As detail, I live in one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world. Lots of infrastructure, markings and signals set up to favor cyclists, and so on. Before moving here, I would have thought that that would lead to an excellent and safe environment for all.
It's not. Bicyclists regularly terrorize pedestrians on sidewalks, even when there are excellent purpose-built bike paths mere meters away. At intersections, they regularly flip back and forth between being "like bicycles" and "like pedestrians", making them dangerously unpredictable. They pound on cars when they feel they should have the right of way (they don't). Even when they are in the bike lane, a quarter of the time they're riding against the flow of traffic. No lights, no reflectors, dressed in black at night. The most bicycle-sympathetic drivers struggle to avoid hitting these knuckleheads.
Or that they're a jerk? Can I drive my car on the sidewalk if the road isn't meeting my needs? It's exactly this self centric view that makes so many people not like cyclists.
> Or that they're a jerk? Can I drive my car on the sidewalk if the road isn't meeting my needs? It's exactly this self centric view that makes so many people not like cyclists.
Yes self centric view that staying alive is preferable to being dead. If only they were more altruistic and gave their lives, more people would like them. But no, their selfish desire to stay alive yet again destroyed everything.
That's exactly what is happening, though. See [0] for example, many drivers treat cycle lanes as a parking zone. And cars driving down dedicated bike lanes because they feel like it aren't exactly hard to find either.[1]
Your second link is not an example of purposeful bad driving. It's an example of terrible design. And more generally, a demonstration of how well-intended bicycle infrastructure can actually make things _more_ dangerous for bicyclists.
I've ridden thousands of miles, and the only bit of infrastructure that ever helped was wide shoulders, preferably with a bright white line demarcating.
It's not. Bicyclists regularly terrorize pedestrians on sidewalks, even when there are excellent purpose-built bike paths mere meters away. At intersections, they regularly flip back and forth between being "like bicycles" and "like pedestrians", making them dangerously unpredictable. They pound on cars when they feel they should have the right of way (they don't). Even when they are in the bike lane, a quarter of the time they're riding against the flow of traffic. No lights, no reflectors, dressed in black at night. The most bicycle-sympathetic drivers struggle to avoid hitting these knuckleheads.
It's a sad situation.