"This is so dangerous!", laments the woman driving directly into a Critical Mass bike ride

This is how cyclists feel when they are surrounded by cars on busy roads because the cycling infrastructure is shit.

Except, cyclists can't kill people in cars with their bike.

So, lady, imagine our frustration.

Edit: spelling 🤦‍♂️

Car brains are incapable of realizing that they're the deadly threat.

Idk about the usa but here in europe its EXPLICITLY written into the drivers code that even if someone is driving illegaly if its in your power to stop an accident you have to. So if a person steps in front of you randomly and you have half a second to react thats usually not your fault BUT if you for example saw that there was a school bus dropping kids off and then you hit a child running across the road theres a large chance that theyre gonna charge you. Of course in europe you have to put like 30 hours into theory and then a lot of driving lessons to get a license while in the usa you basically get a drivers license instantly and nobody gives a fuck so thats why people dont know the rules...

"Everyone except me is crazy."

Whenever I've been on a Critical Mass ride, we've always had designated "corkers", people whose job it was to block traffic with blockading/dancing/whatever while the others continued onward. Without people doing that, you run the risk of this sort of carbrained nonsense.

"Dangerous to drivers"

Because you're going to give yourself an aneurysm over a minor inconvenience? You're in a giant suit of armor. You could hit every single one of those cyclists without sustaining even a scratch.

If the cyclists were actually dangerous to drivers, do you think the diver would be accelerating aggressively towards them?

She definitely should have either stopped or gone a different route, but it is incredibly dangerous to cycle head onto incoming motor traffic. Not really a great look for the cyclists.

Better off staying in the correct lane but hogging it so vehicles had no choice but to stay behind.

Confused Portlander here. Why are these bikers fully clothed?

lots of people in this thread that don't understand how protests work.

While she is clearly a dumbass for not just parking and waiting, why is the bike ride taking up all of the lanes in both directions? Was the street blocked off and this lady ignored it?

Why was there an oncoming car in her lane?

This really needs context.

I agree that more bike lanes are needed and also cyclists need to be treated with the respect any life demands.

But flipping off a driver or generally blaming people who drive is fighting the wrong fight. I drive a car, I also cycle, being in a car doesn't make me anti-bike.

Fight the government - flip off the government - that is refusing to put in safe infrastructure for the bikes (with protests like this, of course. But don't flip off the driver, at best it does nothing, at worst it widens the gap between both groups and makes it easier to dehumanize and villianize the cyclists).

Idiots in cars, idiots on bikes. Hell yeah I'm pro bikes but setting a wheel on incoming lane? Yeaah.. no thanks, I'm fine

Imo it looks remarkably safe as long as we ignore the person in the car driving into oncoming traffic.

ITT: confounded folks who live in areas where Critical Mass events don't take place.

Protesting the lack of safety for riders by being unsafe riders? I don't think the best way to convince the public that cyclists can be safely integrated into traffic is to purposefully create dangerous situations.

Sure, fuck cars and all that, but jesus that is a stupid way to protest. Being very squishy and in low visibility (because it's night), riding slowly while blocking all lanes. Sure, I support their cause, they probably DO need better bicycle infrastructure, but ffs, don't put your fucking life on the line like this. All it takes is 1 lunatic who roadrages, and you're dead.

And recording while driving...

I'm all for bike activism and fuck cars. But what they're doing is illegal and the driver likely had no idea what's happening. If they weren't riding the wrong way, then everything would have been perfectly legal (at least here in Germany). As long as the cyclists form a mass, they're considered one long vehicle and can even pass red lights that way, as long as the first person did so with a green light. But riding on the wrong side of the road and expecting everyone to know what is going on is kind of a dick move and just brings more hate on cyclists.

It doesn't matter if a protest is legal. The word you're looking for is "non violent"

Honestly, this was fine. She went through slowly and she's understandably annoyed. She doesn't her car being hit.

This is a CM?

I have never been to a CM with oncoming lane blocked (or in this case - not really blocked).

Also where are the corkers?

How about they take this up with the officials who can actually make a difference in bike safety and quit making life worse for people who just want to get home?

Go bike around City Hall if you want to "raise awareness." All you're doing here is pissing people off.

This looks like Miami. If it is.. critical mass usually has a police force in the loop they do usually to stop people driving right through the crowd. The loop is posted online about a week before and there is always police presence

As a Bicycle commuter... there's plenty of "Am I the Asshole?" that needs to go around here.

I understand the cyclists are treating this as a protest, but unless the road is closed, get the hell out of the oncoming lane. You're not doing anything here other than confirming the drivers bias that you're the problem.

As for the driver, just fucking STOP until they pass. Is the risk of you hitting someone worth the few minutes that pulling over out of the way costs you? The driver's pissing and moaning on the video is some self-entitled bull shit.

Where I live, critical mass is legal. Bikes can go on the street and we have a law that allows multiple vehicles that move as one to be treated like one vehicle.

Dows it work tho, im a simple man, anything inconveninces me directly and im against them, have had multiple hotels in the last two years where they protested with bullhorns and sirens loudly from 2am to 8am every night, they ruined my sleep and expect me to support them? Im not able to get a refund or swap hotels, in the future im still not planning ahead and getting the first available decent hotel near the location close to the time of the event. It happened multiple times at different locations/cities, not recording them or helping their cause when they actively ruined the 3 vacations I have a year by not letting me sleep.

I don't like cars, but this is fucking bonkers. Trapping people in place isn't 'protesting', it's being a twat.

All the people claiming that this is a legitimate protest surely understand that the car driver was only 'counterprotesting', right?

A critical mass to be massively critical of the critical masses. I'm certain folks who see or hear of such protests are going to become very sympathetic to the cyclist cause. Am I doing the mass criticism thing right?

It's a nice way to blow off steam and feel important, but I suspect it polarises against rather than towards the desired cause. Shame really since it looks fun!

I obey the traffic laws. I'm apparently one of the only people in my town that has read them. I like riding my bike. I like my town. People Hollar at me from their cars. I get called "fag" every second day. For taking a bike ride.

She sure is.

For all of the unequivocally civic commenters on this thread, ask yourself this: would you be defending someone driving through a protest if the protesters weren't on bikes?

Meanwhile, in Germany: §1 StVO

I mean Ive been a part of many of these in Orlando and the point was to never cross into incoming traffic. So she sort of has a point. That is super dangerous. The idea isn't to give people who hate cyclist more fuel to hate cyclist. Have respect for all types of traffic.