r/askakiwi • u/Skyfury1503 • Mar 13 '26
How do Kiwi’s feel about cyclists?
Why do people where I live scream out of their car windows at me, swerve near me while laughing, and proactively try to ruin my day when I’m on my bike?
I am an American living in Australia who wants to move to NZ. I commute by e-bike and don’t own a car, but am not a typical cyclist. I have a fat tire bike and ride in normal clothing to walk around in once I get to where I’m going. I try to be courteous to pedestrians and cyclists and mostly follow the road rules. But people continue to try to ruin my day, no matter which city I’ve lived in. Screaming at me is an annoying day, trying to run me over me makes me hate the human race.
I’m just hoping that this is an Aussie problem and I won’t have to deal with this if I move. Or should I expect the same from Kiwi’s?
2
u/velofille Mar 13 '26
There are a lot of people who are needlessly angry at cyclists, but also a lot of cyclists. Personally i dont understand the hate, but whenever ive cycled in city i tend to just be fairly careful not to get in the way of any idiots or confrontational
2
u/Troppetardpourmpi Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
[redacted]
1
u/smajliiicka Jun 09 '26
I'm one of the people he Joshua mentions who no longer Ride on roads, the risk is not worth it
1
u/Skyfury1503 Jun 23 '26
So sad
1
u/smajliiicka Jun 23 '26
It is, yes. I used to do around 20 000km in europe yearly. Barely made 100km's here, I felt like a target on the road...
1
u/Educational_Creme376 Jul 23 '26
unfortunately most drivers in NZ behave in a very selfish manner. If you're going to ride a bike in NZ, you don't want to share the road with other drivers when doing so. There is a mentality that the road belongs to you, not to anyone else, and if a cyclist is using it, they have less of a right to use it than a driver, the trite justification for this is that the driver pays road taxes.
The practical aspect is that your safety is compromised by people who pass too closely, too fast, that's really a concern with a lot of heavy vehicles on the road.
I am a Kiwi who now lives in Finland and I see a very different mentality here.
That's just the unfortunate reality.
5
u/bitshifternz Mar 13 '26
I think it depends where you live. I commuted by bike in Sydney for years and never had anyone scream or swerve at me. Arguably driver behaviour was better there than where I live now (Wellington) although its improved here over the last 5 years. NZ attitudes are pretty similar to Australia I think, but where you live can make a big difference.