Tough love: Cyclists and drivers share the road

Tough love: Cyclists and drivers share the road
By Logan Bradford

“Gah! I hate bikes!”

This is not an uncommon outburst heard on BYU campus.

Impatience and ignorance present a major safety concern for both drivers and cyclists, making the need for mutual understanding greater than ever.

Despite statistics indicating a decrease in bike-motor vehicle crashes over the past 30 years, there are still hundreds of collisions and even deaths every year.

Racer Gibson, owner of Racer’s Cycle Service in Provo, attributes most car-bike incidents to cyclists acting erratically, limiting drivers’ ability to react to and predict what cyclists will do.

Gibson is a strong advocate for vehicular cycling, which promotes the idea that cyclists should act as cars when riding on the road.

According to Utah law code section 41-6a-1105, “a person operating a bicycle, a vehicle or device propelled by human power, or a moped has all the rights and is subject to the provisions of [that] chapter applicable to the operator of any other vehicle.”

Arnold Lemmon, BYU police lieutenant, has seen people not following this on and around BYU campus.

“Bikes want to be treated both as motor vehicle operators and pedestrians,” Lemmon said. “When a cyclist is on a roadway, he is subject to the same laws as a motor vehicle operator.”

One of those laws, Lemmon said, is using turn signals. He said cyclists should use hand signals to indicate their intended direction.

“It lets people know what’s going on,” Gibson said. “It’s like using turn signals in your car.”

Gibson also emphasized that riding on sidewalks is dangerous because drivers do not look for traffic moving three times the rate of a pedestrian when pulling out of a driveway and could potentially not see them, causing an accident.

In fact, the Utah law code reads, “A person may not operate a bicycle or a vehicle or device propelled by human power on a sidewalk, path, or trail, or across a roadway in a crosswalk, where prohibited by a traffic-control device or ordinance.”

Lemmon stressed the importance of cyclists riding on the shoulder of roads when possible, and if not, riding as far to the right in the lane as possible.

He also highlighted cyclists’ personal safety, using reflectors, lights and helmets.

“You get people riding at night without lights or reflective gear and they want to be treated well by motor vehicle operators,” Lemmon said. “You can’t get equal treatment if you’re not seen. Having the right equipment goes a long way.”

He said helmets are the best and cheapest way to protect a cyclist’s skull. He said it only takes one accident to ruin a life.

“You may think you look dumb wearing a helmet,” said Bree Goates, former BYU student and cycling enthusiast. “But you’ll look a whole lot dumber being a vegetable for the rest of your life because you got hit by a car when you weren’t wearing your helmet.”

Lemmon’s final advice for bike safety advocated communication.

“The more you can communicate your intention as a cyclist the safer you’re going to be,” he said.