Tuesdays are the Science Section in the New York Times. I
recommend it. Yes, I know, I’m letting an outside agency schedule my life,
blah, blah, blah, available on-line anytime, “you still read the paper?” and
all that noise. Yes. I look forward to weekends, too. Sue me.
Today’s edition has several articles that speak to me,
and I could go for a while on several, such as the value of short bursts of
exercise, rubella outbreaks in Japan due
to gender-based vaccination policies, why it’s easier to speak a foreign language
when you’re seeing foreign cues (my friends know why this jumped out to me,) and
the Gates Foundation’s quest for the perfect condom. I could go on about that last one for quite a
while.
But instead, there’s this article about “Safer Biking”,
meaning bicyclists, that I want to do a brief launch on.
The article discusses the half-million emergency room visits
each year because of bike accidents, and safety stats on using helmets. “Dooring”
as a common cause of car-bike accidents, which our soon-to-be-ex-mayor
Villaraigosa discovered, first-elbow. It
recommends the Netherlands’ safety idea of opening your car door with your
RIGHT hand, so you look over your left shoulder to clear the bike lane before
you fling open that sucker into an oncoming cyclist. It talks about raising
fines for this move, as well as discussing lane markings, intersection sensors
for bikes, dedicated bike lanes, and all the usual accommodations that bikes need in a
car-centric traffic design.
Fine.
But only mentioned in passing is any obligation of the
cyclist. One paragraph in a half-page article recommends against texting or
talking on the phone while cycling, the same warnings given to all drivers on
the road.
Unmentioned are any of the following:
>>The sign says ‘STOP.’ It’s not a suggestion for cars, it’s
a law. Want to be taken seriously as a vehicle? STOP. Same goes for Red lights.
>>My car has to have lights. Surprisingly, your bike does,
too, at least after the sun sets. No lights equals hood ornament. No apologies.
>>My car has to have brakes. Yours does, too. A criterium
racing bike is the only bike that shouldn’t have brakes, because it ONLY runs
on a closed-track velodrome, only with other bikes without brakes. I know you think you can stop that ‘fixie’ in
time, but again, no brakes equals hood ornament. No apologies.
>>Pick a lane and take it, signal lane changes and make
them. I’ve driven all the way down Palos Verde Drive East behind a pair of
cyclists, without honking or crowding, because I’ve also ridden it on my
Paramount, and know how much that ride rocks at 30 mph on a bike. But I’ve also
seen the right-curb-to-left-turn-lane-without-a-signal move at the turn at PV
Drive North. I’ll try to stop when you make that move, but…hood ornament? No
apologies.
These have been examples of bad driving, or bad
equipment. I see plenty of both on cars, too.
But then there’s just stupid. Let me spell that for the folks who commit
these acts: STOOPID.
>>Doing the criterium dance at the red light, trying to
stay poised to launch without taking your feet off the pedals, twitching the
front wheel left and right, rocking the bike back and forth, and then (personal
favorite) losing it and falling over in front of a car because you couldn’t get
unclipped/ unstrapped/ unproud fast enough to get a foot down. “How’d you break your wrist?”
>>The fallback faux pas, circling. For the maroons who want to do the
dance but actually have gearing on their rear hubs, is to circle in tight loops
at the front of the bike lane at the intersection as they wait for the light to
change to green. Meanwhile, cars in the right lane have no idea what the bozo on
the bike is doing. Especially when the bike is pointing against traffic, so if
the light changes and the car wants to go, it has to wait for the bicyclist to
finish the pirouette.
>>Constantly switching between being a car and a
pedestrian, trying to be both, ie., turning through intersections by riding in
crosswalks.
>>Vehicles all go the same direction on one side of the
yellow line. NO EXCEPTIONS. I look both
ways for slow-moving pedestrians crossing the street at the corners. They’re
easily seen, because there’s no cars parked at the corner to block my view. I
look both ways at traffic, coming from the left close-in, from the right
farther away. I usually have a good view, because parked cars aren’t parked too
close to the corners, since the red no-parking zones are designed for this kind
of traffic situation (speed, viewing angles, etc.) But if you’re riding in the
curb lane against traffic, zipping towards me completely obscured by the parked
cars you’re passing, coming at me on THIS side of the street but from the WRONG
direction, well,…hood ornament. No apologies.
And now, a brief discussion of the 1991 Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Law of Unintended Consequences. Folks in wheelchairs, or crutches, or just
suffering the infirmity of advanced age, found themselves cut off from their
friends across the street, and from the businesses blocks away, by the curbs you
and I step over every day. So the ADA mandated curb-cuts at intersections, so
folks who could barely lift their feet as they walked could nonetheless cross
the street. So the wheelchair-bound
could cross the road to the
grocery/drugstore/fastfood complex that services their neighborhood. NOT so that sidewalks could become the new
bike highways, allowing cyclists to scream through intersections without having
to negotiate curbs at all. They’re called sideWALKS, you know. And I expect, anticipate and check for
traffic that’s moving at pedestrian/wheelchair speed coming along sidewalks. So
if you’re speeding those sidewalks, especially going WITH traffic, so I can’t
see you because of the parked cars between you and me? No apologies, hood
ornament.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
Being an analyst, as well as a bicyclist, I look for
solutions to these issues. Here are a few ideas.
Enforcement. What cop wants to chase a bicycle? Especially
here in LA, where most of the cops are in cars, it’s a losing proposition. A cyclist can elude a car, the fines are
small, and aren’t taken seriously. Since bikes aren’t registered, failure to pay has no result. But now, we can
do photo enforcement. Cops can take
pics, citizens can take pics, and they can be posted online, with rewards for
identification, paid from the car/vehicle size fines for the tickets that
result.
Want to ride on the roads? Valid ID at all times, just
like with other vehicles out there. Lights and brakes, and fines for missing
them. Various cities have tried bike
registration and licensing. It hasn’t worked so far. But carrying ID is simple. And when the cop
pulls you over for no brakes, no lights, not stopping at the light, you can
show him a valid ID, or he can take your picture and if you don’t pay within 30
days, your picture goes up, and a reward is offered for ID’ing you.
All laws for cars apply to you. Blow lights, cross
streets by riding intersections, drive the wrong way in traffic, circle instead
of stop and put a foot down at the red light? Ticket. Period.
Here’s a simple rule: If you couldn’t do it riding a
motorcycle, don’t do it on a bicycle.
Exceptions:
We don’t let small children drive toy cars in traffic,
and we don’t let cars drive along sidewalks. We understand those are bad
ideas. So twelve and under, on the
sidewalk. Over twelve, in the street. The age is negotiable, but needs to be
over ten and under sixteen. This way, years before they’re eligible to drive a
car, kids will learn the traffic rules accurately. Probably improve the quality
of drivers out there eventually. Both kinds.
Look, I ride, too. I’ve ridden the gravel roads and
one-laners from Fairbanks to Anchorage, and PCH from San Francisco to San
Diego. I ride in traffic on Venice Blvd in LA and the bike path on the beach
there. I know what kinds of inconsiderate, angry assholes there are behind the
wheels of those cars.
But every time you blow a stop sign, or surprise a driver
coming from the wrong direction, you don’t just scare that driver and make him
or her angry at you. You make that
driver angry at all the rest of us cyclists, who are trying to be vehicles, to
move with traffic, to not show off or be jerks. You are setting a bad example to everyone,
including your own children.
So wear a helmet. Stop at the light and the STOP sign.
Put a red rear light on the bike. Maybe four. Maybe flashing. A white headlight,
too, so you can be seen by the cars turning left as you come at them. And put a
goddamned brake on that front wheel, with the grip on the left handle, where
every real bicycle brakeset puts the stronger brake. Seventy per cent of your
stopping power is on the front wheel. Rely on your chain to stop from the rear
wheel and you’ll always lose to a cable brake.
Want to be treated like a vehicle and get the respect (and
space) of other vehicles on the road? Then
act like a vehicle. Same rules, no surprises. You already get to go to the
front of every lane at a STOP. Isn’t that enough? If you couldn’t do it riding
a motorcycle, don’t do it on a bicycle.
I said I’d do a “brief launch” on this.
Aren’t you glad I
didn’t go long?
6/25/2013 1:50 PM
