[SDCBC] Don't be rude to cars - PLEASE!

[gcarman at san.rr.com]

It's a chicken and egg problem.   

Who was rude to whom first?  Did cyclists learn to be rude as a matter of dealing with rude motorists?  Or did motorists become rude while dealing with scofflaw cyclists?  

Here is a good read on scofflaw cyclists: 
http://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20080717113909346

I'm an easy to get along with fellow...  yet I still find that I too get harassed by motorists from time to time.    

One response I got from a cyclist was to be the "Alpha Dog," OK but doesn't that put me in the position of acting in a somewhat rude manner?  

And if I escalate...  what keeps motorists from escalating?  Do I want to "be the Alpha Dog" in the face of some motorist with that jacked up 4x4 F350 with the tires that are taller than me?  

Just food for thought.  


---- Tom Yager <tom_yager at cox.net> wrote: 
> Over the past 2 days, I've had two incidents.  1) Yesterday I was riding in
> the bike lane East up Rancho Santa Fe road just before San Marcos.  A car
> driving by threw a water bottle and hit me in the helmet.  2) Today I was
> riding South on El Camino in Carlsbad.  A jacked up White F-150 truck pulled
> into the bike lane behind me, almost hit my rear wheel, honked his horn, and
> then swerved past me nearly hitting me with his side mirror.  He then pulled
> back into his lane and drove away.
> 
> I wish both of these people were put in jail, but I ask myself; why is this
> happening?   There could be many reasons, but I sense that other bicyclists
> have probably pissed them off in the near past.  This past Saturday was a
> real display of rude bicyclists on the road.  I saw bicyclists running stop
> signs, running stop lights, almost hit pedestrians in cross-walks, almost
> hitting other bicyclists who did stop at lights, yell at cars, etc., etc.
> Large groups were particularly rude, blocking traffic when they could have
> let cars go by with just a little effort (and little impact to their speed).
> Rudeness breeds more bad behavior, politeness breeds good behavior.
> 
> This past year I have seen a cyclist taken by ambulance to the hospital
> after being taken out by an enraged driver (the bicyclist did nothing to
> cause this).  I've also seen a good friend killed on a bike (although not
> from a driver).  Keep in mind that if you are rude to a driver it impacts
> all bicyclists; and you could be visiting your wife, brother, daughter, or
> best friend in the hospital or morgue.   
> 
> The roads are for everyone, let's make San Diego a good place to ride a
> bike.
> 
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