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Bikes vs. Cars? -- No, Thanks!
Media misrepresents bicyclists as it plays up road-rage angle

By Rob Sadowsky

We work hard here at the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation to fight for safer streets every day of our lives. Lately, local headlines have been blaring sensationalism such as “Road Rage-The Bike vs. Car Battle Flares Up!” — and it’s getting on my nerves.

We press for better, safer road and intersection designs, for educational efforts to ensure that motorists and bicyclists move through the streets safely, and we encourage enforcement of traffic laws to minimize reckless driving.

All of this is working. Everyday, there are more folks bicycling on the streets of our communities and throughout the region. Even with the increase of bicycling, the rate of crashes has not gone up proportionally. That’s exciting, good news.

But it’s not sensational.

What is sensational is stoking the flames of road rage. Our friendly editorial departments are looking for the inciting angle and cyclists are getting misrepresented. As you already know, bicyclists are not a homogenous population of reckless people who cause accidents left and right and put us all in danger every minute we are out on the streets. We ride defensively, to protect ourselves.

What started this mess? The 23rd Police District in Chicago decided recently to enforce rules-of-the-road to cut down on bicyclists riding on sidewalks and going the wrong way on one-way streets. The police say this campaign is intended to prevent people from “exposing themselves to danger.” True, experience and data show that neither motorists nor pedestrians are looking out for bicycles on the sidewalk or going the wrong way on a one-way street. So, why do I get upset at this seemingly altruistic approach to safety?

Bicycles are involved in fewer than 1 percent of crashes in Chicago, according to the most recent data (2003) from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Yet, NHTSA data shows that there were more than 130,000 reported crashes in Chicago involving motor vehicles in 2003. Of the 1 percent of crashes that we are involved in, a very small fraction are caused by the bicyclists themselves.

I’ve tried to use these press opportunities to get our messages across. I think we do a good job, but we need your help. First, do your best to keep the flames to a minimum. Ride conscientiously, courteously, and safely.

Make your ride fun! Secondly, keep writing those letters, calling in to the talk shows, and voicing your ideas and concerns. Please, stay above the fray, and respect people in the same way you want people to respect you as a user of the road.

Lastly, take the Driver’s Pledge, promising to drive your car less, obey traffic laws and treat other users of the road with respect.

Keep an eye out for our emerging Drive with Care initiative, part of our Healthy Streets Campaign. Our goal is to stigmatize reckless driving the same way driving under the influence has been stigmatized. You can help.

Rob Sadowsky is the executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation