Dear Bike Commuter Betty,

On my commute this morning I was waiting at a red light with a couple of other cyclists -- and quite a long line of cars --, when some hipster on a fixie blew past us and through the light. I turned to the motorist next to me and made a shrugging gesture, palms up, but one of the other cyclists waiting at the light shouted something unkind to the guy as he disappeared. Not too surprisingly, we caught up to him at the next light, where some further unfriendly conversation occurred.

Then on my way home, at a four-way stop in a residential neighborhood, I was about to start into the intersection when I swear it was the same hipster came flying across my path. This time I did say "hey, there is a stop sign" but there was no motorist nearby to share my indignation with. The guy grunted some kind of acknowledgment.

Anyway, Betty, my question is this. What exactly is the etiquette for calling out another cyclist on infractions of traffic laws?

Seems like all I ever hear from my co-workers who know I bike to work is about the "scofflaw" cyclist. I don't like to be placed in the position of apologizing for the behavior of strangers.

Maven

Dear Maven,

You may not quite realize it, but you are asking two separate, and Betty would suggest unrelated, questions: what, if anything, to say to a cyclist who violates a traffic law in your presence, and how to respond to people who try to hold you responsible for the behavior of others.

It might be useful to address the second question first. You need not apologize for the behavior of strangers. When a co-worker raises the "scofflaw" cyclist canard, you may politely point out that her observations are anecdotal and do not apply to you.

If she pursues the matter, you might roll out your own anecdotes of misbehavior by motorists, perhaps mentioning that in this or that instance someone was endangered or actually injured or killed, while in most of the examples she is citing involving cyclists someone was merely annoyed or inconvenienced.

The larger point being that you do not speak for the cyclist who blows a red light any more than she speaks for the motorist who rolls a stop sign or who fails to signal a turn or a lane change or who habitually drives five or ten miles over the posted limit. Unless she does.

Which begins to lead us back to your first question.

Substitute the phrase "spandex clad Cat 6er" or "nondescript person on a bike" for the phrase "hipster on a fixie" and see whether it changes your thinking on the matter. Or ask yourself, do I feel a similar urge to call out every motorist who rolls a stop or fails to signal a turn, etc., and if not, why not.

Betty will assume that you, Maven, would not appreciate a stranger offering

critiques of the decisions you make in traffic, except perhaps to prevent an imminent collision. "Oh, but," you say, "I do not run red lights."

That is as may be, Maven, and it may also be that you signal turns and lane changes and even stops one hundred feet in advance and come to a full stop at every red octagon. And stay far to the right or within the striped bike lane even when your own better judgment might tell you to ride further to the left. And yield to every pedestrian who indicates an intention to cross at a corner.

But everyone out there -- motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders, kittens -- has to be allowed to make independent judgments about how to interact safely with others. The etiquette for calling out "another cyclist" is, or should be, analogous to the etiquette for calling out any other road user, or for calling out someone who mismanages a cart in the aisles of a grocery store.

Yes, there are traffic laws and stop signs and red lights. But for the most part, these were put in place to regulate the flow of motor traffic, often at the expense of cyclists and pedestrians.

In general, Betty would suggest that you hold your peace. An exception, obviously, is where the behavior of another road user puts you or someone else in immediate danger. If for example a cyclist passes Betty slightly too close and without any warning, she will sometimes say mildly "on my left," just to get the point across.

In the first of the two incidents you are reporting here, it might have been appropriate to shout "car left" or "ped right," if necessary to prevent a collision, but in the scenario as it actually played out, Betty would not even have offered the shrug to the nearby motorist -- though she might have made such a gesture if it had been a motorist running the light, just to remind her neighbor that not all "scofflaws" are on bikes.

In the second scenario, Betty might have said something like "after you" if she had actually had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

An explanation of the difficulty you are experiencing might be implicit in your own words "no motorist nearby to share my indignation with." Something akin to the Stockholm Syndrome may be at work here.

The dominant culture demands that you identify with the motorist, while cyclists and pedestrians are driven to the margins. In an effort to gain acceptance among motorists, you identify yourself as the "good cyclist," and distance yourself from the "bad cyclist."

But in truth, there are only considerate and inconsiderate road users, regardless of mode, and the threat to your safety is almost infinitely more likely to come from the inconsiderate motorist.

Finally, Betty is mindful of the possible perceived irony of her advising you not to tell others how to conduct themselves on the roads, but the difference is you asked.

Betty