Re:200k Flemish drivers can turn traffic lights green
by Mawr on Tuesday July 29, 2025 @07:30AM
(#44721929)
> Seems like the far more plausible reason is that drivers don't want to be held up by a cyclist traveling at 10mph in front of them?
Their reasoning is as follows:
see cyclist -> cyclist always slow -> must always overtake cyclist
Empirically, 99% of drivers act according to this simplistic model. They do not take the situation at hand into consideration at all, they simply always try to overtake cyclists.
The speed the cyclist is going at doesn't matter, the upcoming intersection/roundabout/traffic jam does not matter, the minimum legal (and safe!) distance from the cyclist while overtaking does not matter.
Their reasoning is as follows:
see cyclist -> cyclist always slow -> must always overtake cyclist
Empirically, 99% of drivers act according to this simplistic model. They do not take the situation at hand into consideration at all, they simply always try to overtake cyclists.
The speed the cyclist is going at doesn't matter, the upcoming intersection/roundabout/traffic jam does not matter, the minimum legal (and safe!) distance from the cyclist while overtaking does not matter.