So What Can We Do To Make It Better, Specifically?
I always read the comments to stories about bicycle-vehicle catastrophes. Right now, relations between cyclists and drivers in Chicago are tense and strained, to say the least. The comments consist mainly of drivers attacking the conduct of cyclists and cyclists counter-attacking. Certain themes emerge on both sides, but not much civil discussion.
This post isn't about who's right and who's wrong, or who is more aggrieved and put upon. It's simply my personal take on how the bicycle-driver relationship in Chicago could be improved by bicyclists. I write from that viewpoint because my philosophy is to do what I think I should be doing, regardless of what someone else is doing. If you want to be a jerk to me on the road, go right ahead. I will not retaliate. I will continue to do what I think is safe and civil. Based on my readings and discussions with drivers, here are some ways that we could improve the situation. Reasonable minds may differ. And this is not to say that it wouldn't be nice if drivers made some corresponding efforts:
1. Let's push the City Council hard to implement some form of the Idaho stop. A million times over, drivers complain that cyclists illegally blow through stop signs and red lights. Of course, they're correct about that. (And of course they do similar things, but that isn't what this post is about.) A solution would be to have an ordinance ratifying the existing behavior of cyclists, particularly with regard to stop signs. There is ample evidence that the Idaho stop is safe. We should work really hard to have it implemented in Chicago and Chicagoland. I myself would not extend it to traffic lights. Blowing stop signs makes drivers somewhat jealous and angry, but cyclists blowing red lights absolutely makes them livid, with considerable justification. I don't buy the argument cyclists make that they are simply protecting their own safety by running through red lights. As a driver myself, I think cyclists who run red lights disrupt traffic excessively and scare the bejeebers out of drivers who proceed with the light, only to have cyclists darting in front of them. In Idaho there probably aren't too many intersections as busy as those here in Chicago. If an intersection is so dangerous that you think you have to run a red light to survive it, then just get off your bike and be a pedestrian for a few minutes. There's no shame in that.
With some variation of the Idaho stop being legal, drivers would still be resentful, but would grudgingly concede that cyclists were not lawbreakers for doing it. In a strange way, I think this would help calm the situation.
2. Let's stop riding the wrong way, on both one- and two-way streets. Again, I see this mentioned time and time again by drivers -- and they are correct. Drivers have certain expectations about where they should be looking for other motor vehicles and bicycles. Riding the wrong way makes for a lot of unpleasant surprises, often in the form or collisions or near-collisions. I know that a long time ago, some people thought that riding the wrong way was safer for cyclists. That was disproven a long time ago. A cyclist riding the wrong way alarms and provokes drivers unnecessarily. We should not do that. Better to go carefully upon the sidewalk and annoy the pedestrians a little.
3. Let's stop riding between lanes of moving traffic. If there is a long line of stopped cars, I can see, marginally, riding between them and the curb (or parked cars) with great caution. However, cyclists should not, in the big city, be darting in and out of moving traffic and riding between moving traffic lanes. Again, this scares the bejeebers out of drivers, and understandably so. Plus, when you're maneuvering like that, drivers have to try to take into account take every sudden move you might make, not just the ones you are actually making. Drivers are constantly thinking, "What if he....?" This is completely nerve-wracking for them, and they are justified in being angered by it. Plus, a small lapse in judgment by the cyclist and he are she are sliding into or under someone's vehicle. Riding between lanes of moving traffic, regardless of how savvy you think you are or how many YouTube videos you've seen of messenger races in New York City, does not help the cause of cycling at all.
4. Let's use proper lights when riding at night. In the city, they aren't needed so much to illuminate the way as they are to alert drivers to your presence. Especially since as likely as not, you're dressed all in black and have no reflectors on your bike, either. This is another complaint that comes up over and over in the comments, and it's perfectly valid. Drivers are much better at having lights and turning them on than are cyclists, given an equal level of sobriety. So gee whiz, spend the pittance it takes to make yourself visible to everybody. Even Aldi every so often has inexpensive lights that would suffice.
Maybe some or all of this will seem too conservative to some. Maybe some will view me as a Neville Chamberlain-type appeaser. Whatever. Someone has to offer the olive branch and try to defuse the situation. If it has to be me, even unilaterally sometimes, I'm willing. I've never found berating or denigrating other people to be a solution for anything.
Views: 1830
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shawn Evans on
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About lights, if governments think they're so important, why don't they require them to be on every bike sold? Instead, they make it an 'unfunded mandate'. The people riding without lights are mostly poor. So the city should hand out cheap blinkie lights to poor people.
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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on
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They did
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A rare bike light giveaway in one of the many, many neighborhoods of Chicago is hardly getting lights to the people who need them.
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Permalink Reply by Julie M. on
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I bought cheap headlights on ebay (from China obviously) and have handed them out to cyclists at stoplights that I don't see that have them.
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Permalink Reply by Norah Webster on
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All great suggestions, and I agree completely. As ridership increases, accidents seem to be on the rise as well. Maybe that will nudge less risk-averse riders to pause and think about things they can do to make themselves a little safer, too.
In addition, since more and more drivers (and sadly cyclists, too) are looking at their phones half the time instead of the road, I'm finding myself becoming even more cautious. Things I'm doing that hopefully help prevent me and a car from colliding include: slowing down more at stop signs (even when nobody is around); slowing down and making sure a driver sees me before I pass in front of a stopped car waiting to pull out onto the street; and thinking twice before getting on my bike after having a drink
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Permalink Reply by David Barish on
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Jim, I'm with you. We have to take the high road in our efforts to insist that we belong on the road in the first place. I also like the idea of some type of video campaign. Of course, who will do it, fund it, make decisions? We are just shooting ideas here...
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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on
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So here's my thought - why not try to crowdsource the video? We just need people, a video camera and editing software. Even if it was low-rent and I did this on my iPhone and cobbled it together on my computer, the message could go viral. Who's willing to volunteer? And if there's a video expert that's willing to donate the time and help out, I will gladly step down from video-related tasks.
What do you think? We could also make it a contest. So there's that.
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Permalink Reply by Waymond Smith on
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I know someone who produces videos, would you like for me to contact them?
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If you could please inquire if they'd be interested, that'd be fantastic. Thank you!
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I've mentioned this in other threads, but will toss it out here. Every time a cyclist is killed in a collision with a motorist, we need a very visible response. One, word needs to get out. Two, the response should be uniform across as many groups as possible. I like the Ride of Silence idea, but it's once a year, and tribute rides (such as the recent one in Kalamazoo) tend to be local. Both reduce the broader visibility.
I think if you can broadcast such mortal events (say, on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, wherever) with a suitable hashtag, the riding groups nationwide should be able to pick up on the event, then do something visible on their next ride. I like the idea of everyone wearing hi-viz yellow jerseys. It's pretty simple, and most committed bikies probably already have one (or can borrow their sixth grade kid's yellow crossing guard vest. :D).
You'd probably need a bit of local news publicity to help the idea along, and to get cagers to recognize why all the crazy bike fools wore yellow yesterday, but I think it could work. Just maybe. If you're a bike commuter and not generally a group rider, you could pause for a couple minutes at a major intersection and aggregate a few other commuters into a group, both to spread the word, and to increase visibility.
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I agree with you, I think this could be very useful. There are two ideas I'm hearing:
1. A Timely Ride (with high-vis vests)
2. A social media hashtag to help spread the word
On a tragic note, a couple riding their bikes in Morris were hit by an SUV and both died from their injuries. No word on the driver, just the names of the victims and (frustrating) focus on the fact that they were wearing helmets (like that has anything to do with it).
http://www.morrisherald-news.com/2016/06/22/morris-couple-dies-afte...
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