Why Motorists Hate Cyclists

It has long puzzled me as to why motorists hate cyclists. Certainly, most motorist treat cyclist with respect and exercise caution when passing them. There are enough drivers, however, who do not treat cyclists as worthy of life to make riding a bicycle for an adult a dangerous enterprise. Why is that? 

It is not just a Mississippi thing. It is not just an American thing. I have read articles about the problem in Australia and England. So I assume if it is not a worldwide thing. If not a worldwide thing, it is a developed nation attitude. Some development, huh?

I'll spare you the dozens of anecdotes I could provide showing how drivers apparently get angry at the sight of an adult on a bicycle. What follows is my latest musings on the subject prompted in part by my last long run out Money Road. I can remember when running produced some pretty strong negative reactions from drivers. Now, not so much. Times have changed in that regard. Will they ever change with the public's attitude towards cyclists? I can't answer that but can only hope it will.

I have noticed that motorist are very nice to me when I run out Money Road. Normally, they move over the entire lane, if no oncoming traffic prevents it. I always wave, shake my head yes, and mouth "Thank you." What a contrast this is from riding a bicycle. On two wheels instead of two feet, car drivers are angry at your mere presence. I never figured this out and apparently neither have they. When questioned about why they hate cyclists, the answers usually go like this: 1) cyclists are arrogant. This one always confused me. How can a person riding a twenty-pound bicycle possible express arrogance to a person driving a 3,000 pound car? Really, tell me how that works. Another reason given is that 2) that bicyclists take up the whole road. This one also confuses me because I have never seen that happen, and as with the arrogance thing, it is an impossibility. Also, I have read complaints in the Greenwood Commonwealth that 3) cyclist wear dark clothing. This one is also not true because no one manufactures dark cycling gear, and no cyclist with an IQ of ten would wear it if they did. 

In addition, I have read that cyclist in our dear town of Greenwood 4) ride three abreast. I am one of the cyclist in the group that gets accused of this. I wonder how someone has seen this when I never have. I have NEVER seen cyclists three abreast except in Bikes, Blues [,] & Bayous where it is a necessity. And twice on the night before Bikes, Blues [,] & Bayous while dining out with my wife, I have overheard patrons at the next table complaining about cyclists. Their controversy with their fellow man on two wheels? 5) Cyclists don't have insurance or pay taxes. That last one is such an outrage that it belies belief almost. But with my own ears, I heard it two years in a row by two different groups.

If you are reading this and are not a cyclist, please remember a few things. One, the person on that bicycle is a human being who loves others and is loved by others. Two, we are simply out trying to get some exercise and have a little fun. As Richard Beatty once wrote, "We are your neighbors and friends." Three, we mean you no harm. We are not trying to slow you down, add to your stress, or shame you because of your lack of activity. That latter issue, is what I suspect is really behind the hostility to adult bicycle riders. I can't prove it, but I can prove that all the answers ever provided to the question about why drivers hate cyclists are patently false. So something else must be the cause. If our presence on the road makes you feel bad, please don't take it out on us. Take a walk instead. That is something almost everyone can do and it is good for both you body and soul.