A Message to London Drivers

A funny thing happens to me when I cycle. I go completely Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I can be having the nicest, happiest, sunniest, positive day in the world. But the minute I kick my leg over that cross-bar, I will gut you like a fish should you dare make even the most minor of transgressions. It's a really weird road rage situation; I genuinely dislike the person I become, even if there is a weirdly compelling sense of freedom in such rage.

So I need to work on that. But there's a flipside to this. Because I know part of where the fury originates. There is a truly adversarial aspect to cycling in London. I suspect this is true of most major cities, but I would wager that the sheer number of cars and of cycles in London exacerbates the issue. There are bikes lane all over the place (which drivers often resent and periodically ignore) and a biking culture that ensures the streets are full of cycles. But the cars are also never-ending. So an animosity tends to build.

And there is one thing, above all else, that I'd like to ask of the drivers of London. One simple change I'd love to see that would lessen tensions and would feed into a wide-scale amelioration of the situation for the legion of cyclists who call this lovely city home. So I ask of the motorists: please, please, think about your choices. Don't run on auto-pilot. Drive consciously and deliberately and think about the implications of how you're driving.

I know this sounds obvious, but it happens less than you think. Driving is such a common-place occurrence that you do tune out; you know you shouldn't, but you do. And one of the principal manifestations of this, as it pertains to my daily cycle is the number of times that a motorist will zip out of a side-street, cut me off or change lanes directly into my space. Best case scenario, I slam on my brakes and waste my momentum. Worst case? Well, I'd rather not discuss the worst case, but it happens too often.

So, I'd like to propose the following: when you see a cyclist, or a pedestrian, or a rollerblader or a skateboarder coming down the street, err on the side of caution. I know it means taking time out of your day, but 19 times out of 20, the wait for me to clear the intersection or move past you so you can change lanes safely is measured in seconds. Even if the chance of hitting me is slim, please avoid if when the alternative is waiting an additional five seconds. I think that's fair.

I'm not laying all the blame for my road rage on the motorists on the road. I don't know why my switch is so thoroughly and reliably flipped when I'm on my bike. But I do know that I get really sick, really quickly, of having to slam on my brakes and skid to a halt, nearly rolling over some guy's hood, just so he doesn't have to slow down for the time it takes to say "good morning".

So, please: think and drive!