Today on Bike Girl’s commute to work, a driver looked right into her eyes at a stop light and told her that her life was not worth a 1 second delay. Bike Girl asked how much that moment would cost her, and guessed the amount was less than five cents. She then asked if a human being’s life is worth five cents. This middle aged female driver said no.
This exchange took place just after the woman in her snazzy gold sedan merged into Bike Girl with no turn signal, nearly smashing into her front wheel, less than 5 feet from a red light, where the driver had to stop, still straddling the lanes.
“Lady, you were in the middle of the road,” the woman said. This is true. Bike Girl was in the middle of the right lane on a 5 lane road with construction on the tiny shoulder. The middle of the far right lane is exactly where Bike Girl should have been.
Bike Girl, like any cyclist, endures a lot of abuse from drivers, and she endures it on a regular basis. She endures it with a smile and a wave, and occasionally a yell of, “aaaaah!” Bike Girl also makes a conscious effort to obey the rules of the road. She even uses hand signals to turn in a town where drivers seem to believe their signals, speed limits, and even license plates are optional.
But today’s stony-faced, gray-haired, female driver found Bike Girl’s breaking point. Her blunt response that she would rather kill Bike Girl than be 1 second late sent our usually fearless protagonist to the curb, sobbing for 40 minutes.
Bike Girl sobbed because she’s tired of fighting. She’s tired of risking her life to get to work. She’s tired of memorizing license plate numbers of truck drivers who hit-and-run her and laugh. She’s tired of explaining the law to confused police officers. She’s tired of hearing that making her commute safer is infeasible. She’s tired of politicians who can get credit for being bike-friendly without actually doing anything to improve the bike-ability of their district.
Today an emergency room doctor is on trial for intentionally slamming on the brakes in front of two experienced cyclists and sending them to the ER.
Today a beautiful child is an orphan because of a truck driver’s inattention, and that truck driver is home with his family.
Somewhere a cyclist will be killed and journalists will ask if that cyclist was wearing a helmet. They will be shocked to hear that the cyclist died despite wearing that magical piece of styrofoam.
Please help fight this fight. Because while Bike Girl loves to ride, today, Bike Girl is tired of fighting.
If you want to fight, you can start by reading this.
Showing posts with label drivers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drivers. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Bike Girl Hears You Honking
While riding around town, Bike Girl sometimes finds it is necessary to turn left. Turning left is a basic part of navigating through the city no matter what your mode of transit.
However Bike Girl recently encountered a driver who seemed to be convinced that turning left is a right reserved only for cars. Here's how it went down.
Bike Girl had stopped in the left turn lane of an intersection. While she stood with one foot on the pedal, hips cocked to one side, sunglasses perched smartly on her nose to hide her sidelong glance at an attractive male cyclist in the right turn lane, a car pulled into the left turn lane behind her.
The driver immediately pounded on the horn, jolting Bike Girl from the slightly naughty thoughts running through her head. She looked up at the light, but it was still red. So she turned around, to inquire as to the reason for the honk.
Bike Girl didn't have to ask, because the driver was already yelling about how bicycles are not allowed in the middle of the street. Bike Girl smiled sweetly at the misunderstanding and replied that she was actually turning left, so the driver did not need to worry.
But the driver kept sounding the horn, insisting that cyclists are not allowed to make left turns in the left turn lane. Now many cyclists know that CVC 21202 allows cyclists to move to the left to make a turn. And CVC 21200 allows cyclists all the same rights as a vehicle. She calmly quoted those two provisions to the driver. The driver insisted she was wrong and that he was absolutely sure that what she was doing was illegal.
Much to Bike Girl's pleasure, the attractive male cyclist she had been eyeing rolled over to make her case. At this point the light was still red, and the driver's progress has not yet been delayed even a moment. Adonis on Two-Wheels corroborated Bike Girl's claim to the lane, but the driver still insisted Bike Girl was behaving illegally.
At this point Bike Girl encouraged the driver to call the police and offered to wait while they came. However, before the words were fully out of her lips, the light turned green. Bike Girl proceeded through the intersection, making her legal left turn and the driver revved his engine and immediately parked at a business right on the corner. He went inside to make a purchase, showing that Bike Girl in no way threatened to make him late for any purpose. Bike Girl laughed.
This and other similar encounters show the need for increased driver education about the rules of the road.
Bike Girl owns a 4-wheeled vehicle, and until she converted to the two-wheeled side, she was never aware of any of the rules regarding road-sharing with cyclists.
A non-confrontational, zero-expense, yet seemingly effective tool would be to include a question on the California Driver's test about sharing the road with bicycles. This question, if missed, would require the potential driver to read through the part of the vehicle code that contains the answer. This would draw attention to the section. Since the tests are reprinted semi-frequently, there would be no extra expense to include that question in the next incarnation.
Until then, Bike Girl continues to smile each time she's honked at. Because as Bike Girl's ally in the world of anonymous bicycle blogging, Bike Snob NYC says, "Your beeping means you can see me, and I’m not worried about drivers who see me."
However Bike Girl recently encountered a driver who seemed to be convinced that turning left is a right reserved only for cars. Here's how it went down.
Bike Girl had stopped in the left turn lane of an intersection. While she stood with one foot on the pedal, hips cocked to one side, sunglasses perched smartly on her nose to hide her sidelong glance at an attractive male cyclist in the right turn lane, a car pulled into the left turn lane behind her.
The driver immediately pounded on the horn, jolting Bike Girl from the slightly naughty thoughts running through her head. She looked up at the light, but it was still red. So she turned around, to inquire as to the reason for the honk.
Bike Girl didn't have to ask, because the driver was already yelling about how bicycles are not allowed in the middle of the street. Bike Girl smiled sweetly at the misunderstanding and replied that she was actually turning left, so the driver did not need to worry.
But the driver kept sounding the horn, insisting that cyclists are not allowed to make left turns in the left turn lane. Now many cyclists know that CVC 21202 allows cyclists to move to the left to make a turn. And CVC 21200 allows cyclists all the same rights as a vehicle. She calmly quoted those two provisions to the driver. The driver insisted she was wrong and that he was absolutely sure that what she was doing was illegal.
Much to Bike Girl's pleasure, the attractive male cyclist she had been eyeing rolled over to make her case. At this point the light was still red, and the driver's progress has not yet been delayed even a moment. Adonis on Two-Wheels corroborated Bike Girl's claim to the lane, but the driver still insisted Bike Girl was behaving illegally.
At this point Bike Girl encouraged the driver to call the police and offered to wait while they came. However, before the words were fully out of her lips, the light turned green. Bike Girl proceeded through the intersection, making her legal left turn and the driver revved his engine and immediately parked at a business right on the corner. He went inside to make a purchase, showing that Bike Girl in no way threatened to make him late for any purpose. Bike Girl laughed.
This and other similar encounters show the need for increased driver education about the rules of the road.
Bike Girl owns a 4-wheeled vehicle, and until she converted to the two-wheeled side, she was never aware of any of the rules regarding road-sharing with cyclists.
A non-confrontational, zero-expense, yet seemingly effective tool would be to include a question on the California Driver's test about sharing the road with bicycles. This question, if missed, would require the potential driver to read through the part of the vehicle code that contains the answer. This would draw attention to the section. Since the tests are reprinted semi-frequently, there would be no extra expense to include that question in the next incarnation.
Until then, Bike Girl continues to smile each time she's honked at. Because as Bike Girl's ally in the world of anonymous bicycle blogging, Bike Snob NYC says, "Your beeping means you can see me, and I’m not worried about drivers who see me."
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Bike Girl Writes A Positive Blog Post
In a city where some drivers seem to prefer a dead cyclist to a live one, and some police officers don't seem to be on the side of the two-wheeled traveler, Bike Girl is taking to the streets to do her part .
The streets are tough, and so is Bike Girl. But even a Strong Female Protagonist like Bike Girl can get discouraged. Stories like this appear almost daily on the Los Angeles bicycle blogs. Bike Girl has had her own run-ins with drivers too. She's been hit not once, but three times by cars.
Bike Girl has a special technique she likes to use to overcome the Fear. The technique is a very scientific combination, arrived at through the use of Math and semi-illegal fireworks. The technique is called F.U.N.
Whenever Bike Girl finds she's acquired some amount of fear about commutes she's made many times on her trusty cycle, she calls on the help of her community. There are plenty of places Bike Girl can go to find sympathetic ears, encouragement, and a great time that renews her enthusiasm for biking. In no particular order, they are:
1. C.R.A.N.K. Mob
The mother of all social rides and the birthplace of F.U.N. When in the presence of C.R.A.N.K. Mob, Bike Girl is literally unable to imagine any situation in which she would hesitate to ride a bike.
2. Midnight Ridazz
If C.R.A.N.K. Mob is the birthplace of F.U.N., then Midnight Ridazz is the grandfather of F.U.N. Midnight Ridazz was the original place Bike Girl discovered the joys of taking the lane and the safety benefits thereof.
3. The Beach Bike Path
When Bike Girl wants to unwind with her Significant Other, she dons a dress and some heels and gingerly steps through the frame of her ladies single-speed from the 70's, places a picnic in the basket, and heads to the beach where she happily rides 10 miles an hour around stroller-pushing roller-bladers and drunk teenagers with the wind threatening her hemline. Pure bliss.
4. Santa Monica Blvd through Studio City in the early evening
One of the biggest fears Bike Girl has is riding alone at night in unpopulated areas. But at the same time, there's almost no greater joy than rolling on this stretch of bike path next to an empty street. The buildings are lit up but no one's there. It makes Bike Girl feel like the road is hers.
Even though frustration can be a part of urban riding in Los Angeles, Bike Girl will continue to ride.
The streets are tough, and so is Bike Girl. But even a Strong Female Protagonist like Bike Girl can get discouraged. Stories like this appear almost daily on the Los Angeles bicycle blogs. Bike Girl has had her own run-ins with drivers too. She's been hit not once, but three times by cars.
Bike Girl has a special technique she likes to use to overcome the Fear. The technique is a very scientific combination, arrived at through the use of Math and semi-illegal fireworks. The technique is called F.U.N.
Whenever Bike Girl finds she's acquired some amount of fear about commutes she's made many times on her trusty cycle, she calls on the help of her community. There are plenty of places Bike Girl can go to find sympathetic ears, encouragement, and a great time that renews her enthusiasm for biking. In no particular order, they are:
1. C.R.A.N.K. Mob
The mother of all social rides and the birthplace of F.U.N. When in the presence of C.R.A.N.K. Mob, Bike Girl is literally unable to imagine any situation in which she would hesitate to ride a bike.
2. Midnight Ridazz
If C.R.A.N.K. Mob is the birthplace of F.U.N., then Midnight Ridazz is the grandfather of F.U.N. Midnight Ridazz was the original place Bike Girl discovered the joys of taking the lane and the safety benefits thereof.
3. The Beach Bike Path
When Bike Girl wants to unwind with her Significant Other, she dons a dress and some heels and gingerly steps through the frame of her ladies single-speed from the 70's, places a picnic in the basket, and heads to the beach where she happily rides 10 miles an hour around stroller-pushing roller-bladers and drunk teenagers with the wind threatening her hemline. Pure bliss.
4. Santa Monica Blvd through Studio City in the early evening
One of the biggest fears Bike Girl has is riding alone at night in unpopulated areas. But at the same time, there's almost no greater joy than rolling on this stretch of bike path next to an empty street. The buildings are lit up but no one's there. It makes Bike Girl feel like the road is hers.
Even though frustration can be a part of urban riding in Los Angeles, Bike Girl will continue to ride.
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