Some of the most assertive cycling lane-takers I have witnessed were elderly ladies. Might be because they are old enough to have first hand experience with traffic not yet completely dominated by cars. Even after nominal mass motorization (median household has a car), it took a few decades to displace other modes of road usage to the point were drivers routinely assume that there can be no other vehicles on a regular road, effectively declaring public roads to limited access motorways by negligent threat.