Don’t let the media distract you..

Don’t let the media distract you from the real problem on our streets… dangerous and distracted driving

That’s the closing message of a video named ‘Toronto Cyclists Are Selfish And Rude?’ by James D Schwartz

His video is a response to an article that the Toronto Star published on the 6th of June, titled ‘Are cyclists alienating drivers by being selfish and rude?‘ The article allows one particular motorist to express her views and she claims some figures which can certainly be questioned!

I stop at stop lights, (but) 95 per cent of cyclists don’t.

After they come flying out of a side street unseen into the path of my car, and my heart pounds because I almost hit them, I yell at them for being on a one-way street, and 95 per cent tell me to F-off.

I’m sure we have all experienced this kind of feedback from motorists. Some of them genuinely don’t understand our needs and the situation that we are in. Some of them couldn’t care less and most of them focus on all the negatives. We can’t blame them for that, it’s part of being human.

The article does raise a point that I agree with,

It requires accommodation, which some drivers extended grudgingly, if at all. The lack of respect is why many cyclists radiate hostility when they cross paths with drivers.

But if cyclists don’t earn respect by extending courtesy and following the rules of the road, it only ratchets up the tension with drivers.

We should be respectful to others on the road, we are all trying to get somewhere. Lets do so safely! But that is a two-way street, motorists shouldn’t expect us to throw rose petals over the bonnet of their car after they have just nearly knocked us off our bicycles!


4 thoughts on “Don’t let the media distract you..

  1. Well put (as usual!) Once everyone realizes we are all still just people trying to get around I think it’ll be much smoother going.

    So whilst we are talking numbers I reckon 95% of drivers we encounter behave rather well. Unfortunately it’s the 5% (or even less) that do try to kill you that people end up getting remembered…..

    1. Build a city and people will move to it.
      Build a supermarket and people will shop at it.
      Build a good cycling facilities that go to where people want to go and provide them with some form of safety… and people will cycle!

  2. Cool a story about Canada! Back in 2001it looked like Toronto was set to become the best cycling city in Canada.. A new cycling plan was in place, a map of where quality cycle lanes would go, a progressive city council, and ten years later… very little implemented and a mayor elected on a platform of ending the war on the car. But with Bixi now on the scene there and hugely popular, it’s just a matter of time until things change there!

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