A bunch of bike riders pedaled through San Francisco on Friday night, and nobody got mad at anybody.
The cyclists were polite. The motorists were respectful. The pedestrians were happy. The cops were incredulous.
And it all comes, said ride organizer Reama Dagasan, from stopping at red lights, which is not at all a bad thing to do.
“We’re making a statement tonight,” she said. “We believe in sharing and being nice.”
Dagasan is the founder of Critical Manners, which is her response to the controversial Critical Mass ride that features hundreds of cyclists riding as a pack through San Francisco on the last Friday night of the month. At the last Critical Mass, there were several confrontations with motorists, including one that ended with someone smashing the back window of a minivan.
There was none of that for the Critical Manners ride. That’s because Dagasan put her foot down. She put her foot down at Grove, McAllister, Turk, Sutter, Bush and California streets, and that was just during the first half mile. A law-abiding bike rider puts her foot down a lot.
The ride departed at 6 p.m. from Civic Center, after a brief refresher course.
“Let’s review our signals!” Dagasan hollered to the group. “Right turn, arm up! Left turn, arm straight out! Now put your helmets on! And be polite!”
Sgt. Ed Callejas, one of four cops assigned to escort the chivalrous cyclists, double-checked with Dagasan about the good-manners angle. Like any good cop, he was just a bit skeptical of human nature.
“You’re really going to follow all the rules?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” she replied. “You’ve never seen a bigger bunch of nerds in your life.”
There were exactly 16 cyclists on the ride, which is a lot less than the 500 or so that Critical Mass usually gets. On the other hand, Dagasan said cheerily, it’s a lot more than the four riders she got last time.
The pack rode single file in the Polk Street bike lane, stopping at every light and stop sign. It made for a slow trip, and it took about 20 minutes to get to Fisherman’s Wharf. On the other hand, it was faster than a Muni bus, which trailed the procession and never did catch up.
“Nothing wrong with stopping for red lights,” Laura Mendoza said. “Not if you like staying alive.”
Greg Rodgers said he was riding to “reduce the level of antagonism between bicycles and cars.” Geoff Schneider said he was riding because he was “sick of all the yelling” during Critical Mass. And Toni Truong said she was “trying to let motorists know that not all cyclists are belligerent.”
At Beach Street, everyone stuck his or her left hand skyward before turning right, to the amazement of one Yellow cabdriver who yelled “Way to go!” out his window.
After cruising through the Wharf and along the Embarcadero, the pack crossed Justin Herman Plaza — after dismounting and walking among the pedestrians. Callejas was there, too, and he made a command decision.
“I don’t think you need us,” he said, and he radioed to his lieutenant that he was calling off the escort. Even after the cops went away, the cyclists kept stopping at the red lights. Market Street being Market Street, there was no shortage of red lights to stop at.
“I like red lights,” said Gred Anlandtbom. “Gives you a chance to stop and talk and look around. You know, there’s nothing really wrong with red lights.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/14/MNGB6P8R1U1.DTL#ixzz0NzoEjjPF
Tags: critical manners, san francisco
August 22, 2009 at 4:59 am |
I like the idea of this, but there’s such a difference between a car blowing a stop sign (or red light) at 30mph and a cyclist at 10 mph. First, there are no blind spots for a cyclist, a cyclist has full 180 vision and certainly a cyclist has a vested interest in their own personal saftey when crossing.
Also, while waiting at a red, if there is no traffic and it is safe for a cyclist to cross – they should be allowed to. I believe this because when is a bicyclist most unstable – when first taking off. By giving the cyclist the ability to start prior to other traffic (if safe to do so) they are able to right any wobble that may be at the beginning of their mount.
As it stands, a cyclist must stop (standing wide stance for balance), then mount and push off (most unstable) at THE SAME TIME as traffic that has been stopped begins to move forward as well. I always feel that this traffic is much more likely to either turn into a cyclist or catch the cyclist with a mirror for example than if the cyclist is ahead of that traffic and the vehicles can better plan their pass. That’s my take.
But that’s a completely different rant than this – dug the idea of Critical Manners – made me laugh and I support it.
August 24, 2009 at 7:32 pm |
I totally agree with you – following the letter of the law on a bicycle is excessive. Our recent “manners” ride wasn’t really any different than our normal rides – we blew through stop signs and vacant intersections against red lights when there wasn’t traffic.
That’s why I’m sort of appalled that 17 cyclists, all in a group, apparently let themselves be ticketed for failure to stop at a stop sign recently: http://biketopeka.com/node/97
The quote from a cop that really gets me is “all laws apply equally to cyclists, as well as vehicles.” It may be written that way – but it doesn’t make sense. A “cyclists yield” sign would be appropriate in many places where motorists must stop. They have a great opportunity to make a stink about it, start a lawsuit, or something – and I hope they do!