This was a Critical Mass event, which is why the bicyclists are taking up all of the street as a way to reclaim the streets and protest the lack of safety for riders under usual conditions. It’s not legal, but protests are never useful if they’re fully legal now, are they.
That seems somewhat foolish - a driver delayed by such an event is liable to be angry and complain rather than feel that surrender is necessary.
If other posts in this thread are correct (let’s walk out on that limb), and politicians try to meet the demand of drivers over cyclists, then this is more likely to lead to stricter laws against cyclists as a result of drivers issuing (very justified in this case) complaints.
An effective protest wins both sympathy and ire, and leads to more voices calling out for your cause - this one just inspires ire. It doesn’t unequivocally paint the picture “vote for cycle infrastructure or else”, it more emphatically implies “too many cyclists will add to my commute, just look how bad it is now, we need less of them, so I will now vote against anything for cyclists”.
Just to point out, for the record, I’m in the third camp - pedestrians. I’ve seen drivers dangerously overtake, I’ve seen cyclists randomly pull out forcing emergency stops, and I’ve seen both put pedestrians at risk with self righteous indifference. My take home from the post is “more legislation is needed for cyclists using the road inappropriately”, not “we need more cycle lanes” and definitely not “we need more shared space sidewalks”.
Well, that was a mass of criticism for a critical mass; one wonders if the critical masses will mass against this criticism or perhaps such masses will critically reflect instead and engage in mass critical thinking!
Wow, you really like your wordplay, huh.
Whenever something makes the news or the rounds on social media, this is your opportunity to advocate to other people for the correct “thing,” whatever that is. … Which you are presently not doing.
“But is that why they’re blocking the road?” Yes. Yes it is.
Oh, the driver’s feelings were hurt by a slight delay?
Fine. Here’s a better solution. Molotov cocktails. Any driver that pulls this shit gets their car torched.
It does not only inspire ire like you think. I’ve been at these rides, and I’ve seen people waving at us from their doors and windows, I’ve seen random people join in, and I’ve even seen some (cool) drivers stop and just vibe along with the parade.
Some drivers don’t like it, but the beauty of critical mass is how 1. Cyclists feel safer when there’s a critical mass of them, and 2. In this event, drivers see that they’re in the minority, which is a perspective change for any onlooker and for some of the more agreeable drivers as well.
At most of these rides, some cyclists can be rude (and it’s annoying af but understandable) but I think the majority are trying to just show what a good time we’re all having and respect the laws of traffic and other road users, to the extent that while we have the right of way to continue through red lights once the lead group has entered the intersection, we try to keep people riding on the right side of the road.