Jakes Dad said:
Maybe it's a jealousy thing ? that someone can go faster across the city on a £200 bike than they can in their £££'s cars ?
A lot of people get very emotional while driving. Largely I think it's because they're sitting there, going nowhere, achieving nothing, late for wherever they're going, in a vehicle that even when stopped still requires some attention; theres all this adrenaline sitting around in their system going slowly off. So they're tense, they're frustrated. But they do, to a great extent, take some solace from the fact that they're all in the same boat; the guy in front is inching along slowly, the guy behind, the guy in the other lane...
Now, a cyclist comes along, and legally (and reasonably) makes progress. The cyclist is seen as a non-contributor, and once the bike is ahead it'll be in a position to make things even worse for the motorist (who wrongly believes that he'll end up held up even more, if such is even possible). As such the cyclist is almost seen as fair game, they're a different species, a different category, and to the befuddled brain of the adrenaline addled, over stressed motorist this kind of behaviour seems entirely fair enough.
So its a sad mix of stress, stereotyping, and just plain bad logic that leads a small minority of motorists to act in such a way. They're not representative of motoring as a whole, but its sad that many motorists would let this kind of behaviour pass. Its great to hear of someone not letting this kind of thing lie, and standing up to do the right thing.
