Dear Land Rover

Dear Land Rover,

My name is Glenn. I'm the bicycle commuter you passed this morning on 102 Ave. I am writing you this short letter to remind you that you were supposed to turn right on 105 St. And then you were supposed to turn right on 104 St. And then on 103 St. And then I lost sight of you. You were trucking it pretty good.

Take a look:



You were supposed to make those rights because, at that time of the morning, the lane you were in, the curb lane, dictates that you not go straight through. Straight through at that time of the morning is reserved for buses, taxis, and, yes, bicycles.

Times of the sign
There are signs posted to this effect. They are easy to read and interpret. All you really need to know is the time of day. You have a clock on your dashboard to help you with this. If the time of day is, like it was when you zoomed passed me, around 7:30 am, then it's not legal to do what you did. And did. And then did again. These are the signs you ignored. (Quick hint: if you are unable to read clock time, the sun in the east like it was this morning in March is a sure clue it's between 7 am and 8 am.)

The law the sign represents doesn't really care if you really care about buses, taxis, and, yes, bicycles. You have to obey it. That's the thing about a law.

This is not a big thing for you, I get it. You were in a hurry. You saved some time. And no collision happened. You got through just fine, and that kinda put the joke on the other vehicles in a hurry that managed to obey the law this morning. Including the friendly car pumping out L.A. Woman.

It seems the law doesn't matter much to you, but it does to me.

You see, I don't have the impressive armour you rely on to protect your driver. For my safety, I rely on the laws and my and your obeying those laws. So, when you zoom by me and then blow through the next two intersections, you threaten the safety of me and those whose actions are determined, reasonably, by the expectation that the law, once posted, will be followed.

I have never been a big fan of might is right, I gotta admit. You see it differently, obviously.

But there are a couple of forces even stronger than you. The first is the police. Sooner or later, they will enforce the law on 102 Ave and you may be caught.

Probably you won't, you're right. The police are busy doing other things. Which brings me to the second force: statistics.

Your flouting of the law will make you more reckless. Getting away with breaking the law this morning changes you. You will be more likely to take other chances. That's how the human beings you convey work. They are not machines. Eventually, their luck will change.

And on that day, as you survey whatever wreckage is in front of you, and your driver searches for a cause that will exonerate him or her, and they plead to be forgiven, then remind that driver of what, admittedly, didn't happen this morning. Because that's where it started.

Land Rover, move over!

Sincerely,

Glenn, A Person Who Rides A Bike






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