Friday, July 04, 2008 Covington: Bike safe By Gary Covington Looking In
HELLO! Bike lanes are back on the agenda. Here's Councilor Peter Lavina proposing a resolution that will pave the way for an ordinance to promote the use of bicycles. And, on Tuesday, there was a splendid editorial -- Bike lanes and procrastination.
Councilor Lavina first and bike lanes -- all fine and dandy but in my heart of hearts I don't think they'll work simply because Davao's road users exhibit zero driving discipline and even less road sense.
A proper bike lane should be dedicated and separated from the main flow of traffic by a kerb or divider and that's not possible -- the city's in love with a public transport system which is really private and consists of a motley assortment of two, three, and four-wheeled vehicles whose only commonality is their ability to carry a passenger or two. It's also a public transport system, which regards the city's roads as its personal preserve -- ignoring the rules of the road, utilizing unsafe vehicles (how do some of these taxis pass the LTO roadworthiness test?) and not caring a flying fig about the safety or convenience of other road users -- how many PUJs have you seen changing a flat tire or a wheel or a gearbox in the fast lane?
The Tuesday editorial now and I'm going to disagree with one sentence -- that the city's streets are not conducive to safe bicycling.
A biker's safety is his own responsibility whether the surroundings are conducive or not. He should wear protective kit, use common sense, read the road and be always aware of what is going on around him and that means no earphones.
He should also, naturally, obey the rules of the road (and here I hang my head in shame because we bicyclists are the #1 culprit when it comes to ignoring traffic lights). The biker generally travels at a slower speed to the traffic around him, is more agile and can stop on the proverbial centavo. Why shouldn't he be safe?
True, there's an awful lot of road-going morons about -- only this morning I was unceremoniously shoved to one side by a large gold pick-up, its driver yakking into a cell phone and oblivious to all around him -- but the street-wise bicyclist knows about these oafs, knows that jeepneys will cut in and knows that taxis will U-turn at the drop of a hat and without any signals. The street-wise bicyclist is prepared, always expecting the unexpected, his motto that every other road user -- including pedestrians -- is an idiot.
I've been pedaling the Chinese Cheapo around town now for almost four years (the bike's built-in obsolescence factor cheated by some nifty welding) and -- touch wood, kick a black cat and whistle a merry tune -- I've not taken a tumble or been flattened by a motorist yet. There's been some close calls, an adrenalin rush or three, but show me a driver who's not experienced a few of those. Buy a bike -- keep your wits about you and it's safe as, um, safe as -- analogy anyone?
