There has been quite a letter-to-the-editor fight going on in the pages of the Gazette lately, and it even includes local media personality and self-described hypocrit Chris Core.
It all started with the article "Cyclists ask for care from motorists at meeting with police in Rockville" from June 22 that covered the police's meeting with cyclists and drivers about MacArthur Blvd.
Mark Scott found a request by cyclists that motorists give cyclists their share of the road too much to handle.
it will surprise you to learn that courtesy on the road is a two-way street
Which is, on it's face wrong. Cyclists weren't asking for courtesy, they were asking drivers to give them the space they're required to give by law. And then, in general it will be the wild west out there if people decide to drive unsafely around bad drivers. It'll be a race to the bottom. You're required to drive safely, regardless of what other people do. And other than yelling "look out" while passing, he never really identifies the discourteous behavior of cyclists. Even that isn't that discourteous depending on how it goes down.
He does pull out a lot of standard tropes. Cyclists don't pay for the roads they ride on (not true). He calls cyclists arrogant (without defining why. I guess riding in the road like a car makes them arrogant). They don't ride on the perfectly good trail right over there. He claims all cyclists are scofflaws.
when did you last see one of these law-abiding, courteous bicyclists actually come to a stop at a stop sign.
Last night, when I was on my way to dinner. I, and the lady in front of me, both did so.
He's also wrong about violations on bikes leading to points - you don't even need a driver's license to ride a bike. So he doesn't know what he's talking about.
So in order for cyclists to show respect they should: pay more taxes, stop at all stop signs, be more humble, and get out of the road and onto the trail. Once they're safely out of the road, he will give them respect on the road.
Chris Core continues his one-man war against cyclists by adding a letter of his own. This one with extra rules for cyclists to follow.
1. Obey the rules of the road: don't blow through stop signs and red lights.
This is against the law. But Mr. Core told me in an email once that when he's on a bike, he runs stop signs.
2. Don't zigzag in and out of traffic.
What does this even mean? Filtering? Legal. Passing slow vehicles? Legal.
3. Don't come up to cars on the right side and crowd to the front of the line at lights; wait your turn as we do.
Filtering, as I mentioned is legal. In some cases it's safer since it makes cyclists more visible - that's why cities are building bike boxes.
And if driver's truly waited their turn, they would sit behind a bicycle and wait just like they would a slower car. But they don't. They look for any opportunity - legal or not - to pass. So, in a sense, cyclists do wait their turn as driver's do - in that they don't.
4. Don't ride several abreast on the roads we share.
We've discussed this before. It's illegal in cases where a driver would legally be able to pass, but if not it's OK. And the alternative is to ride in a long unpassable line.
5. Don't ride on sidewalks, it is against the law.
Not in Montgomery County or any part of DC close to it it isn't. If I were going to write a letter to the editor, I'd look something like that up before including it, but that's me
So 3.5 of the 5 things he's identified aren't illegal. Having cyclists ask to be given the treatment they're legally entitled to and being told that they'll only get it if they adhere to a behavior standard that exceeds the law and, in at least one case, decreases safety is not a two-way street. It's one-sided.
And it always will be. When one person is driving a 2000 pound bullet and the other is on a bike, it's inherently one-sided. Driving a car means you have to show more courtesy to bikes and pedestrians - and the law even makes that clear.
A few weeks later, Jon Morrison wrote in to knock down the "cyclists don't pay for roads" canard. He also points out that Chris Core
contradicts himself, saying cyclists blow through stop signs and red lights, then complains cyclists crowd to the front to wait for red lights.
And makes several other good points.
Lew Baker echoes many of Morrison's points and adds that certainly cyclists are not alone in breaking the law.
Finally, Generosa Collins writes in to complain about sidewalk cyclists who pass from behind at great speed. There are jerks on bikes, and they should be ticketed appropriately.
As many have pointed out before, if every lawbreaker were to be prohibited from the roads, there wouldn't be very many cars/drivers allowed. It's pretty simple to see how many drivers exceed the speed limit on the Beltway (non-rush hour), on the GW Parkway or the Rock Creek Parkway, every day. Many drivers don't stop at STOP signs.
Many drivers push through crowded crosswalks, when the pedestrians are already in the crosswalk and they have a WALK signal. Some drivers run red lights. Many more speed up on yellow lights. They don't always make the intersection before the light turns red. Many drivers do not obey "No turn on red" signs. And on and on.
Posted by: Michael H. | July 30, 2011 at 02:22 PM
One way to express your displeasure with Chris Core is to boycott any product he endorses. In the next year or two I am replacing the windows in my house. I wouldn't think of using Thompson Creek. Chris Core is their spokesman. (If he knows as much about windows as he does about bicycling, they must be crap anyway.) When I do replace the windows, I will be sure to let Thompson Creek know why I didn't use them.
Posted by: John | July 30, 2011 at 06:00 PM
Personally I don't think Chris Core is such a bad guy. Certainly not public enemy #1 :).
I've been a fan of talk radio since I was very young. I listened to Chris Core on WMAL for many years. Back before talk radio went political Chris Core had a very pleasant and non-offensive show.
Then Rush Limbaugh happened and WMAL went hard right. That included making all their local talent hew the ideological line. Their morning show got completely wrecked.
Core's show also started taking on the same positions. Often times I felt he was just adopting a persona his bosses had mandated. It seemed to me that his heart was never really in it.
Of course, there is not much respite at WTOP as far as cycling is concerned. WTOP IS drive time radio so the subjects they broadcast have to appeal to their motoring audience.
The letter Chris Core wrote, while wrong on several points as to what is legal, still fairly represents a viewpoint many motorists have regarding cyclists.
99% of the motorists don't cycle. So they are often clueless with regard to cyclist behavior. Their expectation of how traffic will conform is shaped by dealing with a world where the motor vehicle has dominated.
Posted by: JeffB | July 30, 2011 at 08:43 PM
Has anyone asked Chris to sign WABA's pledge to ride responsibly?
Posted by: Jim Titus | July 31, 2011 at 12:31 AM
how many times does one need to read almost the exact same comments and commentary before realizing that social change and individual behavioral change comes AFTER social structure has been erected that controls dictate behavior, and ONLY for the generation that comes AFTER the present one?...
show me one historical example where this isnt true?...
Posted by: satan | July 31, 2011 at 12:01 PM
John, if you have "a historic" house, it probably doesn't make sense to "replace" your windows, but repair them. Traditional new windows like the Thompson windows tend to fail in about 15 years, therefore never pay back their original investment. (Not that you are likely to stay in your house that long.)
Repairing windows + the addition of indoor or outdoor storm windows is probably the way to go.
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/weatherization/windows/
Posted by: Richard Layman | July 31, 2011 at 03:44 PM
satan -- it's a bit more complicated but you're on the right track. Basically, "culture" is constructed. Most laws and regulations and norms (over)favor automobility. Part of the vociferous response against bicycling has to do with people defending what they see as their perogatives.
Today's Times has a piece about Dutch biking, which is an example of constructing a different way for mobility, and instead of privileging automobility, they are prioritizing biking (and transit).
The problem is that people like Chris Core see automobility as "natural law" rather than as a particular system that has been constructed, for particular reasons, and reflects beliefs from a particular point in time, and are not actually some sort of universal truth or way of being.
Posted by: Richard Layman | July 31, 2011 at 03:47 PM
@JeffB
That Chris Core espouses a philosophy he doesn't believe in (if true) makes him worse, not better. Being a sell-out is not a virtue.
Posted by: washcycle | July 31, 2011 at 07:24 PM
That Chris Core espouses a philosophy he doesn't believe in (if true) makes him worse, not better.
I had the same thought. I'm reminded of the way people used to talk about Strom Thurmond: "He's not really a racist, he just says those things to get elected." As if somehow that made it OK.
Posted by: Contrarian | July 31, 2011 at 11:52 PM
Hard to follow whether the last few comments are about cycling or right-wing politics. If the former: Is it really a character flaw to advocate that everybody obey the traffic laws while at the same time breaking said law yourself when convenient in a world where everybody does so?
On politics: I never had the feeling that Chris Core was unduly towing the right-wing line. And when you consider who replaced him, it's pretty clear WMAL let him go because he was not part of the lunatic fringe. His views have always reminded me more of a "Reagan Democrat" or right-leaning independent.
I think that his greatest limitation is that he seems to do little or no research. Or if he does research, he has decided that his opinions will str[ill reflect the ordinary perspectives of those who do no research. So one needs to view him more as a one-man focus group than as a serious commentator.
It would be convenient if commentators would listen to the experts and then help to educate those who share their biases. Chris Core listens to the biases and reminds the "experts" about how far they have to go in selling their message.
Posted by: Jim Titus | August 01, 2011 at 08:00 AM
Chris Core doesn't do any research. His opinion pieces are based on his own prejudices and feelings. I don't give a flying fig if he swings left or right -- he is not an objective reporter, and he was not hired to be one. His spots are pretty much on par with the "not a sermon, just a thought" ads that WTOP airs.
Posted by: Nancy | August 01, 2011 at 11:17 PM