Before I get into the story proper, I should address the patient audience reg. the hiatus. Well, I have nothing much to offer in terms of juicy details, I have been commuting regularly on the bike and that’s about it. It has become so commonplace, I find it rote to write about the events of my commute. For those interested, Nov was a 500km month with average ride speeds of 24kmph. Nothing to write home about, but there it is anyway.

So something happened yesterday that gives me fodder to write. two separate incidents of road rage made me a bit miffed.

First case was in the morning, I was in my regular route which has 2 nasty road diversions. It is not a big deal but requires that I do an orchestrated jig to make sure I am visible to the drivers and I get my right of passage through the traffic signals. I was into the jig mid way, taking the lane, waving my hands, making myself look big, When I realized there was this white subaru (not the cops, they tend to use white subaru’s too) tailgating me, and sticking to my wheel like he wanted to pass me on a slip stream. It is one of those with the nearly illegal dark windshields and nearly black windows. It could have been a ninja but there is a higher probability of it being a beng (Note wiki shows a certain racist slur in here, but really, there is a beng in every social setup and a beng is a beng regardless of race).

What do you do when tailgated? Well, stick to your lane, and be predictable. Nothing works better. The downside is that once in a while you will get some ass like the one this morning, who passionately dole out their ignorance. He did it in abundance when he eventually passed me, unwound his windows and shouted that I had no right to be on the road. Sigh, man, I wonder how do these fellers get their licenses when they don’t seem to know the basic idea of who can and cannot use the roads.

The case 2 in point happened in the evening. I was heading back and almost home when a lorry passed inches away from me, I could feel the wind when the rear view mirror passed literally an inch from my ears. I usually am alright when people pass me close by but when 2 lanes are empty and the lorry rides inches past me at 50 kmph, I would like to voice out my opinion in the matter. I did with a Loud ‘oye’. Technically, it is just to vent the frustration and to relax the adrenalin glands and it does nothing else as the driver is oblivious listening to loud music in the cocoon of his car. Tonight was different, teh lorry was riding with windows down and he got my opinion loud and clear. He immediately stopped a few meters in front and waited for me to pass by for a confrontation.

Note, he was not in a hurry, so there is lesser reason for him to ride like a maniac.

Since I was near home, I figured I can take the opportunity to educate the feller. The conversation, however, went like this:

Me: Yo, can you make sure you give me space.

Him: You, you, why do you shout.

Me: Damn it man, you were an inch away from me, I have to get your attention. Now that I have survived, make sure you give others space while on the road.

Him (getting angrier): Why, Why did you shout. I did not hit you…

Me (flabbergasted, thinking WTF): …

How can I make an argument with some one whose case is that Since he did not physically injure me, he should not be subjected to criticism. Yikes. I hope these guys get their licenses revoked.

On a separate incident, I saw this lady drove into my lane like it was her Granny’s road. She did not bother signalling or slowing down, but she had a nice sticker on the rear window that screamed:

“Lady Driver – Please be considerate”

I don’t know, may be she thought that sticker was a license for her to behave like an idiot and get away with it. May be I should have a sticker on my back and then people will behave better. Who knows. stranger things have happened.

Came across this article in ‘Today’.

Latest estimates put the population to 17 million. I have been to Beijing and I should say it is a pretty congested town. It seems like they go through extreme measures to keep the vehicle count on the road down (similar to our weekend COE idea).

China is probably the largest car market right now and there is obvoiusly lot of money to be made in selling cars (They can have a COE system and an ERP system and I suppose the demand for car would not go down. It will be a good revenue stream for the Beijing Municipality. They can build better roads and better Public transportation with that money.

But it seems like they are doing neither. Instead, they plan to inconvenience car drivers by bringing back bike lanes.

Makes me wonder. If China (who are fighting for their right to develop at a rapid pace) can think of solving their traffic and pollution woes by introducing bike lanes, why does Singapore think the other way around?

I am not saying bring us bike lanes. I am just saying divert your attention from cyclists (and educating them) to Drivers (and how they can be made responsible for their actions on the road).

It is how one views things. I saw this on one of my favorite blogs (ogle at hot, stylish girls on bikes – whats not to like).

I do not expect this to happen all over the world. However, it is a measure of how much the notion of cycling as a means of transport has seeped into the public conscience.

The problem as I see it in Singapore is that the authorities and public view cycling as either a sport or recreational activity or at the very most, a mode of transport for the extremely poor and dare I say it, foreign workers. The second part of the equation is the notion that the people who ride are unwilling to learn the local traffic rules and will flout the rules even if taught.

Now seen from such clouded perspective it is easy to understand why the authorities are trying to ‘fix’ the cyclist instead of the drivers and more importantly the infrastructure. The typical cyclist is viewed as one with low economical value and hence there is very little need to provide for them. This idea also spreads in other areas. A colleague commented on how someone from LTA was quoted as saying that providing amenities for handicapped people was cost prohibitive (I quote without basis here). The notion of economic value add is at play here again.

The same is true in the rest of the world too. I suppose Copenhagen city council is willing to invest in infrastructure since the ones cycling are teachers, lawyers, doctors and tradesmen, all contributing to the economy and it is ‘worth it’ to keep these lives safe.

I sound morose but I guess that is how things are.

Getting back, I am not expecting very fancy railings or segregated lanes (it will be great to have them and will encourage more cyclists). But I can live without some middle manager quoting to the media and media misquoting to rest of the world that cyclists are endangering their lives and others.