it would be a lot cheaper to get along
May 16th, 2008 | Published in general | 4 Comments
The EPA of all people is asking, “Why are you or aren’t you biking to work?“. 511 comments so far, all good reading. Here’s mine:
Infrastructure aside, the biggest single impediment to increasing cycling is inconsiderate drivers. The need for bike lanes and dedicated bike paths is purely due to car traffic being impatient and greedy in their road use. If we all truly shared the roads, we wouldn’t need to build anything bike-specific. Since that never seems to change, we build.
Sure, it’s pie-in-the-sky, but i also put in a plug for more bike lanes. I’m admittedly an experienced and pretty self-assured cyclist, having ridden through city traffic for the past 20 years, and i know that i’m a lot more opinionated and confident in where and how i ride than most beginning cyclists. I know that the streets i ride on daily would deter many cyclists just because they’re either too busy or too narrow to feel comfortable or safe while on a bike. Those drivers who honk and holler are the reason we’re spending money on bike paths and bridges and lanes.
Yesterday’s post about getting hollered at is a case in point – drivers don’t think about how a cyclist needs to protect themselves in traffic, and maintaining a buffer of space around yourself while you bike is a big part of that. I get sick and tired of cars squeezing past me to pass, leaving inches of space when i’m already feeling pushed against the curb. It’s my right to use the roads, and if drivers are going to threaten me with harm by passing too close, i’m going to take the whole lane so they’re forced to make a proper & legal pass in another lane. That’s the law, it’s the safest thing to do for everyone, and as soon as practical i’ll move to the shoulder to allow anyone behind me to pass. If i were driving a 20-ton backhoe down the road at 20mph i’d get a little more respect, but since i’m on a bike people feel they can threaten me.
Now imagine someone who is riding their freshly-dusted-off bike down the road for the first time in a decade and encountering the same sort of rudeness along with potholes and feeling tired and unsteady just trying to ride. A car is a big steel cage that makes you feel safe. When you’re maneuvering through the world outside of that cage, you feel and are more vulnerable. Most people in our society are 50 years away from getting around town every day without a car; car use is assumed, and those who don’t drive treated as aberrations, impediments. In reality, cyclists humanize the roads, encouraging us to see people rather than vehicles. Drivers who think for even a second about it ought to personally thank every cyclists for reducing demand and helping keep the price of gas lower for them. A little niceness would go a long way.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:56 am (#)
I agree with you. I feel the terror every single day. As I get older, I become more aware of my exposure. Every car door I pass, every car I hear behind me, every car turning, I’m wondering, will this be the one?
Another impediment I’ve heard a lot about is the need to shower once you bike to work. I rarely do so, even though we have showers here at work. I’ve also always said that peak oil means getting used to the way people smell. If we have to bike and have less energy for showers, then people will start to smell like the biological organisms they are. I’m getting in on the ground floor of that one.
Another impediment is that gas is too cheap, still.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:04 pm (#)
[...] Via the Midway Bike Blog, where wjc has his own good thoughts on cycling infrastructure and how cyclists actually are a help to motorists: we reduce congestion because we’re one less car when we bike and we reduce demand for gasoline making more available for them to burn, [...]
May 16th, 2008 at 8:56 pm (#)
Now that we’re getting some summer weather, the neighborhood hot-rodders are back to using the street in front of the shop as a drag strip. Yep, gas is still too cheap.
December 9th, 2008 at 7:04 am (#)
As a cycling coach, helping 1,000’s of novices become lifelong cyclists, the factors that help people ride are:
1. Gaining handling, aggressive driver and awareness skills. Showing assertiveness/expert handing, not reacting with anger, staying alert are very effective. Outwardly firm/friendly, inwardly noting license plate/witnesses/details about the violator. Get out your phone as soon as it’s safe to do so, or get one from a witness.
2. Riding with others. Alone many of us feel too exposed to the real and imagined risks. Cars are typically nicer to even small groups
3. Dismantle all hurdles step by step. My program is built in 4 stages:
a. Motivation/Cycling-mindset (feeling part of the solution, learning to enjoy and be great at spotting/avoiding hazards),
b. Trip Planning (clothing, lights, parking, route, time management, etc),
c. Bike Handling (detailed rodeo from start stop, feather/emergency braking, crossing slippery surfaces/RR tracks, emergency turns, looking back while riding straight etc ),
d. Repair essentials – as indicated by the student’s riding goals.
Final point. The rate of car trips continues to outpace the increase number of bike trips. Facilities are great. Real-world, no-jargon, empowering education is an urgent missing link, as the more there are of us devoted to living all the benefits bikes give us, the wider the door opens for those just a bit less pioneering than ourselves. This goes double for kids, their families.