In video that has now been widely shared on social media, a local cyclist named Tyler captured his interaction with a super well-adjusted and not-at-all-enraged driver on Detroit Ave. in Gordon Square.
Tyler had been heading east on a section of Detroit where there is no bike lane, just street parking. Cycling along, sharing the road as the law allows, he was passed by a driver who clearly did not obey the law that says cars need to give three feet clearance to cyclists while passing. When they arrived at a red light at West 65th, Tyler took the opportunity to tell the man he didn’t give him enough space, which precipitated a scary conversation as the man exited his car and told him he’d knock his teeth out, that he should have been (?) cycling in the parking spots (?), and generally displayed an utter lack of understanding on the laws of the road.
The interaction ends thusly:
“This is a camera recording everything you just said.”
“This is a dick,” the gentleman replied, “suck it.”
Check out the video here.
Councilman Matt Zone and the Cleveland police have both since responded to Tyler promising a followup. As anyone who bikes around Cleveland knows, this isn’t an isolated incident, even if they’re more often subjected to hollers of, “Get off the road!” through open windows instead of face-to-face.
“It feels very unsafe, very dangerous which is part of the risk you take on as a cyclist knowing that people aren’t aware of the laws and how they affect them,” Tyler told Channel 5. “I want more people to be aware of the laws and practice safe driving, safe cycling so that more people are able to enjoy these things.”
This article appears in Jul 10-16, 2019.
As much as drivers don’t understand the laws of the road, neither do cyclists. Apparently the many bike riders of the city don’t understand they have to obey the same traffic laws as cars such as stopping at stop signs and red lights. I was once turning left downtown next to some cyclists (there were 2 left hand turn lanes) and as I made the turn someone in the group crossed right in front of my car into my lane and I almost hit them. I beeped my horn and got the classy middle finger salute back.
I drive from west Lakewood to downtown daily and share some of the same sentiment as the prior post. There are plenty of respectful riders that do observe the rules of the road, but there are plenty of those that don’t. Just as I’m sure there are plenty of drivers, like this guy, who don’t. I think the solution is pretty easy to figure out. Give three feet to riders and respect their right to the roadway, don’t bitch about braking for them, there is a fellow human being traveling with you, and bike riders please self police those fellow riders who look both ways and run red lights with the same tenacity you approach motorists who are equally disrespectful. I’ve handled auto accident claims for insurance companies for a number of years and would hate to explain to my kid why they witnessed a rider who got splattered because they decided they deserve the roadway, but don’t have to adhere to the same rules as a motorist.
I find it humorous that my comment received 4 dislikes. Cyclists want to have equal opportunity on the road and to be respected but at the same time don’t want to follow the traffic laws. You can’t have it both ways. It’s interesting because probably 80% of drivers follow traffic laws but how many cyclists follow traffic laws…stopping at stop signs and not running red lights….5%? 1%?
1179 traffic fatalities in Ohio in 2017, including 142 pedestrians killed by drivers. But sure, cyclists.
@karl What percentage of travel at or under the speed limit and come to a full stop at all stop signs? 5%? 1%?
@karl What percentage of motorists travel at or under the speed limit and come to a full stop at all stop signs? 5%? 1%?
you went on social media to cry about the one guy who stopped after you deliberately bumped the back of his car, but not the several others who passed just as close?