Comments on: Strip Santa Monica of Bike Friendly Award?

By: laure

laure — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:33:26 +0000

Alex & Will: "It only takes a few bad apples to spoil the bunch." I couldn’t agree more. As a biker, pedestrian but also a driver in Santa Monica, I would say that 70% of the bikers pay no attention to the rules of the road. Out of that, 50% play it gently, by cautiously cruising through red lights & all, while 50% come barreling down no matter what. No lights at night is also a (dangerous) common. Remember: if we hit each other, my body is my car, your body is yours.

The worse is when we get those Critical Mass meets. I know they want to make a statement, but the message they bring across, through their "activist," bad-ass, take-over-the-city attitude (with zero respect for anyone not on a bike — pedestrrian or driver) is that they are obnoxious schmucks to get rid of. And it transpires in the City council meetings. What a shame. As I mentioned before, we need to share the road, and the first step is mutual understanding, and respect.

If we want drivers in Santa Monica to respect bikers, *we* (bikers) have to lead by example, while lobbying with the City for more bike-friendly routes ans signs.

By: Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:38:30 +0000

Thanks for writing about this Queequeg.

Will – as you know – with biking – it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the bunch. One aggressive entitled driver in 1000 might only pose a minor threat to other motorists, but for cyclists, pose a lethal threat. When you get passed by 40 or 50 motorists per mile, 1 in 1000 is already too high.

My hunch is it’s a lot more than 1/1000.

By: Queequeg

Queequeg — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:37:07 +0000

It’s funny, she’s taken that trike out at least 3 more times since her initial ride, and each time has been fairly awful. My one experience with her was apparently typical: even though the bike lanes are more than big enough to accommodate the width of her trike, there was a LOT of honking. Some of it was courtesy honking (i.e., light taps on the horn), others were pretty heavy handed. Someone yelled at her to learn how to ride a "real" bike. I guess the point really is: we need a petition to promote tolerance for adult tricyclists.

By: evan

evan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:18:54 +0000

Have to agree with Will here.

As I said on the earlier post, while Santa Monica might not be perfect, I think it does a lot better than most cities in Southern California when it comes to bicycle issues. I’m usually ready to protest and raise hell on just about anything but here I think some pragmatism is called for. By all means, we need more bicycle-friendly cities. But, I don’t think this is a "all-or-nothing" situation. Things aren’t going to change for the better overnight, and people that only drive need to be held by the hand and see that changes that benefit bicyclists aren’t stripping them of their god-given right to drive as much as they want.

And finally, while your neighbor’s experience sounds bad, Queequeg, I hope she doesn’t give up the bike based on one bad ride. Like Will, I’ve been lucky enough not to experience any truly rude or dangerous drivers, but they’re obviously out there. But that doesn’t mean that one should give up the bike–those scary drivers are out there no matter what your mode of transportation is, and I’m just as afraid of them as when I’m driving as I am when I’m riding my bike.

By: WILL CAMPBELL

WILL CAMPBELL — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:36:39 +0000

Michele, constantly? As in "every" or "every other" or "every third" bike/driver encounter you witness is negative and intentionally so? You need to tell me where you drive so I can come meet all these mad motorists and knock the obviously rose-colored sunglasses off my pollyanna perspective.

By: Lucinda Michele

Lucinda Michele — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:09:49 +0000

Will, I’m glad you’ve experienced good things. I never ride bikes–I’m terrified of them–but as a car driver, I constantly see other drivers tailgating, harassing, & driving intentionally close to cyclists. Yelling out their windows at cyclists. Making rude gestures at cyclists. Whipping around cyclists & slamming on their brakes in from of cyclists. I hardly ever see bike-friendly driving–and I’m a motorist.

By: WILL CAMPBELL

WILL CAMPBELL — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:53:21 +0000

It’s a shame what your friend experienced on her inaugural ride, and the award bestowed upon the city of Santa Monica is decidedly suspect, but I’m troubled by broad generalizations made as to the prevailing level of bike-hate as standard equipment with any vehicle. With the 10,000 bike miles I’ve logged in Los Angeles this past 18 months, I’ve found the opposite: that the vast majority of motorists in the greater Los Angeles area (including adjacent cities) to be pretty bike-tolerant.

Could the streets be made more bike-accessible? Could motorists be better educated and made more aware? Absolutely and absolutely. Is extrapolating a few negatives and applying it to the whole fair? Absolutely not.

By: laure

laure — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:39:30 +0000

I am an "urban biker" myself, have been for many years in L.A. and other cities such as New York, London, Paris. It’s though in traffic, and I would say from experience that Santa Monica is comparatively bike-friendly.

I am also a driver though, and every day I see bikers (and skateboarders) in Santa Monica ignoring red lights and stop signs, or riding on the curb oblivious to pedestrians; it’s really dangerous, and I dread the day that I might hit one despite being cautious.

The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that Alex Thompson "feels the police and lawmakers are not concerned enough with cyclists’ safety." I feel the police and lawmakers are not concerned enough with cyclists breaking the law, and putting themselves and others at risk.

We all have to share the road. Respect is not a one-way system.

By: Lucinda Michele

Lucinda Michele — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:30:31 +0000

Yeah, LA in general isn’t bike-friendly. Everyone in cars thinks they’ve got some god-given right to mow down anything in their way.