It’s July 4th, 2008. A group of professional cyclists are politely hurling down a hilly road off Sunset Boulevard. A red car pulls up behind them and begins honking. Responding to the driver, the cyclists pull even tighter to the right and allow him to pass.
But he does not pass. Instead, he pulls in front of them and brings his car to a sudden stop.
Two of the cyclists, traveling at about 30 miles per hour, cannot avoid the car. One clips the rear and goes flying. The other (UCLA’s cycling team’s coach) is not so lucky, and his face goes through the back windshield, severing his nose from his face.
The incident, though shocking, is neither fictional nor unique. News outlets have recently been reporting a much higher incidence of bicyclist targeted road rage, and major injuries have resulted.
The culprits are not hotheaded criminals, they are normal people. The man in the red car in the above story was an emergency room physician (he did not assist the injured cyclists). In a recorded incident in New York’s Times Square, a police officer assaulted a cyclist unprovoked, throwing him off his bike.
Incidents such as the one perpetrated by the Mandeville Canyon emergency room doctor signal a shift that must occur for the safety of cyclists and drivers alike: Drivers of vehicles must be cautious and respectful of their counterparts on bikes.
Cyclists must also be responsible.
That said, there is no denying that the threat foolhardy cyclists pose is mostly to themselves, whereas drivers routinely find themselves in fatal or near fatal situations involving other parties. By 2020, road traffic injuries are expected to overtake all non-disease causes of death in the United States, making them the third overall cause of fatalities.
Alex Yeh, a third-year electrical engineering and economics student and president of UCLA’s cycling team, seconds this notion by noting, “In any situation, in a collision between a 3500-pound car and a 15-pound bike, the car will always win.”
The first step in increasing cyclist safety is the most simple: awareness. Until the gas crunch and the failing of the US economy, bikes were mainly restricted to college campuses and liberal havens such as UCLA’s sister school in Davis, California.
But many bike shops have noted increased sales and West LA has transformed into a city that must now deal with cyclists on all major roads.
So instead of merely avoiding Wilshire or targeting bikers for fictional point values, what is a driver to do?
Know that cyclists have a right to be on the road. In fact, they have just as much of a legal right to be on the road as anyone in a car does. Sidewalks are not designed for cycling. In fact, LA Municipal Code 56.15 discourages cycling on the sidewalk in most areas and it is even illegal in some parts of West LA.
Actually look over the shoulder when turning right.
Cyclists, as a courtesy, generally ride in the right lane (even if a bike lane is not present they may turn left from the left lane legally).
This means that when a driver is parallel parking or pulling out of a spot or racing into Ralph’s, the cyclist who may be riding perfectly legally and cautiously is at a tremendous risk.
Take caution when cyclists are around, much in the same way one does when a large truck is around.
Many bicycles cannot come to a complete stop soon enough to avoid hitting a car that pulls in front of them without warning.
Respect cyclists the same way you do pedestrians and other vehicles. This city is too big to drive haphazardly ““ save your car the damage and your conscience the pain.