Tipping Bicycles in Washington, D.C.

They call it the tipping point.

It’s usually what happens when an ongoing process, crisis, unspoken resentment or problem comes to the surface and explodes into reaction. Expressions of rage and anger move from tension into potential tragedy, or as they say on the web, goes viral.

It happened with the country’s long unsolved and intractable immigration issue when a huge influx of immigrants from Central American countries, many of them unaccompanied minors and children, headed north toward the United States and tipped immigration into crisis and tragedy mode.

It appears to be happening with the rumbles and murmurs surrounding the possible impeachment of President Barack Obama, spurred equally by the likes of Sarah Palin, and conservative Republicans and pollsters taking the pulse on such matters. Why Palin should be listened to on matters of public service responsibility is anybody’s guess, given that she resigned her Alaska governship based on such pressing matters as testing the presidential waters and watching her daughter compete on “Dancing With the Stars.” Nevertheless, impeachment talk is getting louder, if not yet at tipping stage.

And it’s happened with bicyclists in Washington, D.C.

Mind you, the big bicycle debate of 2014 is by no stretch of the imagination as compelling as the humanitarian and political drama surrounding the border crossing or talk about impeaching the president of the United States.

But it’s our tipping point here in Washington.

For years, people have noticed the rise in the number of bicycle riders in the streets of Washington, the coming of bike lanes and the omnipresent racks of rental bikes which seem to come in tandem with a major influx of new residents loosely termed “millennials.” With the notice has come resentment from all sorts of people—pedestrians, drivers (taxi drivers especially) and longtime residents feeling the pressure of change.

Recently, the issue suddenly exploded full force with a couple of columns in the Washington Post, one which complained about bikers on pedestrian sidewalks. The other, a characteristically over the top effort by Courtland Milloy, who attacked bicyclists in his usually nuanced way. There followed a rain of letters to the editors many of them pro bike and a demonstration by bicyclists at the Washington Post protesting Milloy’s column.

This much we can say for sure: most bicyclists are law abiding riders. They seem to do only what law enforcement allows, which is not the same thing as obeying laws. Go for a ride through the city in a car and it’s fairly common to see many bicyclists run red lights, stop signs, and ride on sidewalks, ignoring pedestrian right of way strictures. The issue isn’t the bikers here, it’s the lack of enforcement by police or a clearly defined code of the road that bikers might understand.

Bikers will tell you that they are doing good by not adding to the city’s congestion. They are environmentalists at heart, they say. It’s a fair argument, but it’s also a step away from a morally superior sense of entitlement.

Milloy suggested drivers are so irritated they might be inclined to pay the $500 fine that’s in place if a driver hits a bicycle rider. That’s not funny, that’s irresponsible.

Here are two questions for all of us.

Does President Obama ride a bike? And why can’t we all just get along?