Share the road
Former Los Angeles ER doctor Christopher Thompson, 60, was sentenced last month to five years in prison on seven felony counts for a 2008 road rage incident that involved bicyclists. The so-called Road Rage Doctor slammed on his brakes in front of two cyclists, injuring both. It was not Thompson’s first scuffle with cyclists. Police responding to the accident reported that Thompson said he “wanted to teach them a lesson.”
Unfortunately there are too many motorists like Thompson who want to teach cyclists a lesson. It may be by yelling at cyclists to get off the road or by passing a cyclist and quickly cutting them off to punish them for holding up traffic. These are dangerous, life-threatening actions that are simply not worth the extra second or two it would take to safely pass a fellow citizen on a bicycle.
The fact is that in many states (and Arkansas is one of them) bicyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as motorists. This means cyclists should not ride on the sidewalk, but rather stay on the road. Cyclists also should obey all traffic laws.
It is irresponsible to do things on our bicycles that we would not do in a car like breezing through an intersection without stopping, passing stopped traffic on the right or riding against the flow of traffic. Cyclists can increase the safety for themselves and for fellow motorists by riding in a predictable pattern, using hand signals for turns, merges and stops, and by making sure they are visible through the use of bicycle lights, reflectors and avoiding dark-colored clothing.
Likewise, motorists should treat bicyclists with the respect they would give other motorists. Please, don’t pass a bicycle when it’s not safe for you or the cyclist just to shave a couple of seconds off your commute. And when it is safe to pass, be sure to give three feet of clearance until you are past the cyclist to avoid clipping their handlebar or wheel with your car.
It’s an unfortunate fact that there are motorists and cyclists out there who are unaware of the rules and responsibilities they accept when they operate a car or bicycle. There are cyclists who don’t know or obey the laws, just like there are motorists who don’t know or obey some traffic laws. What we need is more education for both motorists and cyclists, along with a healthy dose of respect. In the end, our differences should not result in physical harm and certainly should never cost any person a life. It’s simply not worth that.
(Jennifer Boyett is an avid cyclist who serves on the Bicycle Advisory Board and is a member of Conway Advocates for Bicycling. For more information about how you can become involved with cycling in Conway, visit www.cycleconway.org.)
