FLCC> beware the "rules of the road"

[William Lodico]

I've always had a bone to pick with the adage that cyclists are  
supposed to follow the same rules of the road as motorists.

Bikes are very different from cars and this kind of catchall  
guideline can be fatally misleading.

There are lots of places where the adage just doesn't make sense, and  
one is intersections.  While I'm certainly not in favor of flying  
through red lights and stops signs oblivious to the motor (and  
cycling and pedestrian) traffic around you, I'm also very much  
against waiting in intersections at red lights when it would be safer  
and better to get through the intersection without dismounting and  
stopping and then remounting and starting up while the motor traffic  
around you is suddenly in a big hurry to get through the  
intersection.  I especially dislike waiting like a nice little  
cyclist over to the right and out of the way for red lights to change  
while the motor traffic congeals around me.

Now there is some data to support my heretical inclinations.  This  
link from the 5/7/07 American Bicyclist Update from the LAB:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1695668.ece

Note especially the statement by Peter Wright, a vehicle safety  
expert and father of a killed cyclist:  “Rosie [his daughter] was  
reasonably cautious, which seems to be the problem. It seems that you  
need to be aggressive and assertive to survive as a cyclist."

Note also the comment of Adam Coffman, an official of the Cyclists'  
Touring Club:  “Women cyclists tend to ride more slowly and are less  
comfortable doing things that feel risky.  So, instead of positioning  
themselves out wide in the road where they can more easily see and be  
seen, they are more inclined to hug the kerb, a way of cycling that  
may feel safer but is in fact more risky.”

I think the real message is that you've got to make your way in  
traffic and make sure everyone around you knows that's what you're  
doing.

Bill Lodico