OY

I've biked to work maybe 6 times so far this spring and I have seen enough craziness to last a lifetime. I have seen both cars and bicyclists do stupid things. Today was one of them.

To cars I say please slow down for us. Share the lane. There is no need to zoom your car at us, drive within inches of us, and honk your car at us. This scares us, it makes us feel unsafe and unsteady. When you act aggressively it may cause us to fall or swerve. You can kill us when you behave like that, it's not funny. You are risking our lives. We do not want to die just because we want to bike to work and save gas. If you have to wait for us, or slow down a little, it's not going to make you late, or ruin your life. Everything will be OK if you pause for us when the road gets tight.

To bicyclists I say please stop being stupid. Man, I have seen some crazy stuff. I have seen bikers riding against traffic, running stop lights, crossing the street while weaving in-between cars and buses, making illegal turns, using cell phones or ipods while biking. All dangerous stupid shit that may get you hurt. Not only that, but this reckless behaviour really hurts the perception of bicyclists. A bicyclist that acts badly pisses off drivers and then the drivers will probably be less likely to respect us and look out for our safety. We need to model safe behavior to teach drivers how we want them to interact with us.

When we bike, we are theoretically safer in the road, not sidewalks; so when we are in the road we need to act and look like cars. We need to follow all the laws as if we were in a car, which means:

• stop at stop signs
• stop at traffic lights
• use hand signals 
• put reflectors and lights on your bike
• do not jump curbs
• do not act erratically or unpredictably in the traffic lane
• do not weave inbetween cars
• do not text while biking
• do not use a cell phone while biking
• do not listen to your ipod while biking

I am also a HUGE proponent for wearing helmets. You can debate me all you want, I will not change. If you get hit by a car, or if you unexpectedly fall down and your head slams into pavement, you can ruin your brain for the rest of your life. This is not worth risking, you only have 1 brain.  If you've ever met anyone with a brain injury, trust me, you do not want that to happen to you.

My rant for the day is over. Be careful and happy peddaling.