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From: szepesi@fluke.UUCP (Les Szepesi)
Newsgroups: net.bicycle,net.politics
Subject: Re: Bicycles, Violence and Hatred
Message-ID: <1385@vax3.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 2-May-85 16:34:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax3.1385
Posted: Thu May  2 16:34:58 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 3-May-85 05:33:43 EDT
References: <1370@reed.UUCP> <983@vax1.fluke.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Lines: 77
Xref: watmath net.bicycle:1119 net.politics:8822

> In article <1370@reed.UUCP> kehoe@reed.UUCP (Dave Kehoe) writes:
> >
> >ing  39mph  in a 30mph zone?  Should bicyclists obey traffic
> >laws when I get run off the road  for  stopping  at  a  stop
> >sign?  Who is he kidding?
> >
> Two quick points, bicyclists should always obey traffic laws.  What
> other people do should have no effect on how we deal with the law.

I agree that obedience of the law should not be dependent on other's
actions. Unfortunately, I see too many cyclists who don't!


> Secondly, and I'm not accussing anyone of doing this, but I haven't
> had nearly the problem with motorists since I stopped passing them on
> the right.  It seems motorists get annoyed when a bicyclist passes them
> on the right (while waiting for a stoplight for instance) after this
> motorist has just legally passed the bicycle.  I personally don't blame
> the motorist. 

Two responses here. In some states, it is perfectly legal for a bicycle to
pass on the right. However, I recall that there is a restriction against
passing on the right *within* an intersection. I'm not positive, but I
think that Washington is one of these states...

I get just as annoyed when I'm waiting at a red light, and cars go out of 
there way to do a "right turn on red" around me. This is probably legal,
too, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. What I'm saying is that
people will get annoyed at legal as well as illegal actions, if it goes
against there concept of the way the world should behave.


> One route I frequently travel has a nearby bike path that I used to ignore,
> I noticed a lot of hostility from motorists along this particular stretch
> of road. One day I was driving down this street and was annoyed at how
> a bike was really slowing down traffic, my first thought was "Why doesn't
> he use the bike path just one block away? It was put there just to
> relieve this problem."

Agreed, bike paths are probably intended in many cases to make traffic
flow freely rather than protect the cyclist. If the bike lane is  a separate
lane on the road surface, I usually have no objection to riding in it,
other than the large amount of glass and gravel that accumulates do to the
lack of sweeping action by passing cars.

Bike *paths* are another story.  I don't agree that a cyclist should be
required to use a bike path that is a separate entity from the road itself.

For one, the quality of construction is usually poor, and after one or two
winters, is an undulating ribbon of asphalt. Good examples of this is the
path on the north side of the Charles River running from MIT and Harvard
to Watertown, and the Esplanade in Boston.

Another problem with bike paths is the cyclists. I consider the Burke-Gilman
Trail and the Sammamish River Trail the *most* dangerous places to ride in
the Seattle area. They become even worse on a sunny, crowded summer day.
Many riders wear the equivalent of Walkman's, so they cannot hear. Another
group insists on riding two and three abreast, even when there is on-coming
traffic. Another group insists on riding 20mph+ pace lines among cyclists,
joggers, walkers and pets on leashes.

Last year, when I was commuting to work in December, I had to ride both
of these trails in the dark. I'm talking dark, not dusk. The number of 
riders without lights of any kind was not insignificant. There were a
few times I was surprised by unseen riders. I had less of a problem
on the 'Missing Link', where you have to ride a four lane highway between
the two trails...

I see many young parents with small children riding on these specific trails.
I am amazed that there haven't been any serious injuries with the chaos.

Sorry for the degression, but I believe there are good reasons for not
riding bike paths until the situation changes. Fortunately, as cyclists,
we have the ability to remove the most serious of these problems with
a little common sense. In the meantime, I'll take the road.

Les Szepesi