Cars, motorcycles, and bicycles are not the only users of the road. In many communities, there are runners in the road. Even when sidewalks are available, some runners choose to run in the road. This act, presumably, is the result of wanting a long, flat stretch to run on, without having to step up and down on the curbs.
Like walkers, runners run facing traffic. Some are svelte, semi-nude marathon material maintaining a brisk pace with a smooth, long stride. Others appear to be on a weight loss regimen. They run in baggy clothes, feet pointed outward, each foot strike slapping soles loudly on the ground as they huff and puff until they are red in the face.
Whether elite or novice, these runners run in the street, forcing cyclists to move over to the left into traffic. What’s more, once they hit their stride, many runners are oblivious to everything around them. They do not move out of the way or over to the right to give cyclists more room to pass. This often leaves cyclists wedged between the runner and a passing car.
Since they face the traffic — and can see oncoming cars — many runners do not bother to wear reflective gear or light colored clothing at night, making them hard to see in the beam of a bicycle light. This causes many close calls. Cyclists are forced to swerve at the last minute when they finally spot something dark moving towards them.
Other runners, who know less about safety, run in the same direction as traffic. Consequently, they can’t see approaching vehicles. These runners are taking their lives in their hands because they have no way of knowing whether drivers and cyclists have noticed them and will steer around them in time.
Despite their disruption of the flow of traffic and potential to cause bicycle-runner or car-runner accidents, there is never any public outcry or complaints lodged against runners. No caustic articles appear in newspapers or magazines excoriating them for taking up room on the road. No criticism is levied against them for impeding traffic. No one ridicules the way they dress or stereotypes them in a negative light.
Runners get a free pass while all the blame for slowing or disrupting traffic gets pinned squarely on the shoulders of cyclists.
Why the disparity?
Bicycles are vehicles, runners are not. Technically, runners are pedestrians, who would not normally be found in a road, other than to cross it. Runners have no legal right to be in the street, as cyclists do. Yet, drivers politely tolerate runners’ jaunts along the road.
When was the last time you heard a driver yelling at a runner to get off the road, or run on a path, or stop slowing down traffic? The answer is probably infrequently or never.
Runners get special treatment; cyclists do not. Some of this may have to do with each group’s respective image. Runners are perceived as either people doing what’s right by getting into shape or as elite athletes training for marathons or triathlons.
To drivers, runners are training and cyclists are ignorant, arrogant, law breakers. Clearly, these difference are merely a matter of perception.
Some runners only run recreationally. Some cyclists are training for competition. There is even crossover since certain road users are triathletes who happen to be training for the bicycling portion of their competitions when on a bike and training for the running portion when on foot.
The same person is perceived one way when running and another way when cycling. In the minds of many drivers, runners are entitled to use the roads for their activity while cyclists are not.
This disparity goes back to cyclists’ image problem. The number of cyclists who disobey the traffic laws has a lot to do with the negative perceptions drivers hold about cyclists. And, it’s difficult for a driver who does not ride a bike to understand why cyclists make certain movements on the road or why they ride through residential areas dressed in full kit, looking like “Lance wannabes.”
It’s even harder for drivers to grasp the concept of everyday cyclists riding in groups. Driving a car is a solo activity. Cars do not drive in packs. Recreational cyclists do. Racers do too, but for different — even more incomprehensible — reasons.
Then, there are Critical Mass rides, where large numbers of cyclists converge on city streets and disrupt traffic. This adds to the negative perception of cyclists as being on the road to take over by slowing down and impeding traffic.
Critical Mass riders will tell you that their rides “raise awareness” of bicycles on the road. Drivers will tell you that Critical Mass is proof that bicycles — and more importantly — bicyclists don’t belong on the road.
By comparison, runners seem innocent. Even when they run in groups, they give the impression of just being on the road for their daily workout, minding their own business. It doesn’t occur to drivers that runners are also slowing down traffic because they are moving slowly on the side of the road and not weaving in between cars or pulling in front of cars to make left-hand turns.
Essentially, drivers don’t want to mix with vehicles different from their own, but they will mix with non-vehicles on the road. One of the ironies about this situation is that drivers are impatient at intersections and will not allow pedestrians to safely cross the street. Often, cars drive right at them or cut them off when they step off of the curb. Apparently, pedestrians are only acceptable if they’re exercising in the street.
Drivers are an odd bunch. They want the roads to themselves. They do not want to share the road with cyclists, but they will gladly share the road with runners. Go figure.
