On 17 Oct 2004 08:41:52 -0700, (Silas Denyer)
wrote in message :

I think there will shortly be a significant backlash against cyclists,
from *all* sections of the community.

LOL! Been living in a hole the last few years, have you?

Bizarrely, I've lived and worked in a many "cyclist-friendly" places,
such as Oxford where the "reclaim the streets" lot actually managed to
get cars pretty much banned from the city centre (along with most of
the customers for local businesses, but, hey, the cycling's great
now...).

No shortage of people in the city centre businesses last time I was in
Oxford. And you are missing the point: the backlash is alive and well
and living in the Daily Mail, and has been all along.

But from your example above I would hazard a guess that you are both
pedestrian and motorist, and picking on cyclists because that is
easier than challenging your own behaviour.

Most people I know don't actually hate cyclists per se, and most of my
social circle are in fact cyclists and "career pedestrians" rather
than motorists. However I don't think I've ever seen such a complete
disregard for the law as I see now, hence my original post.

You should try cycling some time. Disregard for the law is abundant
among our motorised brethren too, with much more dangerous
consequences. Most on urc are in favour of compliance by all road
users. On the other hand, Michael Howard seems to think that traffic
offences are not worth pursuing at all.

The
not-so-recent EU proposal to make motorists responsible for all
accidents involving cyclists didn't help, of course,

And the fact that it also applied to accidents involving pedestrians,
who are at fault in about half of cases rather than the one in five or
less where cyclists are at fault, somehow never made it into the
papers. Funny, that.

A perfect example of the anti-cyclist bigotry already common in the
press, I'd say.

and I must admit
that the current tarring of motorists with the brush of "sinners"
isn't too helpful either,

In what way is it unhelpful? Have you never seen the transport
fatality statistics? Are you not aware that road traffic crashes are
responsible for half of all fatal child injuries? These are not
cyclists who are causing these deaths; we are victims of road danger
just as much as pedestrians are. That's why the leading cyclists'
organisation works closely with pedestrians' campaigning bodies.

but above I simply believe that good old
social conscience, disapproval, comment, personal and local
engagement, etc. are a terribly good way to get things to change for
the better.

And why not. It works a treat with motor law enforcement, doesn't it?
Look at the scorn poured on those stupid enough to be convicted of
speeding, and the huge support for traffic law enforcement in the
popular press.

Oh, wait...

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University