Comments on: The continued clash of bike and car commuters

By: Rennie

Rennie — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:25:27 +0000

I also ride a motorcycle as well a bicycle and I have much the same attitude with cars while they give a little more respect (fear) of a motorcycle rider with colors on. I had one old lady tell me a few years to keep my biccle and ass off of the roads we did not belong there.

By: Greg W

Greg W — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:21:58 +0000

Interesting perpectives.

I have been living in Northern Italy for the past 2 years. I started commuting to work not too long ago. The amazing thing is that the Italians around here SEE YOU (I can’t speak for the allegedly crazier Italy from Rome on South). I have not witnessed significant road rage. I have never been flipped off in a car, my motorcycle, or riding my bicycle. Nobody slams on their brakes if you’re too close or tries to run you off the road. Yeah, the driving is different – even aggressive – but I can deal with that as long as people are calm and reasonably polite.

Grandmothers ride on busy streets and there is never any hiccup. I can commute in rush-hour traffic and never get honked at or abused. Oh, and the average car is a 2500# Fiat Punto, not a 5500# SUV.

I hear the stories of US drivers and it makes me not want to return home. As a motorcyclist for 20 years, I have seen America’s worst from that perspective – applying makeup, eating, talking on the phone – but I could always escape expeditiously if things got rough.

And, yet, I have to return in one short year. I am committed to the simplicity of biking to get around. I will weather abuse and some personal inconvenience if it saves a few pounds of CO2 and some bucks.

By: bikeman

bikeman — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:48:16 +0000

Bike rage/ Road Rage.
I’ve been riding quite a few years, and have had my share of ignorance displays, and have found that the best thing is to just put it behind you and ride on, as I usually have forgotten the situation by the time I get home. It’s just not worth getting angry at drivers. Don’t forget, we all get what we deserve in the end.

By: lithus

lithus — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:24:35 +0000

danieL gots to remember the JD golden rule! how would you like some one ‘giving a good bang on your window’? maybe I’d flip out also. its hard to hold back on stressful situations these days. i myself have succumbed to road rage i must shamefully add but im on the pedal side now and i have seen the light!

By: Adriel

Adriel — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:35:03 +0000

I agree 110% We need driver education and we need it now. And we do not need to wait for the government to “get it” we should be able to raise private funding.

What we need now are ideas.

I have a few, one is to create some billboards that will educate motorists, and raise money to post them. I can handle the website portion of this.

The other is commercials, same idea. We can post them on youtube and solicit donations to put them on tv.

There is too much focus on helmet use and bike lanes and not enough on education. The real problem cars have with cyclists is they do not expect them to be there and do not think they belong. THAT is what needs to be addressed.

By: ohio_biker

ohio_biker — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:30:37 +0000

While I welcome the increasing number of cyclists,
I am dismayed by poor or illegal or unsafe cycling.
I take opportunities to educate cyclists when I can,
but I know I am reaching very few compared to the
quantity of new riders.

There have always been clueless or hostile drivers.

Now would be a good time for Public Service Ads
that remind cyclists and drivers alike, what the
rules are and what their respective responsibilities
are. These are messages that all too often both
cyclists and drivers need to hear.

I am just wondering if some of the many dollars
being spent on bike lanes and the like, could be
directed toward PSAs that would educate both
cyclists and drivers. It might also be a
good idea to post similar messages in drivers
license and auto-license locations.

Surely this had been suggested before ???

By: Siouxgeonz

Siouxgeonz — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:06:55 +0000

“being a sheep” generally means mindlessly following, not non-violent. Being mindfully non-violent is very far removed from being a sheep. There are many better metaphors … I could suggest that it would be like unto a linguistic sheep to just follow metaphors that don’t really fit, eh?
Is there already a metaphoric symbol for being mindfully non-violent?
There have been threads in many places with creative responses to aggression. (One of my favorites
I do fully understand the automatic response… I have tried to train myself to, when compelled to make a forceful verbal comment, say “Be Careful!!!” which is explosive enough in its phonemes to generate some physical satisfaction.
I was inspired to think of it when the driver involved was a mom with a car full of trick-or-treaters who drove obliviously. *These* are the legion who are our biggest threat; when these folks so tied up in keeping track of the 5 8-year-olds in the van don’t see others and hurt or kill them, it’s treated as “a shame, but gosh, they’ll have to live with that” and “well, what are cyclists doing out there anyway – they know the risks!”
People have gotten somehwat more mindful about driving drunk – that’s much less acceptable. I think we should be pushing *hard* to make every “but I just didn’t see you!” cycling assault a “It’s your job to figure out how to see things, so that’s not an acceptable answer!” It’s not acceptable if it’s a kid walking to school, is it?
I think there’s a real danger when we lump the oblivious with the aggressive drivers. Both are dangerous; both issues should be addressed, but they are different problems.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:59:40 +0000

After reading this post and some of the comments yesterday, I made it a point to try to signal my turns more than I have been. Well, on my way home today, I believe the driver behind me mistook a right-hand turn hand-signal for some sort of flip-off. A second or so after after signaling, the driver flipped out in a rage of screaming at me, almost incomprehensibly (could pick up a few choice words). He actually slowed to a near stop to continue yelling up the street at me after I turned. I think he wanted me to come back and physically fight him.

I tried to be predictable by signaling. Oh well.

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:00:24 +0000

@ Adriel

After I wrote it, I was concerned you might take it negatively. I do not intend it to be so.

Sheep are crucial. I wish we could all be sheep, and I dream of the day. But as long as there are wolves, there will be a need for sheepdogs.

It is a metaphor. Nothing more, and not intended to apply a negative connotation to people who choose to live peacefully.

I’m sorry if I offended you.

By: Adriel

Adriel — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:26:09 +0000

I resent the sheep implication, I think the ultimate end of a violent life is to kill all your enemies or die by their hands, everything in between is degrees.

I choose to not live that way. It is not weakness.