The burden of anger among antipodean cyclists: What situations contribute the most to cycling anger?

Despite the numerous benefits of cycling, participation in Australia and New Zealand is not increasing proportional to population growth. Anger among cyclists contributes to both unsafe behaviour on the road and reduced cycling participation. Although the Cycling Anger Scale (CAS) has been used to assess anger, it primarily focuses on interactions with other road users and overlooks other anger-provoking situations. The current study was designed to examine which situations contribute to cyclist anger and how much each situation contributes to overall anger while riding. Participants were cyclists who rode at least once a week in Australia ( n = 1383; M age = 52.7, SD = 12.7; men = 72%) and New Zealand ( n = 553; M age = 45.9, SD = 13.6; men = 57%). Participants completed an online survey, rating how often they encountered 47 anger-provoking situations and how angry they felt in each. A weighted “anger burden” score was calculated for each situation, combining the frequency and level of anger experienced for each situation. The results showed moderate levels of burden, ranging from 0 to 33% in the Australian sample and 0–40% in the New Zealand sample. The situations that contributed the most to cyclist anger in both countries involved danger or discourtesy from drivers and poor infrastructure, such as drivers failing to comply with the recommended passing distances (weighted burden 33% for Australia and 40% for New Zealand). In contrast, being fined by police for cycling behaviour or inappropriate equipment were rare and not anger provoking (near-zero weighted burden). The proportion of cycling done on different road types (residential, low-speed urban, high-speed urban, rural, shared paths, park pathways) was also recorded, and between-country differences are reported. These findings provide an evidence base for revising cycling anger scales to suit Australian and New Zealand cycling conditions. They also suggest that interventions to reduce the burden of anger for cyclists will likely require better separation from other road users, through dedicated cycling infrastructure.