Like the Hatfields and McCoys?
by
Eric Peters
EricPetersAutos.com
As a biker
(and someone who rode bicycles in the past) IÂ’m sympathetic
to people on bicycles. Cagers (people in cars) can be dicks.
Courtesy –
and common sense – should extend both ways, though.
People in cars
should should never crowd cyclists – and pass with care, when
itÂ’s safe to do so. It is horrifically easy to seriously injure
a guy on a 50 pound cycle when youÂ’re driving a 5,000 lb. SUV.
Cyclists, for
their part, should be aware of cars – and do their best not
to impede them – just as slow-moving car drivers, RV drivers
and drivers of tractors, etc., ought not to. Moving over to the
right – or even off the road, if need be – is sometimes
the courteous (and arguably, safe) move. I do it when IÂ’m hauling
junk in my truck, for example. It’s no skin off my nose –
and IÂ’ve never understood why any slow-mover (car, bicycle,
whatever) wouldnÂ’t do it, once they notice you back there.
It dissipates tension (more on this in a moment) and beyond that,
itÂ’s just the cool thing to do. You see thereÂ’s someone
behind you who obviously would like to get by.
Why not let
them by?
We have a large
number of cyclists in my area and here, at least, part of the mutual
animosity between cyclists and cagers stems from belligerent actions
by both parties. Car drivers who “shave” the cyclists,
deliberately trying to intimidate them by passing as close to them
as possible. Cyclists, who ride two (or three – or a dozen)
abreast uphill doing less than 15 MPH on a road with a 45-plus MPH
traffic flowÂ… .
One group grows
to resent – then hate – the other. And some in each group
begin to actively look for an opportunity to harass the members
of the other group – as in the video of the man in the Explorer
laying on his horn as he creeped along behind a pair of cyclists.
(Video of that here.)
Anus apertures
abound – some in tight-fitting spandex; others in Easy Fit
jeans.
Each is equally
smelly.
There are also
structural problems – specifically, the increasing absence
of legal passing zones. In my area, they are being disappeared at
a startling rate. Formerly legal passing zones with clear sight
lines and plenty of room to do it safely – just painted over
double yellow. I assume this is being done to provide more pretext
for ticket-issuing, or just as another dumbing-down measure precipitated
by the actions of a Clover like that guy in the Explorer who could
not execute a safe pass – and so now everyone is prohibited
from passing. Very much like no-right-on-red.
ItÂ’s no
fun for the cyclists, either. Who wants to have three or four (or
a dozen) cars breathing down oneÂ’s neck?
In any case,
the absence of legal passing zones makes it more frustrating –
and thus, dangerous – for car drivers to pass slow-moving bicyclists.
Because now, the car driver is faced with executing a potentially
ticketable maneuver – which affects his concentration on the
task, makes him nervous – etc. Hence, it makes executing a
safe pass more difficult for those who choose to attempt it –
and discourages many from even trying, out of fear of being caught
by Officer Unfriendly and issued a piece of payinÂ’ paper. Result?
A conga line of cars creeping along behind a cyclist at perhaps
20 or 30 MPH below the speed limit for that road. The cyclist wonÂ’t
pull off or move over – and the cars won’t try to pass.
Or they pass unsafely.
September
25, 2012
Eric Peters
[send him mail] is an automotive
columnist and author of Automotive
Atrocities and Road Hogs (2011). Visit his
website.
Copyright
© 2012 Eric Peters