Originally Posted by sggoodri

Many cyclists suffer from a social taboo against delaying motorists, even for a moment. They find this taboo more powerful than any inclination against violating the normal rules of the road. In some cases they find it more powerful than their own self interests of safety and convenience. They may not feel that the driver honking at them is about to hurt them, but they feel bad about their own use of the roadway rather than blaming the driver for being impatient and inappropriate.

Much of the breakdown of civil behavior on roadways can be explained in terms of frustration with the violation of social contract, real or imaginary. Much of the public believes that roadway users have a social contract responsibility to not slow down other users, and that controlling a travel lane with a bicycle violates this contract. Since our society believes that two wrongs make a right, the motorists retaliate by violating the social contract that requires safe and polite motoring. Finally, much of the cycling population responds to unsafe motoring by ignoring any other responsibilities they might have, such as riding on the right side of the roadway. They believe that the social contract has completely collapsed and that the rules of the road therefore have nothing to benefit them.

I believe it's possible to erode the taboo against slowing traffic by using low-speed vehicles in travel lanes, or at least stigmatize those people who would harass slow vehicle operators. As this problem declines, more of the cycling population may come to appreciate the benefits of the normal social contract of vehicular traffic rules.