tims@tekecs.UUCP (Tim Stoehr) (09/24/83)
I've just started reading net.bicycle and I hope nobody will get upset if I am reviving an old topic; about car/bicycle relations. I spent a year having a bicycle as my only means of transportation other than walking, so I know what problems can arise dealing with cars. I have since bought a car and use my bike now only for exercise. Although I realize that bike riders take a great deal of abuse from cars, I get annoyed to hear cyclists blaming all car drivers in their 'metal monsters.' Try counting the number of cars you see on the road while biking some time, and compare that with the number of cars that actually do something unreasonable to you. The latter number will be quite low in comparison to the first. The problem bikers deal with is not car drivers in general, but rather idiots who happen to be driving cars, which, I agree, there are too many of. Idiocy is, however, not restricted to car drivers. The fact is that bike riders are is a poor position to abuse car drivers, otherwise, they might surely do so. Imagine, though, that there are no cars, just bikes and pedestrians, and that the road lanes are only large enough for one bike to drive comfortably. And suppose all these roads are level (no hills) and smooth, so that it would not be difficult to maintain a constant speed of 20 mph. Then suppose you are in a hurry to get to work and you come along a pedestrian on a windy road, and don't have room to safely pass. First, are you going to assume that the pedestrian hears you, or will you be tempted to alert him somehow. Secondly, if he won't move over and let you pass and tells you that he does not legally have to move over until there are five bikes behind him, how long will it take you puttering along behind him to lose your temper? I am not at all defending those who abuse bike riders, I think that kind of person would be better kept off the roads, and I heartily defend the biker's right to all public roads. I am just suggesting that a minority of car driver's should not cause the lot of them to be maligned, that is just demonstrating the same mentality shown by the car riders that scream in your ear as they zip past you in their cars.