funny....so often when out on my bike I will get an aggressive response from a car driver about my cycling behavior
"STOP AT THE STOP SIGN!"
"STAY IN YOUR LANE!"
"GET THE FUCK OFF THE ROAD!!!"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!"
Most cyclists have heard these remarks in one form or another, other times it is the hand gesture pointing to the bike path or the sidewalk, or another finger telling the cyclist to go someplace unearthly. Certianly some of these car drivers mean well. But most of them just do not get it. The behaviors of the cyclist are to benefit not just the movement and safety of the cyclist, but the flow of traffic as a whole. Usually cyclists ride to the right of traffice, giving the car drivers ample room for passing; unless of course that is not the safest passage (as in the traffic paterns of downtown DC where the ONE WAY streets alternate, thus having a flow of turning traffic changing from the far right lane to the far left lane) Strange that a car driver gets miffed when they cross the double yellow line in the middle of the road only to be passed by the cyclist at the red light. In this case the cyclist is progressing forward just as the car is, no difference. Now when the cyclist runs the stop sign or the red light, well that is a tough one to explain. I view it as more like "leading" than "stealing." Or more simply, I see it as one of the opportunities when law abidding members of society move into the "Gray Area" yet still view themselves as being in the right. Every car on the road speeds. The speed limit will read 25 MPH and people feel as if the car is permitted to go 35, and at the posted 55MPH they feel just in going 65MPH, and so on. Well, when a cyclist chooses to breeze through a stop sign or a red light they are doing the same thing. Re-evaluating the law and applying what they see as a sensible alternative. Clearly no car wants to be stuck behind a cyclist as they make a full stop at each intersection and then wait as the cyclist slowly gets up to speed. No, it is to the advantage of the car driver for the cyclist to move fast and fluid, and well to the right of the road. The car driver is then allowed to break the law and pass over the double line to pass the cyclist.
back to work
this thought like many is going now where
no desire to proof read
actually no desire to PUBLISH AND POST
but I have gone this far
"STOP AT THE STOP SIGN!"
"STAY IN YOUR LANE!"
"GET THE FUCK OFF THE ROAD!!!"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!"
Most cyclists have heard these remarks in one form or another, other times it is the hand gesture pointing to the bike path or the sidewalk, or another finger telling the cyclist to go someplace unearthly. Certianly some of these car drivers mean well. But most of them just do not get it. The behaviors of the cyclist are to benefit not just the movement and safety of the cyclist, but the flow of traffic as a whole. Usually cyclists ride to the right of traffice, giving the car drivers ample room for passing; unless of course that is not the safest passage (as in the traffic paterns of downtown DC where the ONE WAY streets alternate, thus having a flow of turning traffic changing from the far right lane to the far left lane) Strange that a car driver gets miffed when they cross the double yellow line in the middle of the road only to be passed by the cyclist at the red light. In this case the cyclist is progressing forward just as the car is, no difference. Now when the cyclist runs the stop sign or the red light, well that is a tough one to explain. I view it as more like "leading" than "stealing." Or more simply, I see it as one of the opportunities when law abidding members of society move into the "Gray Area" yet still view themselves as being in the right. Every car on the road speeds. The speed limit will read 25 MPH and people feel as if the car is permitted to go 35, and at the posted 55MPH they feel just in going 65MPH, and so on. Well, when a cyclist chooses to breeze through a stop sign or a red light they are doing the same thing. Re-evaluating the law and applying what they see as a sensible alternative. Clearly no car wants to be stuck behind a cyclist as they make a full stop at each intersection and then wait as the cyclist slowly gets up to speed. No, it is to the advantage of the car driver for the cyclist to move fast and fluid, and well to the right of the road. The car driver is then allowed to break the law and pass over the double line to pass the cyclist.
back to work
this thought like many is going now where
no desire to proof read
actually no desire to PUBLISH AND POST
but I have gone this far