During our extremely brief bike ride on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, T and I were harrassed by a motorist ... again. As we rode with traffic in a shared bicycle lane marked with a giant picture of a bicycle every 100 feet (!), some ass hole veered around me and nearly clipped my left side. Guess he didn't feel like waiting to pass. I pretty much screamed, and T all-too-easily flipped him the bird.
Of course, his dick move proved unrewarding, and he ended up waiting at the same goddamn red light we were. We gave him some disappointed-looking headshakes, and he began to mouth off loudly through his open window. I'm fairly sure he said "Get a motor vehicle!" Stay classy, dude.
Anyway, check out this interesting conversation between cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists in San Francisco's Mission Hill. It's a pretty respectful discussion, sparked by a driver who didn't understand some cyclists' aggressive, lawless behavior. Asshole cyclists who run around disobeying basic traffic rules are a serious problem. I've repeatedly witnessed cyclists blowing through stop signs and red lights. Not only are they seriously endangering their own lives, but they're creating anti-bike resentment among rule-abiding motorists who might otherwise share the road nicely.
Still, I can't blame people who respond with some level of militancy. As a biker on the road with cars, your life is in danger. You can key somebody's paint job or ruin their morning - and they could end your life in retaliation.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment