The Truth About Bikes and Cars

One centimetre closer and my handlebars would have been firmly planted in her passenger door!

Why is it that whenever you listen to those folks who supposedly love to ride their bikes, that all they wan to talk about is the latest rude, stupid, selfish thing some moron in a car, truck, SUV, van (usually a van) or semi has done to them?

Don't they realize how difficult it is to remain calm and empathetic toward cyclists when all of them ride like ten-year-old kids on a BMX? How many times does one of them come out of nowhere, fail to signal, zoom in front of you or hop up on the sidewalk to get around your car?

Bike riders bring this upon themselves!

Before I could even react, his car brushed the mirror on my bike...another millimetre and he'd have knocked me flying!

When you're driving, there's enough to worry about: stupid distracted drivers, road-hogging vehicles, out of control motorcycle riders, pedestrians walking out in front of you, dogs, those ridiculous scooters with the little orange "safety" flags oh, and let's not even get me going about buses. Add cyclists into the mix, and it's no wonder that there are close calls.

It isn't the fault of the people driving!

When the car passed the dump truck on the right, he slammed right into the woman on her bike, then continued up the road as though nothing had happened.

The worst part of it all is that when I'm driving, I'm in a hurry! There's so much traffic on the roads, and my boss is such a stickler about us being on time. If I don't get down there fast, the good parking spots will all be gone. All it takes is one idiot on a bike eating up two feet of roadway that I need to get past some slow-motion moron who's using the left lane!

Bikes and cars just don't mix.

I ride my bike to work every day. I drive my car at other times. I've seen some bad things done by people driving, and I've seen some bad things done by people on bikes. I get as ticked at drivers who ignore stop signs as I do at cyclists who think it's okay to ride up on the sidewalk.

But here's the thing: bikes scratch cars. Cars kill cyclists.

Next time you drive, imagine that person riding the bike on your right is your child. Do you want them to have a safe trip to wherever they're going, regardless of how they're conducting themselves?

To the woman driving the Caravan who almost knocked me off the bike yesterday...I'm sure your reasons for veering into the right lane on King Street so you could pass all the cars stopped at Portsmouth are all valid! I'm sure my shouting in your passenger window at the light was drowned out by your stimulating conversation.

So have I ever told you about the time the guy on the cellphone knocked me off my bike? Well, I was riding along Front road...