I read all of this with sadness. I live in a region popular with cyclists. The Valley Preferred Cycling Center (aka Lehigh Valley Velodrome) draws in cyclists from all over the world, and many local cycling clubs, as well as a large Mennonite community which uses bikes as transportation, mean that there are lots of riders on our roads.
I used to road ride a lot, and I raced on the track, too. A bunch of these racers held a training ride every Wednesday evening called “the derby.” After joining them two or three times, I stopped, due to most rides’ lack of respect for car drivers....flipping them off, running red lights, taking up the entire breadth of road. IMO, it didn’t do much good to earn the trust of an already semi-hostile-to-cyclists public.
While out on a ride with friends, we passed a pickup truck driver waiting at a stop sign. About a mile down the road, the same driver passed us then immediately slammed on his brakes in the middle of the road. I nearly ended up in the bed of his truck. He got out, screaming and cursing at us and told us to “get off the goddam road.” (This was on a road marked with signage as a “PA bike route.”) We got his plate number and called 911. He drove off, but long story short, he was charged with reckless driving and I ended up as a witness at his hearing.
The judge dropped the charges and went into a full rant to me about “those cyclists who run stop signs and wreak havoc.” This was especially infuriating when I deliberately stopped riding with a group (the derby) who was guilty of that. I resented being placed by that judge in that same group.
I no longer ride on the road, knowing now that the legal system doesn’t have my back. In the many years I did ride, I had soda cans thrown at me, a driver play chicken with me, slurs hurled at me....basically I saw the worst side of humanity. All this in a region filled with cyclists.
The car driving public will overlook an infraction by a driver, but not by a cyclist. Or, they will imagine an infraction by a cyclist. It boggles my mind that killing a cyclist while driving isn’t vehicular homicide. I now ride a fat bike on dirt roads, fields, and mountain bike trails. No cars.