When I was young I was a champion cyclist competing at a national level. I rode on average over 10,000 miles a year. I obeyed traffic laws and did my very best to not disrupt traffic. I carefully picked my routes to avoid busy streets as much as possible I never got hit by a car during this time period. The close calls that I had were all caused by cars and trucks intentionally trying to run me off the road. There were no cases when this happened because I was holding up traffic at all. They were just people like many of those who post here who hate cyclists for no good reason. Most were driving trucks or very large vehicles and they were just bullies.
20 years later my wife and I were regular tandem cyclist and again we picked our routes very carefully to avoid traffic as much as possible. We always obeyed traffic laws but the close calls started to become the result of bad drivers. We were hit and my wife was injured pretty badly by a lady over 80 who had just had her third cataract surgery and had other problems with her vision as well. She didn’t stop after she hit us and kept on going. Motorists who witnessed the mishap chased her down. She accused us of not wearing brightly colored clothing. We actually had on clothing that was so bright and colorful that I was embarrassed to wear them.
It was actually 25 years ago when we were hit. The situation around here these days has gotten so much worse with distracted drivers texting and fooling with their cell phones, and people smoking pot while they are driving... that you are basically taking your life in your hands cycling on nearly any public street. We prefer to ride on bicycle paths if possible, but they are now overrun with homeless camps.
We very rarely see young people riding where we drive these days. Nearly all are 50 or older. Yet we still have neighbors and friends who complain about cyclists. When asked about it none can give any credible explanations about where they had an alleged negative experience recently. It is just something to complain about. I assume this is because they are unhappy about all the other crap that is going on that political correctness keeps them from mentioning.
I was a very amateur road biker when I was in my 20s - so I don't hate cyclists. But around here there are plenty of young ones who act like they own the road. When you are trying to get somewhere and 15-20 guys in neon spandex are biking leisurely along blocking the entire lane (and sometimes the oncoming one as well), being verbally abusive to drivers and just generally being a pain, I understand why people get frustrated. They shouldn't take it out on random cyclists, that's clearly wrong -- but it is also wrong to ignore the traffic laws and endanger oneself and others, and be rude about it to boot.
See my other post. There's your specific personal experience. I could probably find the exact date because I have a copy of the police report somewhere.
At this point it's a chicken-and-egg situation - rude bikers make hostile drivers who make more rude bikers and the occasional homicidal driver.
Everyone. Needs. To. Stop. Including the bikers.