A cyclist's view of human nature

What with one thing and another, i've been thinking quite a bit about cycling this week, and about our sense of freedom and responsibility, our relationship with cars and with each other.

Most of the time, I love cycling around town - it's fast, fun, lets me do things that otherwise would take too long and I probably wouldn't get round to, gives me a shot of welcome fresh air and adrenaline just getting to work in the morning, saves money on fuel and parking, and is - generally - good for my health. And yep, it does give me a sense of freedom that I just don't get as a pedestrian, a bus rider or even a driver.

But the downsides aren't just the regular threat of being hit by a wheeled lethal weapon. The worst thing is being reminded almost daily just how depressingly unthinking, and sometimes aggressive, people can be. From wandering out in the road in front of speeding cyclists without looking, to flinging open car doors without looking, to texting and phoning behind the wheel, to aggressive overtaking, to cutting up cyclists on roundabouts, to yelling out of the window at cyclists, to just driving too close and too fast and generally without care and attention to others. A few times I've found myself cynically wondering if I shouldn't stop cycling, just so I can recover my faith in human nature.

Leaving the not-looking-before-crossing-the-road aside, I wonder if our whole personal and cultural attitude to cars isn't to blame. Sitting behind the wheel, we feel safe, free, invulnerable, untouchable. It's probably even reflected in law - for killing someone by careless or inconsiderate driving, the maximum sentence is 5 years in prison. Compare that to the maximum sentence of life for killing someone with any weapon other than a car. We just don't see cars as dangerous. And sitting behind the wheel, we also feel separate, apart, divorced from other people. It's a heady combination and maybe it makes us behave quite differently, as drivers, than we would outside a car. We care less about other people, and we're more blind to the risks and consequences of what we're doing.

Depressingly, that's not going to change. But how about this suggestion to try and make life nicer for cyclists: to pass their driving test, all drivers-to-be would also have to do some cycling , and be taught specifically about how to drive properly around cyclists. It would be a start...