Matthew's Journal

I deplore illegal cycling (and will shout at cyclists jumping red lights, for example), but comments of this form in this context seem to me to be edging close to victim blaming. I'm sure you don't mean to imply that the bad behaviour of some cyclists means drivers are less culpable when the intimidate, injure, or kill cyclists; but comments complaining of the bad behaviour of cyclists in response to an article complaining of the ill-treatment of cyclists by drivers (who are a dominant, better-armed majority) feel like they're trying to divert responsibility away from drivers.

To extend this argument, if a pedestrian complained about cyclists nearly running them down on the pavement, or not stopping for them at zebra crossings, I would think it out of order for a cyclist to go on about how some pedestrians meander all over footways, step out into the road without looking, and so on.