With more motorists, bicyclists, skaters and pedestrians vying for limited space, tempers flare more often and in worst cases people get hit and killed. Who knew the term “road rage” a decade ago?
Last year more than 1,250 car-bicycle accidents occurred in Chicago, according to the Chicago Safety Information System. Though the number is declining, the angry climate is not.
What’s the problem? Each side thinks the other violates its turf. Common sense suggests that each group needs to better obey the rules of the road and give the right of way to the slower person or vehicle, says David B. Perry, bicyclist and author of “Bike Cult: The Ultimate Guide to Human-Powered Vehicles” (Four Walls Eight Windows).
Randy Neufeld, executive director of the non-profit Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, agrees. “Drivers need to understand that, according to the law, bicyclists have all the rights that motor vehiclists do.”
But Neufeld, who bicycles 14 miles to work each day, says bicyclists aren’t blameless. “They don’t always understand they have the same responsibilities drivers do, such as waiting behind other vehicles at a light.”
One way to improve safety would be to reduce the number of cars in congested areas and encourage bicycling and public transit. But that becomes tricky because many officials, perhaps unwittingly, encourage two contradictory trends, says John Kaehny, executive director of the New York advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. “Many cities and municipalities OK projects to improve traffic flow and parking on and off the streets, which ends up spurring greater use of cars and more, rather than less, congestion,” Kaehny says. “These officials also encourage more bike usage by establishing more lanes.”
It would be better, experts say, to slow driving on busy city routes, allow cyclists a head start when lights turn green, and better educate people about alternative transportation.
Dr. John Larson, director of the Larson Institute of Stress Medicine in Norwalk, Ct., and co-author of “Road Rage to Road Wise” (Tor Books), holds classes to help angry drivers change their attitude. “People have to realize they can’t always drive somewhere in the least possible time,” he says.
To improve dialogue, we asked a bicyclist and a motorist to offer suggestions.
— Barbara B. Buchholz
WE JUST WANT OUR SHARE: THE BIKER’S SIDE
By Julie Deardorff. Julie Deardorff, a triathlete, religiously commutes by bicycle to her job as a Tribune staff writer.
The streets are never truly ours, so we steal quiet moments on them whenever we can. Sometimes we’re up at dawn, when it’s easier to bike along the main arteries of the city. Other times, we wait until late evening and pedal in the moonlight on deserted roads.
It’s during the daytime, when we need a sliver of asphalt to bike to work, to the store or to school, that the public streets become a battleground. It’s a struggle that has been going on since the 1800s, when bicycles competed with horse-drawn carriages for a piece of the street, a fight that is about power, practicality and making the world a slightly better place.
Like most cyclists, I have a car. I like my car and drive it when necessary. But we often assume cars are convenient when they’re not, especially in urban areas where almost half of trips taken are fewer than four miles. Once I decided to bike, regardless of the weather, I became hooked for life.
I don’t bike to antagonize the already harried drivers, to interfere with the traffic flow or to highlight both the viability and superiority of getting around under my own power.
I bike simply because I am impatient and biking is almost always the fastest, most efficient way for me to get from one place to another. I bike because it burns more calories than oil. Because it’s easier than walking, and I never have to worry about parking. Because biking never fails to lift my spirits. I bike because no matter what age you are, a bicycle stands for independence and freedom.
And when I can’t ride along the lakefront path or designated bike trails, I spin along the city streets because I have no other option.
Bicycles are not allowed on most sidewalks. The few bike lanes are frequently ignored by drivers. And ultimately, I use the streets because I believe that’s what they’re there for, to help transport people and things from point A to point B.
While many people accept us, there are a frightening number of careless, angry drivers who do not feel compelled to share the roads.
It’s a puzzling attitude because the bicycle offers solutions to some of today’s biggest problems, including dangerously high air-pollution and stress levels.
Skyrocketing gas prices? Once you have a bike, the ride is free.
Cyclists are, as the saying goes, One Less Car, which helps reduce gridlock and road rage. Unlike motorized vehicles, we are not contributing to noise and the city’s sickly air quality. One hundred bikes can be produced for the same amount of energy and resources as one midsize car.
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Unlike many motorists, bicycle riders are not dangerously distracted. We are not fiddling with the radio, blathering away on a cell phone, drinking coffee, shaving or putting on makeup. We are just trying to get somewhere in one piece.
So why the hostility? Why startle us with blaring horns or try to run us over? Bicyclists don’t ask for much, just some courtesy and the side of the road, which is usually littered with debris, glass, and those perilous parallel sewer grates. When we seem to be in the middle of the street, we might just be moving around sharp objects, oil patches, bumps or a car door that is about to be flung open.
My guess is that some drivers are intensely cyclophobic because they are oblivious to the tiny joys of life and just plain jealous.
Most commuter cyclists know the thrill of gliding along the lakefront or zipping home along Lincoln Avenue, outpacing the creeping cars. What drivers generally see while they are stuck in traffic is that bicyclists get away with running stop signs more often than they do, and that bicyclists have what they want and expect: freedom, flexibility and speed.
Unfortunately, most urban planners don’t see the need for bike routes and without them, there’s less incentive for people to get into the habit. The Illinois Supreme Court has declared that bicycles are not “intended users” of roads, a dangerous ruling that frees local governments from the responsibility of caring for cyclists on the streets. The climate is discouraging.
For most of us, our independence began the moment we learned to balance on two wheels and roll. We will not give that up. Nor will we relinquish the cathartic effects biking can have in our daily lives.
“More than any other emotion, melancholy is incompatible with bicycling,” wrote James E. Starrs in the introduction to “The Literary Cyclist” (Breakaway Books) . “A bicycle ride is a flight from sadness. It is a release from despair and a resurgence of hope.”
Because of this, I know I will always ride. And if not on the streets, then where?
AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM: THE MOTORIST’S SIDE
By James M. Flammang. James M. Flammang is a Chicago-based freelance auto journalist. His consumer-focused automotive publication, Tirekicking Today, may be seen on the Internet at www.tirekick.com.
Are Chicago streets big enough for both of us? Can cars and bicycles coexist?
Judging by the intimidating antics of many cyclists–aggravated by threatening actions of many a motorist–it’s hard to foresee a harmonious solution to the question of sharing.
Because this mutual mistrust is brought on by failure to imagine oneself in the other person’s seat, a remedy does not come easily. Not every motorist remembers what it was like to ride a bike. Cyclists don’t all drive cars. Small wonder we’re at odds.
Running red lights and stop signs ranks high on the annoyance list. Halting a bicycle momentarily and then proceeding through the intersection might be tolerable–if no pedestrians or vehicles bar the way. Whizzing through with barely a sideward glance, though, is certain to arouse fury in drivers.
Meandering to and fro while waiting for traffic to clear, and then zipping through an empty space, is another sure way to irritate. So is blasting full-speed down a skinny space alongside heavy traffic, barely clearing adjoining parked cars or lined-up commuters.
Edging too close to cars in any circumstance wins no friends from the driving public. Violators are no better than the menacing drivers who maneuver their cars so they virtually graze cyclists. Motorists get wary about opening a driver’s door in high-bikage areas, for fear a two-wheeler will emerge out of nowhere.
“No-hands” riding also irks. Those well-balanced cyclists who perform this stunt might think it’s no-risk behavior. But if the bicycle tire suddenly hits a hole, or if an object soars through the air and strikes a wheel, this stunt rider is unlikely to avoid disaster.
Attitude matters too–maybe more than tangible transgressions. Drivers detest the look of smug self-satisfaction on the face of many a cyclist, reflecting obvious disdain for motor vehicles. It’s a look that insists we are little more than lazy, beastly polluters and profligate wasters of precious fuels, cocooned within motorized assault weapons that threaten the serenity of the public roads. Bicyclists, in contrast, seem to see themselves as virtuous and kind, basking in sunshine while partaking of healthful exercise.
Threatening attitudes cut both ways, of course. A lot of motorists consider bicyclists to be rude and self-absorbed. In reality, virtue–like misbehavior–is more a product of the person than of his or her conveyance.
Riding without lights at night is another irritant, as is non-use of turn signals. Doesn’t anyone know hand signals anymore? Probably not, since electric turn signals eliminated the need for hand gestures–of the polite kind–decades ago. Because so many drivers don’t bother with signals, it’s hard to fault bicyclists for doing likewise.
Don’t expect praise when riding on sidewalks and other places that are inappropriate, if not illegal, for adults. Riding two abreast also is sure to draw grimaces.
Why have so many of you decided that helmets are for wimps? Motorcyclists might have some justification for complaining that their helmets are heavy and hot. Bicycle helmets are light, yet are seldom seen.
Some cyclists believe it’s safer to ride on the wrong side of the street, facing traffic instead of going along with it. Sorry, but it complicates the sharing of the pavement.
Cyclists don’t appear to make sufficient use of bike lanes. On Elston Avenue, for one, motorists seldom encounter a bicycle in the path reserved for two-wheelers; and when we do, it isn’t always traveling within the allotted space.
What can be done to improve cyclist behavior? Requiring road tests and licensing seems drastic. Testing hasn’t done much to curb bad driving, after all. Still, bicyclists should at least learn basic road-sharing.
Rather than separate spaces for bicyclists and motorists, wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were lanes solely for bad bikers and dangerous drivers? That way, the fiendish two-wheelers and the rage-ridden four-wheelers could terrorize each other, while the rest of us–whatever our preferred mode of transport–could roll our ways in peace.
Until that utopian day, tolerance is the key. Civility counts. If drivers observe more smiles above the handlebars, perhaps more of us will respond with grins than with rude gestures.