A few days ago, I wrote about Mike Smith, a mild-mannered cyclist who punched out a pickup truck driver after the driver attacked him in Sandy Springs. The motorist was charged with DUI after he regained consciousness.
The story struck a chord with bicyclists, who said, “We’ve been telling you there are too many nuts driving cars.”
And the gasoline crowd responded, often colorfully, that bicyclists are the problem, that they wear a sense of entitlement and umbrage on the sleeves of those colorful cycling jerseys. Motorists say they’re tired of cyclists pushing their “rights” in everyone’s faces while also disregarding basic rules of the road.
Last week, a goon in a red SUV did a U-turn so he could run down a cyclist who, police said, “had words” with him. The driver has not been arrested and police have not yet been able to speak to the cyclist, who remains hospitalized with grievous injuries.
Every now and then, a tragedy like this shines light on the uneasy co-existence of drivers and bikers, a relationship that sometimes spills into antipathy. This is such a time. It’s also a time to talk with those on bikes and those in metal boxes to see where they are coming from.
Motorists are tired of cyclists riding two abreast, daring you to hit them or forcing you to swerve into oncoming traffic to get by. Or, they complain, cyclists make a lot of noise about the law giving them a right to the road – and then they sneak through red lights, careen between lines of cars or wave dismissively at stop signs.
Cycling friends have long complained about how dangerous it is out there. (I putter about my neighborhood on a 10-speed, staying off busy streets and don’t even own a helmet.) I made a few phone calls and found it easy to accumulate a list of bikers who have suffered assorted broken bones and concussions. In fact, for serious bikers, a hard crash is almost expected. The injuries result from a variety of incidents: cars turning left in front of them, cars turning right in front of them, cars going straight but much too close, and a driver who connected with a devastating punch after missing with a bottle.
'A bunch of arrogant snobs to begin with'
The Internet always seems to bring out the worst in people, although a lot of the time I think anonymity enables people to say what they really believe.)
(First, I must say that a couple readers suggested cyclists carrying guns, but I don’t want to mix a story with weaponry and bicycling craziness: the InterWeb might explode.)
SlawDawg said, “OK...first, anybody that spends $10K on a bicycle is an idiot.”
(Again, let me intrude here. When people complain about folks owning luxury items, they are dismissed as being driven by “wealth envy.” But it’s clear that lots of motorists are upset Smith spent ten grand on something he pedals.)
Back to SlawDawg. “Cyclists are a bunch of arrogant snobs to begin with....at least the ones who ride on the streets, usually in heavy traffic, and block the normal flow of traffic. Frankly, I am surprised that more of them are not hit and /or killed….You probably deserved to get your *** kicked anyway.
“Tallulah” stepped up: “Put a little spandex on a guy and he gets all tough. One day these idiots on bicycles are going to learn a lesson. Share the road and obey the rules or wind up a hood ornament.”
One reader even posted a website where motorists grumble about pesky cyclists - www.sparetheroad.com .
Even one of my faithfully liberal co-workers weighed in: “I’m all for biking. But stay the hell off DeKalb Avenue! It’s not made for bikes.”
OK, you get the picture. Drivers of all hues and political persuasions are fed up!! Here they are, hurrying along at 47 mph when suddenly they are greeted by someone’s Spandex-covered backside going 16 mph. And they must slow down until it’s safe to pass.
State law says cars are supposed to give cyclists at least three feet of clearance.
'You own the road and anyone else, they're in your way'
On the cyclists’ side, let me introduce the Pedaling Wounded:
First there’s Daniel Banks, who unwisely responded with a four-letter word to a driver who came up too close behind and sounded his horn. Someone in the vehicle then threw a Sobe bottle at Banks and missed. Then the enraged driver stopped, got out and nailed Banks with a punch in the face so hard it knocked him out for at least 10 minutes.
On another occasion, Banks earned a broken collarbone and ribs when he was “right hooked” by a truck taking a right-hand turn with him on the inside.
Then there’s Mick Chong, who was put into a coma for nearly three weeks by a car turning left into him on an empty street near Emory University.
And there is cycling’s Master of Disaster, Todd Muller, who runs Reality Bikes in Cumming and has broken bones in three separate car collisions.
“There’s almost a sense of entitlement (with motorists),” he said. “You’re in a car. You own the road and anyone else, they’re in your way. ‘Get out of my way. And if you don’t, I’ll roll my window down and yell at you.’ ”
Chong said he wasn’t hurt because he antagonized drivers. His injury came from being invisible despite the fact he was wearing his “obnoxiously loud” cycling jersey.
“Now I ride with a blinker, even during the day,” Chong said, “Something to say ‘Here I am.’ ”
The interplay with motorists is endless. Last month a pickup truck pulled up along him at a red light and the side mirror hit his elbow.
“Hey, man! What’s up?” an irritated Chong told the driver.
“Get off the road!” the driver spat back. Fortunately, this driver didn’t punctuate his retort with a SoBe bottle
So, Chong put his head down and waited for the light to change.
Slowly, he is learning a strategy: Shut up.
“You can’t argue,” he said. “You don’t want him to hate all cyclists.”
More cyclists than ever on the roads
Rebecca Serna, head of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, said the atmosphere has changed for the better in the nine years she has bike-commuted in her intown neighborhood. Twice as many people commute by bike now compared with 10 years ago, according to census figures.
And Serna said motorists are gradually becoming more accommodating as they get used to more folks pedaling the road.
Banks agrees with Serna, “The city has made huge advances in the last 10 years with bicycles.”
Banks said a witness to his attack gave the attacker’s vehicle tag to police but the owner said it had been stolen. A year later, the owner split with her boyfriend and
called authorities, telling them her boyfriend had beaten up Banks.
He was arrested and Banks tried to be insistent about the guy’s prosecution, but he said the assistant district attorney wasn’t very interested in pursuing the case, even though the guy had “multiple DUIs and a dead-docketed road rage case.”
“It will happen again with him,” Banks said.
Banks read the story of Mike Smith, the cyclist who
knocked an angry motorist silly.
“It’s a funny story,” he said. But he fears it will encourage cyclists to start engaging motorists in a more muscular way.
Maybe both sides, he said, should start by just trying to chill out.
