The Face of Leadership
Riding home from work tonight I was zipping across the final stretch of asphalt before I got home when I saw some movement along the sidewalk coming towards me from the left. A closer look revealed a bicycle with a very faint light, barely discernable in the dark. I slowed down. Then I saw another bicycle that had already crossed in front of me, also unlit. Then I saw the faint light was a cellphone. Finally I saw that they were both police officers. In the dark. On the sidewalk. On duty. One of them talking on a cellphone. They were not in stealth mode, they were in stupid (or uneducated) mode. Tsk tsk.
In this small town there aren’t really that many traffic issues for me, but I’m an experienced commuter whose been riding in a vehicular manner for many years. I’ve never had a wreck involving a car. I’ve been fortunate, sure, but I’ve also chosen my routes with care and employed common sense riding techniques, avoided busy roads and behaved as a vehicle should. Even so I’ve had drivers yell at me to ‘get the Hell off the road’. I’ve been buzzed with inches to spare on my left. I’ve had drivers look right at me and still turn in front of me. I’ve even had one guy play ‘cat and mouse’ with me once after he buzzed me. In all fairness, I did flip him off immediately prior to the ‘game’ because I was pissed, but I also learned a lesson: the vehicle will win, don’t engage them. It isn’t worth it.
Thankfully, these incidents are rare. Most motorists are kind and considerate and patient (and even perhaps a little envious).
I’m not really a big proponent of the idea that we model our behavior from the police I’m not a huge fan of wearing black or carrying guns or confronting criminals, but in this case I expect some leadership. I expect police officers to model proper behavior on their bicycles since I know that law enforcement officers riding their bicycles are uber-visible. Folks may not think twice about me or any of the ‘unseen’ cyclists in the city, but trust me, they notice law officers on bikes. If they see them riding on the sidewalks they will erroneously assume that this is where bicycles belong, and that will make my life and the lives of my friends in the cycling community less safe.
Get your ass off the sidewalk, light your bicycle if you use it at night, use some reflectors while your at it, and for the sake of all of us, hang up the cellphone and pay attention to where you are going.
In this small town there aren’t really that many traffic issues for me, but I’m an experienced commuter whose been riding in a vehicular manner for many years. I’ve never had a wreck involving a car. I’ve been fortunate, sure, but I’ve also chosen my routes with care and employed common sense riding techniques, avoided busy roads and behaved as a vehicle should. Even so I’ve had drivers yell at me to ‘get the Hell off the road’. I’ve been buzzed with inches to spare on my left. I’ve had drivers look right at me and still turn in front of me. I’ve even had one guy play ‘cat and mouse’ with me once after he buzzed me. In all fairness, I did flip him off immediately prior to the ‘game’ because I was pissed, but I also learned a lesson: the vehicle will win, don’t engage them. It isn’t worth it.
Thankfully, these incidents are rare. Most motorists are kind and considerate and patient (and even perhaps a little envious).
I’m not really a big proponent of the idea that we model our behavior from the police I’m not a huge fan of wearing black or carrying guns or confronting criminals, but in this case I expect some leadership. I expect police officers to model proper behavior on their bicycles since I know that law enforcement officers riding their bicycles are uber-visible. Folks may not think twice about me or any of the ‘unseen’ cyclists in the city, but trust me, they notice law officers on bikes. If they see them riding on the sidewalks they will erroneously assume that this is where bicycles belong, and that will make my life and the lives of my friends in the cycling community less safe.
Get your ass off the sidewalk, light your bicycle if you use it at night, use some reflectors while your at it, and for the sake of all of us, hang up the cellphone and pay attention to where you are going.
posted by Woodog at 10:32 PM
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