People on bikes: we want all the rights of the road; respect us! Except the rules don't apply to us.I am a cyclist. I don't ride as often as I'd like, but I am still strongly attracted to human-powered, two-wheeled transportation. Unfortunately, I have also shared her viewpoint. Drivers and cyclists are involved in this ridiculously complex love-hate relationship that began decades ago and, despite municipalities making positive strides toward becoming 'bike friendly', it shows no signs of getting any more amicable in the near future.
First things first, there are rules that govern bicycles.
Each municipality is different in the rules that they lay down, but there are some universal truths. Bicycles are allowed on roads unless otherwise prohibited, and they generally are not allowed on sidewalks unless the rider is under a specific age. Many cities and towns have put down bike lanes to keep the two-wheeled set out of trouble, and some have installed 'stop boxes' that allow cyclists to make left turns without having to pull the dreaded 'left turning lane against oncoming traffic' maneuver. Cyclists, I might add, can also be ticketed for not obeying any of these laws or ordinances, just like motor vehicles.
With all this in mind, where does the problem lie? I have experienced, first-hand, a lack of respect from both sets, whether I was a pedestrian, driver, or I was on the bike. Granted, these instances have been few and far between, but the fact that they happened at all shows there is an underlying problem. No, it isn't lack of respect for others. I would go so far as to say that our problem here is education.
First of all, excluding professionals, there are basically three types of cyclists:
- I know the rules and follow them, regardless of how I am treated on the road, because it is my duty as a good citizen.
- I know the rules vaguely and follow some when it is convenient.
- Rules?
Then there are municipalities. There are usually three types of those:
- We have devised an organized set of rules that takes into account the needs of both motor vehicles and cyclists, which includes well-marked and signed routes through our community.
- We have some rules that have been on the books since the sixties and have added a six inch-wide bike lane and some vague signage.
- @*#% bikes.
Now, let's get one thing straight. Bikes are NOT toys, nor are they recreational items. A bicycle is a vehicle, plain and simple. It may be for the road, it might be an off-roader, or it could be a combination, but it is a vehicle. Regardless of the fact that it doesn't have a motor, you can still visit a world of hurt on yourself or others, should you be careless with one. You wouldn't dream of letting your children climb in behind the wheel of a car without first teaching them how to safely operate it, so why do people do just that with kids and bikes? It seems like, once that momentous occasion happens where we take off on our two-wheeler without any training wheels, the guiding hand falls back and no other instruction is given. Now, obviously, this isn't the case with all parents, but just the fact that it happens with some is bad enough. Those kids grow up not paying attention to the rules or respecting others' rights of way, and so too will their children. For our kids to care, we must care.
Two sides of this issue are illustrated in a struggle happening in Louisville, KY. The Big Four Bridge, unused for decades, was recently turned into an Ohio River crossing for pedestrians and cyclists. On the bridge, there were two lines painted, representing where the railroad tracks used to be. In the beginning, marks were made on both the Kentucky and Indiana sides that indicated the lines were a marked bike lane. Cyclists, for the most part, seemed to be adhering to that restriction, but trouble came in the form of young riders. Children are curious and, of course, you can't see all the cool stuff happening on the river as well if you're in the center of the bridge, so they were straying into the walking lanes. Where were the parents when this was happening?
On the other side of the coin, since the lanes are not marked over the length of the bridge, pedestrians would wander through the bike lanes, causing each to have to avoid the other, again causing resentment in each camp. To top this off, Louisville Waterfront officials who had designated the lane for bikes said that "bicyclists were too zealous about using it", and that they "have been intrigued by a profound sense of entitlement that a designated bike lane engenders", and that [cyclists] "have no patience for children, strollers, wheelchairs, or any other obstacle that might breach the lateral limits that divide bridge space for bicyclists and the rest of civilization."**
I can imagine the vitriol with which that last statement was made. In other words, just because cyclists are given their own lane, it doesn't mean that they are entitled to use it. Oh! Also, they can't breach the confines of the lane-they-should-not-use, but they better watch the hell out for anyone else who wants to be there. After almost losing their right to use the Big Four in August, Waterfront officials deemed cyclists can still ride across, but there is no longer a designated lane.
Doesn't that sound like an educational problem to you?
Now, some cities have gotten it right. New York City, one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world, earned Bicycling Magazine's top spot in their 2014 "America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities Roundup". It was noted that, despite cycling opponents arguing that bike lanes would slow down traffic, motorized traffic speeds have increased while the number of bike-related accidents has decreased. All this while the city's number of cycling commuters doubled from 2007-2011.**
The bottom line is, we need to teach and we need to be taught. As I said, a bicycle is a vehicle. Cyclists need to respect pedestrians as much as motorists do, but cyclists and motorists have to respect each others' needs, as well. Maybe if drivers' manuals took more than a couple of paragraphs to cover cycling rules. . . that would be a good start. Why not give classes to train people how to operate bicycles safely? I'm pretty sure that any plans to license cyclists would be met with open revolution, but what's so unattractive about learning how to share the road with thousand-pound chunks of metal that can turn you into gooey paste?
Now, where the heck did I put my helmet?
Do yourselves a favor and go visit Mandawritesthings. She has some crunchy, blog-filled goodness to share and she likes followers as much as I do (hint-hint).
*Article: Louisville Courier-Journal "A Threat to Make Bicyclists Walk the Big Four Bridge"
**Bicycling.com--"Study: NYC Bike Lanes Don't Slow Down Car Traffic"
