Sometimes you do things without knowing why.

[da]

Biking home today, on my regular commute.

Though, not really, because I didn't turn at the usual block.

So I'm biking a street off from the usual commute, and I wonder why I didn't turn.

And I come up and see a bicyclist on the left side of the street, biking against traffic. Wearing a helmet. In his mid-20s.

So I say, "Hey there."

He says, "Hey," in a friendly way. I slow down a bit to match him.

I say, "I hope you don't mind, and I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but did you know it's really dangerous biking on that side against traffic? Because the cars aren't looking for things moving at bike speeds on that side of the road. And that's really dangerous for you."

He stopped and looked confused. "But I thought we were supposed to go against traffic to see them better. For safety." He sounded betrayed.

I said, "It's safer if you're a pedestrian. On foot, you're moving slowly, it's fine to be on that side. But on a bike, according to law, you're a vehicle."

"Oh. Wow. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Yeah, I think a lot of people got told that in school a while ago, that they should bike against traffic, but it's really unsafe for you, and it's unsafe for bicyclists who are coming the other way. Nobody expects bikes to be there."

"Oh. OK."

"Take care."

"Yeah, have a good day."

And I biked on home, with a lump in my throat.


---

Today at lunch, melted_snowball and I were talking about the condition of being a bicyclist or pedestrian in this town, or in many places in North America. And we agreed there is no reason, other than lack of public will, for car/bike/pedestrian interaction to be as fraught as it is (particularly car/bike, but also bike/pedestrian). d. mentioned a friend's post today considering his choice to bike on less trafficked roads and to back away from engaging motorists who are being dangerous. This is come up regarding a recent grisly Toronto road-rage altercation that left a bike courier dead, though it's mostly gotten press because the motorist is a former Attorney General of Ontario charged with vehicular homicide. That situation is sad, but the overall condition of culture around bicycles is pretty damn sad too.

I want to see a lot more public will toward educating both cyclists and motorists about the rules of the road. I want to see a police blitz ticketing cyclists without lights or bells or running red lights; I want to see a lot of blitzes. I want to see a lot more adult defensive-cycling classes. (A national program recently sent a trainer-instructor here, for companies or individuals who wanted to teach cycling classes; I have heard nothing about its success or failures. And only heard about the program in take_the_lane's blog.)

But the status quo is deeply frustrating.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

As a young child I was trained to bike against traffic (once I was allowed onto the road), because you could see imminent death and try to avoid it. Then again, this was in a ruralish area with wide streets, and I was also taught before I was ten that I should start biking with traffic. It was more like training wheels than anything else.

And I hate it when bicyclists are in a bike lane going in the wrong direction. It's already hard enough to dodge car doors being opened or people swerving in front of you to turn right without having to worry about a fellow biker slamming into you.

[peaceofpie.livejournal.com]

You may well have saved that person's life.

My throat got lumpy too, reading this story, because all I can think now when I see bicyclists dodging drivers is Bonnie...but it also warmed my heart right up to know that you are out there caring enough about other people to take the time to tell another bicyclist something that really may save his life.

You're a beautiful human, Daniel. *hugs*

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

If a kid is facing down imminent death, I'm not sure how they'll be able to do anything about it, since they generally can't hop a curb (as d&I witnessed in Toronto last month).

I guess it might help if they're weaving all over the place, they might remember to stay near the curb if they see the traffic coming.

*sigh* I think it got taught here too.

"It's already hard enough..."

Too right. On talking with the idiots: I have had considerably better luck talking to people going the same direction as me, across the road (who usually thank me, actually), than those coming AT ME, where I have rarely had a conversation longer than, "you're going the wrong way!" (properly shouted with a wide-eyed look of panic with over-telegraphed wild gestures of fear).

[ng-nighthawk.livejournal.com]

I have noticed that too often bikes choose to act like pedestrians or vehicles depending on which is more convenient for them. This annoys me. It is, of course, difficult for a bike to truly act like a car on, say, a 45mph/70kph street. But it's also difficult for a bike to act like a pedestrian downtown.

Boulder had an entire secondary system of bike trails that you could use without engaging car roads very often--they even plowed it in the winter. Which is very nice, but you have to live and work in Boulder, and the bike trails just aren't worth that. :)

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

But...granola.

[kraig.livejournal.com]

I was never taught to bike against traffic. Of course, I biked on sidewalks most of the time I was in town, and we moved to a rural area (where bikes were nearly useless) when I was 10. But when I rode my bike after that, it was in the direction traffic would have been, had there been any significant.

Speaking to what merle said, that sort of behaviour is I think what leads to contempt from drivers around here. Of course, the way a lot of people *drive* leads to contempt from *me*, but hey. :) A few days ago crossing at Uni and Seagram, I was walking across on the Erb side of Uni, with the light. Two cars were lined up to make a left, the front car didn't move since the intersection was filled with pedestrians (me included). Rear car honked, honked, honked, and finally the front car just jumped forward, swerving between two pedestrians and nearly getting t-boned by somebody taking their green through the intersection from the other side (he managed to stop fast enough). Rear car followed the front car through closely... I love this city.

[ng-nighthawk.livejournal.com]

This is made only two miles away.

Unless you were talking about alt-culture and not oat clusters?

[zanate.livejournal.com]

I plot my cycling routes to stay off the main drags as much as I possibly can. I think not in terms of 1 ride, but hundreds. Can I bike up this street a few hundred times without incident?

Thanks for the anecdote about Wrong Side Clyde. I know a lot of people have misinterpreted that advice, or been misinformed. Your rebuttal of what makes it a bad idea for cyclists even if it's a good idea for peds is very useful, I'll file that away.

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

I guess it might help if they're weaving all over the place, they might remember to stay near the curb if they see the traffic coming.

I think that was the idea: if you saw a car coming (and where I was learning to bike, in rural suburbia, that was quite infrequent) you came to the side and stopped. Or, since every kid knows they are immortal, just slow down if a parent is not watching. The technique would be completely useless in any urban area.

However, if you are walking or jogging down a street with no sidewalks, I do think you should go against traffic so you can dodge off onto the shoulder when a huge truck comes barreling past. You won't possibly notice a vehicle about to mow you down unless you can see it coming.

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

I assert with absolute confidence that the granola is better in Boulder.

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

They caress each oat stalk before removing it from the ground, saying a short prayer.