need when it will endanger someone else's or my own life.

But then I cycle more than I drive, so most likely I am a cyclist driving and my mindset of being more careful doesn't change.

From what I have learnt, people are selfish, if a risk is unlikely to hurt them (in a car) then they will take it, whereas on a bike you are more vulnerable so you will take less risks.

What do you think of motorists?

Well meaning, under-tested and flattered by technology.

flattered by technology

My Mum was when we got our first refrigerator.

Thanks for your contributions.

A rough summary (can't we do polls anymore?) of how some people 'on here' construe motorists:

c.35% Dangerous, menacing, potential killers
c.20% Transgressive, selfish, lazy, immoral, law breakers
c.15% Cultural victims no imagination/choice, societal norms,
c.15% Normal people trying to get somewhere
c.10% Enslaved and trapped, lack freedom
c.5% Potential cyclists

And here is a breakdown of (professional) drivers response when asked about their view of cyclists (more elaborated) :

c.10% will consider them a menace who shouldn't be allowed on the road at all. Will use terms like 'hate them' or suggest that 'they deserve what they get' and would not be averse to to admitting wishing to 'run them over'

c.40% will consider them a nuisance, in the way of their vehicle, consider them dangerous and describing their behavior as lawbreaking (transgressive), will recognise and feel differently towards different cycling 'tribes', the lycra-clad, the fixed gear hipsters and couriers and women with baskets going slowly seem to stand out more than other cycling groups. Many in this group would note that some don't wear helmets (many beliving that this is unlawful) and complain that they ride in the middle of the road and don't stick to their cycle lanes to the gutter. They believe that cyclists should be licensed, insured and undergo compulsory training before being allowed to ride on the roads.

c.40% will consider them a valid road user. some of this group will also agree that they should be licensed and insured but in general will agree that people have a right to cycle as long as they stick to the rules. Some of this group may be occasional/leisure cyclists or have a family member who rides a bicycle so may be more forgiving of a cyclists who rides on the pavement (as it's safer). This group tend to express less extreme negative emotions and may have a more 'live and let live' attitude to cyclists.

c.7% may be regular cyclists themselves and consider others who ride in a positive light (apart from the minority who break the law giving all cyclists a bad name). They may state that every person on bike is one less car in the traffic jam and recognise the general benefits encouraging cycling and approve of environmental changes to facilitate this.

c.3% think cyclists should have less constraints than drivers as they can do less harm. Some state that cyclists should be allowed to go through lights and ride on the pavement if done carefully. They may take more issue with other drivers than with cyclists. Often these drivers are regular cyclists.

This is a completely unreliable method of collecting data. What's the methodology behind your study?

You are right.
The data about the drivers views came from asking a question to groups of professional drivers attending a training course in cyclist awareness.

The data about how cyclists view drivers has come from here.

It is not scientific and has no pretense to be. Purely anecdotal but still useful.

(We could have used a reperatory Grid but it would have been unlikely that anyone here would bother to fill it in... :)

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No, because the point is there are different types of suits and various reasons for wearing them.

It's the wrong questions, and a leading one with an agenda; "What do I think about motorists." It encourages to think of motorists as if they were some sort of homogeneous cult, which is nonsense.

So your view about motorists is that they are not a homogeneous cult... Fair doos

45.5 million "active" driving licences in the UK, total population of 63.4 million.

Therefore motorists are 72% of the population, hence why politicians queue up to decry the "war on the motorist" as in reality that know that that will be understood as "the war on the normal person who is just like me".

Which is why this type of thread (and you do tend to go down this road a lot, Skydancer) creates no value and instead serves to reinforce the idea of cyclists (i.e. people who identify motorists, AKA normal people as unthinking, entitled cunts) as a minority with insane and insulting views.

You are marginalising the very people you identify yourself as representing.

I don't represent anyone but myself.
I think that everyone of the 45 million drivers and every person who cycles has a distinct opinion about 'cyclists' 'drivers' . Which is fluid and changing. That opinion determins how they behave when they interact which is why there are so many different behaviours on the streets. It interests me. I always appreciate your contributions in the threads I start 😊

You are marginalising the very people you identify yourself as representing.

Or you just answer the question as a cyclist and a driver.

I drive a white van FFS.

^ typical sweary van driver response.

I feel sorry for them.

Sitting in their cars, beeping at people with their high blood pressure and expanding waistbands.