The Truth About Bikes and Cars

Confession:  On Thursday night, as I sat in traffic waiting to make a left turn from the service road of Highway 19 onto Roosevelt Boulevard, the friend I was picking up at the airport called to tell me she had landed.

It was dark outside as I spoke on the phone with her. When the arrow turned green, I followed behind the two cars in front of me and next to another lane of cars turning left.   

Just as my car approached the crosswalk, two grown men on bikes without lights came into sight on my right.  I slammed on my brakes and stopped six inches from one of the men on his bike.  I dropped my phone, and could not move as the light turned yellow, then red.  All that I could think of was how terribly this could have ended.

I’m sure an accident would have hurt the bicyclist very badly. I would have been found at fault, and it would have also cost me cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then I thought, “Wait, I had the green arrow?”

The incident reminded me about a recent controversy here in Tampa Bay about an advertisement idea funded by F-DOT that was leaked to the public.  What was bad about the leak was the negativity and the backlash that poured out from people commenting about it on the newspaper’s website. 

What was good, in my opinion, is that it got some serious attention.  It’s easy to let a problem sit and fester by disregarding it.  It's better to get that elephant out in the middle of the room and deal with it.

We have a problem in the Bay Area.  A big problem.  Cars don’t respect bikes and bikes don’t respect cars.  We like to point fingers and assign blame.  Can’t we all just get along and share the road, like the sign says?

The close call I had while driving my car was good reminder for me, as a bicyclist and a driver.  Both bicyclists and drivers have rights and duties to respect other vehicles and obey traffic laws. 

One of the things I do to stay safe while I'm bicycling is to smile and wave.  If I’m on the bike, I wave and get the car’s attention, then smile and thank the driver for acknowledging me.  If I am in the car, I wave to the cyclist to let them know I am aware of their action.  I smile too, because I think it’s better when we share the road.  I encourage you to try it this week too.

Here are a few helpful links about Bicycling Safety-

Bicycling Info.Org

League of American Bicyclists

NHTSA Kids & Bicycle Safety