There’s been a lot of talk lately on the MABRA listserv about the relationship between motorists and cyclists on the road.  It’s a bit misplaced, as many of the constituencies on that listserv aren’t so much about cycling on the road other then during group rides and races.  I’ve been reluctant to comment on the listserv, as I don’t want to fill up people’s mailboxes with information that isn’t particularly relevant to racing in the Mid-Atlantic region.  I do, however, have some strongly-held views that appear to run contrary to many of the dominant personalities on the listserv.

The commentary was precipitated by the death of a cyclist in Chicago killed by a motorist who, police say, likely ran a red light.  A human reaction to such a tragedy is sadness and anger.  Next, for me, comes outrage – and, in this case, a little bit of annoyance with my fellow cyclists.  Matching some quotes from officials in the news articles about the tragedy which seem to focus the blame on the cyclist rather then the motorist, we get a quick lecture on the listserv about how we cyclists actually invite aggressive driving by such antics as weaving in and out of traffic at Hains Point.

The comparison is silly, of course, because the vast majority of interaction between motorists and cyclists is not with some hot-shot at Hains Point, but a regular commuter on the street during rush hour.  Without a doubt, there are many commuters who weave in and out and, as I read recently someplace, “blow” through stop signs.  But there are many who not.  This is human nature; different people behave differently.

But, more to the point, I don’t buy for a minute the notion that the behavior of motorists would change if I could suddenly wave a magic wand and cause all cyclists to obey traffic laws.  Motorists aren’t modifying their behavior in reaction to cyclists.  Remember that, for the most part, cyclists are invisible to motorists.  And all this assumes that motorists know what the laws are with regard to cyclists – a pretty huge assumption, indeed.

Does this mean we shouldn’t obey traffic laws?  Absolutely not.  But, obeying traffic laws ought to be done because you think that’s the right thing to do.  

I am, I must say, deliberately casual about obeying traffic laws because there isn’t a single motorized vehicle on the roads today whose driver is obeying the traffic laws – next time you’re driving a car, check out how fast 25 miles per hour really is, and remember that’s the speed limit for most streets in the District.  But that’s not the only reason – there are, in fact, several points in my daily commute where the safest way of riding my bike in traffic is actually in violation of traffic laws (for instance, running a red light at one corner in order to get to the left lane of traffic makes it a lot less likely that I’ll get squished by a car going well past the speed limit).

There’s so much more to say on this topic, but I’ve probably said too much already – better here then in your mailbox, right?!

- posted by Chris