Double Standards

Most everyone seems willing to be a fool himself, but he can't bear to have anyone else one. ~Josh Billings

I hear all the time from my non-cycling friends about how all cyclists run red lights.  It's their number one complaint.  Sure, I've rolled through a few when making a right turn when the lane was clear, but barring any uncontrollable circumstance, I've never blatantly run a red.  Obviously, other people on bikes in this city do.  However, they're usually on the sidewalk, going the wrong direction, and talking to themselves.  I'd hardly call them cyclists.

Newsflash:  Drivers run reds.  All. The. Time.  And, that's not the worst of it.

This morning, I drove to work.  I witnessed a woman in a sage colored Prius burn through the Our Lady of the Elms school zone on Market St. without batting an eye only to run the well established red light at Twin Oaks.  On Memorial Parkway, some guy in a Mercedes (of course) just had to get in front of the cars who had responsibly merged to the left under the railroad bridge.  He nearly side-swiped two cars.  At the intersection of Uhler and Cuyahoga, a woman in a red Tahoe ran right through the stop sign.  I couldn't count the number of people who ignored the 25mph limit on State Rd. in Cuyahoga Falls.

On my return trip to Akron after lunch, I was cut off by some cowboy in a lifted black Chevy pick-up.  While sitting at Portage Path and Twin Oaks, I had to lean on the horn to get the ancient lady in front of me to stop going through the intersection when the light was red.  She was totally oblivious to the cross traffic.

I wish I could say those weren't typical occurrences on Akron's roads, but unfortunately I cannot.  That was a typical commute to and from my Cuyahoga Falls office.

So, I ask you this:  are a few cyclists coasting through lights really the worst thing happening on Akron's streets?  Shouldn't we be more concerned about the aggressive, oblivious, and irresponsible drivers in this city?

Akron isn't a cycling city.  It is auto centric for sure.  However, no one seems to lament their deplorable habits  Despite the fact there are tons of drivers on the road, their vehicles can easily kill, and they break the laws more than they follow them, nothing is being done about it.  To top it off, they are permitted to berate the cyclists.

I am disturbed.  More than likely, these same people are passing me on my bike.  How is it that they can throw the law to the wind when they feel like it or operate a car when clearly they shouldn't anymore, but one bicycle coasting through a red light unforgivable?

Seems a bit hypocritical to me.