The weather has warmed
and school is out. For cyclist and runners alike it is the season of purposeful
battery, from water bottles to bear bottles, from rocks, bricks and food to
stretched arms for body slaps. The crazies are out there and cyclist need to beware.
The Australian Capital Territory has made it illegal to toss objects at riders,
an action that is majorly overdue in the United States. Riders of all ages have
been cut off by motorists, had ice thrown at them, or had drivers laying on
their horns when passing. Why? The internet is full of cyclist using language
which many would find inappropriate; I’ll just say “it is a cruel, cold
hearted, mean act which cyclist worldwide are forced to endure.
Cyclist have reported being harassed by
business executives, taxi-drivers, mothers with children in the car and seniors
driving 15 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone. Getting results from the
police has been challenging. Most cars take off before you can secure the
license plate number, and even then little action is taken against the driver. In
one incident in 1999 the drunk motorist who strayed into a bike lane was free
to go, however the cyclist who hit the motorist when he strayed into the bike
lane was arrested. At times it seems even the authorities are against the
cyclist. More than 20 states have laws requiring drivers to allow at least
three feet of clearance when passing cyclist, yet these laws are rarely
enforced.
However, in Chattanooga
things are changing. “Officer Simmons (a Cycling Cop) spends chunks of his day
chasing down lawbreakers on his bike, showing them just how close they came to
him on his bar-mounted GoPro camera and explaining the law. Thanks to a device called the Bicyclist and Safe
Monitoring Applied Radar Technology (BSMART), developed by Codaxus, LLC,
Simmons knows to the inch exactly how close drivers come to him. All of the
drivers who he pulls over are given educational pamphlets, and those who
haven’t learned their lesson get tickets and can be sent to a 90-minute Cycling
101 class with Outdoor Chattanooga for re-education. Chattanooga’s use of the BSMART is the first for this purpose in the US, and reports
indicate that the device will be making other appearances worldwide soon. ¹”
Road rage from 2004 to 2016 has doubled for drivers, motorcyclist,
cyclist, runners and walkers; some cities now have Bike Accident Attorneys. Many
blame it on technology and the “hurry up and get there” climate of the 21st
century. Others blame it on the divisive political environment, the increase in
divisive organizations and hate groups and a society of people who feel the
world owes them something. “Tara Goddard at Portland State University studied the
attitudes of drivers toward bicyclists and found bicycling is relatively unsafe
in the United States because of drivers. Attitudes of drivers play a key role
in roadway interactions between bicycles and vehicle” Reading further she like
so many other researchers found that motorists think bicyclist break the law
and cyclist feel that motorist break the law, when in fact, most motorist and
the average solo cyclists know very little about bicycling laws. This is
something we are doing our part to fix – through informative Facebook posts,
Twitter posts, and our blogs.
Although a riding group
recently suffered a horrible accident (while obeying the law), most riding
groups know the rules, regulations and guidelines and stick to them. Riding in
a group is educational, safe and lots of fun. Bixby Bicycles’ USA Certified
Cycling Coach Buster Brown teaches classes on Oklahoma Bicycle Laws, Bicycle
Safety and Group Riding. Until the issue of rage against cyclist is brought to
the fore, groups, like single riders, like bicycle patrols, like runners and
walkers, need to be careful out there.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
CAUSES OF ROAD RAGE, WIKIPEDIA
A bike rage incident can
start because a cyclist, driver, or pedestrian believes that another road user
was being discourteous, breaking traffic rules, or in many cases because
someone felt that their safety was being compromised by the actions of another
road user. According to University of Hawaii professor of psychology Leon
James, "bike rage is a common occurrence, and quite predictable",
because urban commuting causes "tension, anxiety, and anger – in drivers
as well as cyclists. Bike rage may also be caused by confusion about how the
rules of the road apply to cyclists. In some jurisdictions, cyclists can ride
on the sidewalk, whereas in other places, this is against the law. As well, in
some states or provinces, cyclists have many of the same rights and
responsibilities as cars; that is cyclists can ride on the road with cars
(e.g., the Canadian province of Ontario, where the Highway Traffic Act classifies
bikes as "vehicles"). In other places, there are restrictions on
where bikes can ride. These differences in rules may lead drivers to believe
that a cyclist is violating the law by cycling on a roadway, even if local laws
require cyclists to be on the road.
