[240glt]

I’ve been a cyclist and advocate of commuter cycling for over a decade now, in fact I just quit a lucrative job that involved tones of car travel in favor of a job downtown and one of the reasons I chose this is so that I can ride my bike to work.

My city has a bit of a dysfunctional cycling network and is arguably one of the most car-centric large cities in Canada, and for some reason people seem to think that for this reason cyclists should not be given the any respect on city streets.

People love to trot out the claim that cyclist should be licenced and insured the same as automobiles are. Cars cause billions of dollars in property damage and kill thousands every year. Cars destroy infrastructure and pollute the environment. Bicycles do none of these things.

As for cyclists breaking traffic laws, well some of those breakages are well justified IMO, mainly for safety reasons as traffic laws are almost uniformly written for cars and are in fact dangerous for cyclists. Just like good drivers, good cyclists always know what's going on around them, not just in front of them. Becuase bikes take up such little room, inattentive drivers often don't see bikes, and cyclists need to take precautions to be visible to drivers. This sometimes involves breaking the law.

One of the best ways for cars and bikes to co-exist is with dedicated bike lanes. Unfortunately in places where there is no room to add infrastructure this means that the cars are going to have to give up a little space. Yes this makes people like BTinSF whine & cry, but the results of such changes are usually less bike-car confrontations, less cyclists getting run down and increased bike use, which ultimately helps drivers as it relieves congestion. Unfortunately drivers are like crack addicts... they won't look at the long term gain and accept some short term pain.

I chalk most of the anger and frustration directed towards cyclists up to simple jealousy and the typical belief that if one person is able to bend a rule because they are riding a 35 lb bicycle and a person driving a 3000lb car cannot, the person driving will feel disadvantaged somehow, causing vitriolic anger to be directed towards cyclists.

To these folks, I get your fat lazy ass out of your car and try being a cyclist among arrogant, aggressive and rude drivers. You’ll change your perspective mighty quick.