A unified theory of New York biking

[ny biker]

from Felix Salmon:

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/09/03/a-unified-theory-of-new-york-biking/

"Bikes can and should behave much more like cars than pedestrians. They should ride on the road, not the sidewalk. They should stop at lights, and pedestrians should be able to trust them to do so. They should use lights at night. And — of course, duh — they should ride in the right direction on one-way streets. None of this is a question of being polite; it’s the law. But in stark contrast to motorists, nearly all of whom follow nearly all the rules, most cyclists seem to treat the rules of the road as strictly optional. They’re still in the human-powered mindset of pedestrians, who feel pretty much completely unconstrained by rules.

The result is decidedly suboptimal for all concerned, but mostly for the bicyclists themselves. New York needs to make a collective quantum leap, from treating bicyclists like pedestrians to treating bicyclists like motorists. And unless and until it does, bike relations will continue to be marked by hostility and mistrust."

[redrhodie]

from Felix Salmon:

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/09/03/a-unified-theory-of-new-york-biking/

But in stark contrast to motorists, nearly all of whom follow nearly all the rules, most cyclists seem to treat the rules of the road as strictly optional.

That's funny!

What planet is this guy living on? Has he never been on a highway with a 55 mph speed-limit? If you even try obeying the law, you'll be road-raged to death. Don't even get me started that he's specifically speaking about NY. I lived there long enough to know the speed limit in the city is "go as fast as you can go to keep the greens lights". No one in NY obeys traffic laws, not cars, bikes, or even pedestrians. Maybe since I left NY, cyclists have gotten worse. I could believe that, but I don't believe the drivers have all become perfect. Maybe they aren't driving the wrong way down one way streets, or driving on the sidewalks, but they're still breaking laws, and often those laws are extremely hazardous to cyclists, like driving in bike lanes, and opening doors without looking.

I see what he's trying to say, though, but I still think a bike is neither a car nor a pedestrian, and shouldn't be treated as either. Sometimes the rules are written for cars, and just don't work for bikes. (like the one in my state, that says cyclists must start a turn signal 100 feet before the turn, and hold it through the entire turn, which you all know makes it impossible to brake with both hands, and may make turning extremely unstable and unsafe. So, every time I hold my bars with both hands when I'm turning, I'm breaking the law.) I agree with him it's dumb to ride the wrong way down one way streets, and run red lights, but his argument that the majority of cyclists are bad and drivers are good is ridiculously one sided.

I also don't believe that even if every single cyclist was to follow the law to a tee, we would suddenly all be accepted by drivers. They would still find us annoying, slow, and in their way.

ETA, my comment was based just on the segment that was cut and pasted, not on the full article. I misunderstood his full intent.

[PamNY]

Interesting, and so were the comments. He makes some good points.

[skhill]

Thanks for the link, ny biker. It's an interesting read. And I think he's hit on something important, that a lot of problems come when so many folks-- drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike-- tend to put bikes in the mental category of "pedestrian."

[lph]

Interesting! The last few commutes I've been pondering writing an article titled something like "Why cyclists behave so strangely", to explain a little of the cyclist point of view. The mental "we're just human-powered almost pedestrian"-thing explains a whole lot.

[PamNY]

Cyclists do break traffic laws more often than auto drivers in Manhattan and Brooklyn (the two boroughs where I bike). That's just the way it is.

No one is saying that auto drivers are perfect, but if you calculated a percentage of violations such as going the wrong way on a one way street and running red lights, you would find a much higher percentage of cyclists violating the law. Nothing is gained by pretending this isn't the case.

In some cases, if you are careful, breaking the law on a bike is safer. Jaywalking is also safer -- most pedestrians killed by cars are crossing legally.

[Eden]

Cyclists do break traffic laws more often than auto drivers in Manhattan and Brooklyn (the two boroughs where I bike). That's just the way it is.

No one is saying that auto drivers are perfect, but if you calculated a percentage of violations such as going the wrong way on a one way street and running red lights, you would find a much higher percentage of cyclists violating the law. Nothing is gained by pretending this isn't the case.

In some cases, if you are careful, breaking the law on a bike is safer. Jaywalking is also safer -- most pedestrians killed by cars are crossing legally.

If you want to cherry pick laws, you might be right, certain traffic laws probably are broken more often by cyclists, but if you look at traffic laws as a whole, I doubt you'd find one driver out of 100 who doesn't violate some sort of traffic law every time they drive..... 99.9% of drivers around here don't stop legally at stop signs. If they actually do fully stop, its usually in the middle of the crosswalk.... 99.9% of drivers go over the speed limit, even if it's just a little, that's still breaking the law. Lots and lots of people pass on the right on the interstate, tons don't use turn signals - and right o' people - you need to use the *all the time*, even in a parking lot. Don't get me started about right on red.....

Lets not fool ourselves either that drivers are somehow any better. If anything it behooves drivers to be better than everyone else and to be the most careful of anyone because they have the greatest destructive potential.

[PamNY]

Eden, I'm talking specifically about cycling in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Right on red is illegal, interstates are rare, and both cyclists and vehicles pull into crosswalks because it's the only way to see around double-parked trucks.

I was merely trying to shed light on the discussion (which was specifically about New York City).

It was not my intention to provoke one of those "drivers are bad too" discussions which are common here and in which I have no desire to participate.

[Eden]

Eden, I'm talking specifically about cycling in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Right on red is illegal, interstates are rare, and both cyclists and vehicles pull into crosswalks because it's the only way to see around double-parked trucks.

I was merely trying to shed light on the discussion (which was specifically about New York City).

It was not my intention to provoke one of those "drivers are bad too" discussions which are common here and in which I have no desire to participate.

From my reading of the article that's what this is all about... It's about the respect that drivers don't afford cyclists on the road. It's easy to say oh its because they are all lousy rule breakers, but that's totally hypocritical. Cyclists and motorists may break different rules in different proportions, but I call *total BS* to the idea that cyclists break rules more often - and it really gets my dander up to see other cyclists buy into that type of thinking.

I'm not defending cyclists who ride the wrong way on one way streets. That's just plain stupid and yes I will tell a cyclist that they are going the wrong way (though few people do it here thankfully) and I'm not defending law breaking from any group. It just really bothers me, really, really bothers me that people have the idea that cyclists as a group somehow deserve what ever abuse or neglect we receive from motorists because some cyclists don't follow the rules. It bugs me that we as a society are willing to say cyclists should be held to a higher standard so that people won't want to kill us, rather than saying motorists should be held to a higher standard because they are more likely to kill.

[PamNY]

Cyclists and motorists may break different rules in different proportions, but I call *total BS* to the idea that cyclists break rules more often - and it really gets my dander up to see other cyclists buy into that type of thinking..

It's not even remotely close to BS in Manhattan, and I'm not sure why it matters anyway. Are there many commercial cyclists (e.g. restaurant delivery people and messengers) where you live? That is a big, big factor here. I'm terrified of them and sympathetic to them at the same time.

Remember that there simply isn't room for everybody in some cities. You can't cycle like a car in Manhattan in many cases. You can't stay out of the door zone unless you stay home. It's just different, that's all.

Sometimes ridiculous circumstances occur simply because things are crowded. Last night I had to navigate around preparations for the 9/11 ceremonies and a movie shoot. I ended up getting off my bike and walking because it wasn't far, but wrong-way biking would have solved the problem.

[lph]

I won't ever defend law-breaking, but I have become less absolute in condemning those who break the traffic laws. To put it this way, I would rather meet drivers who occasionally drove a bit too fast on the highway and didn't come to complete stops at every stop sign, but were unfailingly alert, observant and kind to cyclists.

[pll]

I won't ever defend law-breaking, but I have become less absolute in condemning those who break the traffic laws. To put it this way, I would rather meet drivers who occasionally drove a bit too fast on the highway and didn't come to complete stops at every stop sign, but were unfailingly alert, observant and kind to cyclists.

+1

I would also like to see cyclists being more mindful that they are not alone on the road. Up here, I see cyclists run red lights when cars are waiting at the intersection (not just when they change, but *way* after they have changed to red). Last weekend, during an organized ride in Wisconsin, I was with a few other cyclists at a 4 way stop sign, allowing cars to get through, when a couple on a tandem bike rides right into the intersection, making one of the cars stop, as the stoker is yelling "is this for real? <expletives>". I just could not believe it, the sense of entitlement. Besides the fact that the couple 'shoaled' (as NY Bike Snob would call it) several other cyclists.

[PamNY]

I won't ever defend law-breaking, but I have become less absolute in condemning those who break the traffic laws. To put it this way, I would rather meet drivers who occasionally drove a bit too fast on the highway and didn't come to complete stops at every stop sign, but were unfailingly alert, observant and kind to cyclists.

Yes, I agree. This is why I never join in the universal condemnation of taxi drivers. Sure, they break all kinds of laws but many of them are skilled drivers.

I can't tell you how many cab drivers have waved me across the street with a smile -- to let me know they see me with a very old, very slow dog.