Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Share the Em Effing Road

The months-long Bay Area rainy season has officially begun, bringing with it slippery roads and limited visibility from behind the wheel of your large automobile. I think I speak for all bike commuters when I beg you to please share the road!

It's an indisputable scientific fact that choosing a biker over a car is good for society. Each bike represents one fewer car on the road, thus bike commuters:
  • Reduce car traffic
  • Reduce competition for and the cost of parking
  • Reduce competition for and the cost of gasoline
  • Reduce our dependency on non-renewable natural resources and foreign oil sources, thereby not contributing to the need for international conflict motivated by the need to acquire those resources
  • Reduce fossil fuel emissions, thereby not contributing to pollution or global warming
  • Get more exercise than drivers, thereby contributing to a fitter, better-looking populace
Given how much we contribute to our community, the least our community can do for us is to look in its collective rear-view mirror before swiftly opening its driver side door into our faces. Or maybe it can use its signal before making a right turn in front of us. Or maybe it can leave more than four inches of space between us and it when it passes us in its car. In all, it would be great if the driving community could show a little respect for its two-wheels comrades.

2 comments:

Paul said...

I mean, I think this obligation of respect is a two-way street. Bike riders, like motorcycle riders, are often no more respectful of their fellow travelers than automobile drivers.

Paul said...

And nobody respects pedestrians, either. See, for instance, my old philosophy buddy Michelle's take:

http://www.dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=17189