Biking through Newton Square from June Street today on my way to my daughter’s school, I made the completely legal move of rounding the rotary with the intention of exiting onto Newton Ave. The road was wide open with almost no traffic, so I was very surprised to hear a young woman driver behind me yell “You’re not a car!” Startled, I yelled “Yes, I am!”, and she had the temerity to yell back “No, you’re not!”
Technically she is right: I am not a car. But I do have the right – and in Worcester, the responsibility – to ride my bicycle in the roadway. What I should have said was “Read the rules!”. Frankly, I didn’t think of it in the heat of the moment. Instead I’m composing this blog post.
Getting more Americans to bike will require more opportunity to ride separated from traffic. Children, elders, and women are all more likely to prefer not to ride on the road, but rather on designated bikeways and protected trails. But we aren’t going to create such facilities overnight. European countries have spent decades achieving their admirable biking and walking infrastructure. WalkBike Worcester is building support in our city for Complete Streets. City policy should require that our roads accommodate ALL users, not just cars. This will take political will and commitment of resources, but we are seeing early support among city leaders. And good things are going on around the state. MassDOT, our state transportation department, applies these principles through its award-winning design guide. Boston recently released its own Complete Streets Design Guidelines.
But policy change is not culture change. The young driver who yelled at me clearly does not believe that bicycles should use the roadway. We have work to do helping our fellow citizens understand both the law and the fact that more types of users on the road makes it safer for all users. Ready to help us?
