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| Fire man jumping from tower into safety net, Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection |
What are iffy safety moments? They might be that moment where you're trying to make a light before it turns red, and a truck or bus is going to be turning right very soon. Can you quickly squeeze between that humongoid vehicle and the corner? You're not positive, but you go for it, knowing that turning cars must yield to bicyclists going straight. However as you accelerate to the now-orange light, the truck turns right and pauses to let pedestrians go by, effectively blocking the bicycle lane. It either doesn't see you or doesn't care, and it's coming up FAST.
At your speed, you have two choices that don't involve ending up under the truck: screech to a halt or try to go up on the sidewalk. You manage to brake hard and veer onto the sidewalk at the same time, barely missing pedestrians clustered on the corner. They look at you. You look at them, then at the truck, cursing the stupid thing as it lumbers on its way. Instead of smoothly gliding past the light and on your way, you now have to clumsily maneuver your bike backwards off the sidewalk and back onto the bike lane. As you do the straddle-shuffle to scoot back to the road, you ask yourself how this could have been avoided.
Try this. Scenario #2. You see the light turn orange and see the big truck slow down at the intersection. The driver didn't put the blinker on, but it's pretty clear that it is going to turn right. You also know that trucks, buses, and taxis often don't yield to bikers. You make a calculated decision and slow down in the bike lane behind where the truck is. It turns just as the light turns red, and you're left to wait for the next green light before the intersection. Congratulations, you've lost 30 seconds of your life but retained the rest of it. And really, more importantly, you don't have to straddle-shuffle to a crowd of dispassionate observers silently judging you for being one of "those bikers."
Slow and steady wins a stitch in time. Or something like that. The bottom line really is, when you're cruising on the road, it sucks to have to brake, stop, and start pedaling again. But it's simply better to be a low-risk biker. Not only will you stop pissing off other people on the road, but you'll live to ride another day.
