Thu 23 Dec 2010
I don’t know if it has to do with living in suburbs or being on the outskirts of the City of Roses or what, but the drivers here are way too polite to cyclists on the road. I suppose I should thank the overly polite drivers out there when they wave me through an intersection even when they’ve been waiting for me to arrive.
I’m not sure if they’re expecting a neighborly wave when they do me such a service, but if we could all just stick to the driving laws and be a little more efficient out there, I would have a much better commute and hopefully commute for many years to come.
My new habit when arriving at an intersection with a stop sign is to make an exaggerated show of pulling my foot off the pedal and setting it down deliberately in the road, proceed to look both ways before even looking at the driver who was already there stopped at the intersection waiting for me to pull up, just so they can wave me on.
By the way, I don’t give that driver a friendly wave, and I hope they don’t complain about rude cyclists breaking the laws, because you, driver, are the one encouraging me to break laws.
You think I’m exaggerating? There have been several times during my commute, when I’m in the center section of a busy street and nowhere near a stop sign signaling to turn left, when oncoming traffic stops (remember there was no stop sign), so I can turn left in front of them.
Can I remind all drivers out there that I have to follow the same rules as any car? That means driving on the right-hand side of the road, signaling to turn, giving drivers already stopped at the intersection the right of way, stopping at stop signs, etc. There’s a difference between being bike-friendly and bike-patronizing.
That said, I’ll be the first to admit that there are many bicyclists out there giving cycling a bad name. I see them riding on the wrong side of the street, blowing through stop signs, ignoring red lights, riding without their helmets, or my favorite: riding with a helmet with straps dangling on the side. This is as helpful in a crash as a driver in a car with a seat belt around their shoulder but not clicked it.
That still doesn’t make it right, and I think you’ll notice that the majority of us cycling commuters out there are obeying the traffic signs and laws. Come to think of it, when was the last time you saw a commuter breaking one of those laws? I’m not talking about kids on their bmx bikes or random citizens riding a 20-year old steel 10-speed (remember when they only had 10?) down a sidewalk. No, I’m talking real cycling commuters with the black rain pants, yellow rain jacket, blinking lights on both the front and back, fenders, and even a pannier on the side with work clothes inside.
Do you know why we abide by the rules? It’s because we want to live. I put my life on the line every time I join the road with vehicles many times my size, mass, and velocity. My survival depends on the ability to know what cars are going to do, and when drivers don’t drive the way they are expected one of two things may happen: I might stop doing what I’m supposed to do and I might get run over.
If you really want to do me a favor, I have an idea: know your laws, and only give me the right of way if I actually have it.
