I am now a bike commuter-- which I have quickly come to love. Saving loads on metro fare, getting your heart pumping in the morning with something other than coffee, and enjoying a fresh morning breeze rather than the B.O. of the metro commuter squeezed up next to you...what isn’t there to love? ...that would be CARS.
In my mere 2 months of bike commuting I have developed an intense hatred of cars and have come to better understand the “angry cyclist” persona I often witnessed in the past. There is, in fact, a reason for that anger. We are fighting for our lives out there and it is seriously taxing on one’s restraint and composure.
The sucky cars I am referring to are the ones filled with drivers that are distracted, speeding, and reckless. The ones that are completely blind to cyclists and the ones that see cylists, but as mere annoyances (and make this blatantly clear).
As a driver, I have of course experienced the inconvenience of road bikes. But what it comes down to is that cyclists have a right to ride around their cities and are exponentially more vulnerable than their motorist counterparts. They deserve a level of respect that corresponds to both this intense susceptibility to harm and their right to the road.
Besides the obvious impetus-- NOT KILLING PEOPLE-- why should cars care about sucking less?
Because the world could use a lot more bicycling. I mean, think about it, climate change, foreign oil dependence, peak oil, obesity, escalating healthcare costs, traffic gridlock? All problems more bicycling could help control.
Ending the tyrannical culture of car dependence that pervades is undoubtedly a complicated task. To get more people bicycling, there is surely an array of complex changes we, as a country, need to make...one of them, I would argue, is that cars (and the drivers inside of them) need to start sucking less.
Tips On How to Be a Less-Sucky Driver (From a Cyclist's Perspective):
-Don’t speed. It’s scary and disrespectful.
-Share the road. I know this is used a lot, but it is well-put. It is dangerous for cyclists to ride super close to parked cars (b/c of “dooring”) so please give us some of the lane. And don’t get all bent out of shape about maybe having to slow down and switch lanes to pass...are you really in that much of a hurry?
-Actively look for cyclists. Turning right in a right lane? Cyclists would really appreciate a quick look over your right shoulder.
-If you notice that a cyclist’s path is obstructed by something up ahead, please be that nice car that slows down and lets us pass the obstruction. Please don’t make us try to merge into high-speed car traffic from a standing stop.
-Don’t let your anger show in your driving. Even if your anger is unrelated to a cyclist and you are whizzing past a motorist you thought was an idiot, it is scary as hell for the cyclist a few feet away without the protective metal casing you enjoy.
-Experience the city as a cyclist. Trust me, you will learn quickly the ways to be a more cycling-compassionate driver.
