Adrian Barich: Why do cyclists on the road have the capacity to inflame some driver’s emotions?

I was driving down Perry Lakes Drive the other weekend. It was a beautiful Perth morning, and I was heading to City Beach for a swim.

It was pretty early, about 7am, and the weird thing was that despite the fact I wasn’t in a hurry and it was a Sunday, when I came upon a peloton of about 15-20 cyclists I still had to fight the urge to get a bit angry.

You see, for at least part of the trip — I’d estimate about a kilometre — I had to sit behind the men in lycra and drop my speed by at least 20km an hour. And to really rub salt into the wound, some of the cyclists were riding two abreast and a few of the cheeky buggers were even three bikes across.

And guess what? Even when we turned left into Oceanic Drive, they did not immediately revert to single file; they had the temerity to take up almost a whole lane. Fortunately, there was a second one and I was able to move past them and arrive probably only two minutes later than I could have had they not been on the road.

Of course, being at least a partially evolved human being, I checked my emotions during this entire ordeal, taking a deep breath and pondering why the whole situation had me feeling so unfavourably towards my fellow man.

Why do cyclists on the road have the capacity to inflame some people’s emotions? Why is there a seemingly unending battle between motorists and cyclists, as one-sided a contest as the old Cowboys and Indians in a Western movie?

Drivers tend to think they own the road and if cyclists do not pay them enough respect, they can often get very angry.

I’d also say riding through Welshpool early in the morning, for example, is fraught with danger and generally not recommended as the trucks and heavy vehicles fill the roads.

This is all leading me to some of the theories being floated in certain circles as to why there is this perpetual conflict . . . and apparently it’s because cyclists are seen as a minority that gets a free ride (so to speak).

According to one researcher, separating cars and bicycles into their own lanes perpetuates a form of historical domination that means drivers feel more entitled to the road even when there isn’t a bike lane. Some cycling activists have even likened the segregation to being a form of “infrastructural apartheid”.

Studies revealed that motorists and cyclists have distinct identities, involving both their sense of themselves and of the other group of road users. Even among cyclists, there was a widespread sense that cars are the “natural” vehicles of the road.

It all gets pretty complicated, so my suggestion is to just be kind to each other and keep some perspective. A shared code of conduct could even be worth a look.

I’ve also read about the “Idaho stop”, which permits cyclists in that US state to treat stop signs as give-way signs and roll through when the way is clear. Safety is the first concern, of course, but research has shown this small measure actually increases safety on the roads for both car drivers and cyclists.

But spare a thought for a cyclist I know who takes it upon himself to police the roads armed only with a camera on his helmet. He records any drivers who he considers to be breaking the law and sends the vision to Crime Stoppers (or so he reckons).

Maybe he’s exaggerating but the way he tells it, if he rides past you at a red light and you are in the driver’s seat checking your phone while you wait for the light to change, he’ll dob you in. He says he’s also caught people shaving, putting on make-up and even brushing their teeth while driving.

As my mum always says “no one likes snitches” but apparently this bloke has made a hobby out of it. Who knows, maybe he doesn’t really send his pictures to the police; perhaps he’s just trying to shame car drivers into obeying the road rules.

Clearly he’s brave, as I’m sure some car drivers wouldn’t take kindly to being filmed. But he says he’s saving lives and helping his fellow cyclists get justice on the road.

I don’t know what you think but I imagine some of you might consider him a bit misguided. Nice chap but that’s going a bit far etc.

But we need to also consider that he has apparently also provided plenty of evidence of people hooning or causing accidents.