Comment on Australia, why are you still obsessed with freeways – when they’re driving us away from net zero?
Ilandar@lemmy.today 5 weeks agoLast time I checked nobody in the office abused someone for riding or catching public transport to work.
It is common knowledge that many Australian motorists are overtly and irrationally hostile towards cyclists. So much so, that there is a running satirical joke in dashcam communities where people jokingly blame cyclists for accidents that didn’t even involve one. Anyone who rides regularly, or knows people who ride regularly, is aware of this hostility.
Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 5 weeks ago
Not saying you’re wrong, the driver road rage mentality is definitely a thing, especially when it comes to cyclists.
But i’ve been surprised at the difference the 1 metre separation, etc laws have made to drivers general behaviour to cyclists. I think it really set a tone for better behaviour.
Since those laws were introduced i’ve seen one aggressive driver to cyclists. So thats a cool bit of annecdotal progress.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 5 weeks ago
Geez, I think I’ve had at least one bus driver alone, per year since I started working professionally who tried to run me off the road. And that’s despite mostly working from home since COVID, and ignoring all the car and ute drivers.
The one metre rule has made a difference for sure, but only against the marginal idiots. No difference with the complete morons or the actively hostile.
Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 5 weeks ago
The bus driver bit is very surprising. Got some aggressive drivers out there in brisvegas hey?
But i’m not in the Perth city much, the roads are quieter where I am, pretty sure your inner suburbs brisbane so maybe theres a difference in that.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 5 weeks ago
It happened in a way that, if it were an extremely rare occurrence, I could easily put down to sheer ignorance, rather than aggressiveness. But it was just so common, and these are supposed to be professional drivers, so ignorance is a hard excuse to swallow. I’d be riding along and a bus would start overtaking me, and then mid-overtake would just suddenly pull into the kerb, forcing me to jump off my bike and onto the footpath to avoid getting crushed. I was only commuting along that particular road for about 2 years, but it probably happened 5 or 6 times on a single 400 m stretch of road.