What part of “share the road” don’t we understand?

To borrow a phrase, can’t we all just get along?

I found myself pondering this pearl of wisdom recently while on my commute home, having popped into my head all of a sudden while I was in a stand-off at a four-way stop sign with an automobile.

Either the driver was in complete shock over actually seeing a bicyclist stop at a stop sign, or she was too scared to go for fear that I might decide turn in front of her anyway. Whatever her reasons, I couldn’t help but shake my head and mutter under my breath in frustration over just how many drivers don’t know that the rules of the road apply to bicycles, too.

That’s right: Bicyclists who ride on the road are subject to the same traffic laws that cars are. The trouble is that so few drivers and bicyclists seem to know this.

What this has caused among automobile drivers is either resentment or outright hostility toward riders, or else an awkward fear of them because of the damage that could be inflicted in an accident.

Bicyclists have only themselves to blame.

Some ride with reckless abandon, showing total disregard for traffic laws and right-of-ways. For others it is a matter of ignorance of traffic laws and their application to all vehicles on the road—including those that are pedal-powered. Still others are just plain arrogant, adopting the mind-set that rules do not apply to them, and that drivers have to look out for them anyway.

The offenders know who they are. A good many of them are the very people who dress like they know what they’re doing; but they are too vain or egotistical to care about an insignificant yield sign they just blew past. There are also the youths that are bullet-proof until their first serious accident.

And then there are those who are about as oblivious on a bicycle as they are clueless behind the wheel of a car. You irresponsible bicycle riders give me a bad reputation every time I take to the road and share the same asphalt with a tractor trailer pulling 50,000 GVW.

Because of you, I have to deal with drivers who are too afraid to proceed at a four-way stop, even though I have clearly stopped and have motioned them to take their right-of-way. Because of you, I’ve had cars stop in the middle of busy four-lane roads and their drivers motion me to turn left in front of them despite the fact that I am supposed to yield to oncoming traffic from the left-hand turn lane.

What’s worse is arguing with the guy who has stopped in the middle of the busy road, trying to get him to go because (1) he has the right-of-way, and (2) because his stopping suddenly poses a traffic hazard to everyone else.

And because of you bad bicyclists out there, I must incur the wrath of some ticked off driver who has a bone to pick with you.

There’s something unnerving about a two-ton hunk of steel blowing by me at 50 mph and leaving little more than an arm’s length between me and a side-view mirror.

The bottom line here is that, at some point, bicycles and cars must learn to coexist and share the road.

This means that bicyclists need to be applying the same principles to the road when riding their bikes as they would be when driving their cars. And this also means that automobile drivers ought to be aware that the road is open to bicycles, too.

Just because I am riding my bike to work doesn’t mean I can stop driving defensively. And just because there’s a bicycle in the roadway doesn’t mean a driver can dismiss it as somewhat less significant than another car.

The reality is we need to look out for one another. That’s what driving—and riding—defensively is all about. A little mutual respect can go along way toward avoiding an accident and promoting a safer commute for everyone.