Bicycle Austin forum

I want to describe an encounter I just had.  Having just spent the best part of 7 hours driving from West Texas to Austin, I decide, upon reaching home, to leave the car (a rental by the way) in the driveway, while I take a walk to the grocery store.  I had reached the intersection diagonally opposite where the store is located.  I cross the one section of the road on the walk sign.  As I stand there, in a kind of pedestrian island, waiting for the next walk sign a car approaches the opposing red light.  Instead of waiting for the green light, in a blink of an eye, the driver makes a dash across the grocery store fore-court, then, makes a sharp left, crosses the road, and takes a right as if to continue in his original direction.  As he passes me, upon noting that his window is wound completely down, I shout (well, actually, given how close he actually was, more in rather a loud speaking voice):  "Hey, isn't that what traffic lights are for?!"  The driver, obviously in less of a hurry that I had anticipated, does a complete U-turn, and loops around back on to the store forecourt, where I've now reached, having gotten the walk light myself.

Now, here's where the drama begins.  The driver jumps out of his car and comes around the car to confront me.  While I confess I would dearly loved to have argued the finer points of the legality and morality of his vehicular maneuver, however, after seeing the driver flex his muscles, and watching the veins pop out of his neck and forehead, for safety's sake I decided to play the docile and apologetic ignoramus, clearly out of his depth (especially when it comes to physical confrontation).  Nevertheless, what I want to relate is the manner of the drivers rebuttal.  Instead of the generic "Get the f*** out of my face" kind of attack (actually, this is the response I got the time I suggested to someone that they might want to slow down after racing through a crowd of pedestrians to park their bike next to mine) - which I had being expecting - I actually got something like: "What is it with you f***ing pedestrians - I'm sick of you guys ... (various expletives) .. always crossing in front of me without looking ... (etc).  You and your walking about kind of ways."  (Okay, so the last sentence wasn't exactly phrased that way, but it was something to this effect.  This was about the point where I was wondering if I should be fearing for my life, so I guess I zoned out a little).

Anyway, what I'm getting at, is that this driver had quite an "Us (drivers) versus Them (everyone else - especially pedestrians)" kind of attitude.  Is this really so prevalent?  Is this some indication of just how psychically attached to the concept and action of driving an automobile that todays drivers are?  I find it quite ironic that, on the first decent walk I talk after an 1800 mile round trip (taken as part of my job), that I get accosted is such a manner.  Is my behavior really so unique.  That is, the ability to switch from being a car driver to pedestrian (to biker - see below) with relative fluidity, that one simple remark (badly aimed I admit) could send someone into such a spin.

Oh, by the way, perhaps just to reinforce the opinion of me as a dangerous reactionary, the one other time (about a year ago) that I had a similar encounter (with someone doing an almost identical maneuver), I was on my bike (my usual mode of transport in Austin).  This time, the driver, of a bright yellow Hummer H3 no less, completely reversed their direction, and chased me half-way down Speedway, all the while hurling verbal abuse at me.  This driver had me so angry (and scared), that I was spitting by the time I decided to high-tail it out of there (again, for safety's sake).

So, the point of all this verbose commentary, is to simply pose the question: Is it really us versus them?  Are we ever going to reach a point where everyone can more readily rationalize their choice of mode of transportation?  That is, are people not able to move between, and respect, the various alternatives, of which, I'm afraid, at least in Greater Texas (as I demonstrated myself this past week), the car will continue to dominate for many years to come?  Or will people, apparently the overwhelming majority, always exist, such as my burly forecourt friend, who, perhaps being the owner of a car, who never walk, never bike, and therefore always look down on "Us" with a feeling of disdain?

    Stuart