Opinion

From berserker to grandpa: Why I cycle properly today

9.9.2020

Translation: machine translated

Fifteen years ago, I followed exactly one traffic rule when cycling: I had the right of way! Fortunately, I've grown older. Countless passers-by and car drivers thank me for it every day.

Zurich, an afternoon in the summer of 2005: a pedestrian traffic light turns green. People start moving on both sides of the road. Meanwhile, a cyclist approaches between the waiting queues of cars. He makes no attempt to brake, but aims for the increasingly narrow gap between the pedestrians.

Is he colour-blind? Is he insane?

No. He is a 31-year-old man. His young brain is not yet working optimally; he regularly makes serious errors of judgement. For example: "This woman smiled at me, so she clearly wants to have sex with me!" Or: "We love each other, so we're perfect for each other!" Or: "The road traffic law doesn't apply to me because I'm too fast and too agile!"

To make matters worse, the man is also a bike courier, so he thinks the coloured lights at the intersections and the paintings on the ground are just decoration anyway, and after a shift of almost five hours, he is under a massive amount of drugs. He is no longer a cyclist. He is now a mighty messenger of the gods riding a lightning bolt.

In the evening of that day, many people will be stunned and tell their families at the dinner table about the stupid arsehole who thundered across the pedestrian crossing right in front of them.

A traffic light from the perspective of a bicycle courier.

That arsehole, that was me. I was one of those cyclists who didn't follow any rules and felt good about it. I'm very ashamed of it today and sincerely apologise to everyone I frightened with my behaviour. There were quite a few of them, because I travelled like that for years, especially during my time as a bike courier.

Now I ride like the cute traffic education campaign recommends: as if my grandma were travelling with me. I stop when a traffic light is red and when people are waiting in front of a pedestrian crossing. They can hardly believe it - a cyclist stopping for pedestrians! If they continue to stop, staring anxiously in my direction, I know what's going to happen next: A cyclist will whizz past me on the left and make an annoyed noise because of the stupid arsehole who is blocking the way here because they are obeying the stupid rules.

Heritage of the word "consideration"

The reason for my change of heart is that the things that were important to me in 2005 are fundamentally different from the things that are important to me today. Back then, I was all about the thrill; now I care about my well-being and that of my son and the world around me. That's why I always ride with a helmet, always with lights and always according to the law. Because I want me and everyone else to get home safe and sound. And talk at the dinner table about the nice gentleman who stopped just for them.

I want to look back and see friendly faces. That's probably the idea that once led to the metaphorical term "consideration": keeping an eye on what you leave behind in the world.

PS: Dear cyclist, if you don't stop in front of a pedestrian crossing, you will annoy pedestrians who are waiting there and therefore have right of way. If, on the other hand, you stop, these people will be pleased with the respect you show them. So you have a direct influence on the emotions of your fellow human beings!

PPS: Only pedestrians have right of way at the pedestrian crossing, which is why it's called that. If you want to cross the road there on your bike and also enjoy this right, you have to dismount and push. Otherwise
you have no right of way - and therefore no reason to shout at drivers who don't stop for you

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Thomas Meyer

freier Autor

tacheles@thomasmeyer.ch

Author Thomas Meyer was born in Zurich in 1974. He worked as a copywriter before publishing his first novel «The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch» in 2012. He's a father of one, which gives him a great excuse to buy Lego. More about Thomas: www.thomasmeyer.ch.

Opinion

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