Stuck between statistically unsafe and illegal riding on the sidewalk, and cars on the roadways with aggressive and dangerous behavior put cyclists between a rock and a hard place.  Something cyclists deal with on a daily basis.  On Monday Barbara Filet had her latest encounter with a vehicle that passed her at an unsafe distance going a high rate of speed, she wrote to the Chief of Police.

December 16, 2010
Dear Chief Jackman,

On December 15, 2010, around 12:15 pm, I was cycling north on Fifth Street between California and Washington. Traffic was light and I was making sure I was riding outside of the door zone of parked cars. The driver of a vehicle behind me proceeded to overtake me in an aggressive manner, passing me with only inches to spare at high speed. I felt threatened by a deadly weapon. Shortly afterwards, he pulled into a driveway and parked his car in the carport in the 1000 block of Fifth Street.

I decided to confront him about this aggressive act. When the middle-aged, balding, heavy-set man got out of his vehicle, I told him, angrily, that he had frightened me by driving so close and that I would have liked him to pass at least three feet away from me. He was not receptive to what I said and told me that I had no right to ride “in the middle of the street” and should instead ride on the sidewalk, where I belonged. I told him it was illegal for me to ride on the sidewalk. He was unwilling to consider he might be wrong. He demanded to see my driver’s license. I told him I would show him my license if he showed me his, but he was not willing to identify himself.

I went to my destination, a birthday party, half a block away. The host accompanied me back to the address on Fifth Street, to note down the car license to make a police complaint. The car is a white Dodge Grand Caravan, license number is 4ZDG299. When we were noting down his license, he came out of the building to get back into his car and saw us. We took his photograph, which angered him. The driver continued to assert that cyclists need to ride their bikes on the sidewalk, and we were not able to convince him otherwise.

I don’t want this driver assaulting other cyclists with his deadly weapon, and I would not be surprised if it is a pattern for him to be aggressive in this manner. Is there some way that you could warn him to cease this behavior and inform him that bicyclists belong in the street, and not on the sidewalk? Is there some way to keep this letter on file to see if he repeats this behavior? I will also leave a copy of this letter on his car.

This case shows that many members of the public still need to be educated about where bikes belong and how they need to share the road. Could you write an article for the next Seascape Magazine, to inform the community about how Santa Monica is dedicating itself, through the LUCE, to become a bicycle-friendly city.  And please include information about these laws:

CA VC 21200.  (a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this division, including, but not limited to, provisions concerning driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages or drugs.

SM MC 3.12.540 Bicycle riding or coasting restricted. (a)  It shall be unlawful to ride a bicycle or to coast in any vehicle upon any public sidewalk, except as provided for in Section 3.12.550.

Thanks again for your help in education this driver and the driving public on how to share the road with bicyclists. If you need assistance with this task, or if you feel the need for input from the cycling public, please do not hesitate to contact me or the local bicycle advocacy group called Santa Monca Spoke, of which I am a member.

Barbara Filet

That brought up another recent incident where a Santa Monica cyclist had a similar encounter.

The attached pic is of a car driven by an elderly man, who had road rage while I was riding with a friend on Yale near Wilshire. He turned on Wilshire and his destination was only a half block away. Needless to say he got an earful from me. We need to educate the clueless in SM and many are long past school age.

And also a recent post by Gary Kavanagh where he describes driver motivations and an incident he had.

Sometimes a driver feels they must take things further, and use their car as a threatening weapon, presumably to “teach me a lesson”. Tuesday on Colorado Ave., an SUV driver with a Jack Skeleton Nightmare Before Christmas icon attached to his trailer hitch, honked, honked, honked again, then buzzed me, passing with less than a foot clearance at high speed, even though there was a completely open lane he could have used to pass safely and easily. (click for complete post)

Are these aggressive drivers the only problem, of course not.  When we’re out on the road we also see cyclists that are not following the law.  Making it unsafe for all involved.  Just like aggressive motorists, it is a problem that needs to be addressed.  But just as we don’t paint all motorists with the broad brush of aggression we demand that same distinction between those cyclists that do follow the law and cyclists that don’t.  It seems painfully evident that a huge hole in the system is EDUCATION.  Any Bicycle Action Plan proposed by the city must address how we can educate not only our school age children and young adults but the general population of cyclists and motorists that can’t seem to acknowledge the rules of the road or quite simply don’t know what they are.

I would say that Santa Monica needs to step up and demonstrate its commitment to Complete Streets and make it safer for everyone, cyclist, pedestrians and motorists.  A broad advertising campaign, and a visible commitment to cycling coupled with education would go far to achieving these goals.

CA VC 21200. (a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this division, including, but not limited to, provisions concerning driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages or drugs.

SM MC 3.12.540 Bicycle riding or coasting restricted. (a)  It shall be unlawful to ride a bicycle or to coast in any vehicle upon any public sidewalk, except as provided for in Section 3.12.550.