AI6YR Ben(Paint does not protect you against road raging drivers)
KTLA: Competitive cyclists nearly run down by raging Orange County drivers
John@ai6yr so weird. I've ridden that stretch a lot, and I would say cars are generally cool.
Like once in 30 years I saw someone who didn't understand what the lines and the road meant and was upset about where the bicycles were.
can everything be outside now?@buckfiftyseven yeah drivers are definitely worse than they v used to be in both moral and skill related ways @ai6yr
@thesquirrelfish @ai6yr I guess. When I think about it, every couple freeway trips I see somebody maximizing their commute by cutting a few feet from every car. That psychology, that you're more important than everybody else, is going to be especially dangerous to bicyclists and pedestrians.
@buckfiftyseven @ai6yr yes, and there's very few people left from the generation before cars were dominant. Like for my grandparents and great grandparents they grew up in an era where pedestrians were the default. (This may also be related to the fact that elders are being hit at much higher rates than younger adults.)
It's probably a shifting baseline thing - as driving gets worse, the expectation of driving skills are lowered, and as driving becomes more mandatory, worse drivers drive more often, further lowering the expected standards of drivers.
And then you have the social stuff like less free time, larger cars, more expensive cars and gas, longer commutes, worse traffic, more addictive gadgets, more multitasking, plus there's probably some subliminal element of "I'm killing the planet and harming the people I drive past anyway, why should I care more about this specific other road user?".
It's probably a shifting baseline thing - as driving gets worse, the expectation of driving skills are lowered, and as driving becomes more mandatory, worse drivers drive more often, further lowering the expected standards of drivers.
And then you have the social stuff like less free time, larger cars, more expensive cars and gas, longer commutes, worse traffic, more addictive gadgets, more multitasking, plus there's probably some subliminal element of "I'm killing the planet and harming the people I drive past anyway, why should I care more about this specific other road user?".
@thesquirrelfish @ai6yr One of my theories was that beach cities are a bit safer for bicyclists just because it is more common there. It's a common way for kids to get to the beach etc.
I'm thinking of a particular elementary school in Costa Mesa that has a bike parking lot with like 200 bikes everyday.
Joseph Lamoree@ai6yr It would be neat if there were consequences to motorist terrorism.
MsMerope
Bekah
Julescelt@ai6yr I've seen the same aggressive behavior toward cyclists here in Colorado also. Two years ago there was a guy intentional hitting cyclists that were in bike lanes.
Living in a state that at one time had the country's preeminent cycling race; the Coors Classic and Ride The Rockies, to now seeing this attitude toward cycling is just depressing.
Kim Possible 
@ai6yr unbelievable. Scary!
nada_bio_entity2@ai6yr q: what’s the difference between a porcupine and a bmw? A: with a porcupine the pricks are on the outside. (old joke)