Paul, You asked why so many Americans don't like bikes on the road. Dozens of folks have told you why.
Then you keep trying to tell these people that they haven't experienced the incidents that they have described to you.
I think you got plenty of answers to your question. Why don't you make it your mission to get the thousands of inconsiderate, self-centered bike riders to follow your rules of good riding manners? You obviously have all the answers and you can make the world a better place.
One of the problems many people mentioned was the bike riders' sense of arrogance. You yourself may have the best riding manners in the world, as you keep claiming to us, however you also seem to suffer from that common bike-rider malady: extreme arrogance.
You, yourself admit that riding in traffic is dangerous and an easy way to get killed. So dangerous, in fact, that you have added accidental death coverage to your life insurance and instructed your wife to sue if you are killed by an errant motorist.
Then when many Campfire members tell you that we don't like bikes on the road because we consider it too dangerous for them and us, you try to argue that it isn't.
Common sense says that if bikes on the road were not a problem then there wouldn't be very many complaints. Since there are so many complaints, common sense says that bikes on the roads must be a problem. Denying it doesn't change a thing.
Bicyclists on the roads don't present a danger at all to an alert motorist. As a bicyclist I use risk mitigation strategies that make bicycling about as safe as driving. I ride with respect to my own vulnerability and with respect to other road users.
Most of the complaints motorists have, based on my experience, are just so much idle whining. I have been driving about 50,000 miles a year for the past decade. From coast to coast on all manner of roadway. On my average commute to work I am held up more by discourteous motorists than I have been by all bicyclists combined over the whole of my life. Most honest people will tell you they have been held up by the actions of one stupid motorist in a single incident more than they have by all bicyclists over the whole of their lives. That's perspective for you.
It's a new world folks. Bicycles are here to stay. Get used to it.
