Shouting While Cycling
Before I began riding my bike regularly, I read a bunch of Web sites about cycling safety, specifically how to ride safely on city streets. There are a number of really great bike paths near me, but to get to them I have to ride on the road a bit and I figured getting some pointers in advance would just be smart. A lot of the suggestions I found should have been obvious, but they weren’t. The mind set you need to have a bicyclist is quite different than your mind set as a driver. The rules of the road are essentially the same, but the way you apply those rules are totally different. For instance, that normal route you take when going to the bank might be fine when you’re driving, but on a bicycle there might be faster or even safer short cuts down less busy roads you can take instead. Stuff like that.
The one thing that hadn’t occurred to me was how to make myself known. On a bike, you’re 1/100th the size of most cars. You have to keep that in mind constantly. Car drivers are, for the most part, really not paying enough attention — you’re either on the phone, smacking your bratty kid around that just got suspended from school or trying to find your favorite track on the iPod. We’re all guilty of it. I try to keep my focus on my driving as much as possible, but we all get distracted. As a bicyclist on the open road, you have to keep that in mind and you have to remind drivers that you’re there, constantly. It means not driving in blind spots and keeping an eye out for people parked on the side of the road, ready to open their doors just as you ride by. Frankly, it means shouting a lot.
This last thing is not something that occurred to me. I figured living in Los Angeles, if I shouted at other drivers, I’d end up with multiple bullet wounds to the chest and head. I learned quickly that thinking was false. I don’t recall what web site it was that I read this on, but it was written by some guy who 15 years ago decided to bike to work one day and never stopped doing it. He pointed out that yelling at a driver to get their attention won’t get you shot, but can save you from injury or worse. Once you get that drivers attention, more likely than not they’ll be embarrassed or scared they almost put you in harms way and will apologize, not shoot you. That happened to me about two weeks after I started bicycling.
I’m riding down one of the side streets near my house and a woman is driving out of the underground parking in her apartment building. I’m approaching on her left as she rolls out of the driveway, but she is only looking to her right as she’s also trying to dial a number on her phone. She continues to roll out and will very soon cut me off, not looking in my direction once. I meekly said, “Hey,” but got no response. Tried it again a little louder, but nothing. I finally screamed, “Hey, Lady!” she looked my direction and slammed on her breaks. As I rode by, she screamed out “Sorry!” Check that out, I didn’t get shot.
Since then, I’ve become quite vocal on my bike. No, I don’t think I own the road by any means, but I make sure those who are on the road with me and aren’t seeing me know I’m there. If that means warning someone on a bike path “on your left” or making sure a motorist knows I’m coming up on them, I do it. In a crowded city like Los Angeles, you have to do it just to survive.
Plus, shouting every once in a while is very cathartic and when you have a good reason to do it, why not take advantage? A motorist who’s texting while driving deserves it.
