The Toronto Star’s Ian Law took a drive in the country and came back with two stories after running into a pair of cyclists. He calls on cyclists to obey some laws yet espouses the law of the jungle when it suits him. What he does in the end is makes a case for cyclists arming themselves. Here are some selected quotes from the articles.

“…But it’s only in the cyclist’s best interest not to argue with a two-ton vehicle over who has the right to that portion of the road at any given time. The cyclist will always lose that argument even when they are right. After all, you wouldn’t bring a knife to a gunfight…”

“…it only makes sense to avoid confrontations with massive machines. I would suggest they use more common sense and be less stubborn on the road. Know when and where to pick your fights…”

“…If we lived in the ideal world where we didn’t have impaired, distracted or even raging motorists and truckers, that would probably be OK to do. But on our roads, standing your ground may only get you six feet under the ground…”

The solution to this seems very simple to me. Cyclists only need to apply Ian Law’s rationale to stay alive. All they need to do is go buy a nice shiny .357. Now the cyclists are kings and queens of the road. What driver in their right mind would not give a wide berth to Dirty Harry on a bicycle?