Study Finds Cyclists Are Better People Than Drivers | Jalopnik
The results show drivers are less interested in the common good than cyclists.
I've always argued this wasn't the case and that motoring is a worse transport mode because of the associated externalities, not because of anything inherent to the users.
But you can't argue with the scienceTM!
This will turn into a car versus bikers thread unfortunately. But from my experience, commuting by bicycle has been one of the best decisions I've made.
I started out in the suburbs, commuting by car 50 minutes each way. Over the years I kept moving closer and closer to the city and my job...which is pretty much the opposite of what Americans tend to do. Eventually I ditched the car commute for public transit, and finally ditched public transit for a bike.
Being in a car sucks. You are isolated, stuck in a behemoth monster of a machine in a sea of other machines. Your isolation makes you feel anonymous, and anonymity gives you the freedom to seethe and yell at other drivers who dare to go slower than you, faster than you, or God forbid, try to get in front of you.
On a bike you are out in the open, feeling the weather and the wind and the change of seasons and daylight. You interact with people way more, and on much friendlier terms...after all, you're no longer protected behind your locked metal box. You actually have to act like a normal, decent human.
Now yes, there are the Lycra ads-on-butts boys that pretend they're in a race, but jerks abound everywhere in every activity.
Lycra ads-on-butts people are the BMW of bikers.
i have never heard sports cyclists be complained about here in sweden, so this seems to be a country-specific problem and probably is to do with the culture of drivers, as it's also perfectly normal to see rural people out with their babies in strollers on the roads.
These are some of the reasons I prefer my motorcycle.
Yes, even the “interact with others” part. Motorcyclists have an unwritten code that we acknowledge each other on the road. It’s surprisingly friendly.
I commute 14 miles one way. Spandex saves a lot of energy. Plus safer because you're faster. Faster means less cars pass you per minute. The number of cars passing you is important because the odds of getting rear ended by a distracted driver is proportional to the number of cars we are exposed to. The effect is greatest if you can make a yellow light. For context I commute in Phoenix on 45mph roads. It's also much safer in crosswinds because you swerve less. You can buy used cycling clothing for $25 on eBay. The first mistake I made was to buy regular cycling gear. I should have invested in triathlon year which is much easier to walk in.
I mean, really the problem is people that exclusively drive.
Fixed headline:
Study Finds People Who Drive and Cycle Are Better People than Those Who Exclusively Drive
Some people don't drive at all. And some never have.
I always felt it but now I know it. I just am a better person than all these drivers.
Driving turns mild mannered people into raging assholes.
Lmao at the number of downvotes on this one
I mean, just ask any cyclist for directions to a nearby place. Generally if they know they will be willing to help you out with it.
People in cars are too busy, scared, frustrated, unaware of the areas they drive through outside the main road/whatever that they're in my experience less willing to stop and help others out.
Lol... "Study shows what we want it to show"
It's a comparison between drivers and riders using four cherry picked criteria that would most likely generate the predetermined narrative. It's science for hire.
Drivers run the gamut from tree huggy beetle driver to Ford f950 with the extra black smoke package and factory standard swastika paint job, and cyclists, while on a narrower scale (you'll never see mr super smoker on a Schwinn...), still have a similar scale and can absolutely be assholes.
The dissociation part is accurate, but it's not a matter of vehicle type or size, because commercial drivers are commonly on the same end of the awareness scale as motorcyclists. It's not about personality, it's about risk.
So you didn't bother to read the paper, didn't you.
using four cherry picked criteria
There's a lengthy part of that paper discussing their criteria, with references to other studies.
Ford f950 with the extra black smoke package and factory standard swastika paint job
Which doesn't even remotely exist in Germany, where this study was done. Which, you know, you could have known if you'd actually read the study...
It's science for hire.
"This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors."
https://www.fernuni-hagen.de/universitaet/stimmen/schuster.shtml
The lead authours stated personal goal is to increase proportion of bicycle use from 8% to 25%.
While it might not be "science for hire", the authours have a pre-existing and documented goal.
I'm not saying the results are wrong... Only that you maybe shouldn't be so quick to shit on the guy who raised his eyebrow... Because it's an extremely valid question to ask, given the facts about the relationship between the authours of the study and the clearly personal relationship they have to the subject matter.
They, in essence, did a study that "confirmed" that they themselves are better people than 92% of the population.
So I’m not the person you replied to. I also admit upfront that I didn’t read the article because I don’t want to. Everything I’m about to say is purely my opinion, and based off of your comment. So, take it for what it’s worth which is literally nothing.
I have scanned a bunch of these comments. You are the first person to mention that the study was done in Germany that I’ve seen. Now, I’m not saying you’re wrong. What I am saying is that it seems like there is a good possibility that this is a cultural thing, and an inconclusive study at best.
Now, like I said, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m simply pointing out that it’s weird that a study used a very specific subset of cyclists and didn’t tell us that in the title, but also probably isn’t representative of the cycling community at large.
It would be like if I posted a headline that said 99% of the people that died of heart related issues are black. So you read my article and find out I did the study in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
So, even if the science is correct. It seems like information that isn’t very relevant outside of the small area where it was conducted. I guess it would depend on where the other studies that they linked to were done. Which I really don’t want to read unless I have to.
This was just an observation based on your comment, and I’m a bored internet stranger taking a poop.
Obvious bad journalism. "Study shows XYZ are bad people" is never not gonna be a clickbait headline since scientific studies would never claim to show something so subjective.
you'll never see mr super smoker on a Schwinn
😂 This made me laugh out loud
Further thoughts: This reminded me of something I read a while back about assuming that people who have one virtue also have all the others. Like, why should we assume that someone who is (e.g.) honest is also generous?
I think that has some applications here. Okay, so cyclists are, it seems, more community-minded. Does that mean they possess all the other virtues? Are cyclists also less likely to steal or to cheat on their partners? We don't know and this study doesn't tell us.
Like, why should we assume that someone who is (e.g.) honest is also generous?
We should not.
Source: am honest, but not particularly generous.
Agreed. I'm generous but not honest.
I may work overtime, but I'm definitely taking things from the storeroom on steal from work day.
According to the study I read, we in the developed world generally do, but in the less industrialised world, people generally don't. Which was itself really interesting!
It's true. The amount of fragile, impotent people I encounter on my daily commute is astounding. There's really no point in wasting space on private cars inside a city.
@frankPodmore the facts are in! Drivers are big mad!
Good thing they cycle then
What if you’re a cyclist that drives?
I bet they cancel out.
I don't know, the people riding bicycles over the 3 foot wide sidewalk on the bridge (which has a bike lane going each way) in my city come across as selfish assholes.
They probably are. That said, it's always a good idea to ask the question: "why would people use the worse alternative?"
WDYM?