An Open Letter to Drivers
I imagine that unless you’re a Cyclist, it is quite difficult to understand what it’s like to ride a bicycle on the open road amongst traffic. It is a vulnerable feeling to be riding along a road with limited or no escape routes, surrounded by vehicles who outweigh you by several orders of magnitude. Particularly when you take into consideration that the driver likely does not hold your safety in the same esteem that you yourself do, but that they in all likelihood consider their Instagram feed to be of equal or higher priority to the task at hand, which in this case hopefully involves not hitting cyclists.
For as many sketchy encounters I’ve experienced between myself and a motor vehicle, I have found that only in rare situations do the drivers have any real malice towards us as we pedal along; normally the problem with vehicles are those of inconsideration and a lack of appreciation for the plight of the Cyclist; using the bicycle lane as a turning or passing lane, for example, is an case of ignorance, not malice. The good thing about ignorance is that it is curable through education, assuming the afflicted party is willing. The bad news is both are equally deadly to the Cyclist.
In the spirit of communication and in the hope that communication might lead to education, I humbly submit the following observations:
- Observation #1: There is no Venn diagram that shows the intersection between human, car, and bicycle as a “win” for any involved party. Best to avoid this, irrespective of who is at fault.
- Observation #2: As we are move along together in traffic, the best practice is to move predictably and consistently; I will do my best to do the same.
- Observation #3: If we’re both at an intersection, chances are that I can’t see you inside your car window to notice you kindly waving me through; treat me like any other traffic and we’ll all wait our turns. No one likes a Seattle Standoff at the stop sign.
- Observation #4: We take much longer to stop than you do, even in dry conditions. If you pass us before slowing abruptly, we are going to be in a very bad situation very quickly. Leads to observation #1 above.
- Observation #5: At a stop light, I may turn to look you directly in the eye. This is simply to make sure you see me and to reassure myself that you know I’m there. It is not to intimidate you, although I do appreciate how badass I look in my super hero outfit and my dope-ass shades.
- Observation #6: The bicycle lane is not a turning/merging lane and neglecting this fact will lead to an impromptu empirical study of the legitimacy of Observation #1.
- Observation #7: If you are following (im)patiently behind me while you wait for the right time to pass me, give me enough room so I don’t have to listen to you rhythmically hitting the gas pedal every time you think there might be an opportunity to sneak by. When you do decide, move quickly and assertively; don’t hesitate. Most of us don’t carry toilet paper.
- Observation #8: If I’m riding in the middle of the lane, it means it isn’t safe to pass me, not that you should squeeze into the gap between me and oncoming traffic.
- Observation #9: If I look back at you while I’m riding and move to the side, then that means I know you’re there and you can pass as soon as you’re comfortable. If I then also wave you through, it means I feel it’s safe to pass if you also do.
- Observation #10: Yelling at me will not discourage me from riding my bike. Also, I do, in fact, pay taxes so don’t hold the fact that I’m not also burning fossil fuels against me. In return, I’ll only yell at you if you scared me to death, but I promise to feel bad about it later.
Share the road, and let’s all return home safely to start it all over again tomorrow. Vive la Vie Velominatus.
If I swear/gesticulate at you, it’s generally because you scared me a little with that close pass. It is not an invitation to pull in further up the road so we can ” take it further”. Let it go.
Good post and good observations. I like #s 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 but #8 is my favorite.
I disagree with #6. Normal movement of traffic means that there’s no place for a thru lane (e.g., the bike lane) to the right of a lane that is used to make right turns. It is way, way safer for motor vehicle to be as far right as practicable to make its right turn. The cyclist must, then, be BEHIND the motor vehicle and NOT to its right. Passing motor vehicles on the right by cyclists is to be regarded as an unsafe practice. It to often results in violation of observation #1. Further, a motor vehicle that is making its right turn as far right as practicable is driving in a predictable fashion, so is fully in compliance with observation #2.
Education of cyclists and motorists will go a long, long way to improve everyone’s safety.
Oh and “that driver died in his(her) car after getting hit from the cyclists.” – SAID NO ONE EVER.
Be safe out there, this from London… I despair
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/japan-driver-playing-pok-mon-go-kills-woman-after-hitting-her-with-truck-a3329106.html
* London Press – Japan.
well said. Predictability is the biggest issue with NYC driver, regardless of what vehicle Im using.
I am a truck driver by trade and a Roadie by the grace of God. I love my fellow cyclists and care for them and would love the same respect from fellow drivers but alas some are TWATWAFFLES ? Bless them
@frank, sage words. However, I suspect that you’re pissing into the wind, the venn diagram that shows drivers that need to understand points 1 through 10 and those likely to read points 1 through 10 shows no intersecting groups.
Cars that have mountain ranges, edges of cities, adventure names, and wtf is an “Escalade” in their names are all getting on my nerves. Really want to carry my newly papered 1670 samurai sword on my back and shred the hood (bonet for you Blighties) when they piss me off.
The daily 10 mile one way commute in Miami is constantly amusing and so far after 3 years I’m still in one piece.
It amazes me that so many cars have to “get” by or they won’t get to the next light in time, where I’ll pass them anyway.
@Steve T
This !
I am guilty of the first bit, only to stress like hell for the next 30 mins of the ride wondering/waiting for the car driver to come back around and ” have a further chat ” about my foul mouth and my apparent higher order on the totem pole.
In California, the bicycle lane is the turning lane. Please feel free to check that. I have two cycling friends who were marked wrong on their driving test for turning right without first entering the bicycle lane. In fact, that is the reason the line marking the bike lane becomes dashed near intersections, so that cars know they are supposed to enter the lane to make right turns.
That does not mean there should be any conflict between cars and cyclists. Just as in other traffic situations, drivers are required to enter the lane safely. That means, (and this will shock many motorists – sometimes a motorist will need to WAIT and enter [blend] the lane behind the cyclist.) It also means that if there is a motorist who understands this rule, we cyclists must honor their safe, legal entry into the lane and hence, not pass them on the right but go behind them until their turn clears us to carry on.
To be sure, this and many other laws that apply to bicycles on the roadway are not known by many motorists. Further, they are often not known by police officers.
This is worth reading (how the eyes and brain work to detect motion, and implications for traffic safety):
@uptitus
Thanks for posting that. Making my 15 year old (cyclist) and 17 year old (new driver) read it also.
@Alan Solot
Alan, welcome and great observations. I would only point out that passing on the right is a poor and dangerous practice in general; the biggest difference between US and other countries I’ve driven in is that traffic generally only passes on the left (or the right in those countries like ZA where they drive on the wrong side of the road).
Just today, a Cyclist passed my car on the right in a slow patch of traffic and it was very unnerving; unpredictable for the driver.
The point about a bike lane not being a turn lane has more to do with appreciating that it’s primary function is the safe passage of Cyclists, and it should be regarded as such. If there is a bicyclist in the lane, the car should respect that and wait until it is safe to move into that portion of the road.
Speaking of education, read a handy little tip the other day for those of us in the Velominatus Paterfamilias group.
Any time you’re driving with the kids in the car, make a game of who can count the most cyclists on the road, will very quickly build a habit of looking out for cyclists that should carry through to their driving.
All very good points.
Though for #7, if someone is waiting behind me I am nor in favor of prescribing HOW they should wait behind me. I certainly know it is frustrating to wait behind someone, on either 2 or 4 wheels, so I can empathize with them on that count. The second part of #7 is most important…pick the correct spot to pass and do it quickly.
@dancing up the hills
FFS.
I was going to use Pokemon Go as an example instead of Instagram and probably should have. That’s the last thing we need, like we’re not fractured enough as it is.
@chris
It was pointed out to me over a lovely dinner last night, as I ruminated over the VV observations, that the driving audience was likely not to read this. Point well taken.
@velomonkey
Ha!
@Rob
Robbie Robbie Robbie! Oh, how I have missed thee. I can see you, on your fixie Dahon, crushing fools with a giant Hattori Hanzo sword on your back. Well played.
@Barracuda
I yell, we all yell. But lets face it, it doesn’t do anything but further the perception that Cyclists are assholes. The more we can communicate the danger and bad situation in a calm way, the better.
@Chuck Hoefer
Great point, similar to Mr Alan above and welcome! The crucial point I didn’t mention is that a solid white line of any color should never be crossed and a dashed line is always acceptable to cross so long as traffic (including bicycles) conditions safely allow it. As soon as a bike lane goes dashed it is no longer purely a bike lane. Very important to remember, and again – great point.
@uptitus
I was already onboard reading the first bit of this article until I got to this:
In the context of avoiding conflict with an opponent who is actively trying to kill you, this is humbling to put into the speeds we deal with on the bicycle. So cool.
…And also remembering that at our speeds we still die when it happens. Point is, I am digesting the FUCK out of this article. Thanks for passing along!
@Winnipegcyclechick also wrote a rant about this earlier this month:
http://winnipegcyclechick.com/propaganda-and-the-fabricated-war/
I had 3 encounters on my 17km commute to the office this morning:
The first was when coming down the hill fast and a car turning onto my road coming from the left (I live in a country where people drive on the correct=right side of the road, no offense) who did not notice or ignored to think that I might be going faster than the average cyclist, so I had to break hard.
Hence Obs #4 could be extended to say that not only does it take us more time and distance to break but some of us also go faster than other cyclists.
Second one was at a pedestrian crossing. A mum was walking the sidewalk with her kid approaching a pedestrian crossing but not clearly aiming for that.When she turned to go on the crossing, it was too late for me too stop (Obs #4), which led to @Steve T’s observation.
@uptitus
That is very good. Should be part of every road users education.
That part about constant bearing was something I came across a long while back. Part of my defence when I see a car come to a road end when I know there is no traffic behind me, is to move to the centre of the road. The reason for this is to try to move across their vision to some extent to try to ensure I am seen. It also gives me more options in avoidance if I am not.
This summer I had an instance were even that did not work but because I was already in the middle of the road I was actually able to completely cross the road to avoid being hit. That was a close a call as I’d ever like again as the car was moving at some speed having done a quick glance and not even slowing at the road end. I still wonder whether he say me flash past his bonnet.
Re #4 and even worse when you are going downhill as happened to me only this week.
Somewhere there was something I saw ages ago about changes our eyes (well brains) do not see. I’ll see if I can find it.
Apologies. Break should be brake of course.
@frank
Any chance you can take a look at my PM?
@frank
Escalation is a dangerous thing, doubly so when the other guy is behind a pseudo-tank and you are holding a tiny carbon stick.
Being very prone to unleash the hulk in these occasions, I try to direct my anger at the road, she is kind and forgiving and can take all kinds of shit. If I get the chance, in a red light or a junction, I try to point out what they have done wrong. If not I secretly hope they get dysentery.
It is just not worth it, road rage is bad enough between motorized drivers. Let us be the better men (and women), after all we do outclass them in everything else.
@KogaLover
3?
Also you live in a (supposedly) cycling friendly country too.
@pedro
and failing that how can I get Laser vision to bore holes in their tyres?
@Teocalli
I am glad you ask that…for when diplomacy fails:
http://gizmodo.com/287222/head-mounted-gun-patent-blows-minds-literally
@pedro
Yikes!
@Teocalli
Yes, I do this too. Any movement on the left hand side of the road, from a car, pedestrian or object and I take the lane as self-defence. As well as allowing you to take evasive action I think it immediately makes you more visible to everyone else on the road. It’s a good plan.
@frank
I had a close encounter recently (recounted on these pages) where a driver just point-blank didn’t look properly and didn’t see me. I had a lucky escape but my reaction was a lot of ranting. I wonder if in future the most affecting reaction for the driver would be to break down not in anger but in obvious distress and terror.
I think it’s pretty obvious to us that the anger is a consequence of fear; we’re all wound up like a spring when on the road with traffic, as we have to be to react quick enough to keep ourselves safe -it’s only natural we lash out when something goes wrong. I wonder if we should try to suppress the anger and let the fear out. The driver might go away from the encounter with quite a different experience.
If all else fails yell STARBOARD. Probably better than F*&^*ING IDIOT – but the latter seems to be the one that connects in the spur of the moment.
@Mikael Liddy
This is really great! I’m going to start doing this!
(although it will actually be a modification of the current game we play where we count the number of Merckx bikes we see and how many twats are riding in non-white socks)
@Rob
@frank
Is this the amazing Rob form my 200-on-100 time???
And fucking kudos to Frahnk: NEVER, EVER miss a chance to post a Tarantino clip in my opinion!
@uptitus
Wow, so SMIDSY is pretty much the result of a normal state of mind rather than inattention. If I’m understanding correctly we need to make sideways movement to maximise the chances of a motorist seeing us approaching a junction. Very interesting article, occasionally involving some brain-gymnastics to get to grips with.Thanks @Upitus
@Chuck Hoefer
A gentleman with whom I have had the pleasure of riding has come up with the best idea on understanding traffic laws that I have seen. About halfway down this page is a water bottle upon which New York traffic laws regarding cyclists are printed.
Want to make sure everyone (including police officers) understands traffic laws? Take them with you on your ride! Don’t live in NY or don’t want to pay for for the bottle, a copy of the laws inside a jersey pocket would serve the same purpose.
@Teocalli
Make that 4 now… Just came back from a lunch ride with some colleagues, when the famous roundabout-bike-riding-right-next-to-a-car thing happened. I disagree with @Frank‘s statement that “…passing on the right is a poor and dangerous practice in general” except when on a roundabout and when having to stop at a crossing and a car, or even worse, a truck turns right.
Nr 3 today was when I met a colleague during this morning’s commute and we were cycling next to each other. Together we crossed the dashed line of the bicycle lane by an inch or so, and a car made us loudly aware we should we going serial, not parallel. Illustrates to me that cars seem to think the dashed line is only for them to be used, not the other way around.
solid white line of any color should never be crossed and a dashed line is always acceptable to cross so long as traffic (including bicycles) conditions safely allow it.
Clearly this linked incident was the fault of the cyclist, not the driver……
Driver refused compensation after crashing car while ogling female cyclist
Bravo. On the same page as usual. This time about something slightly more substantial than the length of our socks. I particularly like the bit about the toilet paper, and have considered carrying it as a regular part of my cycling arsenal in the event of an emergency. Stay safe and don’t let the bastards get you down. After all, they are bastards no matter what vehicle they choose to operate.
Nice piece. Funnily enough, I just need to see the lead pic to know it’s a Frank article. Speaking of which, where is that? Cambodia? Vietnam? I see some French in the top right. Pretty sure it’s not France though.
Luckily I live in WI where the vast majority of drivers I encounter are great. I tend to be overly polite to drivers and find most reciprocate. Maybe it’s because on the roads I ride they don’t see many so give me a wide berth.
Last night was the first ride in almost three weeks (vacation out of the country) and it went well with every bike/car encounter going well with a few hanging back to overtake before I wave them through being a very regular occurrence. Did have one lady honk at me for some unknown reason – I wasn’t hogging the lane or holding her up. It surprised me as it rarely happens. I used to live in Indiana where the drivers were decidedly not so nice and friendly . . .
I generally don’t feel bad about yelling at drivers. It’s nothing I do habitually, but I look at it as essentially like a driver angrily using their horn – something that doesn’t exist on a bike.
Recently, I was going down a hill at roughly 40 mph. Someone at the bottom decided that they just had to turn across my lane as I approached the intersection (at 40 mph). There aren’t any signs or lights at this crossing, and as a car, I would have had the right of way and the other driver would have had to wait for me to clear the intersection. Had the same thing happened while I was driving, I don’t think I could have resisted a vigorous press on the steering wheel. The key difference being, that in a car, my odds of survival would have improved dramatically.
I let out a loud “What the fuck?!” and I’m not going to feel bad about that.
I’m even willing to give the driver the benefit of the doubt – perhaps they misjudged the fact that I was actually going as fast a car. If I’m lucky, I taught them something, though maybe a little coarsely.
@SamV
Spot on Sam, this is what happened to me this morning (see previous post). The car should have given me priority, eventhough I was on a bike.
“The first was when coming down the hill fast and a car turning onto my road coming from the left (I live in a country where people drive on the correct=right side of the road, no offense) who did not notice or ignored to think that I might be going faster than the average cyclist, so I had to brake hard.
Hence Obs #4 could be extended to say that not only does it take us more time and distance to brake but some of us also go faster than other cyclists.”
They don’t outweigh us by “orders of magnitude.”
The average car weighs about 4000 pounds, or 4×10^3.
The average bicycle and bicyclist probably weighs around 180 pounds, or 1.8×10^2.
This means a single order of magnitude separates us.
It’s math. You can’t just make shit up.
Thanks Frank for this post. But, regarding the behaviour between drivers themselves, being more and more dangerous and selfish, it could already be a lost battle.
It apears that sometimes I don’t want to go cycling because I don’t want to be beside all those cars. Damn it.
Few weeks ago a driver, passing me, shot my leg with his rear view mirror. Fortunately i didn’t felt down. But I knew there was a roundabout a few hundred of meters away, so I sprinted like hell to catch him, thinking, “being sat in your car, you would fight with somebody whose arms and guns are already warm, would you ?”
And then what ? Well, nothing, except the fact that, I proved to myself that I could catch him and, one minute later, I told to my self : “I should be thankfull, I didn’t sprinted like that since a longtime…”. And, regarding that, the five star pavé sections I rode a bit later were very quiet.
But I’m still dreaming on cycling highways. The only way to fix the problem to my mind (even if, then, we’ll be considered as dangerous fast cyclists by the others).
Thanks Frank for this post. But, regarding the behaviour between drivers themselves, being more and more dangerous and selfish, it could already be a lost battle.
It apears that sometimes I don’t want to go cycling because I don’t want to be beside all those cars. Damn it.
Few weeks ago a driver, passing me, shot my leg with his rear view mirror. Fortunately i didn’t felt down. But I knew there was a roundabout a few hundred of meters away, so I sprinted like hell to catch him, thinking, “being sat in your car, you would fight with somebody whose arms and guns are already warm, would you ?”
And then what ? Well, nothing, except the fact that, I proved to myself that I could catch him and, one minute later, I told to my self : “I should be thankfull, I didn’t sprinted like that since a longtime…”. And, regarding that, the five star pavé sections I rode a bit later were very quiet.
But I’m still dreaming on cycling highways. The only way to fix the problem to my mind (even if, then, we’ll be considered as dangerous fast cyclists by the others).
@pedro
That my friend is very good advice. And after some dude once buzzed our group at high speed I’d seen him come to a stop at a light up ahead. I jump forward wanting to catch up and do exactly as you suggest. Calmly point out what he’d done and to suggest maybe it wasn’t so cool. When I got there and saw that not only had he just buzzed us but that he was busy txt’ing too I lost my composure in a big way and about reached in to the car to yank him and his phone out. It may have been a deserved righteous reaction on my part and maybe served purpose of ultimately getting this dude’s attn but… I regret to this day some jackwagon having caused me to very much lose my cool. And I simply refuse to do it (lose my cool) again at every opportunity presented.
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Some people are just self-centered and/or horrible. For that, we need a purging of the gene pool (hopefully they don’t reproduce.) Others just don’t know or ever thought about this. I would love to see a PC version of this published everywhere. Two version. Open Letter to Drivers, then another… Open Letter to the cyclist.
I find myself telling cyclist more and more “and that is why drivers hate cyclist”. I feel that so much of our work to get along with drivers is flushed down the toilet by a couple of jag-off riders. Can’t tell you how many times I see my fellow cyclists riding 2 and 3 abreast yacking about whatever, not allowing cars to pass, running red lights and stop signs, jumping on the sidewalk if the traffic is inconvenient and being an overall jerk. I used to be a level 10 jerk. I would be the first to chase down a car and beat on their hood, voice a few choice words, give a little non-verbal communication. Then one day, a friend of mine says “I saw that guy again today. He tried to run me off the road.” That is when I realized that it was probably my fault that there is a full-fledged hater now on the roads.
Sharing the road goes both ways. In any situation in which you have to deal with a horrible person, taking the high road is not a bad thing. You are better than them. Riding deliberately and predictably is not optional on busy roads. You are not only making sure you don’t test #1, but you are also making sure that the frustration you caused is not being taken out on me…and for that…I thank you.
Great write up! Might want to add that although we are cyclists, we are also car drivers and have been for many years. We know what it’s like to drive cars and being stuck behind and around cyclists. And also I call on any of the road raging drivers to get off their lazy asses and do any kind of exercise, even from the couch to the fridge, let alone haul their 20 pound steed many k’s into the countryside, then maybe they’ll show some appreciation for the art of riding a bike.