http://www.californiainjuryblog.com/2007/11/paralyzed_hitandrun_victims_re.html

BTW how are those melons doing?

Pedestrians and people in wheelchairs don’t want to have to dodge bikes on sidewalks, and cyclists may be traveling fast enough that they represent a danger to these folks.

Drivers pulling out of driveways are looking only for things approaching at pedestrian speed and not bike speed and thus won’t see an approaching cyclist in the time between when they look both ways and think it’s clear and when they start to pull out, during which span of time a cyclist can easily come from the blind spot to the driveway.

We’re safer in a bike lane (one that isn’t blocked by a monster sign, that is).

And I’d much rather travel with vehicular traffic that’s all heading the same direction I am, with a lane they’re supposed to stay in, than on a sidewalk with two-way unpredictable traffic, dogs on leashes (if I’m lucky), toddlers climbing out of their strollers or reaching for my bike, someone who stops suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk in front of me because she just remembered she left her purse back at the restaurant….

Lousy cyclists annoy me as much as they do drivers–they give us all a bad reputation. On the testing, given that probably 99% of adult cyclists also hold a driver’s license, cyclists have in fact passed a test on the rules of the road, and have also most likely driven vehicles so they have some sense of the driver’s viewpoint. If I could get every driver onto a bike in traffic at least once, that would represent the equivalent experience on the other side (and wouldn’t THAT be fun to watch?).

If all of us took an occasional refresher course on the rights and responsibilities of both drivers and cyclists, the world would be a safer place all around.

*huggles*

Well done!