Norfolk Speaks

By Tom Hodgkin

I can hear it from more than a quarter mile back.  It’s a barely-muffled pickup, with knobby, off-road tires.  I grip my handlebars tighter and steer onto the white line at the side of the road.  Six inches to my right, the shoulder disintegrates into loose dirt and vegetation; if my bicycle drops into that, I’ll be in trouble.  The roar gets louder and louder and then “Whoosh!” it’s past me in a explosion of wind and sound that blows my jersey and rattles my concentration.  Ahead of me now, the dirty gray truck disappears up the empty road, still hugging the right side of the pavement.  I’ve just been buzzed closely again, and my heart, even with my careful preparation, is pounding.  

As a regular road biker, I know this happens occasionally.  It’s certainly not every day.  But over months and several thousand miles, it happens – maybe seven, eight times a season, maybe more often if I’m unlucky.  And it’s not only pickups.  Over the years, I’ve been buzzed by BMW’s, box trucks, family sedans, soccer-mom minivans.  Whether it’s intentional intimidation or unintentional error ─ someone looking down at their phone at the wrong moment ─ it’s always scary.  And it’s unnecessary and illegal.  

Many people don’t actually know the laws governing bicycles.  Legally, both Conn. and Mass. grant bicycles the same rights to the road as motorized vehicles.  That means that, contrary to some people’s beliefs, a bicycle belongs on roads, the same as cars.  And while, according to Conn. law, bicycles must ride to the right side of the roadway, that location is “as judged safe by the bicyclist,” not as far right as physically possible.  Neither Conn. nor Mass. requires bicycles to ride single file unless it directly impedes the “reasonable movement of traffic”.  And both Conn. and Mass. mandate a safe passing distance ─ three feet by Conn. statute 14-242─when a vehicle overtakes a bicycle.  Importantly, both states also provide for fines and even criminal charges for drivers who violate these regulations.

These laws exist to protect bicyclists.  In its very language, Conn. statute recognizes that “Because of the large disparities in size, weight, and speed between bicycles and motor vehicles, cyclist are at a tremendous disadvantage in the result of a collision with a car or truck.”  Thankfully, most motorists recognize these disparities and the catastrophic potential involved in hitting a bicyclist.  Most drivers I meet are careful and respectful of my right to the road.  But some seem not to be as aware or concerned.  

The issue of bicycle safety is not a small one.  The most recent figures available suggest that there are almost 45,000 vehicle/bike collisions a year in the United States.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported 854 bicyclists killed by vehicles in 2018.   And almost a decade ago, data from the Center for Disease Control estimated fatal and non-fatal crash-related injuries to bicyclists resulted in lifetime medical costs and productivity costs of $10 billion. 

Are those drivers who buzz me thinking about all this?  Probably not.  When we get in our cars, we are practiced at ignoring the possibilities for legal or personal disaster.  But it’s pretty hard for me to ignore these possibilities when a car whirls past me too closely at 60 mph.  My heart races, my adrenaline surges, and I think about what I might like to say to them.  

And what is that?  Given the chance, it is a version of what I actually said to one particularly aggressive driver who accosted me last year:  “If you’re not worried about me, think about yourself.  Think about what will happen to you when you hurt me.  Think about the legal repercussions ─the financial repercussions and the psychological ones.  Think about your family and your own life and your reputation.  Are you ready to live the rest of your life knowing you killed some guy riding along on a bicycle?”