Road rage could be a matter of misunderstanding
HOLLYWOOD Tom Bosch has the battle scars of a road warrior.
Six months and five fractured ribs after an accident in Hollywood, the former Santa Monica resident can clearly recall what was perhaps his worst bike outing, struck on Sunset Boulevard by a car whose driver allegedly kept veering right, an attempt — Bosch believes — to push him off the road.
The incident marked the fourth time that Bosch, who now lives in Hollywood but rides three times a week to Santa Monica, had been hit by a vehicle while operating a bike.
“The car was clearly trying to drive me off the road,” the avid cyclist said of the February crash.
Road rage, while extreme in Bosch’s case, is something that many cyclists say they encounter on a daily basis in the Westside where road real estate is at a premium and vehicles are more than plentiful.
Such acts of aggression, while dating back as long as bikes and cars have shared the streets, are receiving more attention as rising gas prices force individuals to reconsider their commuting options, going for the two-wheeler instead. While cyclists said they haven’t noticed more cases of road rage on a personal basis, they believe there could be more overall as more people ride bikes.
The issue earned even more publicity following an incident in Brentwood last month when a former ER physician allegedly abruptly stopped his car in front of bicyclists on Mandeville Canyon Road, causing one cyclist to crash through the rear window, nearly severing his nose off.
Another cyclist suffered a shoulder separation after crashing on the pavement.
Christopher Thomas Thompson, who lives on Mandeville Canyon Road, has since been charged with two felony counts of reckless driving.
Road rage is common in urban areas like Los Angeles where drivers and cyclists compete for tight space, according to Jennifer Klausner, the executive director for the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition.
“Any time you put people in a position where they’re going to share some limited but valuable real estate, you’re going to have conflict,” Klausner said.“It’s an old problem that’s common to all cities.”
The coalition, which advocates for cycling, is creating a campaign for cyclists and drivers to coexist.
Cycling has particularly been a hot topic recently in Santa Monica, home to the famous Critical Mass monthly rides, which brings together several hundred riders, celebrating the joys of bicycling.
The rides have been contentious in the past year as a number of riders have been ticketed by Santa Monica Police officers for infractions, cyclists arguing that they are unfairly being targeted by law enforcement for minor-to-non violations, the SMPD refuting the claim, contending that they are out for the cyclists’ well-being.
Sgt. Larry Horn, who heads the traffic services division, said he received calls from drivers threatening that if officers didn’t monitor the ride, they would take matters into their own hands.
The cause for road rage could be a little bit of misunderstanding of the state’s vehicle code, a little bit of entitlement on the parts of both parties, and a lot of impatience in a city where congestion is a sensitive matter.
The vehicle code states that bicyclists on public streets have the same rights and responsibilities as automobile drivers, though they must ride in a straight line and closest to the right curb or edge of the roadway, not the sidewalk. Cyclists also must stop at traffic signals and stop signs, making left and right turns in the same manner as motor vehicles.
Cyclists can take over the lane when necessary.
“A lot of motorists just aren’t aware,” Klausner said. “Of course the conflict arises not just from a lack of awareness, but from people being mean to each other and showing an extreme lack of manners.”
All users of the road are fighting for the same piece of real estate, which could also lead to the butting of heads.
“It’s not just the cyclist and not just the driver,” Horn said. “Everyone thinks they are entitled to the right of way.”
Brigitte Kouba, a cyclist who lives in Santa Monica Canyon, agrees the problem is rooted in both ignorance and ego, both parties feeling the road belongs to them.
“When you have bull-headed individuals either behind the wheel or behind the handle bar, there’s going to be outrage on either side,” she said.
Kouba said she tries to take a zen and peace-loving approach to the situation, avoiding rather than further antagonizing drivers who are clearly enraged.
But cyclists point out that regardless of who is at fault, there is one major difference separating the two motorists — one has a large protective barrier, the other doesn’t.
“The key difference is when a cyclist runs into a car, they don’t kill the driver,” Alex Thompson, a local bike activist and organizer of Critical Mass, said. “When a driver runs into a cyclist, they are going to injure, and there is a good chance they will kill them.”
Thompson said that cyclists encounter road rage on a daily basis.
He recalled a conflict in Westwood that boiled over when a driver nudged his bicycle, getting out of the car and grabbing the bike, lifting it in anger.
Some drivers argue that bicyclists can be aggressive and don’t follow traffic laws.
“Bikers are everywhere, and the worst part is that they don’t care if they are completely blocking the lane,” Nick Rosser, a 17-year-old from the Pacific Palisades, said. “There are bike riders in the Palisades, but they are definitely more numerous, and way more aggressive, in Santa Monica.”
Kent Strumpell, a board member with the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition, agreed that there are a minority of cyclists who make questionable maneuvers, including flying off sidewalks at intersections and taking dangerous shortcuts around traffic.
“A lot of cyclists seem to ride using the same set of skills they used when they were 10 or 11 years old,” Strumpell said. “Only now they are riding in heavy traffic all over the city.
“It’s a lack of understanding of the rules that apply to them.”
The argument has been made that more bike lanes could solve the problem, but Thompson said the situation is more complicated.
“A bicycle lane is an oblique attack on this,” he said.
Thompson, who calls the conflict one of the biggest issues facing cyclists in the L.A. area, said there needs to be a change in mindset, done through more motorist education.
He suggested advertising campaigns and a public sting operation by police officers dressed as a plainscloth cyclist, busting drivers who endanger them.
“Publicizing it will make a huge world of difference,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 9, 2008. Read the original PDF.