Ahhh, urban biking in America...

On the ride home a guy merges into me (into a bike/bus-only restricted lane no less), nearly forcing me off the road. I slap his rear passenger to let him know I'm there. It works. He slams on his brakes and gets out of his car yelling at me:

"You hit my car, why'd you hit my car!"

so I told him. "You were merging into me."

And he sputters, staring in disbelief.

I love how drivers tend to get flustered and confused when a biker confronts them calmly and directly with their illegal driving. He's simply standing there staring at me, blocking traffic because he can't believe that I think I'm entitled to be treated as another vehicle in traffic, as I'm considered under law.

I love even more how drivers get really mad when they realize they're in the wrong and that I'm not about to be intimidated. After a few seconds of sputtering he starts backing towards his car and threatening "Oh, I'll merge into you!" several times, which I find hilarious since he already has. Apparently my levity showed because he got even madder, shouting "why are you smiling!?! I'll knock you off that bike!"

At this I laughed. For him to threaten violence when I was simply sitting calmly waiting for him to get back in his car just made no sense. My laugh set off a bunch of onlooking pedestrians, who I hadn't noticed until now. They cheered for me and mocked the guy back into his car. As we both pulled back into traffic the onlookers shouted and jeered, and I was repeatedly urged to "slap his car again."

The whole event seems surreal to me. I was mildly entertained at the time, but clearly felt nowhere near the passion of the guy in the car. I try to drive more safely (and legally) than other bikers around town: for the most part I won't weave through traffic, I stop at lights and stop signs, and if there's no bike lane I take a lane just like a car, waiting behind stopped cars just as I'm supposed to.

In West Philly I only rarely was met with outright hostility, but in Center City it seems roughly half the drivers think cycling should be a crime. I even get honked at when I stop at stop signs! I'm truly mystified. My bike is zero-emissions, near-zero impact on the roads, safer than cars, motorbikes, or even mass transit are for pedestrians, and frankly it's less of an eye-sore than most of the big American cars that honk at me.

I've spoken to both bicyclists and motorcyclists, and though the motorcyclists often feel as though cars disregard their rights and safety, they never encounter the same sort of vitriol. Can someone please explain why on earth the driver today, and motorists in general, have such contempt for bikes on the road? < /confounded rant>