I’m willing to bet it’s just that more people drive than cycle here. People are violent. People fight in public transit, people fight in the street. I’m sure you could find instances of bicycle rage but it’s not reported on like road rage.
I’m convinced that something unique about being enclosed in a car makes it worse. The depersonalization of interacting with other objects instead of other people since you can’t really see the drivers inside all that well. The defensiveness that comes with the fact that a car is not only one of the most expensive things but also that the interior feels like an extension of your private space even though you’re in public. The feeling of power that comes from operating dangerous heavy machinery, and worry that others are doing so too but getting it wrong and endangering you, etc.
I think if there were more cyclists that bike rage could be a thing too. You touched on it in your reply. It’s the endangerment. The threat to self and property.
Definitely with cars, the property and safety issues are magnified, so I think that all things being equal, if we magically had bikes as primary transport you’d still see road rage, but less than with cars.
That’s maybe one of the three factors I mentioned, and even then cyclist-cyclist collisions are much less common or severe than automobile-automobile ones. There’s a reason even the busiest bike path intersections don’t have fancy safety devices like traffic lights, after all: they don’t need them.
I’m willing to bet it’s just that more people drive than cycle here. People are violent. People fight in public transit, people fight in the street. I’m sure you could find instances of bicycle rage but it’s not reported on like road rage.
I’m convinced that something unique about being enclosed in a car makes it worse. The depersonalization of interacting with other objects instead of other people since you can’t really see the drivers inside all that well. The defensiveness that comes with the fact that a car is not only one of the most expensive things but also that the interior feels like an extension of your private space even though you’re in public. The feeling of power that comes from operating dangerous heavy machinery, and worry that others are doing so too but getting it wrong and endangering you, etc.
Maybe. I can see that playing a small part, but I still think it’s just people doing what they do best, being selfish assholes
Username checks out, LOL
L e l
I think if there were more cyclists that bike rage could be a thing too. You touched on it in your reply. It’s the endangerment. The threat to self and property.
Definitely with cars, the property and safety issues are magnified, so I think that all things being equal, if we magically had bikes as primary transport you’d still see road rage, but less than with cars.
Compare this community to the ban pitbulls community and tell me there’s a difference
That’s maybe one of the three factors I mentioned, and even then cyclist-cyclist collisions are much less common or severe than automobile-automobile ones. There’s a reason even the busiest bike path intersections don’t have fancy safety devices like traffic lights, after all: they don’t need them.
Well, let’s get rid of the cars and find out!
It’s the fact that people can be cowards in the privacy of their car. Think about all the road rage you see in grocery store aisles. Exactly.