Cyclists & motorists: Detente proposed

Michael Smerconish has an interesting take about bicycling that is appearing in newspapers across the state today:
Let’s negotiate a peaceful coexistence of bicyclists and motorists.

You know the dispute. No doubt you’ve encountered it during your commute to work or in the middle of your morning ride. The bikers think drivers are aggressive and self-centered. The drivers think bikers are bottleneck-inducing traffic-law violators.

The conflict exists all over the world, according to Joe Mizereck, a cycling enthusiast and founder of 3 Feet Please, an organization that advocates for laws to ensure biker safety. “There are a lot of people who think they’re in control,” Mizereck told me. “Certainly for the past 60 years, motorists have been in control. Vehicles are certainly the big guys on the block. But there are some changes taking place here, and we’ve got to get along.” . . .

I used to side with the motorists. I remember thinking bikers had a sense of entitlement.. They were posers — Lance Armstrong wannabes with expensive carbon-framed bikes, designer shirts, padded pants, and flashy helmets.

They took up too much space, seemed to relish slowing down traffic, and thought nothing of blowing through stop signs and red lights. And the more their ranks grew, the more they thought the road was built for them.

Then, three years ago, I was invited (well, shamed is more like it) to ride my bicycle from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, N.J., as part of the Irish Pub Tour de Shore, which benefits police charities. . . .

By now, three Tours de Shore have afforded me a whole new perspective from the bicycle seat. I now know, for example, that many bikers ride along the white line because it offers the smoothest surface — a far safer path than the field of potholes and debris often found a few feet to the right. I also recognize the alarm that the blowing of a horn can cause for a biker.

I also acknowledge bad behavior on the part of bikers and confess to having contributed to it. Cruising along some bucolic farm roads about 15 miles from Atlantic City, I have drifted through a few stop signs based on a fatigue-induced sense of entitlement. That was wrong. But I now understand what causes some to behave similarly.

I’m also convinced that bikers have a legitimate right to use the roadways.
Read the rest of Smerconish's article here.

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