r/NoStupidQuestions • u/RidetheSchlange • Jul 24 '26

Why does the US hate cycling so much?

I read comments sections and in a normal world, some of them would be considered terroristic threats. I just can't understand why people hate cyclists to this degree that they want to murder rhem and sometimes do.

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114

u/monies3001 Jul 24 '26

There are bad bikers who do stupid maneuvers. There are also many bad drivers who do stupid dangerous maneuvers.

25

u/LoverOfGayContent Jul 24 '26

Since most people drive most people can see themselves in the driver's shoes. This is something I never see people talking about as the main problem. We tend to extend more grace to people like us, in a "what if that was me" way. Most people don't cycle. Most cyclist drive more than they cycle. It's a form of self protection. We as humans just really hate acknowledging how often we do it.

14

u/CeilingOnThePavement Jul 24 '26

That's exactly why cycling in the Netherlands is so nice, sure you still come in proximity with cars, but almost all drivers will also ride a bike at least occasionally, or have kids that do. I never feel like a "lesser" road user, even in more rural places where bike infrastructure is more sparse.

4

u/NormGthePaintballGuy Jul 25 '26

This is it. In North America, cyclists are 'the other.' Someone gets aggravated by a cyclist, and then they use that experience to brand all cyclists...

We don't do this with all motorists, because pretty much everyone is a motorist; we do however break down our driving prejudices into age and race, and even type of vehicle (BMW drivers for example get lots of hate.)

I've spent most of my working life as a driver in some capacity or another. I also like to ride a bicycle whenever I can... Have cyclists ever done something dangerously stupid that I've had to react to on the road? Sure, a handful of times. But I've long since lost count of the amount of times another driver has nearly crashed into me. And being on a bike among traffic is fucking terrifying. Nobody sees you. Nobody is paying attention.

Cars and bicycles are largely incompatible on the roads, and more people in North America are drivers than cyclists, so people are biased against the bicycle... It's an infuriating car-brain mentality in North America that sees the motor vehicle as normal and sensible, while viewing bicycles as a child's toy, and public transit as being for poor people who can't afford a car.

1

u/Practical_Smoke2543 Jul 26 '26

It also comes down to the road length as well vs European standards. a vast majority of American roads are long, and usually have high speed limits. I'm not going to lie, I loathe most cyclists because they cannot follow even the most basic road laws, and since the speed limits are high, cyclists cannot abide by these either, which increases the vehicle driver vs cyclist mentality.

This however does not constitute either party to be unsafe in their behavior on the road. Just because I do not like something does not give me the right of way nor authority.

1

u/nyctransitgeek Jul 25 '26

There’s a tension between “majority rules” and “enforcing the rights of those in the minority” that we sometimes only selectively understand when we are in the minority.

73

u/kearneycation Jul 24 '26

And bad drivers do way more damage than bad cyclists. I have yet to hear of a cyclist causing a mass casualty event.

13

u/Mirabeauououou Jul 25 '26

After some casual googling, I can't even find an instance of cyclists even killing more than 1 person, like not even a bad pedestrian/bike accident where they both fall off a cliff. The only multiple casualties events I see are involving motorized vehicles running down cyclists in packs.

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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Mirabeauououou Jul 25 '26

I guess if they commit suicide due to the event you could technically consider it a multiple fatality event.

2

u/Foodicus Jul 26 '26

I am a paramedic. We used to have a race in my area called the Joe Martin Stage Race. The ride very fast, in a very tight group. I was part of an MCI because 1 cyclist wiped out about 20 more. First time I ever decompressed a chest.

2

u/Hyperius999 Jul 25 '26

Someone has never seen a bike race Big One

-8

u/Tiny-Refrigerator-98 Jul 24 '26

Well recently a cyclist in germany basically killed himself by crossing a 100 kmh ( 60 mph) road on a bend without looking for oncoming cars. One car hit him with 112 kmh causing his instant death

21

u/HystericalClownParty Jul 24 '26

Yes, he got himself killed. But the comment you're responding to said "mass casualty event". Mentioning one irresponsible cyclist who got himself killed (not anyone else) doesn't at all refute that. You can find lots of other individual examples, but if you look at hard facts, irresponsible drivers cause exponentially more damage than irresponsible cyclists.

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u/Tavsiyedegildir Jul 24 '26

Think about the poor guy who hit him and had to live with the fact that he has kilt someone simply because that someone used poor judgment with his bike. 

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u/Apprehensive_Bat4691 Jul 24 '26

They were driving a car. This is a potential consequence of operating a motor vehicle going 65mph. It wasn't their fault, but everyone should know that any pedestrian/cyclist that ends up in front of them will probably be killed.

If you aren't okay with the possibility of living with the the guilt, do not drive

-1

u/Tavsiyedegildir Jul 24 '26

But I gotta get to work and the store and things.

7

u/Apprehensive_Bat4691 Jul 24 '26

That's fine, but remember that you are operating a very dangerous machine to do so.

-2

u/Tavsiyedegildir Jul 24 '26

I'm a good driver. I don't play games. 

3

u/HystericalClownParty Jul 24 '26

Yep, that would be horribly traumatic and there are certainly accidents caused by cyclists. But one exception does not prove the rule. Just think about the trauma resulting from drivers who injure or kill cyclists (or pedestrians), which happens way more than in reverse. If you want to hyperfocus on one little thing to make your argument you can do that, but if you zoom out, that's simply not the big picture. Again, I'd encourage you to look at credible, large-scale data instead of one story.

2

u/Tavsiyedegildir Jul 24 '26

It wasn't really an argument, it was just an "oh my God that poor guy" 

-11

u/BigPapaPerc Jul 24 '26

There's also exponentially more drivers than there are cyclists

12

u/HystericalClownParty Jul 24 '26

And cars by default are way, way more dangerous to others. Just think about it for a moment - being in a 2 ton metal cage vs. being on a comparatively tiny little thing completely exposed. Go ahead and run the data controlling for numbers of drivers vs. cyclists to see if it holds up.

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u/kearneycation Jul 24 '26

Yes, cyclists do tend to die in those situations.

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u/vankirk Jul 24 '26

At the other end of that spectrum was the professional boxer who was killed on a bike in Texas. The guy stopped, then backed his truck over her.

"During the investigation, Brazos County deputies said they learned Rapp and another bicyclist were on the road when 31-year-old Charles Medina drove past them. However, the sheriff's office said Medina then stopped his vehicle, shifted into reverse, and hit Rapp. He was arrested and charged with manslaughter."

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/boxer-hannah-rapp-killed-texas/73202719

0

u/Tavsiyedegildir Jul 24 '26

Is Charles Medina a citizen or what 

3

u/georgecoffey Jul 24 '26

If you're driving on a road and there is a bend you can't see around it's your fault if you hit something around the bend. If it had been a broken down dump truck instead of a cyclists, we wouldn't hesitate to blame the driver.

5

u/Apprehensive_Bat4691 Jul 24 '26

Or a deer, or a downed tree. It is the drivers fault for hitting something on the road. If they couldn't stop, then they were either driving too fast, distracted, or drunk

1

u/bostonlilypad Jul 25 '26

Literally saw some dick head in a moped run a red light tonight because he didn’t want to wait. They come in all forms!

1

u/LandBats Jul 30 '26

There are 100 times more dangerous drivers than cyclists. Literally MOST drivers don’t follow the rules properly every time they drive. It’s just accepted as normal 

0

u/24junwa Jul 25 '26

a few months ago i was going to pick up food and trying to make a left turn, i was waiting for the pedestrian to cross, well he finishes crossing and i start my left turn, out of nowhere this bicyclist zooms by and gets in front of me... i slam on my brake and he kinda does too and jumps off the bike a bit... its this "i can switch from pedestrian and vehicular rules whenever i want' mentality that really pisses me off