Safer together

[Jeremy McCreary]

New sign in the neighborhood...

I like sentiment. After all, I'm a driver, a cyclist, and a pedestrian with a dog at various times. A triple stakeholder.

The sign reminded me of the power of mutual respect. If each group on the sign made a bigger show of respect for the safety and rights of the other two groups, we'd all be safer and less stressed.

Pollyanna or practical? I say practical. As cyclists who care about the future ebiking, let's lead by example.

 

[mschwett]

New sign in the neighborhood...

View attachment 152688
I like sentiment. After all, I'm a driver, a cyclist, and a pedestrian with a dog at various times. A triple stakeholder.

The sign reminded me of the power of mutual respect. If each group on the sign made a bigger show of respect for the safety and rights of the other two groups, we'd all be safer and less stressed.

Pollyanna or practical? I say practical. As cyclists who care about the future ebiking, let's lead by example.

thank you for sharing this. i totally agree.

i ride a lot, always by myself but (aside from commutes) generally in the style of a traditional road cyclist. like most groups (drivers, dog owners, parents, cyclists) there is a small minority who are ill-tempered, and i don't want to encourage drivers to see us all that way. i know my rights but also exercise them in the way that i believe inconveniences the fewest drivers and especially pedestrians. shared infrastructure is, well, shared, and some people don't seem that good at sharing. the definition isn't "you can use some of it as long as it does not inconvenience me AT ALL." it should be "let's find a way to all use this finite resource in the way that maximizes our collective experience."

i've been trying harder to display outward signs of appreciation or occasionally apology in the event of a mistake, and trying to be slightly more understanding of drivers who make mistakes and don't know the law. i think it makes a difference. slow to a stop at a four way, make eye contact, if the driver waves you on, give them a big smile and thumbs up. everyone wins.

of course, the ones who are just egregiously putting people at risk for their own selfish reasons still get an earful.

 

[mcdenny]

I ride some on "greenways", shared paved paths with walkers. If walkers seem to not realize I'm passing I slow way down and sometimes pull off onto the grass. Also say "thank you" when they move to the right to give more room. Gotta say the analogue road bikers are far and away the fastest. Most of the E bikers are old farts like me just cruising along.

Cell phones have been the death of situational awareness. Most walkers have ear buds in and some of them are talking on the phone. I even saw a person riding a bike AND texting last week.