While there are some cyclists who are complete jerks there are motorists who are complete jerks too. Do you think that the motorists who go out of their way to piss off or endanger cyclists make it hard for all motorists? I don't. I assume that most motorists understand how to behave when cyclists are sharing the road and I don't hold them accountable for the jerks. Why should I be expected to take ANY responsibility for the jerk cyclists?
There was a recent column in an SF bay area paper about people who had been ticketed for what they considered frivolous things. One complaint came from a cyclist who admitted that she had blown through a stop sign and thought the $$$ ticket was unfair, that a warning would have been sufficient because there were no cars at the intersection.
The article included a box where a sheriff weighed in on each complaint and I completely agreed with him that the cyclist deserved the ticket but he then was quoted as saying something to the effect of if they want motorists to share the road with them, they need to obey the law... Wrong. It's not about what cyclists WANT. Sharing the road is the law, just like stopping at a stop sign. The sheriff displayed a prejudice against cyclists with that remark.
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