Matthew's Journal

What car-drivers who shout at me about cycle paths are trying to achieve. This morning's was pretty typical. As he overtook (as part of a group, who had been delayed more by a learner making a hash of pulling off at the lights), he shouted "...fucking cycle path", and made some sort of gesture. The manner of these imprecations suggests that "there's a shared-use off-road cycle path here; this cyclist obviously doesn't know about it, so I'll let him know to speed his journey" is not the primary motivation - and in any case, at commuter o'clock, the cyclists are mostly regulars who will be well aware of the path in question. Do these drivers really think that they're going to persuade me by force of their argument that I'd be better off on the cycle-path?[2] I doubt it; similarly, they don't seem interested in stopping for a chat on the relative merits of cycling on the road or the shared-use path (the variation "what's wrong with the cycle path" seems largely rhetorical).

Which leaves me with the options that they're trying to intimidate the pesky cyclists off their roads, or just want to make the cyclists' morning miserable. Why does anyone think this is a reasonable way to behave?[1] Cyclists are vulnerable road-users, and overly-aggressive driving can be quite alarming.

Some mornings I'm moved to attempt a pithy response, although I've yet to find a good one. "On yer bike" is the currently-preferred one, as "roads are for bikes too" lacks punch. brrm suggests "fucking planet", and I have sometimes resorted to suggesting by gesture that the driver concerned enjoys their own company a little too much (usually only for drivers that have overtaken dangerously whilst hurling abuse).

[1] I'm aware of road-rage, yes.
[2] For the record, cycling on the road is entirely legal, and what patchy research there is suggests that shared-use paths are more hazardous for both cyclists and pedestrians than cycling on the road