Scott Simon of NPR posted this thought this morning (and has been bombarded and supported since then):
I am troubled by generalizations, such as the idea that since some cyclists disregard laws that being a cyclist leads to almost any nefarious outcome, athletes doping to win big included. I also am troubled by thinking that some drivers are bad means that all drivers are bad. They aren't. You probably drive sometimes and I bet you consider yourself a good driver. And you probably don't want me inferring from the legions of bad drivers that you are also one of those bad drivers who doesn't deserve a license.
What you saw with your children was some people doing something dumb and potentially very dangerous. Try riding your bike to work tomorrow. I bet you will see as many, or more drivers doing something dumb and potentially very dangerous. And you and I are very vulnerable on our bikes, just two people trying to get to work. But stop at all stop signs and wait at the red lights. You will be safer for that, usually. (See this short post and a reflection on the same event and other crashes.)
I think you got the message already. You have noted that the response was sometimes some unkind, unpleasant, and sometimes beyond mean. These came from a community that is too often disparaged and almost always dodging cars whose drivers think that we have no right to be on the road. People should be nicer but I can't control that.
By the way, I think Lance Armstrong was a product of his times. I recall a whole lot of competitive cyclists from that era going down but maybe I'm wrong. And there was that BALCO scandal ...
We do have the right to use the road in Massachusetts. (You should watch this video, produced by MASSBIKE in cooperation with Boston, Massachusetts Police Department.)
Any walk through downtown demonstrates that cyclists think they're above the law. Does that explain @lancearmstrong ?
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) June 26, 2014
Hey Scott, I ride a bike most days and am appalled at the behavior of a subset of cyclists, too. They run stop signs and red lights, pass me on the right without warning, and generally do dumb things that, at times, are dangerous. I am also appalled at the behavior of a subset of drivers. They run stop signs and red lights, pass me on the right without warning, and generally do dumb things that, at times, are even more dangerous than what a cyclist could do. Living in Boston, I'm aware of the car that flipped on Beacon Street in the Back Bay and killed a young couple. People on bikes have killed people but the number is low. The number of people killed by errant, distracted, drunk, or otherwise disengaged drivers is quite large. I bet you know the numbers better than me.I am troubled by generalizations, such as the idea that since some cyclists disregard laws that being a cyclist leads to almost any nefarious outcome, athletes doping to win big included. I also am troubled by thinking that some drivers are bad means that all drivers are bad. They aren't. You probably drive sometimes and I bet you consider yourself a good driver. And you probably don't want me inferring from the legions of bad drivers that you are also one of those bad drivers who doesn't deserve a license.
What you saw with your children was some people doing something dumb and potentially very dangerous. Try riding your bike to work tomorrow. I bet you will see as many, or more drivers doing something dumb and potentially very dangerous. And you and I are very vulnerable on our bikes, just two people trying to get to work. But stop at all stop signs and wait at the red lights. You will be safer for that, usually. (See this short post and a reflection on the same event and other crashes.)
I think you got the message already. You have noted that the response was sometimes some unkind, unpleasant, and sometimes beyond mean. These came from a community that is too often disparaged and almost always dodging cars whose drivers think that we have no right to be on the road. People should be nicer but I can't control that.
By the way, I think Lance Armstrong was a product of his times. I recall a whole lot of competitive cyclists from that era going down but maybe I'm wrong. And there was that BALCO scandal ...
We do have the right to use the road in Massachusetts. (You should watch this video, produced by MASSBIKE in cooperation with Boston, Massachusetts Police Department.)
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