In a country like Denmark where 50% of people ride their bike it’s probably a lot easier not to get yelled at for riding in the road. At least, it’s probably easier not to get yelled at than in a city like Minneapolis which is, depending on who you listen to, either one of the top three or top five friendliest bike cities in this country. Despite the ranking, cyclists still get no respect.
Case in point: I was riding home from a friend’s house on Saturday night around midnight. Approaching my turn, I moved into the left lane, and as I got into the intersection, I saw cars coming from the opposite direction. So I slowed down and waited to make the turn, which caused to the truck behind me to have to break. As I turned, and the truck behind me headed straight, the driver yelled at me, “Get out of the street!”
In this situation, it’s difficult not to yell a knee jerk reaction of “F’ you, dude,” (which I did, hoping that he wouldn’t follow me, but knowing that if he did, there’s a one-way road heading the opposite direction to easily duck down and avoid getting beaten up). It's especially hard when you know that you're in the right.
Or consider that earlier that night I had to speed up to avoid getting hit by a truck towing a boat; even though I was going straight and he was making a turn. At night, I take all the necessary precautions; I have a blinking back light (red) and a blinking front light (white), so there is no reason for cars to not see me. Plus, it was a pretty well lit street. Oh, and I think I forgot to mention that this truck had headlights, which should have illuminated me. But I realize that if a car were to hit me, it’d do much more damage to me than I would do to the car, so I try to be extra careful.
With the exception of rides like Critical Mass it seems that cyclists are never given the proper consideration. When I'm on the road, I am no different that any other automobile. Sure, I might be slower, but that’s why I ride in the farthest right lane as close to the side as possible. But Critical Mass (at least in Minneapolis) can become a double-edged sword. I agree with what Critical Mass rides are trying to promote (the idea of sharing the road with cyclists and being aware of their presence), but the most effective way to do that is in a perfectly legal manner. Do I always ride completely legal? No. I run red lights (only when it’s completely safe) and split lanes of traffic. But I never go out of my way to inconvenience cars. I believe if you piss off a driver, they’re less likely to be considerate to the next bicyclist they encounter. Because as we all know, most people in this country are so level headed when they drive. When Critical Mass rides shut down all lanes of traffic and go out of their way to harass drivers, they don’t do themselves any good. Sure, it makes quite a statement: “I’m impeding your way. You should have thought about that this morning when you hopped in you car instead of riding your bike to work.” But all the drivers do is get upset at the riders; they don’t think about the need to work cooperatively with the cyclists.
In European countries where more people ride their bicycles cities work to improve the safety and ease of biking. They eliminate parking spaces and block off roads, making it much less convenient to drive. They add a dedicated lane between the sidewalk and parked cars for biking to make it safer for riders. As gas prices rose, it seemed like the United States could be headed in the right direction concerning cyclists. With more people biking, drivers would need to be more aware, and might begin to learn what rights cyclists do and don’t have. But as gas prices fall, I worry that this country may have lost the chance to properly promote bicycling. Instead, it looks like we’ll be stuck with drivers yelling at bikers to get off the road and cyclists yelling back and hoping that they can get where they need to go quick enough without getting run off the road, even when the cyclist has the right of way.
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