Cyclists and Civilization

One of the Economist blogs, "Certain Ideas About Europe," considers whether a cyclist city is a civilized city. London, it reports, will be the site of another rent-a-bike program, modeled after the "Velib" bike program in Paris. My current home-town, Washington, has a bike program of its own. One of my co-workers uses it to pedal to a further Metro-stop. 

I am a fan of less cars, more bikes and more public transportation. DC has the best public metro-system I have experience (and I have been all over Europe). With bikes, however, I wonder if the civilization should come before the cycles. The primary reason is safety. Bikes in DC bob in-and-out of traffic, and DC traffic includes crazy diplomats who have immunity should something happen, and overly-stressed politicos typing on their blackberries as they drive. Local bikers are fearless; many are reckless. Near my office, a young woman was recently killed when her bike was hit by a dump truck (I should say, I don't know if this tragedy was due to recklessness on anyones part, or if it was simply a horrible misfortune).

The most civilized cyclist cites I have experienced are in Germany. Yes, there are still reckless drivers and bikers, but there are also bike lanes on every major street and clear rules for cyclers and drivers to follow. Indeed, a German biker risks losing his drivers' license if he breaks the rules. I applaud London and DC for initiating biker programs, but I this sort civilization ought to follow.