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.          

 

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on June 21, 2016 at 1:18pm

I agree. I think what we are mainly lacking is a good communication campaign. Well, two. 

P.R. Campaign to improve the perception of cyclists

I'd love 30 second spots to communicate a few ideas:
Spot #1 Starts out from the perspective of the cyclist - struggling with the cars and vehicles parked in the bike lanes (riding around them and into traffic) and then shows it from a driver's perspective - how it looks like the cyclist is weaving and "out of control" for no reason. And they should have a crabby person say, "look at that bike! Why do they even have bike lanes if they aren't going to use them?!" 

Spot #2 The red light. Again, perspective of cyclist. Perspective of driver.

Spot #3 The stop sign. An explanation of an Idaho stop and how there is a difference in that and cutting in front of cars. 

Spot #4 Cyclists as people - mothers, fathers, daughters, brothers, firefighters, nurses, etc. Cyclists are people too. 

Spot #5 Major Myths e.g. cyclists slow traffic, cyclists all break laws, etc. 

For cyclists - educational

Lights - don't be a bike ninja. Illuminate yourself.

Laws - communication of the laws e.g. lights, stop signs, riding two abreast, riding single file. How to find the local laws (and they can vary by town).

Permalink Reply by Brian O'Halloran on June 21, 2016 at 3:56pm

Don't ride on Ashland or Western or Irving Park! Find a street that has bike lanes or side street. These mentioned streets have no room for bikes and it is dangerous to try to squeeze in.

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on June 22, 2016 at 8:07am

You are certainly correct about all those streets.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on June 22, 2016 at 8:15am

I agree, those are pretty much the worst. 

Permalink Reply by Shawn Evans on June 22, 2016 at 3:34pm

Ashland? Westerrn? The worst?? Don't think so. They have so many stoplights, traffic is slowed down.

You should try Devon between Caldwell and Milwaukee. Actually, you don't want to try it. Trust me on this. But even that isn't the worst. I hesitate to say the worst street. Don't want to give people any ideas.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on June 22, 2016 at 3:37pm

Devon? That's a good one! I used to ride over there and passed Devon on my way back from Highland Park. :-) 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 22, 2016 at 10:30am

I use streets like that for the shortest distance possible - 1/2 block or 1 block - to reach a local destination - if that section of street is minimally rideable.  If it's not rideable at all (such as Western near 91st at most times of day), and there's little or no ped traffic, I will use the sidewalk at a slow speed, watching out for any peds, prepared to slow or stop if needed.

I don't use them for real transportation, only for access from a nearby cross street.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 23, 2016 at 9:04am

Yes. Making generalizations about any street is bound to be inaccurate, unless that street is only a block or two long. Western is one of the worst streets for riding in the city, IN GENERAL, but there are very long stretches at least on the south and west sides that are a lot less dangerous especially on certain times of the day and certain times of the week. 

We should encourage each other to take the safest routes possible, but people ride on crappy streets such as Western because there is no viable alternative safe route that does not literally add miles to one's route. We need more safe routes, especially north/south routes EVEN ON THE NORTH SIDE. 

Permalink Reply by Waymond Smith on June 22, 2016 at 1:27pm

I'm with Jim, we as bicyclists must change our behavior while riding! I won't reiterate what Jim is writing about, but we as cyclists must follow the rules of the road in order to protect ourselves. As we all know we can't win a battle against a 2,000 lb vehicle. 

As for the Public Service Announcements, can we (the bike community) create a fund to produce these?

It hurts me when I hear about these collisions, collisions that can be reduced if not eliminated. 

Permalink Reply by Kara B on June 23, 2016 at 10:58am

another myth i'd like to bust is that drivers pay for the roads and cyclists are just free-loading: gas taxes only pay a fraction of road construction costs, and we all pay federal taxes that fund highway/road construction, not to mention cyclists often own cars and pay fees/taxes that subsidize road construction in spite of not using those roads as we would if we didn't ride our bikes. 

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 21, 2016 at 4:47pm

Ha,Ha I have a 300 Lumens front light and rear light plus another front light I get cut off, nearly right hooked every day, Uber drivers talking on the phone to the people staring at their phones,drivers who don't understand how a 4 way stop works. They honk at me when I come to a full stop one guy waves me through but traffic is still coming the other direction.

I encounter 3-5 drivers everyday that don't have headlights on or just the daytime running lights, no signals.

Not to leave out cyclists, hardcore messengers blowing lights, no lights,weaving,Salmoning and the Divvy riders  on the sidewalk,the Century trainers trying to break 28 mph between Oak and Fullerton on a weekend,Holiday still blow my mind. Let's hope another "enhanced" cyclist doesn't run into a baby stroller.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 21, 2016 at 4:58pm

Riding between lines of cars is dangerous but if you need to get out of the bike lane to make a left or right turn or to even get back in the bike lane (see Clinton bike lane) or turning left from Kinzie to Dearborn hand signals don't work any more than waiting for someone to let you in, riding is aggressive/defensive and majority of drivers passed their test at 16 with repeats along the way then don't follow or remember the actual rules just like getting a degree it's just about telling the person in charge what they want to hear or simply memorizing and regurgitating information perfectly. 

(end rant)

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