Last weekend I was riding home from church in Oneida by way of De Pere when a voice over my left shoulder suddenly said, "On your left!" Naturally, I turned to the left, precisely defeated the purpose of the call. It was, of course, a very polite bicycle scofflaw intending to warn me that he and his funny biking clothes would be passing me on my left.
It always seems to me that one should call out, "Keep to your right!" rather than, "I am on your left!" in order to keep the passee's attention and direction away from the path of danger. Saying "On your left!" seems like an invitation for me to turn into the path of the oncoming rider. The contrary argument appears to be that speaking only of yourself is more polite than issuing commands to another.
The problem with this particular incident is that I was pedaling slowly because I was approaching a stop sign. Translate that: The other biker was passing me because I was stopping for a stop sign, as required by law. All the funny bike clothes in the world don't counter the fact that this other rider was intent on ignoring the requirements of the rules of the road.
I don't know what precisely was in his mind. I didn't speed up after stopping and catch him to ask. Was he thinking, "Traffic laws don't apply to bicycles"? Or, "I don't understand the requirement for bikes to stop, and so I'm going to ignore this particular law"? Or merely, "No cop is going to stop me, so it isn't really wrong"? Whatever the thought, he was scoffing at the wisdom and majestry of the law.
Well, OK, ascribing either wisdom or majesty to the law was always something of a fantasy. It is a myth, but cultivated for a purpose. The law represents the collective judgement of the sovereign people. Respect for the law should be an expression of respect for people; conformity with the law should be a means toward smoother and more effective interactions with other people. I contrast those goals with the actions of this bicycler running the stop or with the schoolgirls (at another time and location on the same street) who unlookingly crossed traffic lanes and forced cars to stop for them. The traffic scofflaws are disrespectful by arrogating to themselves all the privileges and displacing all the burdens to others: "I should have the right to go across the street. You should have to wait."
Some of the laws being scoffed at are scoffable. There are stupid laws on the books. And when I'm biking around the county, I'm not going to obey a law if it puts me or others into danger. I will try to obey the traffic laws as the only established way of sharing the right of way in an equitable manner. It is a matter of respect for others on the road.
And I want the same respect in return.