the etiquette-to-ethics spectrum

[motive-nuance.livejournal.com]

A note to users of the road (esp. the dude in the silver SUV headed past the T stop on College Ave. ca. 10:30 p.m.):

Yelling at cyclists to, "Get off the *** road, ***!": Annoying, but the kind of thing we learn to shrug off.

Mistaking this for a command the cyclist is legitimately obliged to obey: Much less cool.

Correcting said miscreant by assuming the Weberian mantle of authority to threaten the offending party with threats of mortal violence: Totally unacceptable.

(It's like the guy seriously expected me to be like "Oh duh! Bicycles don't belong on the road!", pull over, and walk my bike home on the sidewalk.)

Comments

on the flip side

[rmd.livejournal.com]

i wish there was some way of expressing happiness at other people when on the road. every time i see a bicyclist using hand signals and generally riding in a way that makes it easy to know what they're about to do and thus share the road safely with then, it makes me want to say "thank you".

Re: on the flip side

[elusiveat.livejournal.com]

Twice in the past couple weeks I've seen drivers use a "thumbs up" signal. The intent is not quite clear. In once instance they had braked suddenly and the car I was in had nearly hit them, and our best guess was that this meant something along the lines of "my bad... are we cool?". We weren't sure, though.

I don't quite remember what the other circumstance was, whether it looked more like a "thanks" or "sorry" but I remember it could have been interpretted as one of those.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Not that this was you, specifically, but lately there have been tons of cyclists blatantly going the wrong way up Elm/Highland in the middle of a lane and not understanding why the cars are very upset (that someone is speeding at them and about to cause a head-on collision). Profanity in that case should be expected and warranted.

[elusiveat.livejournal.com]

Bicyclists riding on the correct (right) side of the street don't like this either. Coming close to a head-on collision with someone making a left turn? Not cool.

That said, my understanding is that some bicyclists have been taught that the left side is safer, and profanity may not be the best strategy for reeducation.

[heliopsis.livejournal.com]

Did you get his license plate? It would be understandable if you did not have the presence of mind to do so, but if you did, you could lay charges. Threatening assault is a crime, if I'm not mistaken.

[turil.livejournal.com]

The police generally ignore these kinds of things. They usually say that if you didn't get hit and injured or a vehicle got damaged, then they won't file a compliant. At least that's been my experience.

[rxrfrx.livejournal.com]

Road rage? Police hope us!

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I had the same thing happen to me in Davis Square a ways back. The guy went all the way through the square cursing me out, and when I talked back to him practically challenged me to a fight. In the middle of Elm St! I guess some drivers just missed the "share the road" memo, or assume it's only a suggestion from the local Hippie Council. :\

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

I enjoy the Hippie Council's other suggestions, as well "Get along with eachother, Man." is a really good one.

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

It's that time of the year, when a lot of people are driving into the Commonwealth and are not aware of our quaint ways and customs. You didn't say you got the plates, and I'm going to guess they were out-of-staters.

If this happens to you again (never happens to me. Seems my size is above the DO NOT MESS WITH threshold...), yell back "this is Massachusetts" and yell back the plate number.

Expect the problem to recede after September.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

We also seem to see kind of an 'Endless September' effect among *cyclists* in town, who don't understand that they're expected to follow all the same rules as motor vehicles. :/

Kind of related...

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

I was driving in Union Square recently--I had gone off to the side to take Bow Street rather than Webster (on the left) or Beacon (straight ahead). As I was waiting for the light, this cyclist seemed to come out of no where and passed in front of me to (illegally) cross from the right side of where my car was to the left side. This itself did not bother me. However, she gave me a very strange look as she was doing so, and I was not sure if it was a dirty look or not; seemed like it might have been, like her stare was trying to indicate I'd done something wrong. On occasion when I mess up near cyclists, I will open my window and say I'm sorry. I was too confused to do so this time because I could not figure out what I'd done wrong. I thought to roll down the window to ask her if she'd thought I'd done something wrong, but I was taken a bit off balance by my own confusion.

I get nervous that I have some very ingrained driving habits. I try pretty hard to be conscious of cyclists, but I am not sure when I am failing. Guess I'll have to set an intention to be even more vigilant; it will require changes I am not sure of how to make yet, but I guess I'll figure it out. It's just strange when a cyclist appears to come out of nowhere.

Re: Kind of related...

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

It's possible she was trying to make sure you wouldn't be an asshole about it, or she was challenging you to make a big deal out of her being an asshole, or she got pinkslipped an hour previous. Trying to communicate non-verbally that quickly with a completely stranger doesn't work so well.

Re: Kind of related...

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I admit I often glare a bit at drivers when I'm cycling -- basically I'm trying to make eye contact (i.e. establish that the driver knows I am there) assertively (as I am otherwise small and crunchy, and no one ever went astray assuming that Boston drivers are crazy). Making clear eye contact back, possibly with a pleasant expression, will totally mollify me in this situation -- all I'm trying to convey is "I'm here and you don't get to kill me", so if you convey back "I totally see you and do not want to kill you", we're good.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

our next door neighbor did this to us. last week. on our own side street. i hate the world.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

On a related note, thank you to all the cyclists who use the road properly, use hand signals, and behave properly. These are the people I wait to pass through crosswalks.

The guys trying to blow through a red light can just hit the brakes.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I am on Team You with this.

Also, thumbs up to cyclists who use lights and/or reflective apparel when cycling at night. Some of those who don't are awfully lucky that I have excellent night vision (especially the people riding the wrong way down one-way streets without lights or reflective anything, apparently on their way to the meeting of the Future Orthopedic Surgery Patients of America meeting.)

[daviscubed.livejournal.com]

"Car drivers are jerks" is the new "wtf is with all these airplanes?"

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

OMG and cars make noise. ALL THE TIME. Maybe we can route them over the Atlantic.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I just don't get why all these car drivers drive on the streets all the time when there are all these perfectly good highways for them to use if they want to take a drive!

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

dear suv driver,

bicyclists are supposed to bike on the street. as long as they're obeying standard traffic laws and not being assholes or getting in your way, you can suck it up and deal like the rest of us. threatening someone for biking on the street just makes you a douchebag.

[divasue.livejournal.com]

Personally, nothing about cyclists irks me more than having them bike on the sidewalk. Um...it's a sideWALK. I see lots of students doing this, but also older and more responsible looking people, and I always want to yell at them. Especially when they come up behind me and bike around me.

[motive-nuance.livejournal.com]

Personally, nothing about drivers (or anyone else, really) irks me more than having them threaten to murder me.

Cyclist pledge to follow the rules

[ullahe.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I've had several experiences like this recently and as has been rehashed more than once in the blogosphere, nobody adheres to the rules around Boston. I finally realized that I can only change my own behavior and started a facebook page for cyclists: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-am-a-cyclist-and-I-follow-the-rules/134896946553906

Please spread the word, to both cyclists and motorists, who should know that most of us want to share the road with others and are willing to show respect and courtesy (and hope to get it back as well).
Thanks for reading!

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

If you are near enough to him to stop him and get him to open his window (by, say, banging on it), I'd hand him a copy of the legislation that says bikes are to be treated like cars, allowed use of the road and expected to follow the rules of cars (like stopping for red lights, ahem).

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

He drive right over pavement markings showing College Ave to be a bike route.

[cfox.livejournal.com]

If the situation is otherwise escalating, I will usually wield my cell phone as if taking a picture of the driver or license plate. In all but one case this has immediately sent the driver fleeing... and in that one case, her hostile talk switched to "I'll report you back."

I have usually cooled off before it's become convenient to report offenders; I did once call the police in Cambridge after a driver lobbed an empty beer can at me - they took down his plates, and mentioned that if he caused other trouble that night, they would use my report to add to his charges. They (the Cambridge police) were polite, and I was satisfied with that.

I don't think filing reports in any but egregious cases is useful, but the camera trick is good for getting "I won't necessarily win because I'm bigger" into their heads.

[motive-nuance.livejournal.com]

Once I came across a bunch of other cyclists who'd pulled over to point cameras at a guy who was acting scary crazy. (I stopped too, of course, and he eventually left.)