Thursday Hate: Drivers who disrespect cyclists

Nothing gets my adrenaline flowing fiercer than a disrespectful driver. Just last night a driver turned across oncoming traffic (i.e. me) and threw up his arms in disgust. As I had the right of way, and a collision, while probably fatal to me, would merely put a dent in his door, I can only guess his anger was due to the fact that cyclists exist.

I can manage my hormones a little better when I encounter idiot pedestrians, because if I’m honest, a collision is going to hurt them a lot more than it’ll hurt me. Pedestrians who step out in front of you without looking are probably endangering themselves more than you, the cyclist, who is in turn definitely more endangered by absentminded drivers.

This is not the first time I’ve written about inconsiderate drivers. And I’m not suggesting that cyclists are never to blame. This is my point: drivers don’t always drive defensively around cyclists even though they know they can easily kill cyclists.