I don’t think people notice good cycling – they only notice the bad cycling – confirmation bias + just following the crap they’re fed by the media and ignorant friends and colleagues.
Plus a group of cyclists sitting at a red light simply isn’t noticeable, it’s what you expect to see + they’re not moving…
People fail to notice bad driving partly because it’s the norm and essentially socially acceptable, and partly because they do it as well… people behave as badly as they think they can get away with generally.
It also doesn’t help that some people are simply thick. Like the ill-educated bloke who told me that ‘push-bikes are for the road’ as I had to brake to prevent myself from hitting him as he walked straight up a cycle path towards me this evening which he mistakenly thought was a footpath… no doubt he’ll be telling all and sundry about the law-breaking London cyclist 😯
The two things the cycling spokespeople are failing to get out there are:
1. The stats which prove that cyclists are NOT causing their own deaths and injuries – we need some serious myth-busting to counter the misinformation
2. The daily experience of persecution and harassment because some people driving can’t cope with ‘other’ people on the road
