What Can WE Do? By Jeff Stephens
Life is fleeting.
In the lost year, I've had 3 cycling acquaintances KILLED in altercations with automobiles.
Additionally, another 6 close friends have been struck by automobiles and suffered broken
vertebrae. Add to that, another handful that were struck by cars but suffered "lesser" injuries.
(If you call broken hips, ribs and arms, punctured lungs and bladders "lesser"!)
Surprisingly, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of friends involved in cycling accidents that did NOT involve automobiles! Some resulted in emergency room visits and serious injury ... others, myself included involved just a scraped knee, a sigh of relief, and a wake-up call that our chosen sport is life threatening indeed!
Central Ohio is blessed with wonderful cycling opportunities and relatively courteous drivers. However, the dramatic growth of our metropolitan area brings an increasing "auto-centric" attitude and the subsequent risk that cyclists will be (literally) pushed off the roads. We stand at a turning point.
We must educate the driving public about our rights to use the roads. We must advocate for appropriate accommodations for cyclists on public roads. We must expect a long, vigilant course of action if we hope to change the current, and impending, culture of our roadways. I've begun to meet with public officials and various media outlets to learn about the opportunities, and obstacles, that we face in this attempted cultural change. It's exciting, yet, sobering in its complexity. I applaud the long-time COP members that have advocated for years, and laid the groundwork for our next round of battles.
But, more importantly ... and more within our immediate control, we must change OUR, behavior when cycling. We must educate cyclists to ride safely, with consistent and predictable behavior. We must share the road with respect for motorists. Too many of us are either unaware of our surroundings to be courteous, or, import of our own form of road rage, by inappropriately forcing cars to succumb to our lane hogging, mob mentality. This behavior only frustrates motorists, and makes our efforts to advocate coexistence on the roadways more difficult.
We can be a constructive force in our quest for cultural change on the roadways. But, we must "clean our side of the street" first! Let's make our safe cycling behavior a priority this year.
To that end, I'd like to encourage COP members to seek continued education on safe and effective cycling. The organization recently held three "Ride Leader Development" sessions that I found very enlightening. Whether we're designated Ride Leaders, a leader by influence, or just a regular cyclist on a COP ride, we ALL have responsibilities to accept ... and behaviors we must demonstrate to our fellow cyclists. I also found Gordon Renkes' brief introduction to the "Effective Cycling" program exciting. I've heard about "Effective Cycling" for years, and now look forward to immersing myself in the entire program. I hope the COP membership will create a demand for the offering of this course on a regular basis.
COP rides should be more than a mob of people barreling down the road once a week. Our greatest asset as an organization is that we have a wealth of knowledge about effective riding techniques, performance enhancement, equipment, nutrition, etc. If we all take the responsibility to share our knowledge and concerns with each other as we ride, we'll be a step closer to creating a consistent behavior pattern ... and hence, moving toward our goal of increased respect on the roadways.
At least half of my cycling friends that were involved in the serious wrecks mentioned above, had some liability in their fate. All were strong and experienced cyclists; however, we should learn that a moment's lapsed attention, or the unawareness of our surroundings, could rob us of our lives. Please, never get too comfortable on the road. I hope you'll recognize that we're never too experienced to continue learning.
If you'd like to help support the education of cyclists, and help advocate for better cycling conditions on our roadways, Please call me at (614) 781-8245.