I have a 6-mile ride to my ferry every morning. In the winter, when it’s too cold and too dark in the mornings, I usually take a bus. But in the spring, summer, and early fall, I like to ride my bike those six miles. Unfortunately, the town I live in isn’t exactly bike-friendly. The only way to effectively get to the ferry terminal (because of a bridge over a long inlet from the Puget Sound) is via the main road through town, which has no bike path. Despite this, it’s generally a decent ride. The lanes on the road are wide enough to accommodate, and it’s largely flat or downhill (which means the ride home is much less pleasant).
As usual, today I was riding along the right side of the road, pretty straight and steady. I generally ride in the gutter, if one is there, or as close to the curb as I can get without risking actually hitting it. I’m pretty good about keeping myself in that narrow channel, and today was no exception. Most vehicles don’t have to do anything special to get by me.
Today, however, the driver of an old black pickup truck – not especially large, certainly not the size of most SUV’s – swerves dramatically into the other lane as he passes, and yells out the back window, “GET ON THE SIDEWALK!!” I gave him a hearty salute (no, not the one-fingered variety) and rode on where I was. No other cars felt the need to swerve or yell to get around me, so it seemed to be an anomaly.
What really irks me about this guy is his ignorance of the rules of the road. The thing is, it’s illegal for me to ride on the sidewalk – just as illegal as it would be for a car to do the same. See, bikes are expected to follow the same rules of the road as cars. We have to stop at stoplights and stop signs. We are expected to use hand signals when turning or changing lanes. And yes, we are expected to ride on the road, with the flow of traffic (I’m saving a separate rant for idiot bikers who ride against traffic. Grrr to all y’all for now.)
Want to know how I know all this? About 12 years ago, I was pulled over one night. I had run a red light, and I was on my bike. I was ticketed, just as a motor vehicle driver would have been, and I went to traffic school. While there, I made a point of verifying that all the rules and regs discussed there applied to bikes as well. With a few exceptions (seat belt laws, for example), they do. The instructor wasn’t happy with me, because of all my questions, but I learned what I needed to know… bikes are basically cars, as far as the law goes.
What’s more, riding my bike on the sidewalk is, generally speaking, much less safe than riding it on the street. What I mean by that is, it might be a bit safer for me sometimes, but it puts every pedestrian walking on that same sidewalk at significantly greater risk. Particularly on the sidewalk I would have to ride on, which is narrow, bumpy, and has many parking lot exit/entrance ramps along the way. If I hit a pedestrian along the way, it is most definitely my fault for riding where I’m not supposed to be, and I will be cited for it. Justifiably so, in my view. Also, with all the parking lot ramps along the way, I’m actually at a greater risk of getting hit by or hitting a car that pokes its nose out just that little extra bit. On the street, that’s almost never a problem.
In the hopes that Mr. Drama-Queen (the pickup driver) will hear me, I say this: before you yell at a biker riding on the road, you might take a moment to consider that they’re supposed to be there, by law. In most cases, riding on the sidewalk could get them ticketed, and definitely puts both them and pedestrians at greater risk.
Perhaps you never learned to share as a child, asshole… but you’re an adult now, and just as you share the road with other drivers, so you have to share it with bikers. When you swerve dramatically and needlessly, you’re only putting yourself and other drivers at risk. You’re the poor driver here, not I. Get over it, move on.
Hmmm… two Pit rants in two days. I must be angry.
