Wow. I'm willing to bet a decent percentage of people here were not expecting that.
I, and I'm
sure others here, would be fascinated to see the results of this, and also how you went about
developing the set of silhouettes you will use.
Here's my answers, with extra information thrown in based on my own idea of what might be
useful to you.
1) Why, on the occassions that you cycle, do you choose to cycle rather than use other forms of
transport?
I cycle to work pretty much every week day. It is faster than the bus and both cheaper and faster
than a taxi (since I have to locate one of those which can sometimes be very hard). I don't own a
car since I consider them much more of an encumberance than a benefit. Note that I could afford a
car if I chose. I suppose I'd have to get a driving licence too, but looking around the roads I
can't imagine that to be all that hard. If I did own my own car it would probably be slightly faster
than cycling (traffic is quite bad along any possible route I could take), it would certainly be
far, far more expensive. I often cycle in to the city centre for shopping purposes. If this involves
actual buying of stuff I'll sometimes use public transport since carrying heavy loads is awkward on
the bike. If the shopping is more along the lines of looking rather than buying, I'll cycle. I also
cycle around to visit relatives and such like. This is partly because it is more convenient for me,
but also partly because I want to get some excercise at the weekend, especially when it involves
being out in the sunshine on nice days like today.
2) How does cycling make you feel and in which situations?
Heh, well this is quite the vague question isn't it.
When I get up an hour before work it makes
me feel like I will get to work on time. Unlike when I used to use public transport (including taxi)
which made me feel like I had a 50% chance of being on time, 25% chance of being 5 - 15 minutes late
and 25% chance of being anything up to an hour late.
When I have close calls with motorised vehicles, or I'm deliberately (or through carelessness)
obstructed or otherwise abused it makes me feel angry. it also makes me feel that some people are
unable to show consideration for others, even to the extent of refraining from risking injury to
them, and the state should therefore force them through imposition of draconian penalties. For
example:- 'Dooring'
- Firebrigade called to remove said door with jaws of life 'Side street traffic pulling across cycle
lane _before_ checking if any real traffic is coming'
- Sledgehammer used to remodel right-front wing to resemble relief map of grand canyon. 'Passing
too close'
- Car has transponder added which causes all cyclists within range to sprout spnning blade (a la
Robot Wars) two feet out of right side. 'Usage of car horn combined with rapid passing maneuver to
signal displeasure at cyclist for delay'
- Car horn removed and surgically inserted in drivers rectum. Car horn to remain attached to car
battery and remote activator issued to all cyclists. 'Verbal abuse'
- Forcible insertion of a turnip in to mouth to be held in place with gaffer tape. Duration of
'turnipping' and rottenness of said turnip to depend on the quality and quantity of abuse.
'Physical threats or harrassment'
- Stripped naked, gravy spread over body, pepperami inserted in available orrifices and locked in
room with angry, starving rottweilers for amount of time dependant on severity of offence.
'Intentional usage of vehicle as a weapon causing actual injure to cyclist'
- Witness cubing of car (penis extension) followed by removal of actual penis. That is, the
traditional punishment, to wit 'cut their ghoulies off'. Penalty for female offenders being
worked on.
* in case you're wondering those are jokes. I do believe that current punishments are generally
pathetic though. Large fines, longer bans along with a _lot_ more permanent bans and a lot more
jail time for intentional injury. I'm sorry, 'I just meant to knock him off, not mangle him' just
doesn't cut it as an excuse with me.
3) How do you think the general public view cyclists?
I don't think they think about cyclists at all much to be honest. Bear in mind of course that most
of the general public would be motorists who don't happen to be in their car at the moment though
right? When people in work realise I cycle they either think I am crazy or seem to think that they'd
like to do that too. This reaction kind of depends on the current weather conditions. Some motorists
I've talked to consider cyclists to be a danger to themselves and others. They essentially think of
cyclists as the scum of the earth. They cite the stealth cyclist as a menace. I think the reasoning
is that they will be traumatised by the experience of mangling one if they hit one. I also think
that they feel they can't see even quite well lit cyclists without paying more attention and since
more attention equals more effort and perhaps slower speeds they don't want to. Additionally this
seems to be a bit of a pre-rationalisation in case they ever do hit a cyclist. I've seen people just
assume that any cyclist that gets hit was 'one of them guys with no lights all dressed in black,
impossible to see them'. They cite they they 'never obey the rules of the road'. The reasoning seems
to be that they don't consider it fair that cyclists seem to be able to skip red lights with
impunity while they can't (unless it's just gone red in which case it doesn't count). This boils
down to jealousy. While the contention that 'all cyclists' do this is clearly false, in the cases of
cyclists who do habitually break red lights I agree that they should be brought to book for it. They
cite that cyclist flit in and out of traffic and it's only a matter of time before they get hit. I
think this is once again jealousy and anger at the fact that (some) cyclists play the game of
navigating busy traffic better than they can.
4) Do think that cycylists look at other bicycles and judge it, and its owner, in the same way that
car drivers do?
I think that most drivers don't pay much attention to cyclists other than as vulnerable traffic that
needs attention while they are nearby (in good cases) to damned annoying obstructions that need to
be overtaken asap (in bad cases). Therefore I'm assuming you mean 'the same way that car drivers
judge other car/driver combinations'.
Maybe. Probably in fact. There is not as much easily identifiable variety of bike as their are cars.
If I am next to someone at the lights I probably won't notice what chain set they have for example.
I notice people on flashy road bikes and I do treat them differently. I assume that they will be
faster than me so I don't overtake them at lights or if they happen to be moving slowly for a
moment. I do tend to feel a bit superior if they turn out to be slower than me despite their €1000+
bike (that's a bad attribute of mine I suppose). I also am more annoyed if they commit flagrant
abuses of the highway code than if some old dear on a 50 year old beater does since I assume they
are more experienced road users and therefore know exactly what they are doing.
5) What do you think are the main issues surrounding bicycle use?
Most people here could write a book on this, and I just don't have time. The first one that springs
to mind is the general assumption that cyclists are 2nd class road users that really shouldn't be
there. Road Tax (yes I know it doesn't really exist etc.) payers assume they own the road. The
apparent disregard people can show for cyclists safety when they use their cars in a dangerous
manner. The lack of understanding of cycling shown by some people that are spending a ton of
taxpayers (ie: our) money on cycle facilities that are worse than nothing.
6) Anything I've missed out?
Probably. Almost certainly in fact, but nothing immediatly springs to mind.
Eric.
