July 1, 2008

illustration by Chris Bentzen

I could see their faces through the passenger window. He: leaning over the Pathfinder’s steering wheel, barking into a cell phone. She: peering at me through the glass with the startled look of someone surprised by a wild animal. As I punched the car door, I could see my own reflection, too: face pinched and flushed beneath my helmet, lips mouthing:

“You almost killed me! You almost killed me!”

If you are a bike commuter, you know there is nothing unique about this moment. It began with a driver’s careless migration into the curb lane and my realization that I was about to be squeezed off the road yet again, or sideswiped if cell phone guy decided to turn right. A yell didn’t get his attention. The door punch did. We were stuck with each other at the light. The window opened a crack. Obscenities were exchanged. I felt the heat of indignation in my veins. At some point I heard myself yell: “Fat boy!”

And then we were off. I caught the green first, made it half a block before he crossed the line. I burned right on a one-way street. They followed, window down.

“My boyfriend’s gonna kill you!” she screamed.

“Try and catch me,” I yelled, doubling back towards safety. “Fat ass!”

Fat boy? Fat ass? Where the hell did those lines came from? I don’t normally yell at strangers, let alone comment on the shape of their bodies. I’m not a fighter, but in that moment I was transformed by a primal rush of fear and anger. I was “bike rage” incarnate.

You’ve been there, too; admit it. Bike rage is a common occurrence, and quite predictable, according to road rage guru Leon James. The University of Hawaii professor of psychology has spent decades examining how commuting on city roads is so efficient at producing tension, anxiety, and anger – in drivers as well as cyclists. James’ theories should be enough to turn the most self-righteous door-smackers among us into pavement pacifists, for our own good.

For starters, the driving experience primes car drivers for meltdowns.

They are conditioned by popular culture to see cars as symbols of freedom, yet city driving is a slow-motion trap that subjects drivers to constant restrictions on their movement. Drivers are thwarted from enjoying the promise of motion by traffic lights, by congestion – and yes, by cyclists – and they suffer the natural but impossible desire to escape and move forward. All this while being strapped to their seats! That’s where the frustration begins. But drivers carry with them a load of cultural baggage that gets them even more cranked.

“The symbolic portrayal of the car has tied it to individual freedom and self-esteem, promoting a mental attitude of defensiveness and territoriality,” James wrote in his seminal essay, “Why Driving Is Stressful.” The car is an extension of self, he goes on to explain, so drivers take threats to the integrity of their vehicles personally. This renders the commute exhausting since the threat of accidents, scratches, or bumps is constant. Drivers may be encased in reinforced metal, but they never lose that sense of danger.

Tag Topics: Issue 34, Charles Montogomery

by Charles Montogomery

July 1, 2008

Latest Comments

Driving makes me an asshole.

I've never owned a car, but I am a quite aggressive cyclist. Mind you, I think I was made that way to deal with the streets of Toronto where I cut my commuting teeth while doing my BFA. The odd car punch was certainly used. The last time, the taxi driver raced to pass me and slammed on the brakes, causing me to slam into the trunk and took off. I was not seriously hurt, but I lay there in the street as my father advised (after too many injuries he only found after the fact with bike-car collisions). If it was not for the kind people of Toronto (seems like an oxymoron I know) who came to my aid, no one would have zipped after the driver on a scooter and got him to face the music. He was charged with an unsafe lane change, and got three points off his license.

I even had a cyclist come after me for calling him an idiot for stopping in the middle of the bike lane on the Bloor viaduct! Clearly he had not the benefit of cycling training, which makes it clear you can't knock over another cyclist by bumping your front tire against their rear tire. Since moving to Vancouver people seem less aggressive, but perhaps more absent minded. I've not punched a car, but I have stopped a few cars for a reasonable education lesson.

As a driver (when I use car-share or rent) I find myself transforming into an asshole. I cut off peds (I don't even do that on a bike!), I run yellows, I pass too much. Driving in the city is horrible for me. I can't see anything, there are so many blind spots, there are so many constraints due to the size of the vehicle, and it seems to always take longer to get anywhere. I drive in the city as little as possible to keep that asshole driver at bay, and find myself much more comfortable in the high speed open space of the highway, where the car is indeed a freedom and not a constraint.

For me, the bike is the best vehicle for the city, fast, nimble, unrivalled ability to see around you and the awareness of how me and my bike fit into cracks and between obstacles.

Posted by B. January 28, 2012 10:43:22
cool story bro

in the future rephrase chill-pill though. drugs are bad.

Posted by Greg Sleet January 23, 2012 23:24:04
Education (the non-punching kind)

As a driver and a rider I see boneheaded moves among both, have nearly been killed by idiots on four wheels and two. Education definitely the answer. Safe cycling needs to be taught starting in grade school, everyone getting a drivers license should spend mandatory time on a bike in traffic conditions, and cycling safety must be incorporated into every drivers' ed curriculum/test. And testosterone needs to take a rest.

Posted by tking January 16, 2012 17:58:33
Education

I can't find one thing in this article I disagree with.

Mistakes and accidents happen, people are not perfect, but pity the driver that SEES the cyclist and intentionally tries to turn the cyclist into a pancake.

In this case the best 'education' is often a punch in the face. I've done it, and I'll do it again. It amazes me how many fat assed car drivers who are quick to intentionally start something with a large and physically fit man.

Posted by Chilled January 16, 2012 16:25:50