Commentary by Wayne Lee
It’s time for me to talk about something near and dear to my heart. It’s a passion I’ve embraced since I was four years old and that’s bicycling. May was National Bicycle Awareness Month (is as I’m writing this). As Summer approaches and school lets out, there will be more bicycles on the road than at any other time of the year.
Additionally, I’ve also noticed the increase in motorized scooters that travel faster than I can ride. This increase means more encounters with vehicles, and the vehicle never loses. I discovered something many years ago. Cars don’t want me on the road and people don’t want me on the sidewalk. From my perspective, more cyclists mean less traffic, more available parking and cleaner air. However, not everyone sees it that way.
I’ve had items thrown at me (an egg between the shoulder blades at 50 mph really hurts). I’ve had people leaning out of a moving car so they could push me off my bike. Diesel trucks try to smoke me out; others just run me off the road. Just a few months ago I had a guy in a car pull up along my left side and then just slowly move over until he forced me to the curb.
I was once told by a fellow cyclist that once you mount a bicycle, you become invisible to drivers and it’s true. I can’t count the number of times I was crossing a street, in a crosswalk, with the light and got hit by a car that only looked left before executing a right turn. I had a cab driver literally tell me, “Any accident between a car and a bicycle rider is always the bicyclist’s fault because they should be watching out.”
I was also told by a law enforcement officer that 75% of all accidents involving bikes are the fault of the cyclist. Having been knocked down many times, I can see how he came to that conclusion. Whenever you read the accident report, the driver always makes the same three statements. “Yes, I stopped.” (No, you didn’t). “Yes. I looked.” (No, you didn’t). And the inevitable, “He came out of nowhere,” because all bike riders reside in the town of Nowhere, USA.
I once almost had my head taken off while riding next to a line of parked semi-trucks. Just as I was passing, one of the drivers threw his door open just as I got there and nearly decapitated me. We even got harassed once by state capitol police.
I was a volunteer for years with Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA), and we did free bicycle parking at local events. We happened to be working at the 200th anniversary celebration of California on the capitol grounds when an officer stopped by, saw the claim tickets we were using and accused us of running an illegal lottery.
It was a standard roll of tickets, and we would give one half to the bike owner and tape the other half to the bike in order to reunite everyone with the proper person-powered vehicle. (We also parked scooters and skateboards.) We ended up tracking down his supervisor who immediately reassigned him.
Speaking of the state capitol in California, there is a weird situation when you ride downtown. It seems that as you ride the length of the capitol grounds, the sidewalk on the left is state property, and bikes can legally ride there. However, the other side of the same street is city property and it’s illegal to ride on that sidewalk.
Just last week I was in a left turn lane waiting for the light to change when the driver of the car behind started honking at me because I was evidently in his way. The light was red so I’m not sure what he expected me to do. He made sure to blow by me as fast as possible to register his displeasure after the light had changed. Some people just don’t like sharing the road.
So, drivers please slow down and try to make room for others. And riders, obey the traffic laws and don’t take shortcuts. History has shown it never works out well for the rider. That’s why helmets are not only required for those under 18; it’s a good idea for those over 18 as well. So, get out and enjoy our perfect bike riding weather, and stay safe out there.
