Disclaimer: This article is the opinion of Jason X and does not necessarily represent the Hub as a whole.
With only a few minutes left on my lunch break before I go back to my day job, I wanted to get a few words out on this blog that I’ve meant to put down for a few weeks:
Can motorists do right?
I know that for some people, it is a ‘culture war’ we have to fight. Even when we aren’t on our bikes, our right pant leg is rolled up, we are wearing a cycling cap and dammit we are cyclists! Not that there is anything wrong with being a cyclist and being proud of it, but even if we live car free do we really need to be on such a strong offense? (Though sometimes the best offense is a good defense right?)
Anyway, back to the point. Even if more people were to get on bikes, I would personally hate to see ambulances disappear from the street when people need them. I would hate to see people with physical disabilities have their mobility limited when an automobile assists them getting on with their lives.
The reality is that cars aren’t going away for some time. So how do we work together? Here are some stories for the motorists among us:
A few weeks ago, one of my good buds Nate (who is now on the Hub’s collective) got hit by a car. I grew up with this guy and we’ve seen a lot of stuff together. I was there when he got his first concussion at a Suicide Machines show at St. Andrew’s Hall. I don’t like seeing him get hurt. Here is what happened that went right:
Luckily Nate was only clipped by the vehicle’s side-view mirror and Nate was able to keep himself on the bike. Once he knew what had happened Nate chased the car down screaming at the top of his lungs…and the car stopped.
The driver said he didn’t see Nate and waited with him until the police came to file a report. I love Nate and as much as I want to be mad at this driver, I can’t really. They didn’t raise their voice to Nate and they did the right thing. They realized they did something wrong and stopped. I’m sure I would feel differently if Nate was dead, but in this situation the driver was lucky enough to get away without being a murderer. What the driver did was right.
Of course, the police showed up and weren’t very helpful. One officer instructed Nate to ride on the other side of the road against traffic. Nate was again lucky when the officer’s partner stepped in and said Nate wasn’t doing anything wrong. What police know about bicyclists is probably for another blog though…
After this event, a week or so later, I was riding north through the city in a pretty desolate area. The part of Highland Park where trees fall and don’t make a sound. Anyway, I stopped at a traffic light and behind me a car approached honking it’s horn. It turns out that the driver was sounding the horn and I turned to hear him tell me that I was in his way.
I just shrugged my shoulders until he told me to get on the sidewalk. He also inquired as to what I was doing in the road. I told him that I wasn’t walking and I was just riding my bike. I realized that this guy wanted to turn right at the light. Luckily bikes are skinny and he could fit past me. Since there was no one else on our side of the road waiting for the light I told him I could move to the left so he could turn past me.
The driver seemed confused and told him he was going to hit me. I didn’t believe that one bit and told him that if he simply asked me I would move so he could turn. I then moved my bike to the left and he slowly approached the light next to me. “All you need to do is ask. I’m right here.” I said with a smile.
The driver stopped for a quick moment, smiled back and said, “Man, you are really cool! You are one cool guy!”
Sure, we could have made that a shouting match, by why? Simple communication, that is all we need.
Speaking of simple communication I was riding back home that night when it was plenty dark out. I was on 7 mile about to turn on Woodward and I was waiting at the light behind a truck that had passed me a little bit farther down the road.
“Hey cyclist!” yelled the driver.
“Yeah”
“Your rear light is hard to see.”
Wherever you are, thanks for watching my back. For every car that passes me to close I try to remember that there are hundreds of other cars that have given me the respectful amount of space when passing me.
I hear bicyclists talking about how cars separate you from the world since you are in a gigantic metal box (coffin). On bikes, you interact with the world. Let’s take advantage of that and try to communicate with one another without yelling mean things (when possible).
With that said, I had someone almost hit me a week later and I gave them a one finger salute and yelled things I won’t repeat here. Sometimes when you need to defend your life you react in less than ideal ways, but when possible we don’t need to buy into the cars vs. bikes conflict that is seen everywhere. Don’t be a stereotype that motorists are expecting and they won’t respond by being the stereotypes we are expecting.
Be safe out there and keep riding!
– jason x
also important to note wherever we see “bikes vs. cars” that this name for conflict can be a little misleading. cars aren’t out there like transformers trying to transform fists out of tires and punch bikes that are magically floating down the road like logs in a stream.
there are people piloting those vehicles, and driving those bikes, and i dig your counter-examples to the seemingly intractable conflict, and would love to hear more people’s examples of how they’ve been able to have a ‘non-traditional’ person-on-bike to person-in-car conversation!
(also important to note: the English noun ‘cyclist’ or ‘bicyclist’ doesn’t so much exist in most major world languages- everyone already has one, so why make up a word for it!)
Jason, I appreciate your post. I also admire this phrase applied by Gandi
“Be the change you want to see in the world” Trying to be the positive role model is a work in progress. Most times when riding on the sidewalk I thank pedestrians for sharing their sidewalk with me. When I think of sharing our road with others, my contributing to flow can help.
I used to confront tailgaters and horn sounders by signaling a stop and lay my bike across the lane then proceed to walk toward drivers window to ask please don’t follow so close or ask if I could help them since their honking continued. Once in colder weather I was wearing a ski mask when I approached a driver their eyes opened wide as they checked their mirror and proceeded to back up away from this terrorist biker. No more of this, I changed my tactic. When I am confronted by drivers I slowly stutter, I, I ,I am s, s, s, sor, sorry th, that I, I , I am s, s, sslow……
This passive/aggressive move has resulted in some sick enjoyment from this sick person yet I am supposed to be growing up and exibiting my moves as a role model for the grand kids…….like I said a work in progress.
“When someone does something good, applaud, you will make two people happy,” – Samuel Goldwyn.
Thanks Jason
my biggest concern is people coming out of a sidestreet/driveway/parking lot and not looking both directions. actually i got clipped once by some lady doing this. if someone does it now i usually yell something like “thanks” or “are you planning on looking both ways ever?” one piece of advice is to ride on the right side of the road even if you are on the sidewalk they are more likely to see you coming from the right and not block you so you dont have to stop or slow down.
Yeah Keith,
Riding with traffic is good. Even when riding on the sidewalk (an illegal act in Michigan if you are an adult) it is best to go with traffic because if a motorist actually is looking, that is the direction they are going to look.
Also, when I see someone about to pull out I’ll try to get myself into the center or left of center of the lane I’m in and do my best to make eye contact with the driver.
Usually motorists can be read pretty well by where their eyes are and what their facial expression looks like.