It is very common to spot bicyclists every day who give the bicycling community a bad wrap. You know the ones. They repeatedly violate traffic laws in front of everyone without even a thought. They’ve been doing it since they rode bikes as kids, and as adults, the ingrained behavior is wholly unconscious. It’s a good bet also that these same folks will cry fowl if struck by a car as a result of their riding practices. Riding on the wrong side of the road, weaving in and out of traffic without signaling, running every stop sign, and splitting lanes to get ahead are but a few images that come to mind. Their reasons are irrelevant. Their actions are a collective voice to motorists that they are exempt from the same laws they expect to protect them, the laws other road users must follow. Many trikers are former bikers. Should they continue violating traffic laws while using public roadways now that they are on tricycles?
Consider this: Tricycle riders are in a exceptionally tiny minority of people who use the public roads. Most motorists have never even seen a trike, they are so rare. As trike pilots, it is highly important to ensure our safety in every manner possible. Part of that safety factor includes having motorists respect us, and extend courtesies to us in situations where our riding area is minimal. How do we build that respect? One way is always being considerate ourselves, and always obeying all traffic laws we expect motorists to obey.
If we are pedaling on a narrow road with little or no shoulder, which is not uncommon as most governments pay no heed to the safety of human powered humans, and a few cars are piling up behind us due to heavy oncoming traffic, the courteous thing to do is pull over at the first opportunity and let the queue pass. This will earn all trikers a good name in the eyes of the motorists who witnessed your kindness. When we come to stop signs, we stop … just like everyone else has to do. Not only is it always the law, but this seemingly trivial event also earns us respect. Our own selfish reasons for running stop signs, riding on the wrong side of the road, or any other infraction are irrelevant.
When I’m out in traffic, I wish to be respected and treated courteously by motorists, but if their only other interaction with a trike was a negative one, then that unconscious triker has indirectly put me in peril through a resentful motorist who is less likely to cut me any slack. This is why I make this point in my writings. We all need to be ambassadors for tricycling! Whatever your own private feelings on this topic, please remember you are an ambassador for a very rare form of transportation, and because of a trike’s unique appearance, all eyes are always upon it when in traffic. Do the right thing for us all. Make us all proud to be trike pilots. The life you save may be your own!
