Speaking of that idiot on the road

In case you were wondering, I’m that idiot you see on the bike most mornings, pedaling down Jim Dahmer and Sandwald roads, all the way to Big Timber and back.

I freely confess that I’m an idiot, but I’m not stupid. My bike has flashing lights fore and aft, I wear a red helmet and sunglasses, and I’m dressed in either orange, yellow, or fluorescent green.

Now, I don’t want to imply that any cyclist on the road is an idiot like me. I meet plenty of other cyclists, and most of them are not only not stupid, but they’re also not idiots. They know that a bicycle on the road is a vehicle just like any truck or car, and they obey the same rules of the road, like traveling in the proper lane.

And that’s where my idiocy kicks in, because I like to travel in the lane less traveled. I have a mirror on my bike, and if I see a car approaching in the distance behind me, but there is no car in the opposite lane in front of me, I will switch over to the empty lane.

Illegally. Like an idiot.

I know the rules of the road discourage such behavior, because how can you trust an idiot to make a choice like that? After all, he’s an idiot, and the judgement of an idiot deciding when and where the rules should be followed or reversed can be…well, idiotic.

Still, in my defense, if I’m biking on a country road with no shoulder, and the center of the road has a double yellow line, and I stay in the right lane, then the car coming from behind me has to swerve over the yellow line to miss me, because rules of the road require him to give me more than three feet of clearance. So that means that he is going to have to break a rule of the road, right?

So although I’m an idiot, I’m a courteous, considerate idiot. I’ll break the rule, switch to the other lane, and let you stay in your lane.

You’re welcome.

But while we’re on the subject of idiots, let me profess that I’m not the only idiot out there on the road. Many of them — maybe most of them — are sitting behind the wheel of the cars whizzing past me. You can tell which cars they’re in, because they’re the cars with the lights off, even in broad daylight.

And if that’s you, shame on you. Because driving without daytime running lights (DRL) is idiotic.

Oh, I’ve met people who say, “Why should I turn my lights on? It’s broad daylight and I can see fine. Besides, I don’t want to drain my battery.”

Well, your car’s lights are powered by the battery only when the engine is off. Once you start your car, all those wheels and belts start turning, and your alternator provides all electric power. You could remove your battery and it would still get you where you’re going, lights, radio, AC and all.

But this whole vision thing? Come ride along with me someday and take a look at your bike’s rear-view mirror. A black car without lights blends in perfectly with the tree line in the distance. It’s invisible until it’s so close that it’s too late to make adjustments.

Even a white car without daytime lights is little more than an indistinct blur. Without two points of light, it’s impossible to tell whether the car is a half mile back, or a quarter mile, or less. Without those two points of light growing gradually farther apart from a perspective point of view, it’s impossible to judge how fast it’s approaching.

Amazingly, those calculations are made effortlessly and instantaneously in the human brain — even the brain of an idiot. But it can only do it if the eyes can gather the information and send it to the brain. With car lights off, the brain is partially to totally blind.

Statistics show that car lights on — even in broad daylight — can make all the difference in the world. And we’re not just talking about making a difference for idiots on bikes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that daytime running lights (DRL) reduced daytime crashes from light trucks and vans by 5.7 percent. A separate study of fleet vehicles claimed 7 percent fewer crashes. A study of police data published in the Journal of Safety Research in Australia claimed 8.8 percent fewer crashes with DRL’s, a number that jumped to 20.3 percent when you factor in dawn and dusk hours.

The word is getting out that daytime lights save lives. In Canada, all new cars are now made with daytime running lights as standard equipment. In California, it is illegal to drive any car at any time without DRL or headlights on.

But just because it isn’t a law yet in Huntley, that doesn’t mean that you can’t start making some smarter decisions on your own.

So come on, my friends, be safe out there. If you don’t have built-in DRL, turn on your lights when you drive, even in bright daylight. Don’t be an idiot.

Leave that to me.

TR Kerth is the author of the book “Revenge of the Sardines.” Contact him at trkerth@yahoo.com

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