Wow! This blog has really helped me feel a lot better. I find I yammer less to friends about grievances and I feel confident that I have a place to go when I am bugged.
That said, I would like to put out there that bicyclists need to ride closer to the curb if they value their lives.
I was just in San Francisco and picked up a newspaper. There was a terrible story in it about a policeman (of all people) that fell asleep at the wheel and drove into some racing cyclists, killing two of them. The article went on to say that even though there were fewer accidents involving cyclists, more riders were being killed on the road. I think I know why.
When I returned to LA, I was driving along a one lane road and every one of the cyclists on it was pushing the limits of the bike lane. It seems to me that too many bicyclists feel they have the right of way on the road and ride almost, but not quite, in the lane with automobiles. Do they not know how dangerous that is? Even if they fall because they hit a stone in the road wrong, they go down HARD! Why tempt fate? There are plenty of opportunities to get hurt while trying to be safe: drunk drivers, speeding motorists, a squirrel on the other side of the road (driver doesn’t see bicycle), earthquakes… you get the idea. At least ride in the middle of the bike lane – not on the line next to car traffic! Even if a car doesn't hit the bike, those close calls could be the reason a cyclist goes off the road or into an immovable object. Just move over! Are you crazy? Jeez! Don’t make me kill you.
16 March 2008
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