Y'know why I like cycling so much?
One good reason is that the inconsiderate behaviour from a minority of motorists doesn't impact a cyclist as much as it does other motorists. Yup, some antisocial driving behaviour can be dangerous to cyclists, but on the whole this is a fairly rare occurrence.
However, compare this to the sort of antisocial driving that we see a couple of times on every journey, the sort of thing that makes driving a misery for everyone else. So I'm not talking of dangerous behaviour here, I'm talking of selfish behaviour.
An example I encountered this morning as I drove out to Telford.* The approach to Junction 7 of the M6 from the south on the A34 is a dual carriageway. As most of the traffic on this road during rush hour is turning left, the inside lane is slow moving as people wait patiently to exit the A34 onto the M6 junction. Well, some people wait patiently. Other people, those far too important to wait their turn took to the outside lane and then arrogantly cut in at the front of the queue. This queue jumping didn't just affect those on the inside lane, while waiting for a gap to push into, the outside lane was also blocked, holding up those people heading straight on over the flyover towards Walsall.
As it goes, I hate these selfish people, I hope their cars burst into flames and it's not covered by insurance. I also hope that their genitals are destroyed in the inferno to prevent more selfish people being born into the world. But I digress . . .
The arrogant and the selfish have little impact on the cyclist. They can slip between the traffic and keep going. Perhaps that's why cycle commuters seem to be the happier, less stressed people in the office?
Keep Pedallin'
Gary.
November 2006
* Yes I drove. Not something I'm proud of and I won't be doing too much more of it in future.
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