Sharing the road
To the editor:
Recently a woman was hit while riding on the bike path by a driver coming from a side street. The side street is Manatee where the car came through the bike right of way. She was hospitalized, head injuries even though she was wearing a helmet. I had a truck towing a boat come by me just yesterday, way too close. I saw the guy turn in to the boat ramp launch site in St. James City and came in to ask him nicely to give cyclists more room as the opposite lane was empty when he came by me. He became defensive and argumentative and after I reminded him that I was asking politely, no name calling or threats and given the fact that there was plenty of room why not move over and pass correctly….his response was, “Whatever.”
If I get hit, or any other cyclists get killed maybe then, (too late of course), you’ll publish an article using the statements I sent earlier, (in the section below), to create more awareness on the part of the car and truck drivers that seem to think that they have the right of way in all circumstances and cyclists are second class citizens not worth the effort to give proper clearance, three feet is the law. I’m going to start reporting license numbers to the Sheriff’s office although it’s hard to get the number while retaining control so close to the edge of the road and maybe you should publish them too.
If they’d built a proper bike path, one that’s not under water part of the time and unsafe because of the side street issue maybe there would be less of a problem with cyclists on Stringfellow and other major roadways, but it is our right to use the roads and enforcement should be continuous. I’m not the only person to complain about this bad behavior on the part of ignorant and disconnected drivers. My feelings range from concern for myself and other cyclists to outright anger, I’m sure I’m only one of many who feel this way.
I think there are a lot of car and truck drivers who have no problem safely passing cyclists, but there are always going to be a few with the attitude that one of your readers has. Sounds like that person (while he whines about the cost of a bike path) needs to be run off the road by an impatient dump truck or something to get an appreciation for what we face out there.
The bike path could be a lot better, but would be fine for most riding if not for the fact that I’ve personally seen not only cyclists, but walkers with dogs (mostly on leash and courteous enough to be aware and move out of the way), walkers and runners with earphones on preventing them from hearing you approach from behind, motor scooters from time to time, cars that come too fast to the stop sign at the road’s edge (this is a problem because the plant growth at the sides of the bike path prevent them from seeing a cyclist moving at even 10 or so miles an hour, cars turning off Stringfellow and other considerations.
I was hit one day by a riding lawn mower that did his turn in the bike path, his speed and mine combined was probably about 20 mph, too fast for me to avoid him as he came into the right of way even if there had n’t been the aluminum guard rail to my left. In order to be effective as a training/conditioning ride the pace needs to be something around 20 mph for the group I ride with.
So, now the question is which is safer, the area to the right of the white line at the edge of the road or the restricted vision area of the bike path? I recognize the danger of having tons of metal, sometimes misguided by either an impatient guy going to do a job he really isn’t in to, or a medicated octogenarian, going by me at something over the half century mark and I consider the 3-foot clearance rule to be adequate if it’s followed accurately, but have had numerous occasions where cars have been closer, many times when the whole other side of the road was clear of oncoming traffic. All we’re asking as bike riders is that the drivers lose their impatient attitude, slow down for a second and go by us when it’s safe for everybody. I don’t agree with or understand the riders who might interfere with traffic by riding side by side and not moving over for traffic, I guess they’re trying to make a point, but we have to share the road and make the flow happen for both groups of road users.
Our group uses Stringfellow only where the apron is wide on the right side of the white line from the Post office to St. James City, other than that we use the bike path and the side streets. The fact is that both cyclists and motorcyclists are legally on the road and car and truck drivers need to become acutely aware of them and treat them with respect. Incidentally, I’m one of the believers that many deaths have occurred because of the use of cell phones while driving, hands free or not. When we’re on the road we need to be professional, no room for errors, you learn that if you ride either a bicycle or motorcycle.
As a parting thought I’d like to say that we all need to think about it like the Maritime Rules, doesn’t matter who has right of way, if an accident can be prevented it is the responsibility of all concerned to do so.
John Ryerson Bredin
On behalf of “Hunter S. Thompson Memorial Riders,
Team Gonzo