Cycle Station boss Jacob Wolki also feels such jibes and the attitudes they foster among motorists are driving cyclists to stop road riding.

The meme put on Facebook by motoring fan page Refuel has US actor Robert Downey Jr holding his hands to his chest near a car and sighing in relief with the caption stating “when you thought you ran over an animal but it was just a Cyclist”.

Mr Wolki put it on his shop’s Facebook with a view.

“In a politically correct world where speech and labels are under constant revision it seems like Cyclists are one of the last categories that it's appropriate (mainstream?) to hate and consistently devalue!” he wrote.

“Careless jokes like these are contributing to the national slow down in road bike sales and use.”

Mr Wolki told The Border Mail he was frustrated that while “social justice warriors” showed empathy for vulnerable groups, that attitude didn’t extend to cyclists.

“You couldn’t get away with joking about killing any other minority group in the same way, but it’s okay with cyclists,” he said.

Mr Wolki said such sentiments were hurting sales.

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“Cyclists just say they feel unsafe on the road and they’re riding less,” he said.

“People who are commuting are stopping and recreational riders are gravitating to mountain bikes.”

Having visited 40 nations, Mr Wolki believes a particular mentality makes Australia different to elsewhere.

“The same people that are joking about finding it funny to kill cyclists are probably complaining about congestion on roads,” he said.