As an avid cyclist in the US for the past 8 years, I've heard all the comments from friends, family and co-workers about how I'm "crazy,"
"taking my life in my hands," "asking for trouble," etc. because I ride on the roads. Of course, none of those are true. Rather, those
are motorists' rationalizations for the prevalent mindset of "better stay out of the way of my car because I might run you over on accident, and if I
kill you then it'll be your fault for being there."
Somehow, being behind the wheel of a motor vehicle gives people the feeling that they can squash anything or anyone else in the roadway. Perhaps that feeling originates from when we are kids and our parents tell us to "stay out of the road or you might get hit." No one says "stay out of the road or other people will kill you" although that's really what would happen. Intentional or not, another person is certainly going to drive their 4000 lb machine over you at 70+ feet per second, but how come that's not attributed to the motorist? Maybe that's what breeds the idea that it's everything else's responsibility to stay out from underneath motorists' wheels, rather than the motorists being responsible for operating their vehicles in a way that they're not carelessly crushing other creatures "on accident."
About once per ride I experience a motorist whizzing uncomfortably closely past me as I ride along the side of the road. As a part-time motorist myself I can think of several reasons for this, ranging from careless oblivion to malicious intimidation. The reason doesn't matter really, because each driver would use the same excuse if they were to strike me: it was "an accident." Technically, it would be an accident -- they either weren't paying attention or merely meant to endanger my life and cause me to give up my hobby -- but it would be an accident that puts a small scratch on a bumper while simultaneously leaving a family fatherless. The reality is that we're not using sufficient care in operating our vehicles to prevent them from killing other people. I regularly ride on rural roads and watch people swerve all the way into the other lane to pass a 15 mph tractor, while at the same time whizzing within a foot of a cyclist who's travelling at the same speed. The difference? Motorists perceive striking the tractor as a threat to themselves. I'd bet that hurtling along in our machines at up to 100 feet per second is the most dangerous thing that most of us do in our lives, so how can we tolerate so much room for "accidents?" It seems that the answer is because it's the victims who pay the price, rather than the careless motorists.
12 days ago I was tee-boned by a motorist in a pickup truck while riding my bicycle. Despite the fact that this was a rural intersection with undeveloped pastures on all four corners, the driver claims he did not see me approaching the intersection (he had a stopsign, I did not). Since there were no cars present, he pulled out and slammed into my right side, sending me to the hospital. Miraculously, I did not suffer death, paralysis, or any broken bones, although all of those seem more likely than the torn ligaments in my knee and several weeks of recovery that I have ahead of me. Again, since he didn't hit me on purpose it's called an accident, but that's just an excuse for operating a vehicle carelessly or maliciously.
Please give the act of operating a high-speed machine the appropriate amount of care, attention and responsibility. Cyclists and pedestrians aren't "crazies" with death wishes, they're sons and daughters, fathers and mothers who are using the roadways to which they're entitled. If it appears that they are "taking their lives in their hands" it's not because they're in a dangerous environment, it's because motorists are operating their vehicles in a careless and dangerous manner. Please be careful.
Somehow, being behind the wheel of a motor vehicle gives people the feeling that they can squash anything or anyone else in the roadway. Perhaps that feeling originates from when we are kids and our parents tell us to "stay out of the road or you might get hit." No one says "stay out of the road or other people will kill you" although that's really what would happen. Intentional or not, another person is certainly going to drive their 4000 lb machine over you at 70+ feet per second, but how come that's not attributed to the motorist? Maybe that's what breeds the idea that it's everything else's responsibility to stay out from underneath motorists' wheels, rather than the motorists being responsible for operating their vehicles in a way that they're not carelessly crushing other creatures "on accident."
About once per ride I experience a motorist whizzing uncomfortably closely past me as I ride along the side of the road. As a part-time motorist myself I can think of several reasons for this, ranging from careless oblivion to malicious intimidation. The reason doesn't matter really, because each driver would use the same excuse if they were to strike me: it was "an accident." Technically, it would be an accident -- they either weren't paying attention or merely meant to endanger my life and cause me to give up my hobby -- but it would be an accident that puts a small scratch on a bumper while simultaneously leaving a family fatherless. The reality is that we're not using sufficient care in operating our vehicles to prevent them from killing other people. I regularly ride on rural roads and watch people swerve all the way into the other lane to pass a 15 mph tractor, while at the same time whizzing within a foot of a cyclist who's travelling at the same speed. The difference? Motorists perceive striking the tractor as a threat to themselves. I'd bet that hurtling along in our machines at up to 100 feet per second is the most dangerous thing that most of us do in our lives, so how can we tolerate so much room for "accidents?" It seems that the answer is because it's the victims who pay the price, rather than the careless motorists.
12 days ago I was tee-boned by a motorist in a pickup truck while riding my bicycle. Despite the fact that this was a rural intersection with undeveloped pastures on all four corners, the driver claims he did not see me approaching the intersection (he had a stopsign, I did not). Since there were no cars present, he pulled out and slammed into my right side, sending me to the hospital. Miraculously, I did not suffer death, paralysis, or any broken bones, although all of those seem more likely than the torn ligaments in my knee and several weeks of recovery that I have ahead of me. Again, since he didn't hit me on purpose it's called an accident, but that's just an excuse for operating a vehicle carelessly or maliciously.
Please give the act of operating a high-speed machine the appropriate amount of care, attention and responsibility. Cyclists and pedestrians aren't "crazies" with death wishes, they're sons and daughters, fathers and mothers who are using the roadways to which they're entitled. If it appears that they are "taking their lives in their hands" it's not because they're in a dangerous environment, it's because motorists are operating their vehicles in a careless and dangerous manner. Please be careful.
