Keri, at Commute Orlando, has posted an excellent examination of why some car drivers feel compelled to harass bicyclists and what bicyclists can do about it. This is highly recommended reading. Here’s her conclusion:
So, what happens when you legislate what appears to be special treatment for a group of people that bullies believe no one likes? Do the bullies see the error of their ways? Or do they become emboldened by the polarization?
Like with bad infrastructure, getting laws wrong can have consequences far worse than doing nothing at all. Sometimes the consequences are the opposite of what lawmakers envision.
It’s very tempting to reach for external solutions, but I think the best thing the cycling community can do for itself is work from within—educate and empower. When I look around, it’s impossible to avoid the reality that most cyclists are their own worst enemies. What if confident, courteous cyclists were multiplied to become the majority and not the anomaly? What if we could change the image and perception of cycling by changing the normative behavior of cyclists? Oddly enough, we’d probably end up attracting more people to cycling, as well.
Oh and, cyclists who are empowered and exude confidence get harassed WAY LESS than those who cower. Bullies love capitulation.
You can follow the thread of the events about the Columbia Bicyclist Harassment Ordinance here, here, and here.
Changing the normative behavior of bicyclists. Remember that phrase. It’s a goal.
I believe this to be true: I suffer almost no harassment riding the streets of Springfield because I:
1. Follow all traffic laws, e.g. stop at stop signs and signal turns.
2. Take the lane when the road is too narrow to share safely.
3. Avoid high-speed, multi-lane arteries with complex traffic patterns and numerous driveways (e.g. commercial strips).
4. Avoid treating my fellow human beings as if they were objects in my way.
The trouble is, from what I can see anyway, I’m in a minority of bicyclists. What I see most often: Adults riding as if they were children.
Comments 12
I’m all for following the law and riding safely and considerately but unfortunately, my law-abiding, considerate behavior has no effect on motorists, and has not prevented them from honking, threatening, or even throwing items at me [a rare occurrence, yes, but it has happened].
Sure, cyclists should obey the law and obey the Golden Rule, but this alone will not change motorists’ attitude toward cyclists. If motorists cared about considerate, law-abiding behavior, they would start using their turn signals, stop speeding, not cut each other off, stop treating red lights as green right-turn arrows, and maybe hang up their phones and pay attention to what they’re doing.
Posted 08 Jul 2009 at 4:23 pm ¶I have not visited Springfield MO, but from reading your posts, I assume that you live in an urban core where a lot other bicyclists ride. This makes the motorists more immune to bicyclists on ‘their’ streets.
Jacksonville has a similar effect. I participated in a women’s ride one Sunday not to long ago and we were riding in a group, corking streets and taking the lane. I estimate the ride to be 10 miles long. There was not even one honk. See pictures here: link.
I have attempted a one mile commute to the grocery store where I was harassed as if I was Bruno stealing their baby. I live in the suburbs and usually am the only rider they have seen on the road in weeks.
The severity of harassment is neighborhood specific because the culture of people are neighborhood specific. Motorists probably borrow a set of values when they move to an urban neighborhood and magically get more tolerant to bicycles. It is a bit of a mystery.
There should be some form of ramification to motorists actions. A bicyclist following traffic laws helps better the image of bicyclists. I do not know if it makes a motorist harass less because there is a high probability that most motorists deny the position of bicycles on a road when a perfectly good sidewalk is available!
Posted 08 Jul 2009 at 4:23 pm ¶Andy, can I ask an off-topic question? Where are you locking up your bike downtown now that all the racks have been pulled up on the Square?
My road bike was half-destroyed today sitting in front of South Ave. Pizza and I worry that having my bike downtown, in broad daylight in a very busy area isn’t enough protection.
I’m sure (or at least hoping) that this was a random, one-off event but I’m doing my best to commute on the bike to work every day, and having to worry about it getting destroyed on a daily basis would be too much for my nerves. I wish there was some kind of secure, protected indoor area downtown for people to use, or some kind of bike room in office buildings downtown (namely in PCOB).
Posted 08 Jul 2009 at 4:56 pm ¶The burbs in Orlando have more harassing behavior than the urban core as well. There is a mindset with some motorists that a cyclist riding on a road they think it’s insane to ride on makes that cyclist fair game.
A road that most people here point to as being a place to get harassed is University. So when Brian DeSousa was here in the spring, we rode the full length of it out and back at the tail end of the morning rush hour. We had someone yell from the inside lane (it’s a 6-lane) on the way out. We had 2 honks from cars that were passing safely in the next lane over on the way back.
So, 3 honks in 12 miles is definitely more than one would get in the urban core. I might get 3 honks in 3 months downtown. But aside from being obnoxious, the motorists passed us safely. I’ve certainly seen and experienced some nasty crap, but most harassment is just noise. Most motorists who honk at me are passing safely in the next lane.
Posted 08 Jul 2009 at 7:21 pm ¶Keri and Shek… I think harassment could be neighborhood specific. Yes, I do live in the urban core — just a couple of blocks from the MSU campus. And it’s a short distance from there to downtown. Home to my downtown office is 2.24 miles.
Nancy… Are you in Springfield? Where are these things happening?
Brad… I’ve been parking on Patton Alley near Queen City Cycles. I’ve had no problems there or anywhere downtown. But I could just be lucky. There are bicycle lockers at the bus transfer station. You might try those. Another place you might try is the Heers garage. they have four lollipops on the lower level — covered and well out of traffic. There are also several u-racks in the parking lot behind Hollywood Theaters. And I have taken a bicycle into PCOB before.
Posted 08 Jul 2009 at 7:51 pm ¶I live in Springfield, in the Brentwood neighborhood near Battlefield Mall. Most of my riding is done nearby. I do a fair amount of trail riding, both South Creek and Galloway, but use surface streets to get there. I also ride to the grocery store, drugstore, library, doctor’s office, etc. I utilize bike routes rather than main drags like Glenstone or Sunshine.
Until recently, I rode sidewalks and gutters, but reading this blog among others has taught me more about being confident and riding safely on roads, so I’m doing that now.
I haven’t been harassed much at all. I believe the following reasons explain that.
1. I haven’t been riding on the roads consistently for very long, a few months, so I’ve had less opportunity to be harassed.
2. I am overweight, ride an obvious comfort bike and look and ride more like a little old lady than like Lance Armstrong.
3. I observe stop signs, signal and strive to be courteous and predictable when I ride.
4. I smile and wave to drivers when they show me courtesy. I make a lot of eye contact with other drivers on the road.
Of all these, sadly I think the second reason is the biggest factor. There’s a lot of resentment out there for the “Lance Armstrong wannabe’s” riding in spandex. I don’t fit that stereotype, I look like a middle-aged fat lady who’s on a bike to get fit and go to the grocery store or the library at the same time. Maybe nobody wants to harass pudgy, sweaty women in their forties. Whatever, it works for me.
I also believe, like I posted before, that eye contact and making the effort to smile and wave to drivers who show me kindnesses goes a long way toward civility on the roads.
And yes, I agree with the sentiment that cyclists can be our own worst enemies. Not just in the stupid ways that some of us ride, but also in our flouting the rules for vehicles–like stop signs. Every time a motorist sees us do that, it reinforces in their minds that cyclists are lawless, rude, dangerous and deserve to be run off the road.
No, courteous behavior on it’s own may not change minds, but discourteous behavior will most certainly make the cycling situation for all of us more risky and hazardous.
Posted 09 Jul 2009 at 10:25 am ¶Kelly… I’m thrilled to hear that you’re finding something helpful on Carbon Trace!
Posted 09 Jul 2009 at 10:42 am ¶Andy–I live in Bethesda, MD, a suburb of Washington, DC. I can’t say there’s a particular neighborhood where I have been harassed more than elsewhere, but there is a particular road that is worse than others because there is a substandard, contraflow mulit-user path alongside it. Much of this “path” is just the shoulder of the road with a BIKE PATH label on it. It makes some drivers insanely angry when cyclists ride on the road instead of using the suicide path. Even so, this road [MacArthur Blvd] is very popular with cyclists for commuting and pleasure rides.
Keri–yes, it’s funny how most of the harassers aren’t even being impeded by me–they’re often going the other direction! Anyway, when people honk at me I think, “Well, at least they SEE me.”
Posted 09 Jul 2009 at 12:40 pm ¶Nancy… Oh, yuck. I hate those kinds of lanes. I stay out of any bicycle lane that isn’t appropriate, i.e. puts a bicyclist in a dangerous position or is simply unnecessary. And, yes, I get honked at. We have a notorious stretch of lane on Boonville in downtown Springfield that goes right by parked cars. I ride it in road where I belong. Drivers honk. So be it.
Posted 09 Jul 2009 at 1:26 pm ¶continuing the off-topicness:
I found out that the issue of no current bike racks on the Square will be brought up at next week’s CID meeting. So that’s a good sign! I heard that there will be 4 new ones installed, I just don’t know when.
Posted 09 Jul 2009 at 5:37 pm ¶Brad… Will also be discussed Wednesday at our advocacy committee meeting. I have heard from the city that they are working on it.
Posted 09 Jul 2009 at 6:27 pm ¶http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/06/kenny_bes_guide_to_summers_ter_1.php
seems to be pretty anti bicyclist
Posted 11 Jul 2009 at 11:33 am ¶