By Corby Wise
Alright choir, get ready for some preaching.
Earlier this month I was appalled after watching a clip on national news of a driver bulldozing his way through a group of cyclists in Brazil. The good thing is that he was apprehended and that local officials are planning on throwing the book at him. None the less, what on Earth could compel someone to act the way he did? Although rare, it has happened on more than one occassion, where some idiot has driven straight through a peloton, one in Mexico with fatal consequences. The other sad point to note, is the total lack of respect by a handful of motorists sharing or not sharing our roads.
The equally disturbing part of this is the tag of “funny” attached to some of the footage of these terrible events on Youtube. Anyone finding the imagery of several people being hit by a car as funny should seek help.
The case of someone running into a large group of cyclists is isolated, but who among us has not felt the air from a car that came up on the left way too close? Without a mirror it is difficult to see what someone approaching from the back is doing, making it one of the more harrowing experiences out on the road. Just a few more inches and the results could be catastrophic. As a runner and cyclist, I’m always amazed at the number of people uninterested in turning the wheel even slightly to make life a little more comfortable. When running it is advised to run against traffic, which I do. It never ceases to amaze me that perhaps 2 out of 5 runs are affected by someone driving like a complete jackass. Yesterday, a motorist turned into my path forcing me to react. Seriously? Someone is out trying to help themselves stay healthy, by being out on a freezing cold March day and you swerve to run them off the road, the whole time smiling and laughing. Fighting mad doesn’t come close to describing my emotion after the incident.
At the end of the day life isn’t a video game, we’re all real people, who are typically trying to do some good by being out enjoying their bike, nature and in general the world around them.
I always make it a point to encourage friends and family to be respectful of cyclists and runners if the subject comes up. It might take an extra second or two to get around a cyclist, but at the end of the day, the extra time is hardly noteworthy.