In general, I see a lot of impatient drivers. There's a lot of oh oh the
light's yellow, gotta hurry up! and the driver goes through the intersection on
a red light. It seems there's a lot of impatience out there overall from car
drivers, towards other car drivers and towards bikers*. I'm glad for the people
not contributing to that!
I work with one guy who is an impatient driver. The way he weaves around
traffic makes me feel unsafe in the car with him. His movements are
unpredictable and dangerous. This guy also thinks that bikes should not be on
the road whatsoever. He knows that he could do a lot more damage to a biker
than vice versa, so he wants bikes off the road. (He and I've had strong
arguments about this.)
I just worry a little that some of the grumpy anti-bike people around, who
don't want bikes on the roads (like my coworker, or like the people who put
nails on the road when an organized ride is coming through the area) might see
a biker going through a red light or a stop sign and get angry. If laws were
passed in WI like in Idaho (which I have no problem with) there'd have to be a
really good and careful PR campaign advertising the new laws to avoid car
drivers from complaining or whining that it's inefficient for cars to stop and
go at stop signs and red lights too.
I know cars and bikes are inequal, and wonderfully so most of the time. But in
order to have equal _respect_ on the road from car drivers, I wonder if that
would be easier given (by the car drivers to bikers) if we had the same traffic
rules to follow while sharing the road. If it doesn't matter, okay, I'm just
doing some cautious wondering. For me being treated as an equal on the road by
a car driver means being treated like I'm allowed to be there, and giving me
the respect a squishy, vulnerable fellow road user with equal rights deserves.
-Monica
*this reminds me, I owe a letter to Madison Metro with a complaint about one of
their drivers. During a snowstorm in January, on a particularly pothole'd part
of Jenifer St. the driver drove up behind a cyclist who was in the middle of
the lane and said VERY loudly for all the passengers to hear: "oh look at me, I
own the road, because I'm a bicyclist! Ha ha ha ha ha SPLAT!" Nice, huh? It
scares the crap out of me that someone driving a big honkin' bus thinks like
that.
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:50:53 -0500
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Bikies] Stop vs Yield
Why not have the same rules? Because we're not equals. Because we don't have
motors and the ability to drive 30 mph, or 70 mph. Because we don't have huge
boxes of metal and plastic around us, protecting us. Because we're smaller and
harder to see. Because if I get into a collision with a car, I'm the one that's
probably going to die or be injured. Because most of the transportation
infrastructure that's built conforms to the needs of motorized vehicles, not
bikes.
I'm patient all the time. It takes me 45-60 minutes to bike to work, and 25 to
drive. Part of this time difference is accounted for by the fact that I can
drive on the beltline, where there are no stop signs, but I can't bike there.
So, it already looks like cars and bikes aren't equal.
And I don't want to be treated as "equal" to a car. I want to be treated like a
person who, with her vehicle, weighs less than 150 pounds, has a piece of
styrofoam on her head, and is smooshy and kind of fragile.
People already understand that bike paths are for bikes, and they seem to be ok
with the fact that they can't drive cars on them. Most people understand that
bikes are not cars, so I guess I have some hope that people can understand that
bikes and cars might be governed by different rules.
On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 11:28 AM, Monica H <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I think it'll be easier to have equal courtesy/be treated as equals on the road
if we have equal road rules.
What's wrong with being patient for a minute? (I think this about car drivers
all the time!) We already have the thing about stop lights for bikes and
motorcycles, that seems like enough. Changing more rules to fit vehicle size
(bike... tiny car, FUV, dump truck, whatever) isn't necessarily worth the risk
of backlash --and/or confusion-- from other drivers.
sorry to be a wet noodle, I'm still drying off from riding in to work today.
-Monica
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Back to work after baby–how do you know when you’re ready?
http://lifestyle.msn.com/familyandparenting/articleNW.aspx?cp-documentid=5797498&ocid=T067MSN40A0701A
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