In South Africa bicycle lanes are few and far between. You will be lucky to cycle along a road where there is a dedicated stretch of tar for cyclists. One wonders whether our cities will ever follow in the footsteps of the more cycle friendly European and American cities.
Some cities, for example, New York, have right-of-way laws for cyclists. These laws together with proper bike lanes reduce the dangers on urban riding. We certainly do not have those laws and the majority of our urban riding is done on roads without bike lanes, hence the reason why South Africans do not commute to work. Check out what Copenhagen has done below.
CRITICAL MASS is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. The ride was originally started in 1992 in San Francisco with the idea to showcase how unfriendly the city was to cyclists. The ride is also used to promote cycling as a viable source of transport instead of driving your car.
I stumbled upon this crazy video of a lady doing pretty much the unthinkable on a bike, its amazing!
With the seasons changing for the better, perhaps you should look into altering your mode of transport to work. Commuting to work on your bike has some very obvious advantages which include doing your part to fight climate change, getting your morning exercise and ultimately achieving that warm fuzzy feeling when passing grumpy motorist stuck in traffic.