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• 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