So what?

I drive from Capitol Hill to Dupont Circle and back again every day. The traffic is grueling, made worse by all the people trying to stop to let someone out, to pick someone up […] Bike lanes make things safer and smoother. But not all bicyclists obey traffic laws […] don’t run a red light […]
But here’s what happened […] when I broke a traffic rule (a lesser one, in my opinion):
Late to pick up my son, I noticed a fellow parent about to vacate a spot, so I pulled over to wait for him to leave. I pulled over — into a bike lane — so I wouldn’t block traffic on Q Street NW.
[…]
One cyclist waited behind me. When it was finally time for me to pull into the spot, she came around to my window and told me that there’s a law prohibiting obstruction of the bike lane. […] She suggested I should have circled the block rather than create what was, in her view, a safety hazard. I told her that’s not the way the world works. But what I meant was, that’s not the way cities work. She was persistent but respectful and calm.

I, on the other hand, handled it very badly. On the defensive the entire time, I failed to apologize, which is the first thing I should have done […]
I applaud the education efforts of cyclists, particularly this woman’s calm in the face of my really, really obvious frustration. […]
But not every violation is a hazard. […] Better to focus on the violators who are making the roads more dangerous. (I’d start with the cyclists, but that’s just me.) And once we’ve gotten actual dangers under control, we can turn to everyone else.
[I blocked a bike lane. So what? sur WashingtonPost.com]

Je n’ai rarement vu une si belle démonstration d’égocentrisme. Ce qui est rassurant c’est de voir que le problème est bien global, et qu’une partie des automobilistes français est aussi stupide qu’une partie des conducteurs américains.