Sharing the Road

On a recent sunny day I was out running errands. I watched people walking their dogs and whizzing about on their scooters, and I had a moment of gratitude for my awesome neighborhood. Suddenly, I saw a cyclist whip his bike around the left side of a car at a stop sign, determined to dash ahead of the car in traffic.

I love living in an area where people ride bikes. Here in East Nashville bicycles are more than a weekend activity; residents commute on their bikes and take them on errands.

What I don’t love, however, is bike riders who don’t respect traffic laws.

Drivers are often chided to “share the road” with their biking counterparts, and of course we do need to be aware of people on bikes and take precautions to keep the road safe for everyone.

However, I ask the bikers out there to “share the road” with drivers as well, and help us keep YOU safe.

I’ve always been taught that bicycles count as vehicles, and thus are subject to most traffic laws. Personally, I have no problem with amateur bikers being on sidewalks as long as they yield to pedestrians — probably because I am one of those wobbly beginner cyclists myself, and I’m terrified of wobbling into traffic. But my general understanding is that bikes belong on the right side of the road along with cars.

Countless times I have been driving down the road with cyclists next to me in the bike lane or ahead of me in the regular lane, only to observe the them breeze through a stop sign or traffic light. I think my favorite phenomenon is when cyclists stay in regular traffic until they hit a stoplight, at which point they race onto the sidewalk to take advantage of the crosswalk. It’s like some sort of “cyclist uncertainty principle”– I never know if someone on a bike is going to remain in traffic, dart through a light, move to the sidewalk, or join up with their three other buddies bicycles and block two lanes of traffic (saw that one a few weeks ago).

Anyway, all that to say, I LOVE that people ride bikes. People who commute by bike are even cooler than vegetarians or people who wear Tom’s Shoes. But please, when you are riding your bike, obey traffic laws, and help me not kill you. Thanks.