Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Crackdown on Bicyclists

The Chicago Police Department has recently instituted a crackdown on errant bicylists. I will confess that my first reaction to this story was one of mean-spirited glee: As a dedicated pedestrian (who has never learned to ride a bike or, for that matter, drive a car) I have had far more "near misses" with cyclists than I have had with car drivers. Cyclists consistently demonstrate a lack of regard for both established traffic laws and good common sense. It is about time, said I to myself, that cyclists be held accountable for their actions. (Just to make things clear, I am all for ecological and health benefits of cycling: I just think that cyclists ought to obey the Rules of the Road like everyone else.)

After a bit of basking the afterglow of civic minded self-rightiousness, I began to rethink my position on the matter. True, I do think that cyclists should be required to obey road laws, but I am also dismayed at the fact that the behavior of cyclists has gotten so bad that there is now a public demand for police action. Is this really a matter for law enforcement? Is there really a need for a special task force?

Perhaps there is. But I find it terribly tragic that such a task force should be necessary. Cops with guns are, sadly, probably the best "enforcers" of courtesy for car drivers. After all, the thick glass and metal of the car makes interaction between drivers/pedestrians/cyclists difficult. But bicyclists have no physical barriers offering them protection from interactions with fellow users of the streets. The cyclist can get up close and personal with a pedestrian and ought to be able to see and hear the protest of the pedestrian who has been cut off while turning down a corner or who has come inches away from a collision with a cyclist. Yet, it would seem, bicyclists don't care: As long as they can speed off in their own metal contraption, they will not respond to the pleas of fellow citizens, only the threat of criminal penalty will motivate them to change their behavior. The modern cyclist (much like the modern automobile driver) doesn't care about her neighbor's welfare nearly as much as she fears interaction with the criminal justice system.

The irony of this, then, is that the very institution that people fear and despise (the police) are given even more power by the cyclists. By rendering a citizen's ability to confront a wrong-doer impotent, the errant cyclist has, by default, made the police officer society's primary enforcer of civility. The fact that this enforcement is being accomplished by the threat of deadly force or imprisonment, rather than by a concern for the safety of one's neighbor, ought to be disturbing to driver, cyclist, and pedestrian alike.

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