Rage between cars, bikes is a vicious wheel

Ben wrote:

Anyone stupid enough to ride a bicycle on the busy streets of Chicago deserves whatever happens to them.

As an avid bicyclist, I totally agree. If you can't take the heat...

Sean wrote:

<quoted text> Another ignorant comment. Stopping a 1 ton vehicle is much more difficlut than stopping a bicycle. Just plain dumb.

I agree that you are correct in terms of forces of physics. However, it is physically much easier for a persons to step on a brake petal to stop a car than it is for a bike rider to stop and restart a bicycle. You probalbly do not know that because riding a bike requires using more energy and greater physical strength than flapping your lips to criticize a good practical suggestion.

The article is incorrect - there IS such a thing as ped rage. I experience it at the mall when five or six teenagers shiftlessly shuffle down the entire main walkway - all walking abreast. I experience it at major crowded outdoor events when people are shoving into me as they go by. I experience it at amusement parks and other entertainment venues when thoughtless parents run their strollers over my feet and into my Achilles' tendon - using their children as battering rams through a congested area.

The rage doesn't stem from competition. It stems from other people breaking rules and laws unabashedly while you suffer silently enduring their belief that wherever they are going, or whatever they are doing, is more important than everyone else's. They can break the rules, because their bikes are 'cleaner' and more 'natural'. Parents with strollers feel a sense of entitlement. Idiots in SUVs who do not need the space (that doesn't really exist in an SUV anyway) blocking, not just bicyclists, but the view ahead on the road for other drivers. Drivers who cut you off and take away your following distance, ride up the shoulder pretending to want to get off at the next exit, swerving in and out of traffic, running red lights, going out of turn at the four-way stop.... this is the cause of the rage. It's not competition....it's moral outrage.

It goes on and on and on. We have rules and laws, but it's gotten to the point where I'd say about half of the population thinks they are completely exempt. For those of us who follow the rules, it's pretty insidious.

thanks for this editorial and presenting both sides of anger from both the 4 wheelers and the 2 wheelers. I lived, biked, and drove in Chicago for 6 years and both biking and driving in the city instilled the anger you talked about in me. I am now living in Boulder, Colorado where the lifestyle has subdued the city anger of commuting. Luckily, bicyclists and motorists live for the most part in harmony here, mainly because there's a whole system of off road bike trails throughout town that can get you anywhere in the cute small city. Since living in BoCo, i've opted to get around by the greatest hybrid of a bike and a car- the scooter! And while I can get up to the speed limit or above on my scoot, i still have angry drivers passing me as i happily scoot on city and rural roads. Maybe scooters are the answer- we do need our wheels (and our feet - i agree), and scooters as gas efficient, fun, you have to following the rules of the road, and get where you need to go in a reasonable amount of time. the scoot gives you the thrill of the motor underneath you, with the delicate balance of 2 wheels. motorists and bicyclists always give me a look and a smile as i pass by on my scoot.

some of the most well made, stylish, and well priced scooters are made right in the city by the Genuine Scooter Co.(make the Buddy, Stella). Check them out at Damen and Foster!

Bicyclist's routinely break traffic laws blowing thru red lights (myself included) so it is hard to get mad at cars as long as this goes on.

When i am on a bicycle i get out of the way when i here a car
coming. In 40 years in chicago i have only been involved in 2
crashes with a car. One was a driver that turned left without
signals and the other was a car pulling out of a parking space
and that lady had the nerve to ask me "What are you doing in
my way?"
I told her to call the police but she refused.

A biker almost plowed through myself and 15 other pedestrians as she turned on a red this morning. She was probably going about 10-15 mph and was lucky there was just enough room to get through while almost falling. She was lucky nobody got hurt. Then two block later a car almost hit a couple fo pedestrians as they tried to make a left turn without checking for pedestrians.

Everyone EVERYONE on the road needs to pay more attention to what they are doing. Obey traffic laws, signal turns, and look where you are going.

viva wrote:

<quoted text>
I agree that you are correct in terms of forces of physics. However, it is physically much easier for a persons to step on a brake petal to stop a car than it is for a bike rider to stop and restart a bicycle. You probalbly do not know that because riding a bike requires using more energy and greater physical strength than flapping your lips to criticize a good practical suggestion.

Join the idiot group. Bikes have brakes on handle bars. Is it so tough for you to grip a handle bar and squeeze? I do exercise. When I'm out on the street running I make sure I give cars the right of way. It's common sense, which, you clearly lack.