Foolishness….
I tell you, they’re crazy! I couldn’t believe it, but on my way home last night I witnessed two identical acts of stupidity on consecutive intersections.
If you look closely at the Iphone picture above, you’ll notice two cyclists. Look hard…they really are there. The first is at the curb near the left side of the picture where he should be. The second is oddly positioned between the cars turning left and the inside lane going straight. That’s the cyclist I want to talk about.
I saw her approaching the intersection at a wobbly slow pace, hugging the curb. As she approached the stopped cars, she slowly threaded her way through them to take a position between those two cars at the front of the row. As I sat opposite, waiting for the light to turn, it was very unclear to me what she was going to do. Surely she wasn’t wanting to make a left turn onto busy Chestnut Expressway at 5:15 in the evening? When the left turn light changed, she did. She pulled out in tandem with the car turning left, staying to his outside until she got about half-way through the intersection, then suddenly veered toward me and made her way to the sidewalk on my right where she continued on the sidewalk facing oncoming traffic. Unbelievable.
Then, I just about had a heart attack at the very next interestion when the exact same thing happened again. I didn’t have time to get my phone out for that one, but it was such a carbon copy of the first that I just had to laugh to myself.
Both riders looked to be pretty down on their luck, which is kind of a sad commentary, but my point is that both of them were behaving unpredictably in traffic. Luckily, neither got hurt or caused an accident. The problem however, is that in my mind, the behavior they exhibited is exactly what does cause accidents, and I think a lot of the “advocacy” going on out there will miss people like these two.
Maybe I’m being judgmental, but when you talk about educating cyclists about how to safely ride in traffic there are two distinct groups of people in Springfield, MO that I consistently see doing it wrong. The first group consists of the young adults riding around our campuses. The second is that demographic here in town that is often forgotten – the down on their luck and homeless people who are using bikes for basic transportation. Some of them may be teachable, but others may not….
I suppose that if I were a better citizen, I could get involved somehow or another. But, wait a minute. That would require some degree of compassion, committment and stepping out of the comfort zone on my part, wouldn’t it? I’m not sure I really want to know the answer of that one. Think about it….
God bless….
TW
Tags: bicycle, Bike Commute, Bike Safety, Cycling, Fitness
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
June 5, 2010 at 1:06 am
[...] poverty. A Tucson rider gets his bike back over a month after it was stolen. Springfield Cyclist encounters a foolish rider desperately in need of an education in safe cycling. Rap stars and racers converge at the Harlem [...]
June 9, 2010 at 9:48 am
I have often thought about the same thing.
In my neck of the woods there are a lot of delivery bikers for restaurants, and a lot of people who I would guess are recent immigrants (perhaps I’m stereotyping) who ride cheap bikes as transportation, often without lights, often the wrong way or with little regard for safety.
So much bike education and advocacy is aimed at middle class folks, and there’s a big population that’s being missed.