so i was listening to a Talk Radio show the other day on the radio and they were talking about a new By-Law that someone wants to put into place to require a 1m distance between bikes and cars when passing... and then they started talking about the culture of commuting, driving, society, cycling, people... and it got quite interesting... there were a few callers who were talking about the need for safety, how the number of cycling injuries were not all caused by Driver Error, and how many cyclists want others to follow the rules of the road but do not do so themselves... i tried to call in but never got through.... so here are my thoughts:
the truth of the matter is that we have all lost our sense of decency, respect, courtesy, manners and calm now a days... i have seen so many drivers who get so uptight about the actions of other people, drivers who squeeze into spaces that force others to brake, park out front of stores in fire zones, and drivers who are in far too much of a rush to get to work that they are completely selfish and do not care about one another... what ever happened to the Thank You Wave when changing lanes?????
i think we need to remember that the most important thing in life is not where you are going, and the only person in the world is not you.... being late happens and people understand, or there are ways to rectify the problem, but that does not excuse us from treating each other properly.... we are all on our ways somewhere and all have families that we want to return to, so saving a second squeezing by a cyclist on Bloor street will be taken away ten fold at the next red light you hit....
and we need to remember that cars are big, safe, have air bags and motors, and are bigger than we sometimes think, while bikes are small, affected by pavement problems, have no airbags and ALWAYS lose the battle with a car.... there have been many times when i have been "buzzed" by a driver, have been yelled at out a window, had dogs lean out windows barking at me and had things thrown at me by passing cars.... and i was the only one in real danger...
so that is my cyclist / commuter view....
now for the other side....
are their cyclist who weave through traffic, fail to obey traffic laws, ride the wrong way on streets, take up more space than they require, ride 4 across, couriers who take their lives in their hands for a buck and yell at drivers? absolutely....
are some of these actions wrong? for sure... are some of them justified? for sure...
i think that a lot of drivers would have a lot more compassion and understanding of commuters if they rode to work once in a while, tried to battle the traffic / pot holes / taxis / weather / distance / etc and realized that it is FAR more difficult to ride to work than it is to drive, and that it's far better for you and the environment..
so what's the solution? we could look at city planning of bike lanes, we could look at traffic flow and parking, we could look at licensing bikes and passing safety tests... but that is not the real answer...
what we need to do is be nice to each other... we need to treat each other properly and with dignity, pretend that the other person is a family member and give them the respect that they deserve.... remember that an accident hurts everyone.... realize that how we treat each other speaks volumes about our character... and that in the big picture, we are all equal and should be treated so....
as with many of our Societal Problems, having manners and using them will help lead us in the direction solve problems rather than create bigger ones.... we don't need the Police to force us to leave 1m between driver and cyclist, we just need to be nice to each other....
