Bicyclist’s Behavior from the Driver’s Seat
It’s been no secret that I haven’t been bicycle commuting the last few months (since September). It started with an illness and has just been snowballing after that.
So, as I’ve been driving to my office aboard Camp Lejeune, I’ve spent plenty of time in stop-and-go traffic. This has afforded me to observe bicyclists’ behavior from the car. Coincidentally, I was listening to this NPR story about road rage against bicyclists in California when I witnessed the most egregious act I’ve seen committed on a bicycle. Can you pick it from the list below? (I’ll put the answer after a jump below).
I’ve seen the following violations of good bicycling behavior (not to mention common sense) in the last week:
- Bike-Salmon – Riding against the flow of traffic. Bicycles are vehicles, for all intents and purposes. That means we should be riding on the right side of the road, with the flow of traffic. Usually it’s a day-worker or some other fellow without lights, which makes it even worse.
- Splitting traffic – Witnessed last week. A rather dapper looking fellow in full racing kit on a very nice looking powder blue bicycle with silver fenders traveled almost the entire length of Brewster Blvd on Camp Lejeune between two lanes of stopped car traffic.
- Running traffic lights/signs – Same guy that was splitting traffic. He’s a repeat offender, too. I’ve seen him cruise through traffic lights at the intersection of Gum Branch / Bell Fork and Hwy 17/Marine Blvd. I’ve also seen him run the stop sign at the crosswalk on Brewster Blvd to leave Camp Lejeune just to weave through two lanes of traffic to cross the street.
It’s depressing to me to see so many bicyclists, whether commuters, road-racers or whatever, breaking common-sense traffic laws. And, really, the only they reason they do it is because they can and they can generally get away with it.
It’s also frustrating to me. I work with two City of Jacksonville Commissions to make this community a better place to bicycle, yet, for every point I make to increase bicycling facilities and access, some jerk in spandex runs a traffic light and undoes all my effort by destroying good will towards bicyclists.
I’m asking all of you in the bicycle community…Pull your heads out of whatever orifices they’re jammed in and follow the traffic laws. Just by doing that, you’ll make the world just a little bit better.
It was the splitting traffic. I was completely shocked when I saw that dude. Especially since there was a completely unused bicycle path just to the right of the roadway.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:48 am
Re splitting traffic: Since I moved to California that behavior feels a lot less egregious because it’s legal for motorcycles. If motorcycles are passing between cars, bicycles go completely unnoticed.
December 11th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
My lack of working out has snowballed as well. I’m good at keeping a workout going — I’ll ride day after day or workout every other day on a regular schedule and for a good long time, but if I miss enough, and know something ‘next week’ will likely cause me to miss some workouts, it’s hard for me to get into a “but I’ll do it now anyway, while I have time” frame of mind.
Last weekend I saw a guy out on his bike — all Spandexed up. While I admired the fact he was out in rather cool weather I was put off by his cycling behavior. He was behind me in a left turn lane, but swung around me to run the light on red. While he was making his illegal left turn he created a challenge for a driver — who had the right of way — as the guy had to stop to keep from hitting him. The cyclist then proceeded down the road on the wrong side for a good bit.