Can’t we all just get along?

A biker and a driver have a disagreement. Nothing shocking about that, it happens every day.

A biker and driver have a crazed screaming match that gets filmed, posted to the Internet, and goes viral. The situation takes on a second life as the driver becomes publicly humiliated and his chain of coffee shops is hit with dozens of retaliatory negative online reviews.

A totally different story, and one that is more often than not becoming the norm.

First, let’s get you up to speed on this particular outburst. Then we’ll talk about what we learned from the experience.

Recently, a cyclist caught a nasty altercation between himself and the driver of a Land Rover on video.

Here’s the bleeped version of the video (warning, it’s basically three minutes of bleeps).

You know what happens when your video goes viral? People figure out who you are.

Local coverage of the exchange reveals the driver to be Jason Wells, proprietor of an upscale coffee shop chain called Brew, located throughout South London.

The British coffee shop chain then suffers a flurry of seemingly fabricated negative reviews on social media sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Google (a handful of which were captured here before being removed). A petition was started calling for Wells to bike to work for a year as reparation for his behavior. Wells eventually issued a terse apology, saying “I fully appreciate that cyclists have as much right to the road as any other road users.”

So, that sucked for Jason. And the cyclist who was driven off the road. And the people who work at Brew who had nothing to do with this but might be seeing fewer customers and tips as a result.

This adds fuel to the long-simmering “bikers vs. drivers” feud - even though pretty much every biker is also a driver at some point. This feels like everyone loses.

But, not so fast.

What can we bikers (who are also drivers!) learn from this whole f*&#$ing debacle?

 

Don’t be a jerk.

Anywhere people are commuting together and around each other in confined circumstances, you will find someone frustrated by traffic, the weather conditions, or the way the others around them are behaving. Even if you can’t find your zen, keep your cool. Trust that the folks around you are doing the best they can. When in doubt, smile and move to a safe distance.

This advice is for drivers and bikers alike. Just - be cool.

Know the law of your land.

In the US and in the UK, cyclists have the right to use the roadway. MassBike has a nice summary if you’re local to us here in Beantown. But you can very easily run a Google search for the laws in your area.

 

Smile, you’re on camera.

We live in a smart phone era, which means anything you do in public may be recorded. It may be a bit creepy, but it’s a fact of modern life. Your phone can take sweet Instagram photos that get lots of hearts; it can also capture critical video that can be used in the court of public opinion and a court of law.

So - you’re a public figure. Act accordingly, both when behind the wheel and on two wheels.

This exchange provides a cautionary tale for ANY business owner. What you say in the privacy of your SUV is up to you, but the minute you step into the roadway, your outburst may harm your brick-and-mortar operation.

And um again, don’t be a jerk.

Finally, if drivers and cyclists don’t learn to treat each other respectfully, if we don’t learn to communicate without shelling expletives, the Internet will shame us. And it’s not clear this is a good way to do things.

Does anyone feel good that this coffee shop got fake negative reviews?

Does anyone feel good that this cyclist’s moment of deep fear was witnessed by so many?

Does anyone feel good that Jason Wells will have a hard time scrubbing this moment from his past? Maybe, he’s just a normal dude who was having a bad morning.

Public shaming will always be the outcome from these events. So don’t be a jerk and let these things happen in the first place.

Have you seen any crazy road rage videos lately? We see them all the time, so below here are a few highlights.


Here’s one last angry rant. If you’ve taken or seen a road rage video, post it in the comments. Remind everyone why we need to share the road!

Comments

comments