This Guy is facing felony charges now for plowing thru a busy intersection in SF, not to mention the heart of the Castro. The story grabbed national headlines afterwards because the cyclist, a blogger, took to a local cycling site after the incident making some very careless comments about the guy dying to save his helmet. The comments were eventually removed by the site after massive reader backlash.
Anyway, I mention it because SF is one of the most cyclist friendly cities in the nation. That being said, the friction between cyclists and vehicles has increased exponentially in the last 11 years I’ve lived here. Many point fingers at Critical Mass, a local cyclist event meant to bring attention to the plight of cyclists. Varied amounts of riders gather on the last Friday of every month here and basically set out across the city blocking traffic and intersections. While CM started for good reasons it has devolved into a punk-a-thon of riders looking for mayhem and does more harm to the cause of cyclists in SF than any good it ever created. [1]And for the record, there are conscientious, law abiding cyclists in SF and in CM
Being a motorcycle rider, I try to be friendly to cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. Lord knows there are plenty of idiots in every category. I’ve had peds walk out in front of me, cars cut me off, and cyclists jump in front of me trying to beat traffic. And while I do think CM does create a lot of negative attention for cyclists in SF, I do not feel it is the biggest culprit. LIke many societal issues, it boils down to respect. Very few in any category above give respect to the others. Each feels entitled in their own way.
Many car owners think the own the roads and make virtually no allowances for anyone else. They are oblivious to anyone but other vehicles. Taxis are some of the absolute worst offenders. Cyclists ignore 99% of traffic laws, ride on streets, sidewalks, crosswalks and virtually anywhere two-wheels will carry them. Many are belligerent to anyone who interferes with ‘their” riding or act indignant if you confront them for stupid antics. I had an incident recently where I was walking Cooper. We were crossing at a crosswalk and these 2 cyclist come barreling down the street with no intention of stopping. One girl presumes to yell it me to get out of “her” way. She promptly got cussed out and had she hit Cooper, I probably would have yanked her off the bike and beat her with its chain. [2]I get very defensive of Cooper when I’m out in public. I can only imagine what I’d be like if I had children.
Many motorcyclists are overly aggressive and try too hard to cheat traffic and road conditions. They tailgate, split lanes, or make turns way too aggressively IMHO. While I do lane split, I try to always be aware of others and even then that doesn’t always help. lol. Pedestrians are no better. They often walk blindly into traffic without even looking to see what’s coming; comfortable in the knowledge they have the “right of way.” Well sweetie, when you get run over and killed because you couldn’t be bothered to look, we’ll write that on your tombstone, “here lies an idiot, he had the right of way.”
Without some sort of combined public education/outreach program the problem is only going to get worse. All of us need to learn to share the road, obey traffic laws or at least pay attention before proceeding, and share the road with each other. I know it sounds very kumbaya but it’s also true. There is no reason we can’t all enjoy the roadways and get from point A to point B w/o someone getting maimed, or worse killed. I encourage you, whatever your mode of transportation, be mindful you are not alone on the roadways and be willing to share the road.