It was this observation that kept me from being suprised when I read in the
Berkeley bicycle plan that 50% of all accidents involving bikes happen when
the bike fails to stop at a sign or signal.
The reason motorists like Barbara Kaufman say bad things about bikers is
because a much larger percentage of motorists obey the traffic laws than
bikers.
As was pointed out by Janice Rothstein, these bikers that break the laws
cause as much of a problem as motorists who are mean to bikers. Many a time
I have stopped at a stop sign and irritated and surprised motorists who
were
_expecting_ me to just ride right through. The more I bike the more I see
how motorists could easily come to expect bikers to constantly break the
law.
Having said all of that, I want to make it clear that there is definitely a
motorist education problem when it comes to dealing with bikes on the road.
I am constantly yelled at and abused for avoiding car doors, stopping at
signals and signs, and moving into the middle of the lane when coming to an
intersection where I am not going to make a right turn.
There really needs to be a push to include some information on biking in
the
DMV booklets and tests. Also, there are probably some other ways to try and
get the word out about how to deal with bikes. I think a lot of the problem
is just that motorists don't realize how the traffic laws apply to bikes.
All the motorists are expecting to see bikers hugging the curb (or car
doors) even at intersections and places where it is extremely dangerous to
do so.
I think the three main things to be done to help this problem are:
1. More education on bike issues for motorists.
2. More traffic citations for bicyclists.
3. Better bicycle facilities (ie. bike boulevards).
I really doubt that trying to give motorists citations for cutting off
bicycles or pushing bicycles against the curb will make any difference. I
have never been in a situation where a cop was around to ticket such an
occurance.
I also agree with Janice that Barbara Kaufman should try going on a test
ride around San Francicso. Nothing will make these issues more clear than
that.
Perhaps the bicycle community should sponsor an event to have the various
traffic politicians ride through their fair cities during commute hours. I
would gladly donate some of my bikes for the duration of such an event.