I have several reasons for not wanting to be killed on my bike. You may share some of them, I expect.
In the last month or so I have seen a lot of poor behaviour on the road from motorists, bladers, pedestrians and motorists and have probably been involved in some of it myself.
The easy thing, especially when you are a motorist using a bike is to feel like every manoeuvre that you witness is a personal affront to you, designed to disrespect and bother you. After all, you are usually protected in your metal shell and suddenly here you are, all cold, reflective and vulnerable.
It is very easy today to play the victim. It’s probably my default position on many subjects but on the road, it’s not going to save your life and might even get you killed.
The question is “what can I do to make this safer for me?”
Pulling up a little too close to a truck at the traffic light? Well, he is never going to see you so even if he does pinch a couple of inches towards you when he pulls away, he certainly is not going to hear you shout.
My pet peeve here is motorists who overtake you at pedestrian crossings. They choose the part of the road with reduced space available for them and you but because they may have been waiting for ten seconds to get by, they figure their best bet is to floor it and squeeze by.
The best I can do is to make myself and the space I occupy larger with an extended arm to warn the motorist not to make a move.
I always make sure I have some room to move into if I need it. If a car is too close to me and I have no room to work with, it’s looking bad.
Generally I treat each situation from a distance, holding back if I am not sure what lies ahead of the traffic queue or just accepting that some people will always be assholes.
Asshole or not, each situation is met with a thumbs up and whether the other person sees it as sarcastic or not, at least I am still on my bike and on my merry way.
