In the driver's seat
Sometimes, road safety requires you to stay in your lane – and get out of it

I was riding my bike down County Road 250 the other day when a car passed me a little too quickly and a little too closely. I threw my hands up in the air to demonstrate my disapproval in hopes that they would see my full-body disappointment and instantly have a self-reflecting, soul-searching moment. I’d hoped they’d think, “Wow, I should really cool my jets and be more careful around cyclists and other vulnerable road users in the future. Thanks for helping me see my ways, kind, gesticulating cyclist. I will tell all my friends.” 

But, of course, that likely wasn’t the case. If anything, it probably made that driver hate cyclists more. I know this because, if every driver that I shook my fist at had a life-changing, insta-learning lesson, my job here would be done. There would be fewer altercations, fewer horns honked and fewer close calls. I would witness fewer drivers veer into the painted shoulders, run stop signs, drive too fast and cut corners. Drivers would look less bored and more attentive. But, the sleepiness I see in the eyes of drivers when they blindly cut a corner into a crosswalk next to a school is terrifying.

I get it, many of us have been driving for 20, 30, 40-plus years, every day, multiple times a day; it can get mundane. However, I still know to be careful when doing everyday things like cutting with a knife or to not lay my hand on a hot stove. Sometimes you just have to pay attention, no matter how bored you are. 

I often say these things to my friends and any other interested parties; drivers are so rude and careless. Then, I got behind the wheel myself. 

I hardly ever drive. I avoid it as much as possible because driving is angry, boring and traffic-jammed, and I will only drive if I’m going out of town or need to transport something very large. 

A few weeks ago, I was driving out of town to transport something large. I was on an open county road while the sun was shining, and my windows were down. My music was blasting, I was singing loudly and there wasn’t a care in the world. I was getting close to my destination, so I quickly checked my phone for directions. I looked down for a second, and when I looked up, I was driving on the shoulder. My brain was buzzing: how did that happen so quickly? 

I was terrified at the thought that I easily could have been that headlined news story – the distracted driver who, only for a second, looked down at her phone and hit someone. I thought about that my entire drive back home. 

A few weeks later, this week in fact, I begrudgingly stepped back into the driver’s seat. And within 45 seconds, I encountered a cyclist. She was riding on my right, slowly rolling up to the same stop sign where I was going to turn right. She was moving slower than I was, and for a moment, I pressed on the gas thinking I could cut in front of her and turn before she got to the stop sign. A weird animal instinct took over that said, “Keep going fast. Don’t slow down.” When I’m in a car, it’s just me and my journey; everyone else is just inconveniently in my way. 

In a motorized vehicle, when you have that power and momentum, you don’t want to let that go.

I actually had to take a page from my own playbook and step on the brake to let the cyclist go first, before I could safely make my turn behind her. It took patience, it took will, but by gosh golly, I made sure I didn’t scare the bejesus out of anyone. 

I know cyclists talk a lot of shit about drivers, and I know drivers talk a lot of shit about cyclists, but being both has helped me see both sides. No, it hasn’t made me change my mind about anything. In fact, it puts more fire in my belly to communicate with drivers about how terrifying it is as a cyclist to be passed at 60 mph with a small buffer between yourself and a ton of metal.

But, I get it. Driving fast with the windows down and checking text messages feels like it should be fine. So does cutting that corner really sharp because you’ve made that turn a hundred times,­­­ or rolling through that stop sign when you think no one else is around. I get how it can be perplexing when you encounter a cyclist, especially when there’s oncoming traffic. Hell yeah, you want to press on the gas to try to weave your way between the two just in time. Lord knows, slowing down to 30 mph in a 45 mph zone would feel wrong. I get that the urge is to keep going and maintain speed. 

But, sometimes, it’s OK to make choices based on safety, not on what a speed limit sign says. Letting up on the gas to wait for oncoming traffic to pass or waiting to safely give a cyclist a 3-foot buffer won’t change your day or your life. However, hitting a cyclist, going head-on into oncoming traffic or hitting a kid in a crosswalk definitely will. And some of the other offenses, such as turning right on red without looking, running a red light, opening a car door without checking behind you, clipping a cyclist with your car mirror or turning in front of a cyclist could go terribly awry as well. 

These are all bad habits I have witnessed, and I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t say I’ve been guilty of them myself. So if you’re bored of the old routine, why not spice it up by slowing down when coming up on a cyclist or pedestrian? Take a second glance, make wider turns or, better yet, leave your car at home and fulfill your need for speed on your bike. Trust me, it’s just as exhilarating as having the windows down on a sunny spring afternoon. 

Jennaye Derge is the director of Bike Durango, an organization that advocates and educates about cyclist safety. To learn more, go to www.bikedurango.org. ?