Bias aside… I do find it a little reassuring that 74% of drivers responding express that they’re concerned about crashing into bicyclists… They should be kind of “afraid” and should slow down and be cautious.

As a bicyclist, I disagreed entirely at first. It’s drivers who need the education. If I am involved in an accident with a car, I will also assuredly always lose, so dangerous drivers are the ones who should be held most accountable. However, after further consideration, it isn’t quite so black and white. I see drivers do all sorts of dangerous and illegal things–speeding, illegal U-turns, watching for that open parking space and not the person in the bike lane, etc–but I also regularly see cyclists behaving dangerously, so although I think it’s ludicrous to ask a driver if they feel safe, some bicyclists do create the impression of us all being wreckless, anti-car lawbreakers (such was my mother’s generalization particularly of 20-something cyclists). Just as unpredictable drivers can be terrifying from your bike saddle, unpredictable bicyclists worry drivers.

Now I certainly don’t mean to say that wreckless bicyclists constitute a majority or are at all representative of bicyclists on the road. I also think that wreckless drivers need to be reined in and drivers who harass, intimidate, or intentionally endanger cyclists (and pedestrians) should be held accountable, even when it does not end in injury as the Mandeville Canyon incident, or worse, fatality as is also too often the case. But, while it will take strong enforcement to get some drivers to treat cyclists respectfully, as bicyclists we can show the more benign drivers that we can all safely share the same road. I’m not saying it’s right that the onus is on bicyclists to show this, because I maintain that we are the ones at risk, but it may be the quickest way to usher in changes in attitudes.

Also, there’s no evidence that the driver in the Long Beach story was negligent or out of control. Sometimes an accident is just an accident.

The Woodland Hills story is definitely negligence and the driver should be punished for it.

Another encounter I have had with cyclists at least twice was when I am about to make a right-hand turn at an intersection when I have a green light. In that situation, pedestrians have a green go sign to cross the street onto which I am turning, so I watch to make sure no pedestrians will be in my vicinity when turning. However, I’ve had cyclists riding fast on the sidewalk continue into the crosswalk at the last minute as well. I wasn’t looking far enough away along the sidewalk to account for fast-moving cyclists, just slow-moving pedestrians, so I’ve had some quick-stops in the middle of a turn to make sure I don’t hit the cyclists. Certainly made me feel uncomfortable, and yes, unsafe.

It does no good to paint this as a one-sided issue ie: “cyclists are always right because they are more vulnerable”, or “the road is for cars so cyclists should watch out for themselves”. Both forms of transportation have an impact on each other.

The psychology of driving is important to consider. There’s peer pressure on the roadway to drive quickly. When you slow down for a cyclist you approach in the same lane, the people behind you probably don’t see the cyclist in front of your car and start tailgating you or even honking at you.

Many drivers just aren’t that used to encountering cyclists, and when drivers don’t practice something, they’re unlikely to be good at it.