This will come as a surprise to exactly no one who rides a bike, but there are some car drivers out there who don’t like cyclists. Like, really don’t like cyclists.

And when drivers don’t like us, they don’t respect us…or the laws designed to protect us, such as the ones dictating how much space drivers should give cyclists when overtaking them on the road.

That, in a nutshell, sums up the findings of two recent studies examining the attitudes of car drivers toward cyclists, and how those attitudes impact how they treat us out on the road. Both studies are from Australia, but cyclists from Down Under don’t have a monopoly on angry motorists.

The first study published in the Journal of Safety Research included an online survey of 3,769 drivers in Queensland, Australia, a year after the region passed its minimum distance passing (MPD) rule stating that motorists need to give cyclists 1.5 meters (nearly five feet) when overtaking them on the road.

Almost half of the motorists admitted to not complying with the rule. About a third of the drivers said they ignore the rule “almost always” or “most of the time.” They were slightly less likely to buzz cyclists on roads where the speed limit was higher: In speed zones of more than 60 kph (37 mph), 32 percent said they generally ignored the law; about 36 percent said they executed closer than 1.5-meter passes in slower speed zones.



Certain attitudes made drivers less likely to comply with the law, including finding it difficult to judge 1 to 1.5 meters when passing; not noticing other motorists giving riders more room, and feeling like having to give cyclists more room was just “annoying.”

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The second study, published in Accident Analysis & Prevention, sought to get to the root of motorists’ animosity toward cyclists, which also has been linked to aggressive driving behavior. This time, researchers conducted an online survey of 308 car drivers on their feelings about automobiles and cyclists, as well as how they directed their aggression toward cyclists when they were kitted out in Lycra or casually dressed.

Turns out, it doesn’t really matter if we’re viewed as Lycra-clad fitness warriors or casually-dressed commuters: Many drivers are simply car-centric, and don’t think anything but cars belong on the roads.

None of that is good (or, frankly, very surprising) news for people who prefer to take to the roads on two rather than four wheels. Researchers in both studies suggest that driver education and initiatives are in order to make the roads safer for cyclists.

“Strategies for helping drivers to judge passing distance and improve their understanding of the importance for cyclist safety of leaving an adequate distance are needed,” concluded Narelle Haworth, Ph.D., the lead author of the Journal of Safety Research study.

We’re not entirely sure what these initiatives look like or convinced they’ll prove very effective, because car-centric culture has been so deeply ingrained for so long.

But we are hopeful that as cities continue to fund and foster alternative forms of transportation, including changing their infrastructure to be more bike and pedestrian friendly, these car-centric ideologies will finally fade—and allow other users, like cyclists, to claim their rightful space.

Selene Yeager “The Fit Chick” Selene Yeager is a top-selling professional health and fitness writer who lives what she writes as a NASM certified personal trainer, USA Cycling certified coach, Pn1 certified nutrition coach, pro licensed off road racer, and All-American Ironman triathlete.

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