Cycling afraid
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Why are cyclists so angry? You’ve all seen a cyclist losing their shit on a motorist after a close call. You’ve unquestionably seen a cyclist aggressively asserting their right to a lane or space. You’re likely familiar with the scowl most drivers see plastered on the face of bike riders. I’m here to let you in on a secret. That emotion is not anger but in fact, underlying it all, is pure unadulterated fear.
“You can call me a crazy cyclist with anger issues, but I implore you to stop and think about the situation a little deeper.”
I love riding bikes. I grew up on a small farm in the middle of nowhere and would regularly ride my bike through our fields of wheat or venture onto the road and bike into our local town. I once biked across the country to raise funds and awareness for a rare blood cancer. These days, I probably log north of 1000km a year on my bike. I’ve also been hit my no fewer than 8 cars in the past 10 years, been intentionally run of the road twice, and suffered a right-turn cut-off more times than I can count. And in those moments, I was undoubtedly enraged.
“Cyclists look angry because each time we pedal out onto the road, we take our lives into our hands.”
You can call me a crazy cyclist with anger issues, but I implore you to stop and think about the situation a little deeper. No one likes the idea of getting into an accident. However, the potential outcomes are very different between you and me. If you get into an accident on a city street, you’re likely to have to deal with paint scratches, possibly broken windows, and panels, and if things are really bad, you might even get a bit of whiplash. If a cyclist gets into an accident, they are likely to deal with scratches and bruises on their body, possibly a broken bone, and if things get really bad, death.
This claim is not hyperbolic, but a statement of fact, as is evidenced by an 81 year old Mississauga man recently found dead in a ditch, a 38 year old woman who ended up in critical condition near Dundas and Glen Erin Drive, a 19 year old man rushed to the trauma centre from Eglington and Mavis, or a 5 year old struck and killed by a vehicle at Hurontario and Elm Drive. These are not cherry-picked stories, but the first four I clicked on, all from 2021, after searching “Mississauga cyclist”.
“Know that all cyclists, deep down, are white knuckling their way through the city, constantly alert to a state of danger and fear, since your scratched car could mean our last day on the road. ”
Cyclists look angry because each time we pedal out onto the road, we take our lives into our hands. You, the driver, are not simply another vehicle on the road (because yes, bicycles are vehicles that have the same right to the road as you), but the operator of a machine of my potential demise. Close encounters are not simply near-fender-benders, but high-stress moments of potential injury or worse for us. This is why cyclists are often powder kegs of fear and anxiety, waiting to explode on an unaware motorist.
With climate change impacts becoming more prevalent by the year, cycling is perfectly positioned to act as a way of reducing carbon emissions while helping people be more active. A recent Oxford University study showed that choosing a bike over a car even once per day can reduce the average citizen’s carbon emissions by 67%. Governments know this, and it is why you see initiatives like the city of Mississauga investing millions of dollars to build nearly 900km of new cycling infrastructure. However, alongside this investment, the city and other municipalities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area are implementing Vision Zero: a commitment to reducing pedestrian and cyclist injuries to zero. Aggressive, distracted, and impaired drivers are the primary focus of this initiative.
So don’t neglect that shoulder check when you’re making a right turn, give cyclists a wider berth when passing them along the shoulder, look twice before pulling out from an occluded intersection, and show some sympathy if things go wrong. Know that all cyclists, deep down, are white knuckling their way through the city, constantly alert to a state of danger and fear, since your scratched car could mean our last day on the road.
