Turning The Green Light

H.G. Not Orson

H.G. Wells said, “When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the human race.” I’m not sure if he sees some potential in bicycles that the rest of us don’t see that would make them effective vehicles for waging war against invading space aliens, or that an adult on a bike is simply an outward expression of an inward humility and willingness to trade convenience for conservation. I’m betting it’s both.

Now that we are seeing more bicycles on the road, being ridden in cities by regular people not necessarily clad in colorful, corporate branded jerseys and shorts so tight the skin underneath them feels objectified, the contentious relationship between cars and bicycles is at an all time high.

Fast Not Slow

People in cars see bicycles as slow and in the way or slow and about to be in the way. They see your exertion, bicyclist, as you lean your weight in to spin the crankset around. There is no criticism on the effort. It’s the speed. The beef boils down to a matter of nerdy physics. The effort to propel yourself versus the end product, the rate of forward motion, are grossly disproportional. The person in the car has the opposite problem…if that’s what you want to call it. An effortless act of a 90 to 45 degrees foot extension takes the car from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about the time it takes the bicyclist to assess their likelihood of getting rolled up in the presently unfolding traffic scenario. The bicyclist’s mechanical disadvantage is at the root of the conflict.

Fragrant Not Flagrant

Bicycles have become the smelly kid in class, and feel that people in cars just want them to be somewhere, anywhere else. But those on bikes will tell you that there is a sense of adventure, pride and responsibility that comes with their method. Where people on bicycles see the necessity to create space around them on the road to ensure their safety, people in cars see a pompous idealist inconsiderate of everyone else. So the “buzz by” occurs with the hope that if enough cars drive by the two-wheeled rider really fast, they will eventually submit under fear, and join the company of those behind the wheel, “like a normal person”. So while bicycles enjoy a sense of freedom in their commute they are not free from road rage, on the contrary, they are often the targets.

Later Not Now

So until there are bike lanes on every street, and until cars choose not to use them as turning/passing lanes, we are going to have to learn to play nice. Consumers will continue to obsess over crash safety ratings and vehicle size when choosing their next car. And commuter safety will continue to be a point of concern and conflicting ideologies despite the fact that it will probably be the job you’re commuting to that ends up killing you.