As Cities Add Bike-Friendly Lanes, Police On Lookout For Road Rage Incidents

We all know about road rage when the incident involves motorist versus motorist. But there are increasing incidents of road rage motorist against bicyclists.

Why? For one thing, more cities have been making their cities bike friendly, adding more bike lanes where cyclists end up vying for road space with motorists. Drivers, not used to the changes, get anxious and even angry at bicyclists that are harder to see than another car.

Bicyclists also are not always the best at sharing the road, weaving in and out of traffic, and even acting in daredevil ways that can put themselves at risk. Drivers get angry because they don't want to hit a cyclist, and feel that those on the two-wheelers are not holding up their end of the road-safety bargain.

There is this guy. A Reddit poster snapped a shot of this helmetless cyclist on the Brrooklyn Queens Expressway, one of the busiest, most dangerous arteries in the country, running through the Brooklyn and Queen boros of New York City. The vast majority of cyclists would chalk this up to "What the heck is he thinking?"

New York City is one of the cities in the U.S. adding bike lanes to try and reduce vehicle congestion and promote exercise. One of the dangerous factors in big cities, though, is the culture among the thousands of messengers who often strip the brakes off their bicycles and ride in kamikaze fashion.

Other cities that have made it policy to be as bike friendly as possible include: Minneapolis, Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington DC. Go here to check out the list of most bike friendly cities.

Among the recent road-rage incidents grabbing headlines:

- In Taylor, Michigan this week, a motorist shot a bicyclist allegedly because he disregarded a "Do Not Cross" traffic signal. The cyclist retaliated by reaching into the car and punching the shooter.

- Last July, a Ferndale, Michigan man stabbed a cyclist he claimed had cut him, driving a car, off at an intersection. The driver followed the cyclist and then confronted him on foot before pulling the knife.

- Last month, Susanna Schick, 42, of Los Angeles was chased down by a white Lexus while she was riding in an approved "green" bike lane. A witness said the driver was unknown to Schick, who sustained several injuries, and harassed Schick for several blocks before hitting her. Ted Rogers of the BikinginLA blog told the LA Times, "There has been a big spike in road rage with bicyclists in the last few months," Rogers said, citing anecdotal evidence. "But to have it happen in a green bike lane is pretty surprising."

- A Santa Rosa man last month was charged with attempted murder chasing and striking a bicyclist with his vehicle on a golf course. Harry Smith, 82, was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run, making criminal threats against the victim and driving on a suspended license.

- In 2009, a Brentwood doctor, Christopher Thompson, was sentenced to five years in prison after hitting two cyclists with his car, an incident that came after others in which Thompson went after bicyclists with his car.

Treehugger.com has a list of tips here for cyclists to avoid road rage incidents.

The advice to motorists are these: Be alert, and give bicyclists as wide a berth on the road as you can. It is their road as well. If their presence prompts you to brake and slow down unti you can safely get around the bicyclist, so be it. How big a hurry are you in anyway? And why?

Related content: Cyclists turn to cams to record road-rage episodes.