Friday, October 14, 2011
Style / Bicycling / Cycling Does how cyclists dress affect how drivers treat them?
Posted by Heather Kenny on 10.14.11 at 07:39 AM
An article in Crain's Chicago Business posits the existence of the "Mary Poppins Effect," in which people who dress up a little when they ride their bikes, as opposed to wearing bike or athletic gear, experience better treatment from drivers. "It helps drivers realize bicyclists are people too," Dottie Brackett of Let's Go Ride a Bike is quoted as saying. Other items that may help include helmets and child trailers (even if they aren't being used to cart infants around).
The implication is that drivers think cyclists who look like messengers or Lance Armstrong are menaces on the road, and feel entitled to treat them as such. In a discussion about the article on the Chainlink, a locally-based site for cyclists (disclaimer: I contributed a comment to the thread), a user named Carly noted, "I've been riding a tricycle for the past month because Im [sic] recovering from an accident, and the wide berth of my vehicle has never angered a motorist. When I rode my agile little single speed though, I was constantly harassed."
It's no surprise that what you wear can affect how others treat you. But it's one thing to be judged by a snobby salesperson or maitre d'. It's another when it's someone behind the wheel of a large, heavy, fast-moving vehicle.
Comments (6)
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If I see some twit cycling down the street with no helmet, no reflectors, while chatting on the phone, I'm going to assume they don't know what the hell they're doing riding a bike in the city. On the other hand, someone with a reflective vest, helmet, one of those little mirror things that lets them see behind them? I"m going to be a lot more comfortable driving next to that biker.
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"I"m going to be a lot more comfortable driving next to that biker."
Tell it to the guy I saw making a right turn on red in an SUV downtown through pedestrians while texting.
FGFM, please don't make every statement concerning cyclist/motorist interaction combative - it doesn't solve problems.
It's a form of Tourettes, Shirley. Don't pay it no mind.
As for the bikes -- I dunno, in 30 years of bike commuting, major cities & small towns, I can't say I've been victimized. The major menaces are pedestrians and drivers who don't expect to see bikes. When I drive, though, I do give riders in civvies a wide berth. I assume they're less experienced riders than the criterion heroes are, I don't want to spook them, and I don't want to be right next to them when they wobble at a sewer grate or glass on the road. Cyclists with kid trailers -- don't get me started. I give them all the room I can. I've got little respect for the cyclist, but plenty of sympathy for the toddler whose parent thinks it's a great idea to drag them along at axle level inches from buses and two-ton SUVs. Those trailers are meant for paved trails and quiet streets only.
"FGFM, please don't make every statement concerning cyclist/motorist interaction combative - it doesn't solve problems."
Says the concern troll defending the guy who refers to cyclists as twits.
