Cyclists sometimes can be their own worst enemy. Always obey the rules of the road to gain the respect of motorists.

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I’m sure all of us, at one time or another, wishes we had the divine power to disintegrate a rude driver with some death ray, but good common sense should tell us that we will only lose in the end if we practice that kind of road rage retaliation behavior. We only put ourselves in more danger if we try to make the "jerk" see the error of his ways or "flash" our displeasure. If you are just steaming about a close call, then you survived and can ride again. If you press the issue, you may encounter a bubba who really thinks you are a low life for even thinking you can ride a non-motorized vehicle on "his or her" roads, and would think he is doing the world a favor if he eliminated you from the planet! However, drivers of autos are not always the problem. If you read Bicycling Magazine lately, you probably read about the cyclist up east who shot and killed a lady motorist because he didn’t like something she did. Confrontation on the road is not the answer, but there are actions you can take to help prevent these encounters and procedures to follow if an incident occurs. You can’t rid the road of every driver that puts us in harms way (and please don’t use the option the knucklehead used up east), but you can help a few of them learn the error of their ways. Hey, every little bit helps. The following tips may get you some satisfaction and keep other cyclists from being targets of drivers with a vengeance.

The first and probably most important tip is to ride responsibly. Follow the traffic rules yourself! I’m sure you’ve all witnessed a cyclist who blatantly ignored traffic laws. Believe me, there’s nothing that upsets a motorist more than to see a cyclist darting around cars through intersections, running stop lights, weaving around in the center of the road, etc. If you obey traffic rules, you can blend in with the traffic and you’ll be surprised at how much respect you get from drivers when they can anticipate what you’re going to do. And furthermore, we should not claim our rights to the road if we are not willing to accept the responsibility that goes along with it. Traffic rules are for one purpose—to keep traffic (including bicyclists) moving smoothly and SAFELY. Knowing and following traffic laws and the rules of the road will go a long way toward keeping you out of accidents…call this a preventive measure. Cyclists who make a habit of running stop signs or practice other unpredictable behavior tend to get careless and sooner or later will unexpectedly encounter traffic…sometimes with direct contact. According to studies by the League of American Bicyclists, cyclists who obey the rules generally get where they are going faster and have about 5 times fewer accidents than cyclists who make up their own rules.

Second, don’t retaliate no matter how overwhelming the urge. That includes exposing your middle phalange. That just infuriates the driver even more and he may come back just to teach you a lesson in manners. When he does, you will have another problem…he obviously missed you the first time (or you wouldn’t have been able to do the flip thing) and the threat has passed, but you’ve encouraged him to come back and try again! With this in mind, lets compare the inertia factors of a bicycle and a car…hummm. I seem to remember a father and son from Alabama who were tragically killed recently when a driver under the influence of drugs came back for a second pass.

Well, what can we do…do we just have to passively take it and be happy little campers. NO! The same traffic rules that we must abide by also have avenues of dealing with those who abuse the system. Filing a police report may not be as satisfying as hiring Chuck Norris to beat the Kung Fu out of some Neanderthal who tries to take off your arm warmers with his mirror, but it can be effective in many cases. Remember, I said, "Every little bit helps." Taking the time to file a report is the best thing to do and yes, they do take action if you file a complaint with a good description of the vehicle and a license number. Also in the case of a company vehicle like a taxi, government vehicle, dump truck, or semi, you can call the company’s safety rep and file a complaint. You can bet that companies don’t want some cowboy out there trying to run over people with the company’s name plastered all over the vehicle…they have deep pockets and law suits are messy. I’ve had success calling companies on several occasions and they have followed up with me with their actions.

Here’s a couple of success stories that have happened to me. While cycling across the US last year, I had a wide load run me off the road on an interstate in Utah. I was in the middle of the wide interstate shoulder and nothing was out there to prevent him from pulling over a little to avoid me. However, he chose to make a point to let me know he didn’t like me out there (it’s legal to ride the Interstate in some western states…Utah included). A couple of miles down the road I came upon a Utah State Trooper. I flagged him down and filed a report. He got on the radio and had the vehicle stopped. The driver was given a warning ticket. Now it didn’t send him to jail and deep down I wanted to kill him, but maybe the next time he comes upon a cyclist, he will think twice before doing something stupid. On another occasion in Alabama, I was riding when a pick-up truck sped by. The driver gave me plenty of room, but someone threw out a paper cup full of ice and yelled, "Get your xxx off the road." I was more upset for the littering than the language, but I got the first 2 and last 3 numbers of the license and a good id on the truck. Well, as luck would have it, I had just passed 2 police cars socializing at the last intersection, so I rode back and filed a report. I told them that I thought they would find the vehicle in the high school parking lot since that’s the way it was heading and I thought they were teenagers. They checked the parking lot, and viola! There it was. To make a long story short, the 3 kids were not troublemakers according to the school and the police department, they had just done a stupid teenager prank. They had been skipping class at the time so they got detention at school. They also were really scared that the police were calling them in for interviews. The parents of the kids were really upset that the kids were in trouble at school and had done something irresponsible while driving a vehicle. Now this was not a life-threatening instance, but maybe these teens learned a lesson in responsibility. All three individually called me and apologized…I was happy and although given the opportunity to press charges in court, I declined…case closed.

These were just 2 of several instances where I’ve been able to use the system to "educate" drivers about their responsibilities on the road. Was it enough? Who can say? Yes, I know our initial urge is to turn them into ash and create a plague to infest their offspring. But, in most cases no one gets hurt and as long as we take mature and responsible action rather than lowering ourselves to the primate level, maybe we can make a difference. These "little actions" may just prevent someone in the future from getting killed. Someone once said, "You may never know what you have prevented." Keep cycling.   M

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