filtherton

Just my opinion, but these aren't very reasonable reasons to not respect bicyclists.

First of all, if you are going to base your level of respect for an entire mode of transportation based on operator adherence to traffic laws, you wouldn't respect anyone.

It has been my personal experience that everyone, cyclists, drivers and pedestrians routinely violate traffic laws. And why wouldn't they? The important criteria is risk (consequences x probability of getting caught/injured)- it is generally no more risky for a cyclist to run a red light than it is for a pedestrian to jaywalk or for an automobile to exceed the posted speed limit by 5-15 mph.

These routine violations of traffic law only become an issue when they are done carelessly. Carelessness is a human attribute, it isn't the sole domain of the cyclist. I think that most people who attribute their disdain for cyclists to some sort of chaste notion traffic law conformity are full of shit.

Second, the act of basing your respect for individuals on general statistics is a symptom of a lazy mind. I mean, it's one thing to use statistical descriptions of how people behave to form public policy. It's another to use those same descriptions to preemptively dismiss people you've never even met.