Arguments between cyclists & other road users have not grown any less rancorous over the years.
Over one hundred & twenty one years ago, in April 1892, The Times published a lively exchange of accusation & complaint from all sides. It is not so very different today, despite the fact that the newspaper has taken up the cudgels on cyclists’ behalf.
At least motorists escaped opprobrium back then - the motor car barely existed, & certainly not under that name. But 'reckless riders of the iron horse' were, castigated for 'stealing past swiftly & silently' with no audible warning signal - an accusation which is incomprehensible to anyone who has ever heard a 'light locomotive' proceeding along the highway in modern times.
Horses & horsed vehicles are not permitted to race along our roads at break-neck sped; why should these daring, wheeled gentlemen of the road do so, unchecked by law or authority?Related post
… cyclists as a body are rather unfairly abused. We are generally depicted as a sort of fiends tearing along regardless of all traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, neglectful of our own safety, & seeking to destroy young children.
All … classes [of road user] are naturally unwilling to pay excessive attention to the convenience of any other class.
…cyclists not only have to avoid being run over by vehicles but also to avoid running over pedestrians, the latter seeming to go out of their way to afford cyclists facilities in that direction.
… to become a cyclist apparently transforms an ordinary middle class young man into an active member of an unruly mob … they come swirling along, shouting to each other, or openly making remarks upon any ladies whom they happen to pass
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