My friend has made cycling his new fitness program. As gyms closed in 2020, he took to the roads 6 days a week for 11+ miles at a time, riding over 5000 miles since March 2020. This friend knows the rules of the road, has children riding in the JFK Bike Train, and rides as a family often. He was not operating unsafely, was wearing Hi-Viz yellow clothing, and had lights and conspicuity tape on the bicycle and his helmet. There was no way he was invisible to drivers despite it being 9:30PM. So what happened?
According to my friend, as he traveled up Bell Ave toward Thompson, a driver of what he believes to be a dark Hyundai Elantra (circa 2017) turned into his lane to drive at him head-on at around 15 MPH. To my friend, it was as if the driver were playing chicken with the cyclist and trying to intimidate or even hit my friend. As my friend swerved to avoid being hit head-on, the driver used his vehicle to hit the rear wheel of the bicycle causing my friend to be thrown from the bike and damage to the bike itself. The driver slowed to a near stop, but as my friend (thankfully) got up, the driver took off at high speed. No words were exchanged, no respect for the situation, the driver instead chose to high-tailing it from the scene.
Thankfully neighbors on Bell and Thomson hearing the noise and commotion were able to attend to my friend and call the Raritan PD. The Police responded, made a report, and designated it a hit and run.
My friend is bruised and shaken. The biggest bruise is to his sense of community. This driver, looking directly at him, chose to make his car a weapon for no apparent reason. There was no prior altercation, there were no threats, warnings, or anything that would just explain why this happened. Not that even in those instances would using a car to assault another human would ever be justified, but at least there would have been a series of events to follow.
I am grateful this is not a eulogy of a wonderful man who has community in his heart and walks daily a life of service and graciousness. Instead, this is a post that decries this antagonistic and evil behavior of another man who saw the life and well-being of a fellow human as unimportant, insignificant and something like a bug to be squished. This is a cultural issue in America right now. I have experienced unreasonable animosity at times on my bike from coal-rollers, punishment passes, and overly negligent drivers, but I have never faced a deliberate attack that caused a crash, Praise God, and I hope I never do.
So what can we do about this? As cyclists, I would call us to ride aware of our surroundings so that if someone does attempt to attack us, we can react. As a driver, I plead with all other drivers to drive safely, be aware of others and leave with enough time to arrive on time and safely. Studies have shown that many road rage incidents start with tight schedules and rushed behavior laying a foundation of frustration and anger that is then played out in animosity towards other road users.
I beg and plead with all to be human, see human, and provide safe streets to all by being safe on our streets. Today was a day I could hug my friend and feel bummed at a broken bike. I am grateful he was able to hug me back.
