"Another moron on a bicycle!"
So I was called by a Cambridge police officer.
I was riding down Mass Ave in the way I normally do, on the side of the road, alert for any opening doors, etc. I approached a red light by slowing down and continuing when I saw there were no pedestrians. There was no right turn at this intersection, so there was no car interference to think about. But the cop was standing there on the sidewalk and yelled out the line in the subject.
I yelled "What?" and continued, but after 100 feet, I thought I would find out what he meant. I got off my bike, took off my sunglasses, decided to not be confrontational, but to be civil and genuinely, what I wanted was to find out what the law was and what he meant by saying that.
I walked up to him with a little trepidation. As I got near, he said in a loud gruff voice "Are you the moron who rode through the red light?" I started saying, "Well, I am the bike rider who just..." and he interrupted and said "SAME ROAD SAME RULES! I'm tired of bikers who think they can ignore the rules of traffic." I was getting irked by his tone. He was yelling at me like I was a 12 year old kid again and my stepfather would yell at me. He was foaming at the mouth and shouting with an angry tone. But I paused and continued. "Well, I came back here to find out, what's the law?" He yelled "YOU'RE AN ADULT IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KNOW THE LAW. YOU'RE ON THE ROAD, YOU HAVE TO OBEY THE SAME RULES."
Fine. I agree, that's the way it works. But everyone learns the law at some point and that was mine. I paused again and said, "Okay, but you have this tone with me..." He yelled "YOU BETTER GET OUT OF MY FACE BEFORE I LOCK YOU UP." I was again sort of shocked and paused a half-second thinking... wondering what he could lock me up for... wondering why it's not possible to actually talk with this police officer... wondering if he just got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning or he's always like this... Then he yelled "THAT'S RIGHT. DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK." I said "I'm not pushing anything. Have a day." and I looked up at the light to see that it was green now, and I rode off.
But this really messed up my rhythm. Riding down Mass Ave, I tried to be in the lane following the "Same road, same rules" thing, stopping at lights as if I were a car. Taking up a lane space to make a left turn, etc. I got yelled at by a truck "You idiot! Get off the road!" I got yelled at by a mini-van on the way back home. "You idiot! Get off the road!" It seems to be a scripted line. I yelled "I'm supposed to be on the road, dude!" People looked at me funny from the sidewalk.
I even got yelled at by a bicyclist. I was in the bike lane and I stopped for a pedestrian. Someone was behind me and yelled at me for stopping.
I had a close call while turning left. I was in a lane and a car didn't think that I was actually using the lane, or something. I yelled at the car "Hey watch out!" If I get hit, they don't suffer much. It's my body exposed to their 3,000 pounds of steel.
In my many years of riding in the city, I have developed a style of riding that seems to work. I have had very few close calls, and those have endangered me, not car drivers. I have gotten yelled at very few times. I use common sense and respect -- both things I don't think are embodied in "Same Road, Same Rules."
The law and reality are not the same. You ride in the lane as a car, and you get yelled at, dangerously passed so many times, and generally you become miserable and angry.
A bicycle is not a car. A bicycle is about 10,000 times less likely to kill a pedestrian in a collision. A bicycle with buffer zone is about 3 feet wide compared to a car's 10 feet with buffer zone. It deserves to be recognized with its special qualities. Even avid bicyclists are doing themselves a disservice when advocating for the Same Road, Same Rules mantra. I recognize that it's important to have legal rights, but can't it be done better?
So much to think about. It's a complicated issue.
I was riding down Mass Ave in the way I normally do, on the side of the road, alert for any opening doors, etc. I approached a red light by slowing down and continuing when I saw there were no pedestrians. There was no right turn at this intersection, so there was no car interference to think about. But the cop was standing there on the sidewalk and yelled out the line in the subject.
I yelled "What?" and continued, but after 100 feet, I thought I would find out what he meant. I got off my bike, took off my sunglasses, decided to not be confrontational, but to be civil and genuinely, what I wanted was to find out what the law was and what he meant by saying that.
I walked up to him with a little trepidation. As I got near, he said in a loud gruff voice "Are you the moron who rode through the red light?" I started saying, "Well, I am the bike rider who just..." and he interrupted and said "SAME ROAD SAME RULES! I'm tired of bikers who think they can ignore the rules of traffic." I was getting irked by his tone. He was yelling at me like I was a 12 year old kid again and my stepfather would yell at me. He was foaming at the mouth and shouting with an angry tone. But I paused and continued. "Well, I came back here to find out, what's the law?" He yelled "YOU'RE AN ADULT IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KNOW THE LAW. YOU'RE ON THE ROAD, YOU HAVE TO OBEY THE SAME RULES."
Fine. I agree, that's the way it works. But everyone learns the law at some point and that was mine. I paused again and said, "Okay, but you have this tone with me..." He yelled "YOU BETTER GET OUT OF MY FACE BEFORE I LOCK YOU UP." I was again sort of shocked and paused a half-second thinking... wondering what he could lock me up for... wondering why it's not possible to actually talk with this police officer... wondering if he just got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning or he's always like this... Then he yelled "THAT'S RIGHT. DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK." I said "I'm not pushing anything. Have a day." and I looked up at the light to see that it was green now, and I rode off.
But this really messed up my rhythm. Riding down Mass Ave, I tried to be in the lane following the "Same road, same rules" thing, stopping at lights as if I were a car. Taking up a lane space to make a left turn, etc. I got yelled at by a truck "You idiot! Get off the road!" I got yelled at by a mini-van on the way back home. "You idiot! Get off the road!" It seems to be a scripted line. I yelled "I'm supposed to be on the road, dude!" People looked at me funny from the sidewalk.
I even got yelled at by a bicyclist. I was in the bike lane and I stopped for a pedestrian. Someone was behind me and yelled at me for stopping.
I had a close call while turning left. I was in a lane and a car didn't think that I was actually using the lane, or something. I yelled at the car "Hey watch out!" If I get hit, they don't suffer much. It's my body exposed to their 3,000 pounds of steel.
In my many years of riding in the city, I have developed a style of riding that seems to work. I have had very few close calls, and those have endangered me, not car drivers. I have gotten yelled at very few times. I use common sense and respect -- both things I don't think are embodied in "Same Road, Same Rules."
The law and reality are not the same. You ride in the lane as a car, and you get yelled at, dangerously passed so many times, and generally you become miserable and angry.
A bicycle is not a car. A bicycle is about 10,000 times less likely to kill a pedestrian in a collision. A bicycle with buffer zone is about 3 feet wide compared to a car's 10 feet with buffer zone. It deserves to be recognized with its special qualities. Even avid bicyclists are doing themselves a disservice when advocating for the Same Road, Same Rules mantra. I recognize that it's important to have legal rights, but can't it be done better?
So much to think about. It's a complicated issue.