Originally Posted by
bbbean
I love the "our drivers would kill you" posts that never seem to be supported by actual data. Granted, I've only ridden in 8 or 10 states on urban, suburban, and rural roads, and have only been doing so for decades and tens of thousands of miles, so you may be right. You may live in the one place inhabited by homicidal drivers who routinely run over people, animals, and objects in the middle of the road.
BB
What makes you think I haven't ridden tens (possibly 100s) of thousands of miles in several states? Spoiler alert--I have.
I have spoken to many people who have, as I have, ridden throughout much of the country, and there is a general consensus among them that NH drivers are uniquely hostile to cyclists at a very high level. I grew up in the midwest, I've done extensive riding in California, I did a lot of riding in the New Orleans area, I've ridden quite a bit in Massachusetts and Maine, and there's just no comparison. I was quite shocked by it when I started riding in NH in the early 2000s. A NH driver might very well have deliberately gone into the opposite lane before the car in the opposite lane had cleared him just out of spite. I've come very close to getting hit by the oncoming car in just that situation a couple of times. The oncoming car gets forced into doing the reverse lane switch, it's a game of chicken.
But yeah, tell me to believe you before I believe my lying eyes.
People ride in NH ride with this knowledge and adapt their strategies accordingly. Exactly what "data" do you think would "prove" that?
The best data I have about this is I NEVER see a rider in NH taking that position in the lane except when they're getting ready for a left hand turn. When I have to take the lane to do things like left turns, I have had people deliberately speed up to try to force me out of the lane, had stuff thrown at me, been screamed at and I basically don't even notice the random honking anymore.
And not for nothing, but there aren't a lot of straight lines on comparable NH roads. You'd be relying on the drivers' abilities to slow down when they round the curve and see you for the first time.
Oh, BTW, NH also has a remarkable amount of road kill.