Hey, what makes you bicyclists such total assholes? Always
bitching about cars, while using roads PAID FOR BY MY GAS TAX DOLLARS.
Why can’t anyone on a bicycle stop at a stop sign? Get a real job so
you can buy a car or get off the fucking road.
Asshole Driver
What is it about driving that makes someone a psychotic idiot? I
long ago stopped paying attention to stop signs, will jump from the
sidewalk to the street, and will shove myself to the center of the lane
because MY FUCKING LIFE IS ON THE LINE.
Terrified Cyclist
In the aftermath of the July 25 Critical Mass mess—in
which a driver, stuck in a crowd of cyclists, panicked, ran into at
least one human being, attempted to flee the scene, and was stopped
when cyclists punctured his tires and trashed his car—a question
has emerged: Who was the bigger asshole, the aggressive (and
violent) cyclists or the panicky (and violent) driver?
East Aloha Street, where this whole situation brewed up, is
narrow—barely wide enough for two cars, let alone cars and
cyclists. The road twists and turns with terrible sight lines. Cars
naturally gravitate to this street because it lacks traffic circles,
unlike the roads north and south of it. No cyclist should use this
road.
Aloha Street also happens to be a city designated cyclist
route, as per the Seattle Bicycling Guide Map. That’s fucking
crazy. The much-hyped Seattle Bicycle Master Plan solution is sharrows,
those next-to-useless bicycle stencils out in the lane of traffic,
along Aloha Street.
Driving a car is the single most dangerous thing we
do. It’s a massive assumption of responsibility most of us take
about as seriously as flossing. In 2006, 32,092 American drivers or
passengers died despite the massive effort taken to design
infrastructure safer for drivers. Forced onto autocentric streets,
4,810 motorcyclists, 4,784 pedestrians, and 773 cyclists lost their
lives in 2006 to motorists.
A proper bicycle route has a designated lane for
cyclists, special bicycle markings at intersections (such as bike
boxes), turn restrictions for cars, traffic-calming structures (such as
forced turns every few blocks for cars but not cyclists), and more. A
tremendous volume of scientific literature exists on the subject.
In cities like Seattle, without an integrated network of properly
designed bicycle routes, cyclists are about 25 times more
likely to be injured and five times more likely to be killed per
mile than in cities that have such a network. With a bike network, both
drivers and cyclists are much happier, no longer charged with the
impossible task of sharing roads that weren’t designed for sharing.
Frustrated to the point of violence by a cyclist blocking your way
as a driver, or terrified by a driver as a cyclist? Science says
blame the city’s contemptuous traffic engineering.
Apprehensively Yours,
Science
Further Reading:
Send your questions to dearscience@thestranger.com.
