Cyclists in New York are getting better at following the rules,
at least according to a study done by Peter Tuckel and William Milczarski of
Hunter College at the City University of New York. This is confusing because,
per cyclists, they were already following the rules. How could they get better
at it?
The real interesting part is that the increase in rule
following coincides with more people riding bikes in New York. So what’s at
play here? A few things. One is an increase in women cyclists in the city. When
we discuss what causes people to take up cycling; it is usually involves how
cyclists are often sad, lonely individuals who resort to cycling as a way to
empower themselves, by keeping people with actual lives from getting to places
of importance. This applies mostly to men. And it is why men make up the
majority of cyclists. Women who ride bikes are much more likely to do so for a
real reason, either to exercise or to get from A to B. This makes them much
more likely to cycle in a safe matter (like kids who ride bikes).
And that brings us to the main reason this has happened, this
influx of new cyclists, aren’t real cyclists. These are people trying to get
home to their family, or to work. And with traffic what it is in NYC, have taken
to using a bike. Nothing like your average cyclists in the US or UK who is only
out to slow traffic to a crawl.
More cyclists isn’t a good thing, but it is good that these
new wavers are following the rules. NYC is one of the rare US cities that is a walking
city. Certain areas of other cities are, but New York is one of the few where
you don’t need a car to get around, and one of the few where something like
this makes sense. Unfortunately, in
other cities we are still going to see the vast majority of cyclists be the
kind we are used to, just out for a joy ride and trying to create as much havoc
as possible on the roads.
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"cyclists are often sad, lonely individuals who resort to cycling as a way to empower themselves, by keeping people with actual lives from getting to places of importance"
ReplyDeleteLove it -- but you're going soft. Cyclists are not just OFTEN sad and lonely, we are ALWAYS sad and lonely. That is why we take up cycling -- it's one of the few sports where doing it alone is easier than doing it with someone else. It helps justify our sad, lonely existence, which is broken only by the occasional honk or curse from a motorist.
Agreed, it is the vast majority.
DeleteThis is bad. Other people on bicycles are supposed to be on my side, but now, false cyclists are filling up my lanes? How do I tell one from the other, and then how do I deal with commuters ... on bicycles? These people are sneaking effectively to work, despite my efforts, and even if I block the whole of the road they can pick up the bicycle and walk around me ... outside the road...
ReplyDeleteThis is a disaster!