Be nice to bikes

People in cars love to yell at cyclists. I'm not sure why, but they do. Sometimes they roll down their windows and scream as they buzz you in their giant SUVs, just to see if they can startle you. Sometimes they yell a version of, "Get the hell off the road, faggot." (Sometimes they also throw things, like beer bottles. But that's another story.) Often, they want to yell at you because you rode through that stop sign.

I've been a serious cyclist for about 20 years, riding from coast to coast, in just about every state and in several foreign countries, usually in the neighborhood of 3,000-6,000 miles a year. I've been hit by a car once -- a half-mile from my house. I broke one bone in a crash (my hip, riding on a bike path) because of a stupid, rookie mistake. So I know a little bit about riding and about bike safety. Here's my theory: it is far safer for everyone -- cyclists and motorists -- if bicycle riders go through an intersection as soon as safely possible, even if that means running a stop sign or a red light.

Consider this: You are on a bicycle and you come to an intersection with a traffic signal. You have a red light, but there are no cars around. Is it better to stop and wait for the light to change, or to ride through the red light? If you run the light, you have cleared the intersection and you are safely on your way, away from the single most dangerous interaction with cars you will likely encounter on your ride. If you stop and wait for the light to change, you allow cars, trucks, buses, etc., to join you at the intersection. When the light turns green, the motorized folks are ready to roar, but you're a lot slower on the takeoff. So there you are, clogging things up and creating a hazard for everyone -- mostly you.

I've long had the belief that the quicker and safer you can clear an intersection, the better off everyone is. Obviously, not everyone agrees with me. But they are looking at it from the vantage point of a two-ton vehicle with lots of steel and airbags. I've got nothing but two feeble legs and a bit of Spandex.

BTW, bikers ride Harleys; cyclists provide their own power.

-Paul Knue