Somewhere in Oz in the late 1950s. No photo credit.I tell people to ride their bikes like the vehicle it is by obeying the laws and taking their place in traffic. Their response is usually something along the lines of "I'm an experienced cyclist, and automobile drivers are mean to me. They honk at me, they crowd me off the road. It's too dangerous. I need my special space."
But my friends (and I) who ride in the way I describe seldom (if ever) have those experiences. Sure, we get honked at every now and then, but then so do the drivers of other vehicles. Life.
But for Bike To Work Month, I have a new suggestion. Drive your car on the streets the same way you ride your bike.
For me, that wouldn't be too different, but for the guy who recently complained "Dallas is bicycle-unfriendly because I got a ticket for running a stop sign at White Rock Lake" (true story), his trip to work "riding" his car the way he rides his bicycle might be something altogether different.
"Riding" your car the way you "drive" your bike, you could:
- Drive as close to the curb as possible,
- Stay out of the way of overtaking vehicles,
- Drive in the parking lane and on the shoulder of the roadway,
- Move in and out of traffic and parked cars,
- Make turns without signaling,
- Run stop signs and red lights if the intersection looks clear of on-coming traffic to you,
- Drive as if the laws that apply to other vehicles operators don't apply to you,
- Drive on the sidewalk at times, taking advantage of the ADA ramps at street crossings,
- Drive on the wrong side of the street when it suits you,
- Drive without lights at night.
So there's your dichotomy. Cyclists who drive their bicycles like vehicles have a far better (and safer) experience on the roadways than do people who ride their cars like their bicycles. You get what you ask for, but asking people to change their behavior is perhaps asking too much.
Especially when there is so much MagickPaint™ available.
11 comments:
I also imagine that the powers that be would be VERY displeased if I tried to take the Land Rover up the freight elevator and park it in my office! There ARE some limits to the analogy but the point is mostly valid when operating on public roads. ;-)
You need this.
Excellent summary, PM. All too apropos in light of tomorrow's celebrations/events.
Some VERY good points. It just drives me crazy to see a cyclist driving facing traffic.
...but...but all them bicyclists are out to KILL me! I have to drive my Hummer up on teh sidewalk to avoid those psychopaths! What I need is a special "Hummer Only" lane separated from all the other traffic. Then I'll be safe.
(...and I've had too much coffee today!)
Seriously, I think I'd look pretty silly towing that Land Rover behind my bike, and I imagine the powers that be would still not appreciate me parking it in my office due to the steady stream of gawkers who don't give my bike a second glance any more.
(...and I've had too much coffee today also!)
But I DID get a good chuckle out of the photo. Your main photo was not a clearly identifiable brand...
Of course, the roads are engineered for cars, not bikes. If they were engineered for bicycles exclusively and car drivers were told to fit in as they could but "follow the same laws," routine car driving behaviors would seem just as absurd.
I have no desire to rehash our debate on this thread. Anyone interested in understanding the context and stimulus for this irrelevant contribution is welcome to visit the original thread on which I engaged this misinformed, "journalist".
I will clarify the misconception that roads are engineered for motor vehicles to the exclusion of other classes. This is a profound lie and represents a basic lack of legal understanding.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the idea that all citizens of this nation have the right of free travel. [1] [2]. Nowhere, nowhere, NOWHERE does there exist any statute which even remotely suggests that "the roads are engineered for cars, not bikes." That suggestion is so grossly ignorant and untenable, it deserves no rebuttal other than to state that it is ignorant and untenable.
Operation of a bicycle upon the road enjoys the same right of access and responsibility for legal operation as does the operation of any motor vehicle. By its very existence, this statutory declaration proves that the roads are not only "engineered" for bicyclists as well as motorists, but also codified the requirement they be accommodated and respected for that access.
You describe yourself as "a former journalist turned opposition researcher/political consultant, public policy researcher and blogger." Your blatant misunderstanding of transportation law makes great progress toward self-impugning that claim. Even more ironic is your hubris in proclaiming yourself a criminal justice expert. How can the latter be the case, when you so grossly misunderstand transportation law? Laws, by the way, whose more serious violations are considered a criminal offense.
I find it disingenuous and petty that you found any justification in venting your frustration with my arguments against the claims made within a post on your 'blog, by coming over here and spewing ill-informed, patently erroneous lies. Did you really presume such obvious misinformation would go unchallenged?
I'm pretty sure I've seen all of those behaviors by motorists, and several of them I've seen just this morning: running red lights, running stop signs, driving on the sidewalk, and, of course, "Drive as if the laws that apply to other vehicles operators don't apply to you."
Cyclists hardly have a monopoly on traffic rule violations.
YK said...
"Cyclists hardly have a monopoly on traffic rule violations."
By no means. But it's not an excuse, and it's clearly a cause of unpleasant travel experiences.
Blogger Gritsforbreakfast said...
"Of course, the roads are engineered for cars, not bikes."
No, the roads are engineered for all legal vehicles. In Dallas over the last 25 years, the roads have been engineered specifically to accommodate bicycles. The design guides for pavement, drainage, drain grates, signal detectors, paint materials, and lane widths have all been changed to meet the needs of bicycles. That you may choose to ride in the gutter and escape these design benefits is your choice.
"If they were engineered for bicycles exclusively..."
But roads aren't engineered for the exclusive use of any vehicle type. That's simply the A) segregationist, and/or B) fear-based perspective.
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