The Bike/Car Culture (of entitlement) War

(The pictures in this post have ZERO to do with the actual post itself. I just got a little wordy and needed to add some humor and visual content.)

In other news entirely, there's a lot of discussion lately (here, here, here, etc.) about cars and bikes sharing the road since an incident the other week on Mandeville Canyon Road where a motorist (Dr. Christopher T. Thompson) became enraged at a couple of cyclists and pulled in front of them and slammed on his brakes, causing one of them to go face-first through the rear window, nearly severing his nose and causing multiple other injuries, and the other to go flying off his bike and separating his shoulder, which will require surgery. (In this case, Dr. Thompson appears to have been completely and entirely in the wrong, which is why he's facing arraignment in two weeks.)

This incident, combined with high gas prices that have made more Angelenos start riding their bicycles, and made more motoring Angelenos even crankier, seems to have brought the issue or cars and cyclists sharing the road to the forefront. After cancelling a previously scheduled public meeting, City Councilman Bill Rosendahl set up a task force between residents of Mandeville Canyon Road and certain groups of cyclists.

WestsideBikeSIDE has been covering this, and one of the interesting points brought up in the discussion over there is WestsideBikeside author Alex Thompson's comment that

"this has all the symptoms of a culture war. It’s not a culture war between CARS and CYCLISTS, but between cyclists’ safety needs and motorist entitlement. Can anyone deny that there is an almost universal sense of a entitlement amongst motorists in LA? Is it not the case that cyclists do not feel safe when motorists drive with entitlement? We have the ingredients for a culture war."

There he hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, it's not just a lot of motorists, but a lot of cyclists too that have this sense of entitlement.


(Like I said, nothing to do with the actual post.)

It's not surprising really, this is Los Angeles, the land of eternal sunshine and instant gratification, where EVERYONE feels entitled to whatever he or she wants at that particular instant.

Some drivers feel that they own the road when they're behind the wheel.

After all, it's their gas taxes that pay for these roads. Why should they have to wait behind some smug jackass on an overpriced child's toy that wants to go ten miles an hour and doesn't want to get out of the way? Haven't those idiots on bicycles heard of a little thing called the laws of physics and a man named Darwin? What are they thinking? The roads belong to cars, and those dumb bikes can stay on the sidewalk.

Unfortunately, some cyclists have a very similar sense of entitlement.

Don't those people in cars realize they're killing the planet and not getting any exercise while they transport themselves around town? Stop signs and traffic signals are optional for cyclists, especially if they're riding in a group. Riding two to five abreast is perfectly fine at any speed, regardless of what California Vehicle Code section 21202 has to say about keeping as close to the right as possible. Not only do cyclists get to do all of this, they can do it while heavily intoxicated, and those fools in cars can just deal with it.

(OK, this one's a tiny bit relevant.)

Welcome to the Culture of Entitlement War between cyclists and motorists.

There are a couple of issues in play here.

1. It seems like bike culture may actually be approaching "critical mass". Here in L.A., you're seeing more and more folks using bikes as a form of transportation, and the "bike scene" is taking off in a big way, with rides of hundreds/low thousands of people happening several times a month, and rides with dozens and dozens of people happening a couple of times a week. Rather than just a fringe weekend activity for families with young children and middle aged men, cycling is actually becoming a far more mainstream activity. This means that bicycles are having to be taken seriously as another form of vehicle on the public roads, ather than as just an occasional anomaly.

2. The laws about bicycles / group riding / etc. are still fairly unclear. From a legal perspective, the meaning of the "ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway" requirement of CVC 21202, is not settled. Does this mean that you can ride in groups 2-5 abreast if you're not moving at the "normal speed of traffic"? Does this mean you have to ride single file in groups? Despite what various car / bike advocates claim, this is still fairly unsettled, which is why some members of law enforcement will yell "Single File!" while others say "Have a nice night!" when passing a group of cyclists. Both motorists and cyclists have their preferred interpretations, but from a legal perspective, it looks like there's some unclear verbiage here.
See this lengthy article from 1995 for more detail on bicycles and California law.

(Poor lady.)

It seems to me, that if the laws are unclear, then cyclists and motorists need to figure out how to get along. Turning this into a culture war between U-lock wielding cyclists on the one hand and caltrop tossing motorists on the other, does not seem likely to be very productive.

Both sides need to figure out how getting around town by bike or car can be safe AND efficient and as much fun as possible for all concerned. This is going to involve both sides trading their sense of entitlement and self-importance for compassion and common sense, but it shouldn't be too hard, given that almost everyone involved either is, has been, or will be, both a cyclist and a motorist.

Can it happen? In Los Angeles?

Stay tuned.

But in the mean time, whether you're on a bike or in a car, PLEASE do your best to be pleasant and courteous. Just because some parts of the vehicle code about cycling are unclear, does not mean that there's nearly as much ambiguity about what constitues a felony, as a certain doctor can tell you.

Failing that, JUST DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE when you're part of a group of otherwise nice people. This is as true for the one resident of Mandeville Canyon that decided to assault cyclists with his car, when the other "[h]omeowners acknowledged that the road has clear recreational value and should remain open for a variety of uses", as it is for the guy who chooses to steal beer during a group ride so someone more responsible has to pay up to maintain good relationships with our local retailers.

Make sure to have fun!

Between the lingerie ride on Friday and crankmob on Saturday, I better get my wheel fixed soon.

See you out there this weekend. (If by some freak of improbability, you're reading this, own a bicycle, live in L.A. and haven't been on a big group ride yet, by all means hit up bikeboom.com or midnightridazz.com and head on out.)