PORTLAND, Oregon - As high gas prices force U.S.
drivers to share city streets with a growing legion of
cyclists, tensions are mounting between the two groups who
blame each other for failing to find a peaceful balance.
A number of violent confrontations in recent weeks between
cyclists and drivers have weighed on Portland's reputation as
America's most bike-friendly city, while accidents and "road
rage" incidents are prompting other cities to try and make the
roads safer for bikes and ease the hostility.
In mid-July, an angry driver chased down a Portland cyclist
and carried him for several blocks on the car's hood. Before
that, a cyclist, upset at a driver who yelled at him for riding
through a stop sign, threw his bike at the car and then
attacked the driver.
"We are seeing more bicyclists on the road because of the
price of gas and we see more of these" problems, said Marni
Ratzel, a bicycle/pedestrian transportation planner in Boulder,
Colorado, which has more than 300 miles of city road outfitted
with bike lanes.
In Louisville, Kentucky, the number of cyclists have
doubled or tripled since last year, based on the estimates of
Dirk Gowin, the city's transportation planning administrator.
"Education is the real issue," said Gowin. "We have
bicyclists riding against traffic, on the sidewalk and without
helmets. They don't know what they are doing."
A common complaint from motorists is that cyclists don't
obey traffic laws and ride recklessly, while cyclists charge
that motorists don't watch out or yield to them when required.
A protest by cyclists in Seattle turned violent this month
when a motorist struck several riders blocking the road. A few
riders, according to Seattle police, engulfed the car, broke
its windshield, slashed its tires and assaulted the driver.
Most cyclists are undeterred by these incidents since most
trips are safe and uneventful. Biking to work, cyclists say,
has both health and environmental benefits.
"Since 1990 a lot of work has happened. The facilities are
there in many cities," said Elizabeth Preston, director of
communications for the League of American Bicyclists.
BICYCLE LIFESTYLE
Pedal pushers are still a tiny minority in the United
States. Only 0.4 per cent of Americans bike to work, compared
with 2.5 per cent who walk and 77 percent who drive alone,
according to 2005 U.S. Census statistics.
In Portland, where six per cent of people bike daily, workers
commute and parents tuck kids into bike trailers and haul them
to school or play dates. Bike riders pedal to the video store,
grocery and restaurants.
"It used to be you'd see three bikes at a traffic light,
now you see 12," said Dave Pearson, a bike commuter for 15
years who pedals 25km each way to his office at Nike two or
three days a week.
Portland had six cyclists killed in accidents last year.
Local officials are taking many steps to make the city
safer for both cyclists and drivers.
As part of a two-day "education mission" in July, Portland
police targeted two heavily trafficked bicycle routes, blitzing
bicyclists and motorists with warnings when traffic laws were
violated.
Of the 128 warnings, 113 went to bicyclists. More such
enforcement actions are planned, Brian Schmautz, Portland
Police Bureau spokesman said.
The city, which already has 260km of bike lanes, is
experimenting with bike boxes, or large painted areas at the
front of an intersection allowing bikes to move to the front
and stop at a light in front of cars.
The bike boxes are designed to end the dreaded "right hook"
when a bicyclist is traveling straight and is cut off by a car
turning right.
More accidents are part of the growing pains of an increase
in bike commuting, but the situation will improve as ridership
grows, according to bicycle advocates.
"The data shows that as more people ride, the streets get
safer," said Scott Bricker executive director of Portland's
Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
(Reuters Life!)
