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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 23, 2014 at 9:41am

While I agree this is a factor, smart people still do evil selfish things and put other people at risk knowing full well it is putting them in danger.  They just don't care.

And there are also people in the stupid category that genuinely don't realize just how much danger they are putting people into when they do the stupid things they do behind the wheel.  

But I can't chalk it all up to stupidity.  There are some genuinely horrible people out there behind the wheel of killer automobiles who are completely aware of what they are doing and couldn't give two shakes about the safety of others on the road, especially cyclists. 

Anne Alt said:

It's not the heat, it's the stupidity. ;)

rwein5 said:

globalguy said:

I've been noticing an uptick in "Drivers Behaving Badly" as well. What's going on?

Summer.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 24, 2014 at 1:20am

I totally agree with you Jeff.   A lot of people have almost zero situational awareness outside of about 10-20 feet in front of them and have blinders on with regards to the sides or what is going on behind them.   It's partly due to not having any empathy or mirror neurons in their brains that help them understand (or even care) about what is happening with others around them or how their own actions are effecting other people.  

It's all about ME ME ME.  This also applies to those people who will pull out into moving traffic and EXPECT others to just slam on the brakes to make a hole for them rather than waiting a little while for a natural hole to appear in the stream.  I've noticed that this type of behavior has gotten worse since I started driving in the 70's year by year and decade by decade.   And I really noticed it when I moved to FIBland Chicago from Wisconsin.  

This city is really horrible with regards to entitled auto drivers who want to speed and cut through and around other traffic.   The type of aggressive driving in the city is an order of magnitude worse than it is just outside of town in the burbs.  

The sad part is that it is not limited to motorists.  I see the same type of entitled behavior in bicyclists. Many cyclists treat peds on the MUPs the same way that auto drivers treat bicyclists and peds on the roads. They even treat other cyclists this same way.  Look at all the shoalers at every stop light on heavily-traveled bike routes.  Milwaukee street is a good place to see this behavior every day.   They just don't give a crap about anyone else on the roadway or the "ripples in the pond" that their irresponsible actions cause on the streets among other road-users.

It's just an entitled me me me mindset of a lot of people today. 

Jeff Schneider said:

There are people who have situational awareness, and those who do not.

A valuable lesson I learned in defensive driving class 30 years ago was to consider the needs and wants of everyone else on the road.  That is, be thinking of the obstacles facing the other drivers, and give them space to make the maneuvers they need/want to make (changing lanes, etc.).

On the LFT, that means not crowding anyone or boxing them in.  Don't pass a cyclist while they are passing someone else, for example.  They might need more room if the people, kids, dogs they are passing make some unexpected moves!

The idea is so simple, yet so few people have internalized it.  Have you ever seen someone step off of an escalator and just stop, leaving everyone behind with nowhere to go?  I'm betting that person is a lousy driver/cyclist.

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