Like others here, I blame the need for helmets in the US on our car-dominated culture, which I suppose may be due in part to the size of the country, overall, and the whole "manifest destiny/pioneer/road trip" complex.
In my cycling experience (fairly avid road biking, urban, suburban and rural, over about 10 years), I find that there is a subset of drivers who "aren't used to" cyclists being on the road, but there is also a large subset who are hostile to us. They misunderstand the law (I've had people yell, "That's what the sidewalk is for!"), they get aggressive and hostile if they feel I'm blocking their way, they speed up to pass me and then turn right immediately in front of me, etc. From what little travel I've done outside the US, I'd wager that particular aggressive, self-centered, "get out of my way because I'm in a hurry" thing is more common in the US than elsewhere.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-08 11:47 pm (UTC)In my cycling experience (fairly avid road biking, urban, suburban and rural, over about 10 years), I find that there is a subset of drivers who "aren't used to" cyclists being on the road, but there is also a large subset who are hostile to us. They misunderstand the law (I've had people yell, "That's what the sidewalk is for!"), they get aggressive and hostile if they feel I'm blocking their way, they speed up to pass me and then turn right immediately in front of me, etc. From what little travel I've done outside the US, I'd wager that particular aggressive, self-centered, "get out of my way because I'm in a hurry" thing is more common in the US than elsewhere.