Thread by @Pflax1

One thing that always mystifies me. I drive an SUV almost every day and no one every tries to hold me responsible for all the weird shit done by other folks who drive SUVS. But as a bike rider, I'm constantly being asked to condemn or answer for naughty riders.

Seriously: Why?

I see this every day from people who say they ride. As if it's our job to call out our own if we want a seat at the table. Nearly everything about this point of view is a fallacy.

I'm not saying riders should get a pass for doing dumb-ass or dangerous things, especially around pedestrians. I'm saying linking that to the conversation around hating riders or improving infrastructure or updating laws is a bad-faith or misguided effort 102% of the time.

Imagine if there was a debate about a mall parking lot or a new road and someone said we shouldn't do it because drivers speed and play with phones. Imagine if a driver said we don't deserve free parking because I've seen folks turn left after the light turned red. Absurd, right?

This hardly is news to regular riders, but if I ride in a residential neighborhood and follow every rule to the letter, I actually piss more drivers off. They are mad if I roll slowly through a stop sign but even madder if I come to a stop when they're behind me.

If you're curious why this is on my mind. I had thought about starting a NextDoor thread listing the 3 most unnecessarily dangerous places to ride in my town. But I'm going to pass—I know I'd get ratio'd by folks ranting about naughty, entitled riders blowing through stop signs.