Welcome to Bike Month
May is national bike month, but what does that mean? It means ad campaigns and bike to work promotions and maybe, just maybe, decent weather. For me bike month means a lot of people send me links to stories about the car/rider disputes. Lesson? We all need to practice safe riding and driving. Only safe riding can help change the perception that cyclists are scofflaws and that drivers hate cyclists. Allow me to explain.
A Trek colleague sent me a link to an article in the Atlanta Constitution. The article was simply titled “Should Bikes Be Allowed on the Road?” I had a feeling before I read the comments that there would be some not-too-nice comments about bike riders. The term “blather” doesn’t come close to the 50+ comments that were posted, among them the usual old saws like:
- bike riders don’t follow the rules
- bike riders should stay off the road and on the sidewalk/bike path
- bike riders cause traffic to jam up
- And my personal favorite: “bikes cause cars to have to go around them on blind hills which is dangerous.”
It’s hard to listen to those complaints and not get upset however, good communication requires understanding. W hat I hear when I read the criticisms is fear, lack of understanding of the rules of the road, and uncertainty about how to work around bikes.
Example: Why would anyone in a car pass another car on a blind hill? They most likely would not, but for some reason some drivers feel it’s ok to pass a bike on a blind hill….and instead of using common sense they get angry at the bike for being there. I don’t know how to fix that one.
Then again why would a cyclist zoom past a line of cars in order to make a right turn and risk being hit by the car already in the turning process? I’ve seen this happen as I sit in my spot behind the cars in line to turn and watch a rider cruise past us to get to the front. This is just plain foolish on the rider’s part and earns the angst (rightfully so) of the drivers who see it.
Let me say that I firmly believe that cyclists are NOT innocent of rule breaking when it comes to riding in traffic. But neither are drivers. So all the shouting is getting us nowhere and why don’t we start talking a bit? If someone starts shouting at you, don’t shout back. Use words. Calm words. We need a little Steven Covey here: Seek to understand before you are understood, ok?
Can we cyclists police ourselves better? Can we be predictable and courteous? It doesn’t mean that drivers will return it but MOST of them will. That’s all we can hope for…most drivers are kind to bikes so let’s aim to be good citizens, on and off the bike, in and out of our autos.
Safe riding all. And if you haven’t joined your local or state bike advocacy group yet please do. We need more voices at the table listening and talking.
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gus Says:
As has been said, I find I get more respect when I use hand signals and stop for lights an stop signs. I know some people slow down because they don’t know what a right turn signal means, but they slow up. Red lights can be good for glaring at the redneck who just passed to closely. This works if, like me, one resembles a mass murderer. It goes without saying, but I will anyway, ride on the right and use lights and reflectors. I work 3rd shift and ride year round, if the road surface is safe.
Ginger Says:
It’s interesting to me how varied the response from drivers can be on one ride. Tonight, I had a car stop and wave me in front of them when I was doing a left turn and I also had a driver nearly take off my left arm as he passed too close and honked at me. What’s the honk supposed to mean? Get out of the way, get off the road, I’m coming around???
I try to find balance between doing what I have the right to do (ride on the road and obey rules like a car) and trying to be safe from the yahoo’s who don’t know that I have that right.