Follow the Rules of the Road to End the War

For the past year I have struggled with the war between cyclists, motorists and pedestrians. I’ve never really known who to support because I’ve been in all three roles. Pedestrians run the risk of being hit by a car or a bike; cyclists have to manoeuvre around both pedestrians and cars; and motorists have to avoid hitting, and potentially killing, both cyclists and pedestrians. How can there be harmony between the three groups when there is so much at stake?

After more than a year of being torn about whose side I am on I have finally come to a conclusion – everyone needs to follow the freaking rules of the road, no matter what they are travelling on, be it legs, a bike or an SUV. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorists can get along without injury or mishap, but only if everyone follows the rules. When the rules of the road are violated there is no harmony, only chaos.
Last weekend I almost ran over a cyclist. I was turning right onto a busy road in Edmonton. It was dark out and he came out of nowhere. I started to turn my car, only to spot a man zipping up the sidewalk on his bike. He zoomed across the street, directly in front of my path without pause. He gave me a thumbs up, sarcastic, I’m sure, as if to say, ‘hey, way to drive, you idiot. Don’t you know I’m a cyclist and you should watch out for me?’ Yes, I know to watch for cyclists and pedestrians. But I also know the proper procedure for riding a freaking bike. It’s illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk. It’s illegal not to wear a helmet (he wasn’t). It’s illegal to ride your bike across a crosswalk. Cyclists are supposed to ride in the road with the rest of traffic. Cyclists are supposed to get off their bleeping bikes at corners and walk their bikes across the road, while checking for traffic. Cyclists are supposed to watch out for cars before flying out into the road.
I know what it feels like to be a cyclist. I’ve been frustrated when a driver doesn’t share the road with me, or doesn’t slow down while driving by me. It’s hard to be the one on the bike. Cyclists, while great for the environment, are nobody’s friend. But it’s not their fault when they get in the way of cars on the road. Most cities don’t have bike lanes; small towns almost never do. When there is no bike lane, only bumpy pavement filled with speeding hunks of metal hurtling by you, the road is not an appealing option to a cyclist. So many cyclists take to the sidewalk instead. Bad move.

When cyclists take over the sidewalk, it puts pedestrians in harms way. Sidewalks are built for people to walk on, not bike on. Many of them aren’t wide enough to handle both. Cyclists move faster than the flow of traffic on a sidewalk and pedestrians can’t see cyclists coming up behind them.

Pedestrians are also good for the environment. It’s also a great way to squeeze in some light exercise. Pedestrians move at a different pace than cyclists or motorists; sometimes it’s nice to slow down, enjoy the scenery and smell the damn roses. But pedestrians are by no means perfect. They often run across the street when the blinking red hand is telling them not to; sometimes pedestrians don’t even look before leaping out into the fray. My roommate in Ottawa used to cross the street to get to the train without looking first, despite the fact that it was a very high traffic area. Her reasoning was that everyone else also crossed there after getting off the bus and that if a car did happen to come it would stop for her.

Motorists cannot be 100 per cent responsible for looking out for pedestrians, just like pedestrians cannot be expected to always know when a cyclist is coming up behind them at full speed. Cyclists must hope that every time they go out on the road a motorist won’t accidentally clip them, knocking them off their bike. My point is, and I do have one, that traffic rules were invented for a reason. Everyone – cyclists, motorists and pedestrians – need to follow the rules of the road or else they don’t work. It’s dangerous to dismiss these rules because they are the only thing organizing the chaos of the road and keeping everyone safe.