On The Bike? Get Off The High Horse

OK, before I get lost in the Democratic Convention I just want to touch very quickly on the recent effort by Chicago police to enforce rules of the road on bicycle riders.

I am totally in favor of this idea. In fact, I wish they would actually do it.

I personally think that all rules of the road should apply equally to cyclists as to cars -- well, except maybe for the Idaho rule, where cyclists are allowed to treat stop signs as yield signs to maintain their vital momentum. And I personally do follow all the rules of the road -- well, except for the occasional wrong-way jaunt down a one-way street.

OK, so it's not so easy to follow all the rules. Still, cyclists should be making a good-faith effort, and a little enforcement wouldn't hurt us.

As someone who spends a lot of time on a bike and in a car, I can verify that everything works out best for everyone if we all play by the same rules. And I've also found that when you do play by the rules -- and especially if you're also considerate of other people's interests -- whether you're in the car or on the bike, the other side is happy to share the road with you.

I slow down and make eye contact, and drivers regularly wave me through intersections. I pull over to let faster traffic past, and I get a clear opening to the left-turn lane. I give the same treatment to cyclists when I'm driving, and I don't accidentally run them down.

Unfortunately, not everyone seems to feel the same desire to co-exist. And with renegade cyclists out there being a nuisance, the car-bike dynamic is not as seamless as it could be.

So, some healthy encouragement from an authority to keep cyclists in line would probably make life easier. But I don't think that's going to happen.

The city talked about this a few years ago, and even handed out some random tickets to wrong-way cyclists. That effort lasted about a week. The latest round of ticketing was scheduled to last all of three days, for crying out loud.

Certainly, cops have better things to worry about than making every single cyclist obey every single rule. But a round of ticketing on a semi-regular basis -- maybe three or four times a year -- for offenses that actually create dangerous situations would be highly, highly welcome.