Commuter's Corner #7: Street Safari
Riding a bike in traffic, you get the opportunity to do some people watching. Being observant is absolutely important in traffic, seeing as how cyclists are by definition vulnerable road users. Let’s be aware of what’s around us, shall we? But there is fun to be had, too!
People watching in traffic is not only good practice, but the source of no end of entertainment. And that is because the safari of the street reveals precisely the lack of awareness on the part of many users of the road. Learning to “read the traffic” of our fellow road users provides cues as to who is not paying attention, which is invaluable to avoiding potential traffic pitfalls.
An example: the “pizza phone” user. This is the driver who holds their cell phone or tablet flat, with one end resting against their chin, like a piece of pizza they are about to ingest. They may or may not actually be talking with their pizza-phone. But they have only one hand on the steering wheel, and at least one eye on their phone, for if they are not already talking on it (and thus distracted), they are evidently hoping for a call (and thus distraction). Beware the pizza phone! Fortunately, these are fairly easy to spot, unless the vehicle has heavily tinted windows.
Another example: the “giggling gaggle”. This involves multiple Gen Y-ers stuffed inside a car, with multiple phones and thus multiple data plans. Whether they are texting each other from 2 feet away or texting their friends somewhere else, they are frequently texting. This implies that the driver is looking forward down the street, um, once in a while. I find bark-n-snarls get their attention quickly, however, remarks like “INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE!” or the classic “BUUUUUUURRRRP!” get their attention quickly. Plus, the confused looks on their faces are funny. You can see the learning happening in slow-mo.
Then there are the “sleepers at the wheel”. Are they tired? On drugs? Coffee withdrawal? Usually these are more surreptitious users of cell phones, looking down while stopped at the traffic light. Apparently, they keep their phones wedged in between their legs or on their laps. Of course, when the light turns green, they have no clue, one has to rely on the collective wisdom of the other motorists to lean on their horns. As a cyclist I find these situations tricky, for I don’t typically carry my own horn. Rolling up to pound on the trunk of cars is awfully tempting for reasons noted in the previous paragraph, but some people sadly don’t find that humorous. So instead I resort to clapping and waving. This works often enough. If you do it right, you can synchronize your motions in the rhythm of the honking horns around you. We’re on the same team, right?
I would be remiss in failing to mention the “penguins on the corner”, that is, the pedestrians. They walk along, staring at their phones, zombie-fied, and come frighteningly close to the street before they notice the sidewalk has ended. I’ve noticed the same can happen to those among our fellow citizens who seem to be starving and are staring into their bag-o-fast food, I guess trying to fish out the last French fry or the happy meal prize, so they also fail to notice where the sidewalk ends. Here I confess to my temptation to bellow jingles from the cartoons of my childhood. I’ve since settled for a simple “HEADS UP, PEOPLE!”
It’s a jungle out there, riding a bike in the street, but one of the great secrets is that the jungle is less frightening like some people think, and more a source of amusement, if you know what to look for. Pay attention! Not only does it make you a better (read: SAFER) cyclist, it makes the street safer and the traffic more efficient. It also makes for fun encounters along the way, what with the abundance of pizza phones, giggling gaggles, sleepers at the wheel, penguins on the corner, rolling boomboxes, and more.