Bicycle Justice!

With some peer pressure, Portland bicyclist rethinks running red light [video on website]

By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian 

Updated: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 1:35 PM

As a frequent bicycle commuter in Portland, I get a little exasperated when I hear a motorist condemn "all bicyclists" as color-blind scofflaws who blow through red lights.

It’s frustrating because it’s far from true.

But I understand the irritation among motorists. Commuting on my bike, I get irked when I a group of riders on a busy street respect the law and stop with the rest of traffic, only to see one of my fellow two-wheeled travelers zoom through the intersection.

Fact: It makes us all look bad.

As Tom Vanderbilt wrote in his best-selling book “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We do (and What It Says About Us),” whenever someone does something good or something bad on the roads, “we keep score in our heads.”

Usually, the score is sorely inaccurate, clouded by commuting chauvinism and pre-existing stereotypes.

Let's say, during rush hour, 30 motorists and 10 bicycle riders come to a red light. Nine of the bike riders stop, but one breaks from the pack when the light is still red. For many of the motorists, the actions of that single lawbreaker will likely negate the safe and respectful actions of the bicycle riders waiting for the light.

Vanderbilt writes:

“When bicyclists violate a traffic law, research has showed it is because, in the eyes of drivers, they are reckless anarchists; drivers, meanwhile, are more likely to view the violation of a traffic law by another driver as somehow being required by the circumstances.”

Among bicyclists, it tends to go the other way -- they're far less forgiving of motorists committing the same traffic violations.

So, as I pedaled into work with the Hard Drive helmet-cam running Tuesday morning, I tried something new. I said something to another bicycle rider who was rolling through a red light at North Vancouver and Stanton Street.

Traffic, including five other bicycle riders, had stopped for the light. Watching him precede, I shouted out what I was thinking: “It makes us all look bad.”

That's where things could have become a little dicey.

Others in the bike pack could have easily stayed silent or turned on me, telling me to pipe down. The rider could have given my an impolite salute and continued riding -- or confronted me.

None of that happen. The other cyclists literally gave me thumbs up and even joined in, politely encouraging the guy to wait for the green.

In response, he braked and turned around, a little embarrassed, but seemingly OK with being called out.

I wonder if he would have surrendered as easily if a driver had pointed out his lapse in judgment.

I'm not sure I'd do it again. But it was an encouraging encounter.

Apparently, on the street, a little peer pressure can be good to win hearts and minds.


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