Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should

Contrary to the frequency of my posts as of late, I bike to work quite often.  On Monday I saw a dude on a tall bike cruising down Georgia Ave (a major artery just north of DC) in rush hour traffic. I should point out that this section of Georgia Ave had eight full lanes of morning commuters. My first reaction was a jaw dropping "What The Fuck?". That was also my second reaction.

This got me thinking; when I'm in my car I often see cyclist doing shit I would never do. Taking the lane on upper 16th Street where the flow of traffic is above 50mph during rush hour when there's no shoulder for example. It's perfectly legal to do so but in my view it's incredibly stupid. There's is also a bike lane on 14th, so why not cut over two blocks?

I try not to judge, I know that some times perceived danger is relative to ones own experiences. There are plenty of things I do now that I would have thought too dangerous 17 years ago.

BUT

There's a time and a place and eight lanes of morning traffic going past the 495 merge lanes seems to be neither.