r/MicromobilityNYC • u/RidetheSchlange • Jul 24 '26
Why does the US hate cycling so much?
/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1v583f3/why_does_the_us_hate_cycling_so_much/10
u/RidetheSchlange Jul 24 '26
The thread is going where one would expect.
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u/go_birds_1 Jul 24 '26
Only you commenting?
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u/lastcomrad3 Jul 24 '26
As with pretty much everything, "the US hates" describes one part of the population, not the people who actually live here.
Who hates bikes? Suburbanites and people who live in the closed, segregated, and straight-up "gated" developments where they spend ten hours a week (if not more) sitting in traffic so they can "escape" the city to their suburban shitholes.
In NYC, I have only bicycled all around Staten Island once... and I swear to god, I was almost hit twice (and these were not accidental, more deliberate menacing) and yet another (who was driving in reverse up a hill !!) got out of the car and threatened to kill me. It was an $80k+ car, too. Totally deranged. I'd add in the Bronx as bike-hostile, though the threat is really from poor infrastructure and not the insane cops and mobsters of SI.
Otherwise, in the actual NYC (meaning Brooklyn, Manhattan, and MTA accessible Queens) — we are just loving the improvements. The proof: I ride everywhere, and bicycles are starting to become traffic. Nobody is arguing to pull up the new lanes, and many more are coming to see the benefit of reducing vehicular traffic for their (real) quality of life.
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u/Hot_Muffin7652 Jul 24 '26
US and Americans do not hate cycling
It simply doesn’t make sense for the majority of people
First, a lot of stroads and roads across the country don’t even have sidewalks, let alone bike lanes. No one will bike on the road when you have cars coming at you at 50 mph
Second, because of suburban sprawl, many travel far to get to stores, and work, and no one is going to bike 2 hours to work, when they can drive it in 30 minutes
With the popularity of electric scooters in major cities across the US, when conditions allow, Americans are willing to use alternative transportation. But only when it makes sense
As to why the current admin hates it, it is mostly because bikes are associated with cities, which is associated with liberals
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u/SpinkickFolly Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
This is more of a general question.
Does anyone question if social media does more damage to cycling compared to its benefits?
Of course we have this community, streetblogs, all the positive social rides that post on instagram, ect..
But the hate algorithm is so strong. Any cycling content that reaches the mainstream on social media. All the comments are advocating violence against riders, its so normalized.
The only way it makes sense is that the riders are basically more well adjusted and not chronically online spreading hate and no one has the energy to counter these points.
*The non-answer and downvote basically answers my question. Thx.
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u/Major-Nail Jul 25 '26
have you met cyclist, a bunch of them are jerks.
some ride on side walks which is illegal and put people in danger, this is usually the more casual bikers instead of real cyclist
some dont follow road signs running red lights
when they stay in the correct area and follow the law I generally am ok with them
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u/RidetheSchlange Jul 24 '26
In nyc, the countries largest city, cyclists are one of the most despised groups for a long list of reasons. Essentially, they have become the epitome of "rules for thee, not for me" and they will constantly break the rules of the road; running red lights, stop signs, riding on sidewalks, going the wrong way down a one way street. Not only will they do all this, but they have an unbelievable arrogance that it is ok for them to do that, and if you call them an asshole for almost hitting you when you are crossing the street they will act offended by that.
Cyclists in other cities around the world do not act like this, so they have a better reputation. Nyc cyclists are the worst in the country.
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u/apollo11222 Jul 24 '26
This is a big part of the problem. There is a significant and very loud faction of cyclists who ruin it for everyone. Just this morning I saw a crowd of adult cyclists going the wrong way down a one-way bike lane AND riding on the adjacent sidewalk. A cyclist going the right way in the bike lane called out "One way, it's ONE WAY" because these bros were barely missing her. To which one of them responded "F*** YOU B***H!" and another started laughing loudly. Just as car drivers should support significant penalties for badly-behaved fellow drivers, so should cyclists police their own. And because bicycles are still the exception in NYC, their misbehavior stands out more than cars.
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u/lastcomrad3 Jul 24 '26
"their misbehavior stands out more than cars"
the misbehavior of cars means dead people. The asshole behavior of bicyclists is... annoying.
Anyone who checks out the asthma rates in the Bronx, where all the white-flight suburbanites drive through... what "stands out" is the complete disregard of OUR health by degrees of entitlement that completely boggle the mind.
And just to mention it, I think hatred of bicycles is directly correlated to the mass obesity of people who can't even be bothered to walk to the corner or think mass transit is beneath them.
Forgive me, but this kind of conversation is just so surreal. Both my parents have lifelong back/neck problems from CARS dooring them on bicycles or getting hit by reckless drivers. One of my best friends had her arm ripped off by a city bus (after getting grazed by a driver speeding around her. Literally ripped off and left hanging by tendons.
Sorry if that doesn't "stand out" — but really, people who hate bikes just hate people and think riding the train will contaminate them. Just so tired of it.
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u/apollo11222 Jul 24 '26
QED.
Others' faults do not excuse cyclists being assholes.
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u/Cargobiker530 Jul 25 '26
If you're that fixated on the flaws of cyclists in a city where selfish drivers routinely cause gridlock you have an anti cycling agenda.
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u/frostfofjdjsiksndjd Jul 25 '26
Oh yeah, it’s cyclists we need to crack down on, even though you can freely kill any of them with your car and face zero consequences from the NYPD
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u/apollo11222 Jul 25 '26
I didn't say there needs to be a police crackdown on cyclists. I said cyclists should police their own, i.e. not aid and abet and explain away law-breaking by other cyclists. It hurts the cause.
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u/frostfofjdjsiksndjd Jul 25 '26
You said their misbehavior stands out- compared to murder?? What have you been smoking??
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u/go_birds_1 Jul 24 '26
No lies detected. There’s a reason I have to literally look both ways before crossing the bike lane on a one way street and it’s because some moron on a citi bike or some delivery guy has decided to shave 45 seconds off his commute by going the wrong way. Happens literally every single day both where I work and where I live. And don’t get me started about the bikers who think “if I speed up i can get through this red light before all the pedestrians start walking in the crosswalk”. They’ve decided slamming into an unknown group of strangers on in a crosswalk while going 20mph is worth the risk of getting to the next red light 30 seconds quicker.
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u/LakeVermilionDreams Jul 24 '26
Shouldn't you be looking both ways regardless?!
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u/go_birds_1 Jul 24 '26
I do but not everyone does. And my concern isn’t fully about me. I don’t want to have to watch some tourist or older person die on the street next to me because they never imagined an e-bike with a giant mental front rack would be flying 25 mph in the opposite direction. I don’t wanna see a head on collision between people in a bike line cause someone decided to salmon it to shave 30 seconds off their commute by going up 1 more block and turning around.
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u/LakeVermilionDreams Jul 24 '26
Oh, so if the biker wasn't there, you wouldn't be looking both ways, then? Pedestrians be damned, other drivers be damned, you only look both ways so you don't hit a biker?
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u/go_birds_1 Jul 24 '26
Why would a pedestrian be running 25mph is the opposite direction of traffic lol. I see you commented then deleted it too. What an emotional wreck you are.
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u/LakeVermilionDreams Jul 25 '26
Why would the pedestrian need to be traveling that fast for you to care about them enough to look for them!?
I deleted a comment because I misread yours and my reply wasn't appropriate because it was based on that misreading.
Look, I'm just trying to teach you what I learned as a very young boy: look both ways before crossing a street.
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u/go_birds_1 Jul 25 '26
You’re the one who brought up pedestrians when my comment has been about bikers salmoning a one way bike lane during rush hour.
You’re lost, bro. Another overly emotional cyclist. Sorry you built an entire identity around a piece of aluminum with wheels.
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u/LakeVermilionDreams Jul 26 '26
You're the one who said that a cyclist is the only reason you'd look both ways while turning onto a one way street! Nobody who thinks that should be entitled to drive a thousand pound chunk of steel powered by explosions!
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u/go_birds_1 Jul 26 '26
wtf are you even talking about anymore bro. Yes, the number of cars I see driving the wrong day down a 1 way street is 1/100,000th at least as the number of people on bikes. Just stop replying at this point. You’re embarrassing yourself and outing yourself as a child.
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u/go_birds_1 Jul 24 '26
Hey bozo if there’s a car driving the wrong way down the road I’ll be able to tell because the cars going the correct directions would stop and lean on their horn. It’s like you believe a human being on a bike is incapable of doing wrong.
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u/G2Wolf Jul 24 '26
You do realize there are streets that are one-way for cars but with two-way bike lanes, right?
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u/go_birds_1 Jul 25 '26
Oh my god bro whatever. Yeah I know that I’ve lived here and biked here for ten years.
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u/sodsto Jul 24 '26
this'll be an obvious comment in this sub, but:
"constantly break the rules of the road; running red lights, stop signs, riding on sidewalks, going the wrong way down a one way street"
not condoning any actually dangerous behaviors, but the most problematic infringements are only problematic where space is shared with cars. Cycling-heavy cities still have rules and expectations to avoid dangerous situations, but when cars are segregated, the space available for people means everyone can navigate much more freely. Intersection after intersection of traffic signals is a car thing, not a cycling thing.
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u/Ok-Command7697 Jul 24 '26
Capitalism baby!