A few days ago, Cycling Tips published a post on “how cyclists are being dehumanized and why that matters” . In a nutshell, the post shared research on the poor treatment of cyclist online by researcher Dr Alexa Delbosc and how people “dehumanize” cyclist and how their views influence their treatment of them. What was found was that while violent jokes where expressed, threats of violence were also expressed towards cyclists too. It also reflected that if cyclists feel dehumanized by other road users, they may act out against them too, a vicious cycle we need to avoid for all our safety. With all jokes and threats aside, I believe the conversation around aggression towards cyclists needs to have a serious conversation if cycling is to become normalized in our cities and communities.
Recently, my cycling club posted a video of what not to do on a group ride. The video showed a large group of cyclists unorganizedly taking over an entire single lane with car traffic backed up. While I thought their behavior was unsafe, I figured they had no choice. It was a large group and there was no space for them to pull over to stop and allow drivers to take over. Taking the lane was the only option. However, the comments were surprising hateful and rather dehumanizing. It was discouraging to read and had me thinking twice about cycling in my own community out of fear of one of these potential cycling haters.
Like most teenagers in America, I took drivers ed in high school to help me get my drivers license. And when I started cycling, I had to learn how to communicate with drivers so that we both moved along traffic in peace. Safe cycling behaviors: indicating before turning, holding my line, stopping at the stop sign, doing a head check before turning left, and providing one meter of room when overtaking a cyclist all equipped me to learn how to comfortably interact with fellow cyclists and drivers on the road.
Having road safety knowledge as both a cyclist and driver, this got me thinking about how we address sharing the road in America, where car culture reigns and car industries lobby our cities to build bigger highways while cycling infrastructure slowly address the demand for bike safety.
A lot of what I’ve been recently sharing on road safety and harassment comes from the constant headline news I read about cycling and pedestrian deaths. This awareness puts me in high alert about my own cycling safety and driving. And even when I am driving, I see a lot of distracted drivers and worry for my own safety. Unfortunately, I have immense anxiety as a driver as I don’t enjoy it, to me, driving is antisocial and an empty coffin waiting for a body. Unapologetically, my attitude about driving sounds morbid but it’s what I own as both driver and cyclist that makes me a safer driver and cyclists (not an uncommon combination).
In the quest to improve cycling safety, other than building cycling infrastructure, I strongly believe that we have to educate both cyclists and non-cyclists on how to co-exist with each other. Of course there are cities who are doing all they can to protect cyclists and there are laws around protecting cyclist but the fault of any fatality usually falls on the cyclist without any to little consequence to the driver. In America, there is a tendency to blame one group over the other which gets absolutely nothing done when the responsibility lies with both road- users.
As cyclists, we too have to obey all the road rules: stop at red lights, wear your lights, wear a bike bell, wear your helmet (people love arguing over helmets but there are laws requiring wearing one depending on where you live, you may be fined otherwise). There are obviously things drivers need to do – give sufficient distance when overtaking cyclists, fully stop at junctions, indicate early, don’t drive distracted, don’t speed, do a head check (you’re actually tested on this), don’t swing doors open where there are bike paths. In addition, there are things that cyclists and drivers need to take responsibility for to change the dialogue around both road users behaviors. When we are able to understand how to co-exist, we can all contribute to a much better environment.
While it’s great to have research around “attitudes” around cyclists and drivers, attitudinal changes will only come as part of drivers training and perhaps cycling training too. In countries such as the Netherlands, cycling is a compulsory mode of transportation and has strict liability laws for bicycle-motor vehicle collisions. In addition, the Dutch train their children to ride so they can confidently ride around to school around 12yrs of age and require training necessary so they can pass their traffic exams. Dutch motorist are also trained for interactions with cyclists as part of their drivers training when attaining a driving license. Unsurprisingly, the percentage of car-bike incidents in the Netherlands are significantly low in comparison to the US, UK, and Australia. Hence, why education for both need to be part of training when normalizing cycling as a mode of transportation.
News stories of cycling accidents and safety are full of tips and vitriol all over the web but rarely addresses the responsibility our cities, policies, and laws required to change and address road safety for all users. While it’s easy to blame and dehumanize others, the area of road behavior by both drivers and cyclists are under researched but as our cities are trying to address climate change, alternative transit, urban growth, and cycling infrastructure, more can be done to understand how to normalize cycling rather than making it a fearful activity.
Fear is an immense barrier when it comes to cycling and is the reason a lot of people refuse to get on their bikes. It also doesn’t help that the media bombards with us victim blaming stories of pedestrians and cyclists deaths too. Thousands of lives could be saved and our quality of life would improve if we tackled bias of road danger reporting in the media too. I am truly surprised with media’s normalization of car pollution, road rage, and car crashes which is the one of the leading cause of death. We’ve normalized drivers getting away with lenient fines for killing people with their cars. When it comes to how media reports this, they are also responsible for covering the limitations of liability and the violent deaths and life changing injuries on the roads that cars are largely responsible for.
As a cyclists and driver, the rising number of pedestrian and cyclists deaths caused by drivers keeps me on edge about my own safety, which is why I’ve posted so much about cycle safety lately. I do suffer certain anxieties before a ride and I certainly grip my handlebars when a semi truck passes by me on the narrow roads we have in upstate NY. I am not scared of riding my bike, I’m more scared of others who are driving distracted, too close, and fast. Everyday is a question of how to make myself more visible, safe, and prepared to handle an incident.
Better cycling infrastructure, reduced speed limits in residential areas, and improved education for drivers and cyclists are all needed to keep our roads safe for everyone. Most importantly, we need our laws to hold both cyclists and drivers liable. We are all vulnerable and can do more to be aware, compassionate, and human when sharing the roads.
If you would like to add how you practice safe cycling for others to benefit from, please share with us! Thanks.
Image: Total Women’s Cycling